Mazmur 11:7

11:7 Certainly ¹  the Lord is just; ² 

he rewards godly deeds; ³ 

the upright will experience his favor. ⁴ 

Mazmur 51:6

51:6 Look, ⁵  you desire ⁶  integrity in the inner man; ⁷ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ⁸ 

Mazmur 140:13

140:13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;

the morally upright will live in your presence.

[11:7]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[11:7]  ² tn Or “righteous.”

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “he loves righteous deeds.” The “righteous deeds” are probably those done by godly people (see v. 5). The Lord “loves” such deeds in the sense that he rewards them. Another option is to take צְדָקוֹת (tsÿdaqot) as referring to God’s acts of justice (see Ps 103:6). In this case one could translate, “he loves to do just deeds.”

[11:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the upright will see his face.” The singular subject (“upright”) does not agree with the plural verb. However, collective singular nouns can be construed with a plural predicate (see GKC 462 §145.b). Another possibility is that the plural verb יֶחֱזוּ (yekhezu) is a corruption of an original singular form. To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 17:15 and Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזָה (khazah), is used]). On the form פָנֵימוֹ (fanemo, “his face”) see GKC 300-301 §103.b, n. 3.

[51:6]  ⁵ sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

[51:6]  ⁶ tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

[51:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

[51:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

[51:6]  sn You want me to possess wisdom. Here “wisdom” does not mean “intelligence” or “learning,” but refers to moral insight and skill.