Mazmur 31:23

31:23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers ¹  of his!

The Lord protects those who have integrity,

but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. ² 

Mazmur 37:25

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ³  forced to search for food. ⁴ 

Mazmur 127:2

127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,

and work so hard for your food. ⁵ 

Yes, ⁶  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ⁷ 

[31:23]  ¹ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[31:23]  ² tn The participial forms in the second and third lines characterize the Lord as one who typically protects the faithful and judges the proud.

[37:25]  ³ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.

[127:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).

[127:2]  ⁶ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.