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1In the Lord I have taken shelter.[#tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.]
How can you say to me,
“Flee to a mountain like a bird!
2For look, the wicked prepare their bows,[#tn In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and threaten his people (Ps 3:8).; #tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form depicts the enemies’ hostile action as underway.; #tn Heb “a bow.”]
they put their arrows on the strings,
to shoot in the darkness at the morally upright.
3When the foundations are destroyed,[#tn The precise meaning of this rare word is uncertain. An Ugaritic cognate is used of the “bottom” or “base” of a cliff or mountain (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47, 159). The noun appears in postbiblical Hebrew with the meaning “foundation” (see Jastrow 1636 s.v. שָׁת).]
what can the godly accomplish?”
4The Lord is in his holy temple;[#tn Because of the royal imagery involved here, one could translate “lofty palace.” The Lord’s heavenly temple is in view here (see Mic 1:2-4).]
the Lord ’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes watch;
his eyes examine all people.
5The Lord approves of the godly,[#tn Heb “examines,” the same verb used in v. 4b. But here it is used in a metonymic sense of “examine and approve” (see Jer 20:12).; #tn The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure (of heart)” in v. 2.]
but he hates the wicked and those who love to do violence.
6May the Lord rain down burning coals and brimstone on the wicked![#tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord rain down”), not indicative (“The Lord rains down”; see also Job 20:23). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that God will do so. In this way the psalmist seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.; #tc The MT reads “traps, fire, and brimstone,” but the image of God raining traps, or snares, down from the sky is bizarre and does not fit the fire and storm imagery of this verse. The noun פַּחִים (pakhim, “traps, snares”) should be emended to פַּחֲמֵי (pakhamey, “coals of [fire]”). The rare noun פֶּחָם (pekham, “coal”) occurs in Prov 26:21 and Isa 44:12; 54:16.; #sn The image of God “raining down” brimstone on the objects of his judgment also appears in Gen 19:24 and Ezek 38:22.]
A whirlwind is what they deserve!
7Certainly the Lord is just;[#tn Or “for.”; #tn Or “righteous.”]
he rewards godly deeds;
the upright will experience his favor.