Protect Me and Help Me

Protect Me and Help Me

Excerpt

‎In these two verses the psalmist pleads with Yahweh to rescue him from his oppressors, for he has always done what is just and right (verse 121). He calls his enemies my oppressors because they persecute and mistreat him; the same verb oppress is used in verse 122b. In verse 122a the Hebrew verb form translated Be surety by RSV is a legal term describing the action of someone who makes himself responsible for another’s debts; here the term has the general sense of helping. The meaning of the line is well expressed by NJV, “Guarantee your servant’s well-being” (also NJB); frcl has “Guarantee me that everything will end well.” Be surety for thy servant may also be rendered, for example, “Be my protector and helper” or simply “Protect me and help me.” For thy servant see verse 17a; for the godless see verse 51a. (It is to be noticed that in verses 121–122 there is no reference to God’s law.)

Bratcher, Robert G., and William David Reyburn. A Translator’s Handbook on the Book of Psalms. New York: United Bible Societies, 1991. Print. UBS Handbook Series.