Mazmur 34:1

Psalm 34 ¹ 

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ² 

34:1 I will praise ³  the Lord at all times;

my mouth will continually praise him. ⁴ 

Mazmur 103:1-3

Psalm 103 ⁵ 

By David.

103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

With all that is within me, praise ⁶  his holy name!

103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds! ⁷ 

103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,

who heals all your diseases, ⁸ 

Mazmur 104:33

104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist! ⁹ 

Mazmur 145:1-5

Psalm 145 ¹⁰ 

A psalm of praise, by David.

145:1 I will extol you, my God, O king!

I will praise your name continually! ¹¹ 

145:2 Every day I will praise you!

I will praise your name continually! ¹² 

145:3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise!

No one can fathom his greatness! ¹³ 

145:4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,

and tell about your mighty acts! ¹⁴ 

145:5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,

and your amazing deeds! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 146:1-2

Psalm 146 ¹⁶ 

146:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

146:2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live!

I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist!

[34:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.

[34:1]  ² tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”

[34:1]  sn Pretended to be insane. The psalm heading appears to refer to the account in 1 Sam 21:10-15 which tells how David, fearful that King Achish of Gath might kill him, pretended to be insane in hopes that the king would simply send him away. The psalm heading names the king Abimelech, not Achish, suggesting that the tradition is confused on this point. However, perhaps “Abimelech” was a royal title, rather than a proper name. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 278.

[34:1]  ³ tn Heb “bless.”

[34:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”

[103:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.

[103:1]  ⁶ tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[103:2]  ⁷ tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).

[103:3]  ⁸ tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).

[104:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “in my duration.”

[145:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.

[145:1]  ¹¹ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”

[145:2]  ¹² tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”

[145:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and concerning his greatness there is no searching.”

[145:4]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”

[145:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and the matters of your amazing deeds I will ponder.”

[146:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 146. The psalmist urges his audience not to trust in men, but in the Lord, the just king of the world who cares for the needy.