Mazmur 7:10

7:10 The Exalted God is my shield, ¹ 

the one who delivers the morally upright. ² 

Mazmur 11:5

11:5 The Lord approves of ³  the godly, ⁴ 

but he ⁵  hates ⁶  the wicked and those who love to do violence. ⁷ 

Mazmur 139:1-4

Psalm 139 ⁸ 

For the music director, a psalm of David.

139:1 O Lord, you examine me ⁹  and know.

139:2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;

even from far away you understand my motives.

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ¹⁰ 

you are aware of everything I do. ¹¹ 

139:4 Certainly ¹²  my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. ¹³ 

[7:10]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “my shield is upon God” (cf. NASB). As in v. 8, עַל (’al) should be understood as a divine title, here compounded with “God” (cf. NIV, “God Most High”). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:45-46. The shield metaphor pictures God as a protector against deadly attacks.

[7:10]  ² tn Heb “pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[11:5]  ³ 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).

[11:5]  ⁴ tn The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form “pure (of heart)” in v. 2.

[11:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “his [very] being.” A נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, soul”) is also attributed to the Lord in Isa 1:14, where a suffixed form of the noun appears as the subject of the verb “hate.” Both there and here the term is used of the seat of one’s emotions and passions.

[11:5]  ⁶ sn He hates the wicked. The Lord “hates” the wicked in the sense that he despises their wicked character and deeds, and actively opposes and judges them for their wickedness. See Ps 5:5.

[11:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the wicked [one] and the lover of violence.” The singular form is used here in a collective or representative sense. Note the plural form רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked [ones]”) in vv. 2 and 6.

[139:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 139. The psalmist acknowledges that God, who created him, is aware of his every action and thought. He invites God to examine his motives, for he is confident they are pure.

[139:1]  ⁹ tn The statement is understood as generalizing – the psalmist describes what God typically does.

[139:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all my ways.”

[139:4]  ¹² tn Or “for.”

[139:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”