5:6 You destroy 1 liars; 2
the Lord despises 3 violent and deceitful people. 4
18:16 He reached down 5 from above and took hold of me;
he pulled me from the surging water. 6
18:25 You prove to be loyal 7 to one who is faithful; 8
you prove to be trustworthy 9 to one who is innocent. 10
23:6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness 11 will pursue 12 me all my days, 13
and I will live in 14 the Lord’s house 15 for the rest of my life. 16
25:7 Do not hold against me 17 the sins of my youth 18 or my rebellious acts!
Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! 19
25:10 The Lord always proves faithful and reliable 20
to those who follow the demands of his covenant. 21
27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, 22
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. 23
28:9 Deliver your people!
Empower 24 the nation that belongs to you! 25
Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms 26 at all times! 27
30:3 O Lord, you pulled me 28 up from Sheol;
you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. 29
32:8 I will instruct and teach you 30 about how you should live. 31
I will advise you as I look you in the eye. 32
37:22 Surely 33 those favored by the Lord 34 will possess the land,
but those rejected 35 by him will be wiped out. 36
37:25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen a godly man abandoned,
or his children 37 forced to search for food. 38
48:14 For God, our God, is our defender forever! 39
He guides 40 us! 41
55:14 We would share personal thoughts with each other; 42
in God’s temple we would walk together among the crowd.
59:10 The God who loves me will help me; 43
God will enable me to triumph over 44 my enemies. 45
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
62:1 For God alone I patiently wait; 47
he is the one who delivers me. 48
69:31 That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull
with horns and hooves.
69:35 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his people 49 will again live in them and possess Zion. 50
83:18 Then they will know 51 that you alone are the Lord, 52
the sovereign king 53 over all the earth.
84:2 I desperately want to be 54
in the courts of the Lord’s temple. 55
My heart and my entire being 56 shout for joy
to the living God.
91:14 The Lord says, 57
“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;
I will protect him 58 because he is loyal to me. 59
97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,
those who boast about worthless idols.
All the gods bow down before him. 60
102:21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,
and praise him 61 in Jerusalem, 62
102:24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life! 63
You endure through all generations. 64
111:4 He does 65 amazing things that will be remembered; 66
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
135:6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
By David.
138:1 I will give you thanks with all my heart;
before the heavenly assembly 68 I will sing praises to you.
138:6 Though the Lord is exalted, he takes note of the lowly,
and recognizes the proud from far away.
145:13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, 69
and your dominion endures through all generations.
146:9 The Lord protects those residing outside their native land;
he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, 70
but he opposes the wicked. 71
147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
1 tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.
2 tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.
3 tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the
4 tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.
5 tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.
6 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 4 and Ps 144:7).
7 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.
8 tn Or “to a faithful follower.” 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).
9 tn Or “innocent.”
10 tn Heb “a man of innocence.”
11 tn The noun חֶסֶד (khesed; v. 6) has been the subject of several monographs. G. R. Clark concludes that חֶסֶד “is not merely an attitude or an emotion; it is an emotion that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient.” He explains that an act of חֶסֶד is “a beneficent action performed, in the context of a deep and enduring commitment between two persons or parties, by one who is able to render assistance to the needy party who in the circumstances is unable to help him- or herself.” (See G. R. Clark, The Word Hesed in the Hebrew Bible [JSOTSup], 267.) HALOT 336-37 s.v. defines the word as “loyalty,” or “faithfulness.” Other appropriate meanings might be “commitment” and “devotion.”
12 tn The use of רָדַף (radaf, “pursue, chase”) with טוֹב וָחֶסֶד (tov vakhesed, “goodness and faithfulness”) as subject is ironic. This is the only place in the entire OT where either of these nouns appears as the subject of this verb רָדַף (radaf, “pursue”). This verb is often used to describe the hostile actions of enemies. One might expect the psalmist’s enemies (see v. 5) to chase him, but ironically God’s “goodness and faithfulness” (which are personified and stand by metonymy for God himself) pursue him instead. The word “pursue” is used outside of its normal context in an ironic manner and creates a unique, but pleasant word picture of God’s favor (or a kind God) “chasing down” the one whom he loves.
13 tn Heb “all the days of my life.”
14 tn The verb form וְשַׁבְתִּי (vÿshavtiy) is a Qal perfect (with vav [ו] consecutive), first common singular, from שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) and should be translated, “and I will return.” But this makes no sense when construed with the following phrase, “in the house of the
15 tn Heb “the house of the
16 tn The phrase אֹרֶךְ יָמִים (’orekh yamim, “length of days”) is traditionally translated “forever.” However, this phrase, when used elsewhere of people, usually refers to a lengthy period of time, such as one’s lifetime, and does not mean “forever” in the sense of eternity. (Cf. Deut 30:20; Job 12:12; Ps 91:16; Prov 3:2, 16; Lam 5:20.) Furthermore, the parallel phrase “all the days of my life” suggests this more limited meaning. Psalm 21:4, where the phrase is followed by “forever and ever,” may be an exception, though the juxtaposition of the phrases may be an example of intensification, where the second phrase goes beyond the limits of the first, rather than synonymity. Even if one takes both expressions as referring to eternal life, the language is part of the king’s hyperbolic description of the
17 tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.
18 sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.
19 tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O
20 tn Heb “all the paths of the
21 tn Heb “to the ones who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
22 tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”
23 tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.
24 tn Or “bless.”
25 tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.
26 tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”
sn The shepherd metaphor is sometimes associated with royal responsibility. See 2 Sam 5:2; 7:7; Mic 5:2-4).
27 tn Or “forever.”
28 tn Or “my life.”
29 tn Heb “you kept me alive from those descending into the pit.” The Hebrew noun בוֹר (bor, “pit, cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib); the marginal reading (Qere) has, “you kept me alive so that I did not go down into the pit.”
30 tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the
31 tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”
32 tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the
33 tn The particle כִּי is best understood as asseverative or emphatic here.
34 tn Heb “those blessed by him.” The pronoun “him” must refer to the Lord (see vv. 20, 23), so the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35 tn Heb “cursed.”
36 tn Or “cut off”; or “removed” (see v. 9).
37 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
38 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.
39 tn Heb “for this is God, our God, forever and ever.” “This” might be paraphrased, “this protector described and praised in the preceding verses.”
40 tn The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.
41 tn In the Hebrew text the psalm ends with the words עַל־מוּת (’al-mut, “upon [unto?] dying”), which make little, if any, sense. M. Dahood (Psalms [AB], 1:293) proposes an otherwise unattested plural form עֹלָמוֹת (’olamot; from עוֹלָם, ’olam, “eternity”). This would provide a nice parallel to עוֹלָם וָעֶד (’olam va’ed, “forever”) in the preceding line, but elsewhere the plural of עוֹלָם appears as עֹלָמִים (’olamim). It is preferable to understand the phrase as a musical direction of some sort (see עַל־מוּת [’al-mut] in the superscription of Ps 9) or to emend the text to עַל־עֲלָמוֹת (’al-’alamot, “according to the alamoth style”; see the heading of Ps 46). In either case it should be understood as belonging with the superscription of the following psalm.
42 tn Heb “who together we would make counsel sweet.” The imperfect verbal forms here and in the next line draw attention to the ongoing nature of the actions (the so-called customary use of the imperfect). Their relationship was characterized by such intimacy and friendship. See IBHS 502-3 §31.2b.
43 tn Heb “the God of my [Qere (marginal reading); the Kethib (consonantal text) has “his”] loyal love will meet me.”
44 tn Heb “will cause me to look upon.”
45 tn Heb “those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 56:2.
46 sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.
47 tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”
48 tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”
49 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50 tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
51 tn After the preceding jussives (v. 17), the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose (“so that they may know”) or result.
52 tn Heb “that you, your name [is] the
53 tn Traditionally “the Most High.”
54 tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”
55 tn Heb “the courts of the
56 tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.
57 tn The words “the
58 tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).
59 tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).
60 tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the
61 tn Heb “his praise.”
62 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
63 tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”
64 tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”
65 tn Or “did,” if this refers primarily to the events of the exodus and conquest period (see vv. 6, 9).
66 tn Heb “a memorial he had made for his amazing deeds.”
67 sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.
68 tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.
69 tn Heb “a kingdom of all ages.”
70 sn God is depicted here as a just ruler. In the ancient Near Eastern world a king was responsible for promoting justice, including caring for the weak and vulnerable, epitomized by resident aliens, the fatherless, and widows.
71 tn Heb “he makes the way of the wicked twisted.” The “way of the wicked” probably refers to their course of life (see Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1). God makes their path tortuous in the sense that he makes them pay the harmful consequences of their actions.