For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” 2 by David.
69:1 Deliver me, O God,
for the water has reached my neck. 3
For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” 5 a psalm of David.
22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 6
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. 7
For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” 9 by the Korahites, a well-written poem, 10 a love song.
45:1 My heart is stirred by a beautiful song. 11
I say, “I have composed this special song 12 for the king;
my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.” 13
1 sn Psalm 69. The psalmist laments his oppressed condition and asks the Lord to deliver him by severely judging his enemies.
2 tn Heb “according to lilies.” See the superscription to Ps 45.
3 tn The Hebrew term נפשׁ (nefesh) here refers to the psalmist’s throat or neck. The psalmist compares himself to a helpless, drowning man.
4 sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.
5 tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.
6 sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).
7 tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.
8 sn Psalm 45. This is a romantic poem celebrating the Davidic king’s marriage to a lovely princess. The psalmist praises the king for his military prowess and commitment to justice, urges the bride to be loyal to the king, and anticipates that the marriage will be blessed with royal offspring.
9 tn Heb “according to lilies.” “Lilies” may be a tune title or musical style, suggestive of romantic love. The imagery of a “lily” appears frequently in the Song of Solomon in a variety of contexts (see 2:1-2, 16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2-3; 7:2).
10 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 42.
11 tn Heb “[with] a good word.” The “good word” probably refers here to the song that follows.
12 tn Heb “my works [are] for a king.” The plural “works” may here indicate degree, referring to the special musical composition that follows.
13 tn Heb “my tongue [is] a stylus of a skillful scribe.” Words flow from the psalmist’s tongue just as they do from a scribe’s stylus.