Psalm 28

Translation & Sermon By Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 7 May 2017

Introduction

Have you ever had to suffer consequences with a group of people because some of them had done something wrong, so the whole group got in trouble, even though you yourself had not been involved in that wrongdoing?

· I remember one time in first or second grade, my teacher whisked me out of the classroom and spanked me for talking during class because she had heard talking from the corner of the room where my desk was and she thought it was me, but it wasn’t me; it was the other guys sitting next to me, but she didn’t believe me and so I got spanked.

· When God sent the nation of Israel into exile, there were a few faithful Jews like Daniel that suffered plunder and capture and exile along with their apostate nation even though they personally were innocent of rebellion against God.

· Psalm 28 is a prayer written by someone who has been through that experience and provided us an example of how to deal with it.

Psalm 28 opens with David laying before God two prohibitives and two imperatives, alternating back and forth in the first four verses:

V.1 Don’t just sit there and do nothing
V.2 Give heed to my plea
V.3 Don’t punish me along with those who are wicked
V.4. Give the bad guys the punishment they deserve

Then at the chiastic center of the Psalm is the main point in verse 6: God heard

Then David circles back to four more imperatives, in v.9 effectively saying, “God, you answered my first four requests. Now, I have four more I want to pray for my people:

Save them
Bless them
Provide for them, and
Carry them
These are all things that David was used to being responsible for, when he was a shepherd, for his sheep, and now, as a King, he was responsible to do for the nations of Israel: Keep them safe from foreign invasions by leading the army. Praying for God to bless the nation. Providing for their general welfare by organizing a wise economy, and generally keeping the nation encouraged and moving along. And yet he sees God as the true power behind his throne in v.8, and he asks God to take responsibility for these things for his nation in a way that he, as a mortal man could never do.

By David. It is to you, Yahweh, my landmark-rock, that I call.

v Setting: the superscription says, “by David.” John Calvin commented, “After being delivered by God’s help from great dangers, David, in this psalm, according to his custom, first records the vows that he had made in the midst of his difficulties, and then his thanksgivings and praises to God, to induce others to follow his example. It is probable that he speaks of his persecutions by Saul.” And this reflects the sentiments of most Bible scholars[1]

v David sets an example for us here. When we are under stress, it needs to be God and God alone that we go to in prayer.

v As with many of the Psalms, the Psalmist speaks prophetically of the Messiah, and the church father Augustine wrote in his commentary on the Psalms about 1,700 years ago that this prefigures Christ in His mediator role, who stretched his hands out on the cross, surrounded by wicked men and prayed, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and yet trusted God and found strength and resurrection and became the salvation of His people and now intercedes for us before God: “Save them, bless them, provide for them, and lift them up in this age and forever in the age to come.”[2]

The plea vs. 1-4

v.1 You must not be silent in regard to me.

REASON: If you sit still in regard to me, then I will be [in] the same [boat] with those who go down the pit.
David is arguing a case before God, and he uses vivid pictures to bring his point across…
Note the reason he gives, not selfish but arguing God’s interests:

i. Is it just for me to meet the same punishment as the wicked?

ii. Is it appropriate for you to ignore someone who is reaching out to you?

iii. You don’t really want to lose relationship with me.

Cf. Isa. 38: 18 “For it is not Sheol (that) thanks You (or) death (that) praises You; those who go down to the pit do not hope in Your truth.”
The book of Revelation chapters 9 & 20 speak of a “bottomless pit,” and, at the end of chapter 20, it says, “Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”(NKJV)

v.2 Give heed to the voice of my supplication

REASON: while I am crying out to You, while I am raising my hand in the direction of the oracle of your holiness.
1 Kings 6 clearly identifies the debir/oracle/speech-place as the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. This is the place where Moses heard the voice of the LORD speaking in Exodus 25:22 and Numbers 7:89[3]. David must have taught his son to pray like this, because we find Solomon praying the following at the dedication of the temple: “Whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways…” (1Ki 8:38-39, NKJV)

3 You must not put me tow with evil men

or with those who commit iniquity while saying, “peace” with their neighbors despite evil-intentions in their heart.
The Hebrew word for draw/drag/tow is generally used in the Bible to describe the action of tying a rope onto something or someone and pulling on it. The wording in this Psalm is unclear whether this word picture is describing evil men lassoing David and pulling him down or whether this is God tying up all the bad guys and parading them off to prison, as it were[4], but the point is that it is not right for David and the bad guys to be on the same rope. David shouldn’t be lumped together with them or left under their jurisdiction because they are evil: they fake like everything is fine while they carry out evil/malice/mischief. We know that hypocrisy like that was clearly denounced by Christ.
Matthew Henry saw in this verse a model for prayer: ““Save me from being infected with their sins and from doing as they do. Let me not be drawn away by their fallacious arguments, or their allurements, from the holy oracle (where I desire to dwell all the days of my life), to practise any wicked works”

4 Give to them what matches their deeds and what matches the evil of their accomplishments. Give to them what matches the works of their hands; Deal their payback to them,

5a because they are not perceptive to the works of Yahweh or to the doings of His hands…

· It fits with justice for the shoe to drop on those who ignore God.

· “Punish them, not me!”

The answer vs. 5-8

5b …He will[5] demolish them and He will not build them up.

6 Yahweh is blessed because He has given heed to the voice of my supplication!

7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield; it is in Him that my heart has trusted, so I will be helped out, and my heart will rejoice, and through my song I will respond to Him.

8 Yahweh is the strength of His people, and He is the source of strength behind the salvations of His anointed one.

Verse 7 speaks of “strength & shield” God is both my offence and my defense – or perhaps, as the LXX rendered it, He is the one who brings me to safety when I cry out for help and then keeps me safe.
“[T]he sacrifice of thanksgiving was often accompanied by a public recitation of a psalm of thanksgiving” (G. Wilson), so that may be the context of the song David mentions at the end of v.7.
“when God spreads cheerfulness through our hearts, it is to open our mouths to sing his praises.” ~Calvin
In v.8, the KJV and NASB follow the reading of the Masoretic Hebrew text from around 1,000 AD “the LORD is their strength,” whereas the ESV and NIV follow the reading of the second-century BC Septuagint and Syriac which read “The LORD is the strength of His people” – in Hebrew, it is the difference of only one letter, and either way it is saying the same thing[6].
God being the strength of the people is put in parallel with God being the strength of the people’s anointed king.
The words in the second half of the verse can be translated in terms of offensive military action or defensive action – it is ambiguous, so some translations go for the defensive meanings of stronghold and safety[7], whereas others go for the offensive meanings of military might and victory.
John Calvin commented on the fact that the word “salvation/saving” is plural[8] in the Hebrew: “David employs salvations or deliverances in the plural number, because he had been often and in various ways preserved. The meaning, therefore, is, that from the time when God had anointed him by the hand of Samuel, he never ceased to help him, but delivered him in innumerable ways, until he had accomplished the work of his grace in him.”
Classic commentator William Plumer wrote: “Every believer has abundant cause for blessing and praising God, vv. 6, 7. When he thinks of all God has been, is, and ever shall be to him, of all that God has done, is doing, and ever shall be doing for him, of the ills he has escajied, and the good things he is authorized to hope for, how can his landings of the Almighty be excessive?”

The expanded prayer v.9

9 Cause Your people to be safe and bless Your inheritance and provide for them and carry them unto eternity.

Note that “people” in Hebrew is not the plural of “person;” David is praying for the salvation of the holy nation.

· Matthew 1:21 NKJV And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

· Matthew 2:6 NKJV 'BUT YOU, BETHLEHEM, IN THE LAND OF JUDAH, ARE NOT THE LEAST AMONG THE RULERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' "

· Luke 1:17 NKJV He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

· Luke 1:68 NKJV "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people” (Zachariah)

· Acts 15:14 NKJV Simon [aka Peter] has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.

· Acts 26:23 NKJV that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the people [i.e. the Jews] and to the Gentiles."

· Romans 9:25 NKJV As He says also in Hosea: "I WILL CALL THEM MY PEOPLE, WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, AND HER BELOVED, WHO WAS NOT BELOVED."

· Titus 2:14 NKJV [Jesus Christ] who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Addressed to the pastor in Crete – not a Jewish community.)

· Hebrews 2:17 NKJV Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

· Hebrews 8:10 NKJV FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

· 1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

· Revelation 5:9 NKJV And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

· Revelation 18:4 NKJV And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

· Revelation 21:3 NKJV And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

The New Testament also talks about Jesus inheriting a holy people:

· Ephesians 1:13 In whom also you having heard the word of the truth - the good news of your salvation, in whom also you having believed, were sealed in the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14. Who is a down-payment of the inheritance of us into redemption of His possession into praise of His glory. 15, Though this I also, beginning to hear the faith according to y’all in the Lord Jesus and the love to all the saints, 16. I never stop giving thanks for you, making a reminder upon my prayers 17. in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the Glory may donate to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in knowledge of Him, 18. the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, resulting in [you] knowing: what the hope of His call is, what the wealth of the glory of His inheritance in the saints is…” (NAW)

· Colossians 1:9-12 NKJV “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you… 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

The Hebrew word for “shepherd” has a root meaning of providing food, and it extends figuratively into the meaning of providing leadership.

· Revelation 7:15-17 NKJV Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The last verb “lift up/carry” was in Exodus 19:4-6 NKJV “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (cf. Isa. 63:9)

Conclusion

· There is a tension between living in a community that will experience corporate blessing or judgment from God all together when only a certain percentage of the group has actually been evil or righteous.

o David prays for God’s blessing on his community as a whole for his personal sake as a faithful man, while at the same time asking God to make some distinctions in his community and not to judge him along with the wrong-doers in his community.

o Later on in Israel’s history, “The exilic faithful could have… wallowed in their self-pity, refusing to accept any solidarity with their suffering community and demanding divine explanation for an essentially unjust act… [but] Whenever we love instead of hate, when we exchange self-protection for risky compassion, when we allow our hearts to be broken by the suffering of the world around us, we turn our own senseless suffering not into a cry of anger, but into a plea for unity and restoration [just as David did in Psalm 28].” ~Gerald Wilson

o Who knows but that we may find ourselves damaged by an economic crash or a foreign invasion or persecution by people who hate God. Will we be able to pray like David prayed in these stresses?

· David’s testimony in this Psalm is that God answers prayer. Take heart, believer, God answers prayer!

· “The wailings of penitence shall be succeeded by the sweet consciousness of forgiving mercy; the sorrowing of affliction shall usher in a long day of joy and prosperity ; and the cry of oppressed innocence shall bring down upon some guilty head the ministers of divine wrath." ~Morison, as quoted by Plumer

· So take heart and pray!

· “Those that pray in faith may rejoice in hope. ‘He hath heard me (graciously accepted me) and I am as sure of a real answer as if I had it already.’ What we win by prayer we must wear by praise. Has God heard our supplications? Let us then bless his name.” ~Matthew Henry

Comparison of editions and versions of Psalm 28

Hebrew text in purple matches the first century AD Dead Sea Scroll 4Q85 Psalms^c. There are no disagreements between 4Q and the 10^th century Masoretic text.

LXX (27)	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
1 Τοῦ Δαυιδ. Πρὸς σέ, κύριε, ἐκέκραξα[A], ὁ ~~θεός~~ μου, μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς[B] ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ, μήποτε ~~παρασιωπήσῃς~~ ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ καὶ ὁμοιωθήσομαι[C] X τοῖς καταβαίνουσιν [εἰς] λάκκον.	1 A Psalm of David. To thee, O Lord, have I cried; my ~~God~~, be not silent toward me: lest thou be ~~silent~~ toward me, and so I should be likened to them that go down [to] the pit.	1 A Psalm of David. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, X I become like them that go down [into] the pit.	1 By David. It is to you, Yahweh, my landmark-rock, that I call. You must not be silent in regard to me. If you sit still in regard to me, then I will be [in] the same [boat] with those who go down the pit.	א לְדָוִד אֵלֶיךָ יְהוָה אֶקְרָא צוּרִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ מִמֶּנִּי פֶּן תֶּחֱשֶׁה מִמֶּנִּי וְנִמְשַׁלְתִּי עִם יוֹרְדֵי בוֹר[D].
2 εἰσάκουσον τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς[E] μου ἐν τῷ δέεσθαί[F] με πρὸς σέ, ἐν τῷ με αἴρειν χεῖράς μου πρὸς ~~ναὸν~~ ἅγιόν σου.	2 Hearken to the voice of my supplication, when I pray to thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy ~~temple~~.	2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.	2 Give heed to the voice of my supplication while I am crying out to You, while I am raising my hand in the direction of the oracle of your holiness.	ב שְׁמַע קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנַי בְּשַׁוְּעִי אֵלֶיךָ בְּנָשְׂאִי יָדַי אֶל דְּבִיר[G] קָדְשֶׁךָ.
3 μὴ συνελκύσῃς μετὰ ~~ἁμαρτωλῶν~~ [τὴν ψυχήν] μου καὶ μετὰ ἐργαζομένων ἀδικίαν [μὴ συναπολέσῃς[H] με] τῶν λαλούντων εἰρήνην μετὰ τῶν πλησίον[I] αὐτῶν, κακὰ δὲ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν.	3 Draw not [away] my [soul] with ~~sinners~~, and [destroy me not] with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace with their neighbours, but evils are in their hearts.	3 Draw me not [away] with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischiefX is in their hearts.	3 You must not put me tow with evil men or with those who commit iniquity while saying, “peace” with their neighbors despite evil-intentions in their heart.	ג אַל תִּמְשְׁכֵנִי עִם רְשָׁעִים וְעִם פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן דֹּבְרֵי שָׁלוֹם עִם רֵעֵיהֶם וְרָעָה בִּלְבָבָם.
4 δὸς αὐτοῖς κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν καὶ κατὰ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων αὐτῶν· κατὰ τὰ ἔργα[J] τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν δὸς αὐτοῖς, ἀπόδος τὸ ἀνταπόδομα[K] αὐτῶν αὐτοῖς.	4 Give them according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their devices: give them according to the works of their hands; render their recompense unto them.	4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.	4 Give to them what matches their deeds and what matches the evil of their accomplishments. Give to them what matches the works of their hands; Deal their payback to them,	ד תֶּן לָהֶם כְּפָעֳלָם וּכְרֹעַ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם כְּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם תֵּן לָהֶם הָשֵׁב גְּמוּלָם לָהֶם.
LXX (27)	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
5 ὅτι οὐ συνῆκαν εἰς τὰ ἔργα κυρίου καὶ εἰς τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ· καθελεῖς αὐτοὺς καὶ οὐ μὴ οἰκοδομήσεις αὐτούς.	5 Because they have not attended to the works of the Lord, even to the works of his hands, thou shalt pull them down, and shalt not build them up.	5 Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.	5 because they are not perceptive to the works of Yahweh or to the doings of His hands. He will demolish them and He will not build them up.	ה כִּי לֹא יָבִינוּ אֶל פְּעֻלֹּת יְהוָה וְאֶל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו יֶהֶרְסֵם וְלֹא יִבְנֵם.
6 εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὅτι εἰσήκουσεν τῆς φωνῆς τῆς δεήσεώς μου.	6 Blessed be the Lord, for he has hearkened to the voice of my petition.	6 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.	6 Yahweh is blessed because He has given heed to the voice of my supplication!	ו בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה כִּי שָׁמַע קוֹל תַּחֲנוּנָי.
7 κύριος ~~βοηθός~~ μου καὶ ~~ὑπερασπιστής~~ μου[L]· ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ ἤλπισεν[M] ἡ καρδία μου, καὶ ἐβοηθήθην, καὶ ἀνέθαλεν ἡ ~~σάρξ~~[N] μου· καὶ ἐκ ~~θελήματός~~[O] μου ἐξομολογήσομαι[P] αὐτῷ.	7 The Lord is my ~~helper~~ and my ~~defender~~; my heart has hoped in him, and I am helped: my ~~flesh~~ has ~~revived~~, and ~~willingly~~ will I give praise to him.	7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.	7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield; it is in Him that my heart has trusted, so I will be helped out, and my heart will rejoice, and through my song I will respond to Him.	ז יְהוָה עֻזִּי וּמָגִנִּי בּוֹ בָטַח לִבִּי וְנֶעֱזָרְתִּי וַיַּעֲלֹז לִבִּי וּמִשִּׁירִי אֲהוֹדֶנּוּ.
8 κύριος κραταίωμα τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς τῶν σωτηρίων τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.	8 The Lord is the strength of his people, and the saving defender of his anointed.	8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.	8 Yahweh is the strength of His people, and He is the source of strength behind the salvations of His anointed one.	ח יְהוָה עֹז לָמוֹ[Q] וּמָעוֹז יְשׁוּעוֹת מְשִׁיחוֹ הוּא.
9 σῶσον τὸν λαόν σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ ποίμανον αὐτοὺς καὶ ἔπαρον[R] αὐτοὺς ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος.	9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: and take care of them, and lift them up for ever.	9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.	9 Cause Your people to be safe and bless Your inheritance and provide for them and carry them unto eternity.	ט הוֹשִׁיעָה אֶת עַמֶּךָ וּבָרֵךְ אֶת נַחֲלָתֶךָ וּרְעֵם וְנַשְּׂאֵם עַד הָעוֹלָם.

[1] Including Theodoret, Gill, Scott, but Delitzsch and also Hengstenberg suggested it was during the time of Absalom’s rebellion, and Dodd that it was towards the latter end of his reign. Others (including Gerald Wilson) suggest it was exilic or post-exilic (Plumer).

[2] “The truth probably is that the Psalm details the experience of the literal David, but also presents him as a type of the great Anointed, who was to come; and so we may regard it as Typical-Messianic. David is as certainly spoken of as anointed of God as was the great promised Deliverer.” ~Plumer

[3] K&D offered a different interpretation, relating debir not to speech but to “the hinder part of the tent, from דָּבַר, Arabic dabara, to be behind.” Wilson and Holladay confirm this, saying, “The term debir is employed more generally in the ancient Near East to designate the rear room or inner niche of a Syrian type of temple…”

[4] “If the one seeking asylum [in the temple] was determined to be guilty, he would be ‘dragged’ out of the temple and executed.” ~Gerald Wilson

[5] Calvin suggested that this be interpreted as a jussive imperfect, “Let Him demolish them, and let him not build…” Matthew Henry, on the other hand interpreted them as future tense: “This prayer is a prophecy that God will, sooner or later, render to all impenitent sinners according to their deserts.”

[6] Although Calvin suggests that “their” would indicate David’s soldiers rather than the whole Jewish people, it is not a plural “their” in Hebrew but a singular “its” referring to the people. There is a Jewish voice in favor of “people” – Ibn Ezra, according to the Soncino commentaries.

[7] E.g. Delitzsch: “He surrounds him as an inaccessible place of refuge which secures to him salvation in all its fulness instead of the destruction anticipated.”

[8] Plumer suggested that the plural “salvations” just indicated “completeness and perfection of deliverance.”

[A] The first century Greek translation by Aquilla reads epi... kalesw (“call” this is the Greek word most similar to the Hebrew word in the MT) steree (“firm one”) mou, and the second century Greek translation by Symmachus reads epi... ebohea (“shout” – more along the lines of the LXX “cry out”) fulax (“stronghold”) mou. Apart from these Jewish translations avoiding the use of words for “God,” these are just synonymous expressions of the same meaning.

[B] Aq. And Symm. use the synonyms kwfeushV (“be deaf”), sighshV (“be silent”), and hsucasantoV

[C] Aq.=parablhqhsomai “cast out” (rather different from the meaning of the Hebrew word, but still in line with the meaning of the verse)

[D] Psalm 143:7 ends with this same phrase. Nimshal- seems to need a preposition to go with it. Other occurrences besides Ps 143:7 use the preposition -כ or אל. Cf. Isa. 38: 18 “For it is not Sheol (that) thanks You (or) death (that) praises You; those who go down to the pit do not hope in Your truth.”

[E] Request/begging. Cf. Sym.=ikesiaV (“prayer/supplication”). In v.6, Theodotian did the same thing Symmachus did here, so clearly synonymous.

[F] Aq.=anabohsai (“upward shouting”), Symm.=litaneuontoV (“praying” – a bit different from the Hebrew), Eus. & Syr.=kekragenai (“having cried out”)

[G] LXX=“temple,” Aq.=crhmatisthrion (“oracle/revelation”), Theodotion=dabeir (transliteration of the Hebrew word into Greek letters!) 1 Kings 6 clearly identifies the debir/oracle/speech-place as the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. This is the place where Moses heard the voice of the LORD speaking in Exodus 25:22 and Numbers 7:89. David must have taught his son to pray like this, because we find Solomon praying the following at the dedication of the temple: “Whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways…” (1Ki 8:38-39, NKJV)

[H] First and second-century Jewish translations into Greek yielded synonymous expressions: Aq.=mh elkushV meta aswbwn katergazomenwn anwfeleV (“drag with ungodly ones who commit uselesness”), Symm.=meta paranomwn kai meta ergazomenwn adikian (“with lawless ones and with those who commit unrighteousness”)

[I] Cf. synonyms in Aq. & Symm. = etairwn/etairoiV (“companions”)

[J] Aq. translates the synonyms praxeiV instead of the first erga and poihmata for the second erga. He does similarly in v.5 along with Symm. and Eus. The Syriac omits the second half of this verse, but since it is a synonymous parallelism, no meaning is lost. Aq. agrees with the LXX and Targums on (“works”) being plural instead of singular (“work of their hands”), however, this could just be a translation issue. In Hebrew, you can have a singular with a plural, such as is the case with the singular “heart” in Hebrew in the previous verse, despite it describing the hearts of a plurality of ungodly men.

[K] Aq.=epistreyon amoibhn (“return a recompense”), ESV=due [reward]

[L] Aq.=kratoV (power)… qureoV (shield), Symm.=iscuV (strength)… kefalhV (headship).

[M] Aq.=pipoiqen, Symm.=epepoiqhsen

[N] Other Greek versions are agreed on “heart” instead of the LXX “flesh” and use various synonyms for anethalen (“bloom/grow up”) Aq.=hgauriasato (“enlarge”?) h kardia mou, Symm.=ilarunqh (“cheer”?) h kardia mou, Eus.=ekratunqh (“strengthen/hold fast”) h kardia mou

[O] I suspect that the other Greek translations are more along the lines of the MT: Aq.=asmatoV, Symm.=wdaiV

[P] Symm.=umnhsw (sing a hymn to)

[Q] The Syriac reads the same as the LXX “strength of His people” as opposed to the Hebrew “strength belongs to Him.” Both readings are supported by other scriptures; this variation is worth considering. The Cairo Geniza omits the next word, but, as noted before, its terseness does not corroborate with other manuscripts, so it appears to be edited and not original.

[R] Symm. used the synonym uywson