Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 8 Jan. 2017
1) I took a little break from Leviticus for the New Year and picked up where I had left off in the Psalms a year ago with Psalm 26.
2) In Psalm 26, David gives us a clear example as to what a believer should think about in worship. In that sermon, I noted seven things:
a) We should be thinking about God rather than people in church,
b) We should be thinking about forgiveness of our sin,
c) We should be thinking about God’s merciful love,
d) We should be thinking about separating from ungodliness,
e) We should be thinking about praising God,
f) We should be enjoying God’s presence with us, and
g) We should trust confidently that Jesus gives us right standing with God.
3) Now I’d like to follow that up by looking at Psalm 27. In Psalm 27, the picture is painted of someone who is not at church; they are in trouble and longing to return to the blessing of being with God and His people. So, whereas Psalm 26 is an example of what to think about while in church, Psalm 27 is an example of what to think about during the rest of the week.
4) The editors who translated this Psalm from Hebrew into Greek 2,000 plus years ago wrote a note in their Septuagint Bible that this Psalm was written by David before he was anointed, so that would make this Psalm one of his early ones, composed out in the wilderness as he pastured sheep.
5) Five strategic lines of thought jumped out at me as I studied David’s example in this psalm:
a) Reviewing God’s attributes,
b) Remembering God’s past deliverances,
c) Looking forward to the next church gathering,
d) Maintaining relationship with God,
e) And Putting your Faith into words.
f) Let’s look at how David develops each one of these, starting with v.1:
1) David reviews three Names or attributes of God at the outset: Light, Salvation, and Strength.
2) What does it mean that the LORD is your light?
a) Awareness to see what’s going on, even beyond what is visible.
b) Understanding of what is true, what are the resources, and what is a wise course of action.
c) Warmth of comfort.
d) I am reminded of the time later on in Israel’s history when the King of Syria sent his entire army out to the Israelite town of Dothan with orders to capture or kill the prophet Elisha. (And you thought it was bad with ISIS in Syria today!) “He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Strike this people with blindness, I pray.’ So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:11-23, NASB) That army was powerless to harm Elisha; he embarrassed them so badly, none of them ever wanted to come back and make trouble in Israel again.
e) God is my light. He enables me to see the truth that He is in control, working all things for good.
3) What does it mean that the LORD is your salvation?
a) In the story of Elisha, God saved him, along with the town of Dothan from being obliterated by the Syrian army.
b) It is God’s nature to save the people He loves from trouble. It is the name Jesus chose to go by. “Yeshua” means “He saves.” That’s what He does.
c) Remember that God is your savior and He will fix the problem.
4) What does it mean that the LORD is the “strength of your life”?
a) One of our neighbors had a bad back, so the doctors installed a steel rod down her backbone. Talk about strength in your inner being! How does God put steel in you to make you resilient and tough enough to persevere?
b) The Hebrew word for “strength” (מָעוֹז) is also used concretely for defensive “fortresses” and “strongholds.” Whenever there is a threat, you know you are not vulnerable, you just step inside that impenetrable wall of rock and you are safe.
5) Our enemies want us to take our eyes off of Christ and focus on them – calculate the threats, to calculate the strength of our physical resources, to imagine the things we are afraid of, to worry about the unknowns, and second-guess what might happen. But David leads us by his example to focus instead on the attributes of God.
6) If you are inseparably connected to a God who is omniscient with the light to reveal everything that needs to be known, loving enough to go to any length to save you from any real danger, and omnipotent enough to defeat any enemy you will ever encounter, then you can say with David that there is no reason to fear anymore. Nothing can possibly get out of control. There is no way you will ultimately get hurt.
7) I am reminded of God’s pep talk to His people in Isaiah 41:9-14 “…You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off;’ 10. fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I chose/strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. 12. You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. 13 I am Jehovah your God, strengthening your right hand; saying to you, ‘Fear not, I myself help you. Fear not, you worm Jacob, you sorry lot of Israel! I am the one who helps you,’ declares Yahweh; ‘your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.’” (NAW)
8) Remember what God is like! Then…
1) Verse 2 is written in the past tense in Hebrew.
a) The word for “evil doers/wicked” does not necessarily mean men. David could have been referring to lions that could have literally been out to eat his flesh.
b) Just like Goliath “stumbled and fell” after getting hit by David’s slingshot, that might have been the way David killed the lion and the bear that threatened his sheep as a young man.
c) I was just reading an account to my family last week of a missionary who had to deal with cannibals in the South Seas who literally were out to eat him.
d) David remembers what God had done in the past to deliver him, and uses that memory to fortify his trust in God for the future.
2) Verse 3 is written in the future tense in Hebrew – even if an army comes and camps out in front of his town and starts shooting, David knows that God is going to take care of him.
a) [Show book] I’ve been reading a book called, God’s Smuggler to my kids, about a Dutch missionary who smuggled Bibles into the Soviet Union during the Iron Curtain days. The very first time he crossed the border into a communist country with a car full of Bibles, he prayed that God would blind the eyes of the border inspectors so that they wouldn’t even notice that he was smuggling Bibles. Throughout the course of the book as he made excursions into harder and harder-core Communist countries, he would remind himself of that first border crossing, how God had made seeing eyes blind, and he would use that memory to fuel his trust in God to bring him across yet another border with a precious cargo of Bibles for persecuted Christians.
b) We don’t know what challenges lie in front of us, but in verse 3, David mentions pretty much the scariest thing that a King would face. What’s the worst thing that could happen to you? Deployment? And F in school? Terminal cancer? Death of a parent or of a spouse? An economic collapse? Can you use the confidence God has built in you because His care for you through difficult things in the past to inspire you to trust God through anything you might face in the future? Even the worst-case scenario? Will you keep trusting God?
c) Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15, NKJV) And why trust Him? Because there is nothing better in heaven or earth than Him.
d) John 6:66-69 NKJV In Jesus’ day, “many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ But Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
3) So Review who God is, Review what He has done, and then…
1) In the previous Psalm (26:5), David said that he won’t “sit” with the wicked; now here in 27:4 we see where he does want to “sit,” and that’s in the presence of the LORD - to hang out, to dwell there.
2) That place – God’s house – is emphasized in verses 4-6
a) with the buildup about only wanting one thing in v.4,
b) with the multiple synonyms for the “safe house” employed in v.5,
c) and with the three directional ָה’s at the ends of the Hebrew verbs in v.6 which all point back “there” to God’s house.
3) Perhaps David wanted to attend every day to see the morning or evening sacrifice at the tabernacle[1]. History tells us that he greatly desired to build a temple for the LORD in Jerusalem, where such daily attendance would be possible. But it may not have been possible at the time of the writing of this Psalm, given the distance between where David lived and where the tabernacle was set up at the time.
4) The two things David says he wants to do in the house of the LORD are:
a) To “behold the beauty,” or “gaze on the delightfulness” of the LORD. What kind of beauty would he have seen on a visit to the tabernacle of his day?
i) There was ornamental beauty of richly woven fabrics for the tent and the priests’ garments – and of the gold-plated altar and other fine handiwork.
ii) There was also the beauty of orderliness. If we see anything in Leviticus, it is the order of a meticulously-prescribed process. Watching each supplicant and priest do exactly what God’s word commanded and seeing how it all worked together in a harmonious system would be mighty comforting in a world where so much unpredictability and chaos trouble our thoughts.
iii) And then there would be the ethical beauty: of all places, the abode of the priests who stewarded the written word of God would be a place where righteousness, kindness, and peace would be prized and corruption and vice and hate especially avoided. It is beautiful to see God’s goodness on display in the lives of people who love Him.
iv) There was also the beauty of grace – watching people’s sins be forgiven. What a joy to see sinners walk in one door with faces downcast and shoulders drooping, then come out the other side with hands stretched up to the LORD, forgiven and singing Halleluiahs!
v) What about you. Is that the kind of thing your heart longs to gaze at?
b) The second thing that David says he particularly wants to do in the house of the LORD is to “enquire/do research.”
i) The Hebrew word here (בַקֵּר) has both the meaning of “seek” and the meaning of “meditate.”
ii) David wants to look deeply into some subjects. Perhaps they are questions he has about what is right and what is wrong that he wants to ask one of the scribes about.
iii) Perhaps he just looks forward to the opportunity of reading from a scroll of God’s word in the library and meditating on its application in his life.
iv) Maybe he particularly enjoys that environment as a good place to pray.
c) These kind of activities will continue to build David’s trust in God. They will continue to inform him of the character of the LORD and thrill him with the delights that God has to offer, and the time spent with God and His people will further cement the relationship ties he has with God, too.
d) Are these things you also enjoy? Are you seeking positive reinforcement for your faith in Jesus through worship, fellowship with believers, reading the Bible, and praying?
5) When you’re in trouble, the last thing you want is to be exposed – for everybody to know about it and to offer their assessments of where you went wrong. What victims need is a safe place to recover, and, in v.5, David tells us that God offers this too: a safe hiding place, sheltered, concealed in a secret place, high in a mountain stronghold where no enemy can get at you.
a) David as a young man may have camped out in caves in the rocks near his home in Bethlehem, and those craggy heights proved a refuge from Saul’s attempts to assassinate him later,
b) but they also symbolized the security of the relationship David had
with God. 80% of the time that this Hebrew word tsur – “rock” occurs in
the Psalms, it is a name for God!
For instance, Psalm 18:2, “Yahweh is my rock-mountain, my stronghold, and my
deliverer, my God, my landmark-rock. I will take refuge in Him, my
shield and horn of my salvation, my high tower!... 31 Because who is God apart
from Yahweh alone? And who is a landmark-rock except our God! … 46 Life
is Yahweh, so let my landmark-Rock be blessed, and let the God of my
salvation be exalted.”
c) When you are overwhelmed, feeling threatened, and in need of a safe place to go, run to Jesus! 1 Cor. 10:4 tells us that the “rock” was Christ. We don’t have a tabernacle or temple anymore to go to; we are able to go directly into the presence of God in prayer, and that is how our souls can find refuge.
6) We, of course, also have times and places for public worship, and David clearly looks forward to that as well in v.6. He looks forward to offering sacrifices of shouts of joy and singing and music. These are the same kinds of sacrifices we can still offer to God today in our worship services. Do you look forward to our church worship? I sure do!
a) David mentions singing songs
b) as well as strumming music on stringed instruments,
c) as well as teru’ah – which could be cheering and shouting with joy, although it more often in the Bible it is used to describe fanfares from brass instruments.
d) When stress comes and you are tempted to be afraid, it is Biblical to look forward to the joy of praising God next Sunday!
1) Not only does David enter into God’s house to deal with his fear, He presses into the presence of God and talks to Him. It seems almost presumptuous for David in v.7 to say, in effect, “God, I’m talking to You, so you’d better be listening, and you’d better answer.” But that’s what David does because he knew what God told us later in Hebrews 11:6 that God “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Communication from us is so welcome to God that He will never ignore it; when we call upon Him to save us, He will do it:
a) Psalm 18:3 NKJV I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
b) Psalm 55:16 NKJV As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me.
c) And just in case you wonder if that applies to everybody, Acts 2:21 ESV And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
d) Romans 10:13 ESV For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
2) Although verse 8 has its challenges to translators and is translated different ways, the reciprocity of face-to-face relationship comes through.
a) The first verb, “Seek ye” is addressed to a plural audience in Hebrew, a component that is lost in contemporary English, but therein lies the translation challenge, whether to add several words (as the KJV and NAS and ESV have done) so that it is God telling mankind to seek His face (a command which is in keeping with Scriptural teaching about God’s will[2], but which does not occur anywhere else in that exact form), or whether to keep the flow of the Hebrew sentence and, despite the fact that the other imperatives addressed to God in this passage are singular, to translate this plural command to “seek” as a respectful address from the psalmist’s heart to the plural persons of the Godhead to seek out a lost sheep because that lost sheep is sure hoping to find its shepherd! In v.9, God’s face is toward David, and David’s is turned toward God, and both want to keep it that way.
b) That is also what is pictured in the Aaronic blessing, “The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." (Numbers 6:25-26, NKJV)
c) Is this what you want? The atheist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre talked about how nervous it made him to think of God looking at him, but for hearts that have found Jesus to be their savior rather than their judge, their refuge rather than their condemnation, it is a thought of great comfort that the divine lover of our soul is gazing at us!
d) David calls God “My Helper,” and says, in effect, “You can’t be a Helper and be avoiding me at the same time. You can’t be my Savior and be mad at me at the same time. To be true to Who You Are and What You have promised, You have to come close and save me. You can’t throw me away like a piece of trash.”
e) You know, God doesn’t need that reminder, but our hearts do. It’s o.k. to remind yourself that God is not going to lean away from you if you get too close. It’s o.k. to remind your heart that God is Your Helper when you are in distress. He’s Who you’re gonna call, and it’s the job He has committed to do to forgive and deliver and show kindness to you. It’s who He is; it’s what He does. Remind yourself of that if you ever doubt it!
3) David goes on to invite himself further into God’s presence with the request to “teach” him and “lead” him in v.11 and the request in v.12 not to turn him over to anybody else, but keep him in His care. These are things he knows to be true and has mentioned in previous psalms already:
a) Psalm 25:8 “Goodness and righteousness characterize Yahweh, therefore He directs/instructs sinners in His way.” (NAW)
b) Psalm 23:1 “Yahweh is my shepherd… 3b He will guide me in tracks of righteousness for the sake of His reputation.” (NAW)
c) Psalm 18:47 “This God is the One who deals out retributions… 48 delivering me from my enemies. Yes, You exalt me apart from the one who rises up [against] me. You cause me to escape from a man of violence.” (NAW)
d) Psalm 25:3 “Moreover, it is all those who wait on You that will not be shamed…” (NAW)
4) And that leads us to the final thing. Not only do we see to Review who God is, Remember what He has done, Anticipate the next church gathering, and Press close in relationship with God, we also can…
1) Now that David has gotten to his safe place and had his talk with God, he is ready to confess his faith. He begins with the statement that the LORD will take him in even if no one else will.
a) יַאַסְפֵנִי The word translated “take in/take up/receive” is often translated “gather.” It pictures the process of harvesting, which is often used as a metaphor for the Jesus’ second coming.
2) It’s possible David was still talking to himself in the final verse when he says, “Wait on the LORD.”
3) Fortify your soul’s faith by speaking it out loud when you struggle with doubts.
a) “God will take me in!”
b) “I will see the goodness of the LORD”
c) “Jesus loves me!”
d) Maybe you know some songs that speak these truths. Sing them too!
4) Then you can fortify other people’s faith. In verse 14, David says to somebody – perhaps to himself or perhaps to other people to wait on the Lord. And then wait for God to come through – and He will.
1) Review God’s attributes to neutralize fear
2) Remember God’s deliverances in the Past to inspire future confidence
3) Look forward to being in God’s house
4) Maintain relationship with God & talk with Him
5) Put your Faith into words and share it.
When a translation adds
words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets].
When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other
translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation
which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the
Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original Hebrew, I
use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew
text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the
original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally
use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and
versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. When
the same key Hebrew word is used in more than one verse, I use the same color
for that word in subsequent verses. Hebrew text that is colored purple matches
the Dead Sea Scrolls, and variants between the DSS and the MT are noted in
endnotes with the following exceptions: When a holem or qibbutz pointing
in the MT is represented in the DSS by a vav, when a hireq
pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a yod (the corresponding
consonantal representation of the same vowel), or when the tetragrammaton is
spelled with paleo-Hebrew letters, I did not record it a variant. Dead Sea
Scrolls which contain Psalm 27 are Scroll 4Q98a (containing v.1) and Scroll
4Q85 (vs. 12-14).
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Greek OT (Ps. 26) |
Brenton |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
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1 Τοῦ Δαυιδ· [πρὸ τοῦ χρισθῆναι]. Κύριος φωτισμός μου καὶ σωτήρ μου· τίνα φοβηθήσομαι; κύριος ὑπερασπιστὴς τῆς ζωῆς μου· ἀπὸ τίνος δειλιάσω[A]; |
1 A Psalm of David, [before he was anointed]. The Lord is my light and my Saviour; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the defender[B] of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? |
1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? |
1 By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Of whom shall I be afraid? Yahweh is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be in dread? |
א לְדָוִד יְהוָה אוֹרִי וְיִשְׁעִי מִמִּי אִירָא יְהוָה מָעוֹז חַיַּי מִמִּי אֶפְחָד. |
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2 ἐν τῷ ἐγγίζειν ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ κακοῦντας[C] τοῦ φαγεῖν τὰς σάρκας μου οἱ θλίβοντές με X καὶ οἱ ἐχθροί[D] μου αὐτοὶ ἠσθένησαν[E] καὶ ἔπεσαν· |
2 When evil-doers drew nigh against me to eat up my flesh, my persecutors X and mine enemies, they fainted and fell. |
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, X X they stumbled and fell. |
2 When evil ones - my oppressors and my enemies - encroached upon me to finish off my body, it was they who stumbled and fell! |
ב בִּקְרֹב עָלַי מְרֵעִים לֶאֱכֹל אֶת בְּשָׂרִי צָרַי וְאֹיְבַי לִי הֵמָּה כָשְׁלוּ וְנָפָלוּ. |
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3 ἐὰν παρατάξηται ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ παρεμβολή, οὐ φοβηθήσεται ἡ καρ δία μου· ἐὰν ἐπαναστῇ ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ πόλεμος, ἐν ταύτῃ ἐγὼ ἐλπίζω. |
3 Though an army should set itself in array[F] against me, my heart shall not be afraid: though war should rise up against me, in this am I confident[G]. |
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. |
3 If an army-camp pitches-camp against me, my heart will not be afraid; if a battle arises against me, during that I will keep trusting. |
ג אִם תַּחֲנֶה עָלַי מַחֲנֶה לֹא יִירָא לִבִּי אִם תָּקוּם עָלַי מִלְחָמָהfs בְּזֹאתfs אֲנִי בוֹטֵחַ. |
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4 μίαν ᾐτησάμην παρὰ κυρίου, ταύτην ἐκζητήσω· τοῦ κατοικεῖν με ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου, τοῦ θεωρεῖν με τὴν τερπνότητα τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπισκέπτεσθαι τὸν ναὸν αὐτοῦ. |
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I earnestly seek: that I should dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, that I should behold the fair beauty[H] of the Lord, and survey his temple. |
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. |
4 One thing I asked from Yahweh; that’s what I will seek: for me to sit in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, in order to gaze on the delightfulness of Yahweh and to do research in His temple. |
ד אַחַת שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת יְהוָה אוֹתָהּDO+3f אֲבַקֵּשׁ שִׁבְתִּיinf+1s בְּבֵית יְהוָה כָּל יְמֵי חַיַּי לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֹעַם יְהוָה וּלְבַקֵּר[I] בְּהֵיכָלוֹ. |
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5 ὅτι ἔκρυψέν με ἐν σκηνῇ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κακῶν [μου]· ἐσκέπασέν[J] με ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ τῆς σκηνῆς αὐτοῦ, ἐν πέτρᾳ[K] ὕψωσέν με· |
5 For in the day of [mine] afflictions he hid me in [his] tabernacle: he sheltered me in [the] secret of his tabernacle; he set me up on a rock. |
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in [his] pavilion: in [the] secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. |
5 For He will conceal me in a shelter during a bad day; He will hide me in a hiding-place of His tent. He will lift me up into a landmark-rock. |
ה כִּי יִצְפְּנֵנִי בְּסֻכֹּה[L] בְּיוֹם רָעָה יַסְתִּרֵנִי בְּסֵתֶר אָהֳלוֹ בְּצוּר יְרוֹמְמֵנִי. |
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6 καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ ὕψωσεν τ |
6 And now,
behold, |
6 And now
shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore
will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy;
I will sing, yea, I will |
6 And now my head will be lifted up over my enemies around me, and I will sacrifice there at His tent sacrifices of applause. I will sing there and I will play music there to Yahweh! |
ו וְעַתָּה יָרוּם[N] רֹאשִׁי עַל אֹיְבַי סְבִיבוֹתַי וְאֶזְבְּחָה בְאָהֳלוֹ זִבְחֵי תְרוּעָה אָשִׁירָה וַאֲזַמְּרָה לַיהוָה. |
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7 εἰσάκουσον, κύριε, τῆς φωνῆς μου, [ἧς] |
7 Hear, O
Lord, my voice [which] I |
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry [with] my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. |
7 Give heed, Yahweh to my voice. I am calling out, so be gracious to me and answer me. |
ז שְׁמַע יְהוָה קוֹלִי אֶקְרָא וְחָנֵּנִי וַעֲנֵנִי. |
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8 σοὶ εἶπεν ἡ καρδία μου |
8 My heart
said to thee, |
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. |
8 It was to You that my heart said, “Seek my face.” It is Your face, LORD, that I will seek. |
ח לְךָ אָמַר לִבִּי בַּקְּשׁוּ[R] פָנָי אֶת פָּנֶיךָ יְהוָה אֲבַקֵּשׁ. |
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9 μὴ ἀποστρέψῃς τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ, μὴ ἐκκλίνῃς ἐν ὀργῇ[S] ἀπὸ τοῦ δούλου σου· βοηθός μου γενοῦ, μὴ ἀποσκορακίσῃς με καὶ μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς[T] με, ὁ θεὸς ὁ σωτήρ μου. |
9 Turn[U]
not thy face away from me, turn not thou away from thy servant in anger: be thou my helper,
forsake me not; and, O God my Saviour, |
9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. |
9 Don’t hide Your face from me; don’t avoid Your servant in anger. My Helper is what You have been; You must not reject me or forsake me, God of my salvation! |
ט אַל תַּסְתֵּר פָּנֶיךָ מִמֶּנִּי אַל תַּט בְּאַף עַבְדֶּךָ עֶזְרָתִי הָיִיתָ אַל תִּטְּשֵׁנִי וְאַל תַּעַזְבֵנִי אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעִי. |
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10 ὅτι ὁ πατήρ μου καὶ ἡ μήτηρ μου ἐγκατέλιπόν με, ὁ δὲ κύριος προσελάβετό[V] με. |
10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me to himself. |
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. |
10 For, my father and my mother may forsake me, but Yahweh will take me in. |
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11 νομοθέτησόν[X] με, κύριε, τῇ ὁδῷ σου καὶ ὁδήγησόν με ἐν τρίβῳ εὐθείᾳ ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν[Y] μου. |
11 Teach me, O Lord, in thy way, and guide me in a right path, because of mine enemies. |
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. |
11 Yahweh, direct me in Your way and guide me in a level path in spite of my opponents. |
יא הוֹרֵנִי יְהוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ וּנְחֵנִי בְּאֹרַח מִישׁוֹר לְמַעַן שׁוֹרְרָי[Z]. |
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12 μὴ παραδῷς με εἰς ψυχὰς θλιβόντων με, ὅτι ἐπανέστησάν μοι μάρτυρες ἄδικοι[AA], καὶ |
12 Deliver me not over to
the desire of them that afflict me; for unjust witnesses have risen up
against me, and injustice has |
12 Deliver me not over unto
the |
12 Don’t extend me to the desire of my oppressors, because false witnesses have risen up against me, panting for violence. |
יב אַל תִּתְּנֵנִי בְּנֶפֶשׁ צָרָי כִּי קָמוּ בִי עֵדֵי שֶׁקֶר וִיפֵחַ[CC] חָמָס. |
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13 X πιστεύω τοῦ ἰδεῖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ κυρίου ἐν γῇ ζώντων. |
13 X I believe[DD] that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. |
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. |
13 On the contrary, I am convinced that I will see Yahweh with goodness in the land of the living. |
יג לוּלֵא הֶאֱמַנְתִּי לִרְאוֹת בְּטוּב יְהוָה בְּאֶרֶץ [EE]חַיִּים. |
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14 ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον· ἀνδρίζου[FF], καὶ κραταιούσθω ἡ καρδία σου, καὶ ὑπόμεινον[GG] τὸν κύριον. |
14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and let thy heart be strengthened: yea wait on the Lord. |
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. |
14 Wait on Yahweh; be strong and cause your heart to be firm, and wait on Yahweh. |
יד קַוֵּה[HH] אֶל יְהוָה חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץHiM לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל יְהוָה. |
[1] The interpretation of spending eternity in heaven with God would not be supported by “all the days of my life,” which would tend to indicate earthly life. The figurative interpretation of “house” being walking in a close relationship with God and His people would not be supported by the ensuing phrase “to enquire in His temple.”
[2] 1 Chronicles 16:11; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 27:8; 105:4; Hosea 5:15
[A] Cf. synonyms in translations made from Hebrew into Greek in the first couple of centuries AD by Aquilla= ptwhqhsomai, (S)ymmachus = pthxw
[B] (A)quilla = kratiawma = power
[C] A=ponereuomenouV synonym: evil=wicked
[D] S=enantioi = opposed to me
[E] A=eskandalwqhsan, S=sfalenteV, cf. erreusan
[F] S=encamp for war
[G] S=I am fearless
[H] Aquilla uses the synonym euprepeia, Symmachus uses the somewhat-less-synonymous kalloV (“goodness”)
[I] Only 5 other uses of this verb in the OT: Leviticus 13:36; 27:33; 2 Kings 16:15; Proverbs 20:25; Ezekiel 34:11,12. This verb includes both search and thought. We don’t seem to have and English word which contains that full a range of meaning.
[J] Cf. Aquilla and (E)usebieus’ synonym: [apo]kruyei.
[K] A=sterew “Solidly”
[L] All the standard English versions add the word “His,” as though the word were spelled סכו. The pronoun isn’t there in my versions of the LXX & MT, but Kittel apparently found other editions of the LXX and MT which were spelled that way. It doesn’t make a big difference, though.
[M] A & S corrected the LXX’s past tense by throwing this verb into the future tense.
[N] Symmachus joined with the LXX tradition translating this “He lifted (using ephran a different word from the LXX) my head” whereas the MT is “my head rose up.” On the other hand, Aquilla & Eusebius’ translations of the Psalm into Greek are closer to the MT “my head was lifted.” Since the ultimate cause and the resulting practical result are the same, it is not a significant variant in meaning.
[O] Eusebius used the same root in his Greek translation, but Aquilla went with lalountoV and Symmachus with bowntoV - both synonymns.
[P] For what it’s worth, the Syriac also omits the conjunction here, so it may point to an ancient difference in the Hebrew, but not an important difference.
[Q] E & S translated this word dwrhsai (“be generous”).
[R] Kittel notes that Symmachus, Aquilla, and the Syriac all side with the LXX here (although it looks to me like Symmachus sides with the MT against A & E and the LXX) in making this verb indicative instead of imperative. The Cairo Geniza omits the word altogether, and the Syriac omits the next word, so maybe the MT is different from the original wording of this psalm, but again, whether it is the heart’s desire or the heart’s practice, it is not a significant change in meaning.
[S] Aquilla rendered the synonym qumw
[T] Cf. A=eashV, S, E, & Theodotion=aporriyhV (divorce?).
[U] A & S translated it “hide” (apokruyhV).
[V] A & S=sunelexe (“choose together”)
[W] Cf. 26: 9 “Don’t gather my soul with sinners…”
[X] Cf. A & Theodotion = enlighten (fwtison), S. display (upodeixon).
[Y] A=efodeuontaV, S=apoteicizontaV, E=parapikrainontwn
[Z] Cf. 5:8
[AA] A&S use a word with the yeudo- root (“false”), matching the MT more closely.
[BB] Cf. A=revealed (exefanh), S=carried out (ekferonteV).
[CC] Hapex Legomenon. The verbal form of this is also found only once, and that is in Jer. 4:31, describing a woman in labour.
[DD] A & S correct the LXX’s present tense to past tense, matching the MT.
[EE] Kittle noted that the Cairo Geniza and other unspecified manuscripts included a definite article here, but it makes no real difference in meaning.
[FF] LXX is literally “be manly” here. Aquilla chose the synonym “be strong” (eniscuou), and Symmachus chose the synonym stereouaqan (“get hard”).
[GG] S=anamene (synonym)
[HH] The Syriac makes the verbs plural, expanding the application to all believers, which is reasonable application, if not accurate translation.