Psalms 75:5

75:5 Do not be so certain you have won! ¹ 

Do not speak with your head held so high! ² 

Psalms 77:18

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ³ 

Psalms 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ⁴  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ⁵ 

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¹ tn Heb “do not lift up on high your horn.”

² tn Heb “[do not] speak with unrestrained neck.” The negative particle is understood in this line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

sn The image behind the language of vv. 4-5 is that of a powerful wild ox that confidently raises its head before its enemies.

³ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

sn Verses 16-18 depict the Lord coming in the storm to battle his enemies and subdue the sea. There is no record of such a storm in the historical account of the Red Sea crossing. The language the psalmist uses here is stereotypical and originates in Canaanite myth, where the storm god Baal subdues the sea in his quest for kingship. The psalmist has employed the stereotypical imagery to portray the exodus vividly and at the same time affirm that it is not Baal who subdues the sea, but Yahweh.

⁴ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

⁵ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”