Discovery BoxPsalms 39:12 
Context39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cry for help!
Do not ignore my sobbing! 1
For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;
I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. 2
Psalms 44:3
Context44:3 For they did not conquer 3 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 4
but rather by your power, 5 strength 6 and good favor, 7
for you were partial to 8 them.
Psalms 52:5
Context52:5 Yet 9 God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. 10
He will scoop you up 11 and remove you from your home; 12
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
1 tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”
2 tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.
3 tn Or “take possession of.”
4 tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.
5 tn Heb “your right hand.” The
6 tn Heb “your arm.”
7 tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
8 tn Or “favorable toward.”
9 tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.
10 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
11 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
12 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
