Discovery BoxPsalms 5:12 
Context5:12 Certainly 1 you reward 2 the godly, 3 Lord.
Like a shield you protect 4 them 5 in your good favor. 6
Psalms 7:10
Context7:10 The Exalted God is my shield, 7
the one who delivers the morally upright. 8
Psalms 33:20
Contexthe is our deliverer 10 and shield. 11
Psalms 84:9
Context84:9 O God, take notice of our shield! 12
Show concern for your chosen king! 13
Psalms 89:18
Context89:18 For our shield 14 belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel. 15
Psalms 119:114
Context119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I find hope in your word.
Psalms 140:7
Context140:7 O sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, 16
you shield 17 my head in the day of battle.
1 tn Or “For.”
2 tn Or “bless.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line highlight how God characteristically rewards and protects the godly.
3 tn Or “innocent.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense.
4 tn Heb “surround.” In 1 Sam 23:26 the verb describes how Saul and his men hemmed David in as they chased him.
5 tn Heb “him.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense and is thus translated “them.”
6 tn Or “with favor” (cf. NRSV). There is no preposition before the noun in the Hebrew text, nor is there a pronoun attached. “Favor” here stands by metonymy for God’s defensive actions on behalf of the one whom he finds acceptable.
7 tn Traditionally, “my shield is upon God” (cf. NASB). As in v. 8, עַל (’al) should be understood as a divine title, here compounded with “God” (cf. NIV, “God Most High”). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:45-46. The shield metaphor pictures God as a protector against deadly attacks.
8 tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
9 tn Or “our lives.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, life”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
10 tn Or “[source of] help.”
11 tn Or “protector.”
12 tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “your anointed one” here and with “our king” in Ps 89:18.
13 tn Heb “look [on] the face of your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase מְשִׁיחֶךָ (mÿshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17).
14 tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “our king" here and with “your anointed one” in Ps 84:9.
15 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the
16 tn Heb “the strength of my deliverance.”
17 tn Heb “cover.”
