Psalm 27

¹The Lord delivers and vindicates me![#tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).]

I fear no one!

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one!

²When evil men attack me[#tn Heb “draw near to me.”]

to devour my flesh,

when my adversaries and enemies attack me,

they stumble and fall.

³Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear.

Even when war is imminent,

I remain confident.

⁴I have asked the Lord for one thing –

this is what I desire!

I want to live in the Lord ’s house all the days of my life,

so I can gaze at the splendor of the Lord

and contemplate in his temple.

⁵He will surely give me shelter in the day of danger;[#tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.; #tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”; #tn Or “trouble.”]

he will hide me in his home;

he will place me on an inaccessible rocky summit.

⁶Now I will triumph

over my enemies who surround me!

I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy!

I will sing praises to the Lord !

⁷Hear me, O Lord , when I cry out![#tn Heb “my voice.”]

Have mercy on me and answer me!

⁸My heart tells me to pray to you,[#tc Heb “concerning you my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’” The verb form “seek” is plural, but this makes no sense here, for the psalmist is addressed. The verb should be emended to a singular form. The first person pronominal suffix on “face” also makes little sense, unless it is the voice of the Lord he hears. His “heart” is viewed as speaking, however, so it is better to emend the form to פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”).]

and I do pray to you, O Lord .

⁹Do not reject me![#tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).]

Do not push your servant away in anger!

You are my deliverer!

Do not forsake or abandon me,

O God who vindicates me!

¹⁰Even if my father and mother abandoned me,[#tn Or “though my father and mother have abandoned me.”]

the Lord would take me in.

¹¹Teach me how you want me to live;[#tn Heb “teach me your way.” The Lord’s “way” refers here to the moral principles which he expects the psalmist to follow. See Ps 25:4.]

lead me along a level path because of those who wait to ambush me!

¹²Do not turn me over to my enemies,[#tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”]

for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.

¹³Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience

the Lord ’s favor in the land of the living?

¹⁴Rely on the Lord ![#tn Or “wait.”]

Be strong and confident!

Rely on the Lord !