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Psalms 86:11
85:2 You pardoned the wrongdoing of

85:12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good
your people; blessings,15
you forgave all their sin. (Selah) and our land will yield16 its crops.
85:3 You withdrew all your fury; 85:13 Deliverance goes17 before him,
you turned back from your raging anger. and prepares18 a pathway for him.19
85:4 Restore us, O God our deliverer!
Do not be displeased with us! Psalm 8620
85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever? A prayer of David.
Will you remain angry throughout future
generations? 86:1 Listen21 O Lord! Answer me!
85:6 Will you not revive us once more? For I am oppressed and needy.
Then your people will rejoice in you! 86:2 Protect me,22 for I am loyal!
85:7 O Lord, show us your loyal love! O my God, deliver your servant, who
Bestow on us your deliverance! trusts in you!
85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord 86:3 Have mercy on me,23 O Lord,
says. for I cry out to you all day long!
For he will make peace with his people, 86:4 Make your servant24 glad,
his faithful followers. for to you, O Lord, I pray!25
Yet they must not return to their foolish 86:5 Certainly26 O Lord, you are kind27
ways. and forgiving,
85:9 Certainly his loyal followers will and show great faithfulness to all who cry
soon experience his deliverance;10 out to you.
then his splendor will again appear in our 86:6 O Lord, hear my prayer!
land.11 Pay attention to my plea for mercy!
85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet;12 86:7 In my time of trouble I cry out to you,
deliverance and peace greet each other for you will answer me.
with a kiss.13 86:8 None can compare to you among the
85:11 Faithfulness grows from the ground, gods, O Lord!
and deliverance looks down from the Your exploits are incomparable!28
sky.14 86:9 All the nations, whom you created,
will come and worship you,29 O Lord.
 tn Heb “lifted up.” They will honor your name.
 tn Heb “covered over.” 86:10 For you are great and do amazing
 tn Heb “the rage of your anger.” The phrase “rage of your
things.
anger” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined You alone are God.
in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a
detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous 86:11 O Lord, teach me how you want me
examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the to live!30
Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Then I will obey your commands.31
Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81. See Pss 69:24; 78:49.
 tn Heb “break your displeasure with us.” Some prefer to
emend ‫( הָ פֵ ר‬hafer, “break”) to ‫( הָ סֵ ר‬haser, “turn aside”). faithfulness and expects deliverance to arrive soon.
15 tn Heb “what is good.”
 tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a
16 tn Both “bestow” and “yield” translate the same Hebrew
generation?”
 sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the verb (‫נ ַָתן‬, natan). The repetition of the word emphasizes that
psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a di- agricultural prosperity is the direct result of divine blessing.
17 tn Or “will go.”
vine word of assurance.
 tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to es- 18 tn Or “will prepare.”
19 tn Heb “and it prepares for a way his footsteps.” Some
tablishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone
(see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8). suggest emending ‫( וְ ָי ֵׂשם‬vÿyasem, “and prepares”) to ‫וְשלוֹם‬ ָׁ
 tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The (vÿshalom, “and peace”) since “deliverance” and “peace” are
translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful follow- closely related earlier in v. 13. This could be translated, “and
ers” are viewed as identical here. peace [goes ahead, making] a pathway for his footsteps” (cf.
 tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle ‫ֵאל‬ NEB).
20 sn Psalm 86. The psalmist appeals to God’s mercy as he
(’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speak-
er’s desire or wish. asks for deliverance from his enemies.
10 tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who 21 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
22 tn Heb “my life.”
fear him.”
11 tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject 23 tn Or “show me favor.”
24 tn Heb “the soul of your servant.”
of the infinitive. The infinitive with -‫( ְל‬lÿ), “to dwell,” probably
25 tn Heb “I lift up my soul.”
indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people
and renews his relationship with them, he will once more re- 26 tn Or “for.”
veal his royal splendor in the land. 27 tn Heb “good.”
12 tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in 28 tn Heb “and there are none like your acts.”
v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he an- 29 tn Or “bow down before you.”
ticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred. 30 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here
13 sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. to the moral principles he expects the psalmist to follow. See
The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to empha- Pss 25:4; 27:11.
size that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliver- 31 tn Heb “I will walk in your truth.” The Lord’s command-
ance and peace for his people. ments are referred to as “truth” here because they are a trust-
14 sn The psalmist already sees undeniable signs of God’s worthy and accurate expression of the divine will. See Ps 25:5.