¹tn Heb “turn your ear.”
²tn Heb “my life.”
³tn Or “show me favor.”
⁴tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”
⁵tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”
⁶tn Or “for.”
⁷tn Heb “good.”
⁸tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”
⁹tn Or “bow down before you.”
¹⁰tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles he expects the psalmist to follow. See Pss 25:4; 27:11.
¹¹tn Heb “I will walk in your truth.” The Lord’s commandments are referred to as “truth” here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will. See Ps 25:5.
¹²tn Heb “Bind my heart to the fearing of your name.” The verb translated “bind” occurs only here in the Piel stem. It appears twice in the Qal, meaning “be joined” in both cases (Gen 49:6; Isa 14:20). To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for him which in turn motivates one to obey his commands (see Pss 61:5; 102:15).
¹³tn Or “forever.”
¹⁴tn Heb “for your loyal love [is] great over me.”
¹⁵tn Or “for he will have delivered my life.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here.
¹⁶tn Or “lower Sheol.”
¹⁷tn Heb “rise up against me.”
¹⁸tn Or “assembly.”
¹⁹tn Heb “seek my life and do not set you before them.” See Ps 54:3.
²⁰tn Heb “slow to anger.”
²¹tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes Exod 34:6.
²²tn Heb “the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 116:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.
²³tn Heb “Work with me a sign for good.” The expression “work a sign” also occurs in Judg 6:17.
²⁴tn After the imperative in the preceding line (“work”), the prefixed verb forms with prefixed vav conjunctive indicate purpose or result.
²⁵tn The perfect verbal forms are understood here as dramatic/rhetorical, expressing the psalmist’s certitude that such a sign from the Lord will be followed by his intervention. Another option is to understand the forms as future perfects (“for you, O Lord, will have helped me and comforted me”).
²⁶sn Psalm 87. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s presence in Zion and the special status of its citizens.