Discovery BoxPsalms 32:6 
Context32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers 1 should pray to you
while there is a window of opportunity. 2
Certainly 3 when the surging water 4 rises,
it will not reach them. 5
Psalms 53:1
ContextFor the music director; according to the machalath style; 7 a well-written song 8 by David.
53:1 Fools say to themselves, 9 “There is no God.” 10
They sin and commit evil deeds; 11
none of them does what is right. 12
Psalms 74:9
Context74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; 13
there are no longer any prophets 14
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. 15
Psalms 84:3
Context84:3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow 16 builds a nest,
where she can protect her young 17
near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,
my king and my God.
Psalms 144:14
Context144:14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. 18
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. 19
1 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
2 tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the
3 tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.
4 sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.
5 tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.
6 sn Psalm 53. This psalm is very similar to Ps 14. The major difference comes in v. 5, which corresponds to, but differs quite a bit from, Ps 14:5-6, and in the use of the divine name. Ps 14 uses “the
7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מָחֲלַת (makhalat, “machalath”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term also appears in the heading of Ps 88.
8 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 52.
9 tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.
10 sn There is no God. This statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).
11 tn Heb “they act corruptly, they do evil [with] injustice.” Ps 14:1 has עֲלִילָה (’alilah, “a deed”) instead of עָוֶל (’aval, “injustice”). The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.
12 tn Heb “there is none that does good.”
13 tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).
14 tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”
15 tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”
16 tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.
17 tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”
sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God’s presence.
18 tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).
19 tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”
