Psalm 119:169–176

ת (Tav)

119:169 Listen to my cry for help,207 O Lord!

Give me insight by your word!

119:170 Listen to my appeal for mercy!208

Deliver me, as you promised.209

119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,

for you teach me your statutes.

119:172 May my tongue sing about your instructions,210

for all your commands are just.

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey211 your precepts.

119:174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;

I find delight in your law.

119:175 May I212 live and praise you!

May your regulations help me!213

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep.214

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

207	tn Heb “may my cry approach before you.”
208	tn Heb “may my appeal for mercy come before you.”
209	tn Heb “according to your speech.”
210	tn Heb “your word.”
211	tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.
212	tn Heb “my life.”
213	tn God’s regulations will “help” the psalmist by giving him moral and ethical guidance.
214	tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).