Mazmur 4:6-7

4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”

Smile upon us, Lord! ¹ 

4:7 You make me happier ² 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. ³ 

Mazmur 36:8

36:8 They are filled with food from your house,

and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies.

Mazmur 63:5

63:5 As if with choice meat ⁴  you satisfy my soul. ⁵ 

My mouth joyfully praises you, ⁶ 

Mazmur 65:4

65:4 How blessed ⁷  is the one whom you choose,

and allow to live in your palace courts. ⁸ 

May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –

your holy palace. ⁹ 

[4:6]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face, Lord.” The verb נסה is apparently an alternate form of נשׂא, “lift up.” See GKC 217 §76.b. The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[4:6]  sn Smile upon us. Though many are discouraged, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and transform the situation.

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

[4:7]  ³ tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

[63:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”

[63:5]  ⁵ tn Or “me.”

[63:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”

[65:4]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[65:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”

[65:4]  ⁹ tn Or “temple.”