Mazmur 102:18

102:18 The account of his intervention ¹  will be recorded for future generations;

people yet to be born will praise the Lord.

Mazmur 149:9

149:9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies ²  have been sentenced. ³ 

All his loyal followers will be vindicated. ⁴ 

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 40:7-8

40:7 Then I say,

“Look! I come!

What is written in the scroll pertains to me. ⁵ 

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ⁶  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ⁷ 

Mazmur 45:1

Psalm 45 ⁸ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ⁹  by the Korahites, a well-written poem, ¹⁰  a love song.

45:1 My heart is stirred by a beautiful song. ¹¹ 

I say, “I have composed this special song ¹²  for the king;

my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.” ¹³ 

Mazmur 139:16

139:16 Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. ¹⁴ 

All the days ordained for me

were recorded in your scroll

before one of them came into existence. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 18:1

Psalm 18 ¹⁶ 

For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang ¹⁷  to the Lord the words of this song when ¹⁸  the Lord rescued him from the power ¹⁹  of all his enemies, including Saul. ²⁰ 

18:1 He said: ²¹ 

“I love ²²  you, Lord, my source of strength! ²³ 

Mazmur 51:1

Psalm 51 ²⁴ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba. ²⁵ 

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of ²⁶  your loyal love!

Because of ²⁷  your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts! ²⁸ 

Mazmur 52:1

Psalm 52 ²⁹ 

For the music director; a well-written song ³⁰  by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” ³¹ 

52:1 Why do you boast about your evil plans, ³²  O powerful man?

God’s loyal love protects me all day long! ³³ 

Mazmur 54:1

Psalm 54 ³⁴ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ³⁵  by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.” ³⁶ 

54:1 O God, deliver me by your name! ³⁷ 

Vindicate me ³⁸  by your power!

Mazmur 59:1

Psalm 59 ³⁹ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ⁴⁰  a prayer ⁴¹  of David, written when Saul sent men to surround his house and murder him. ⁴² 

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!

Protect me ⁴³  from those who attack me! ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 60:1

Psalm 60 ⁴⁵ 

For the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; ⁴⁶  a prayer ⁴⁷  of David written to instruct others. ⁴⁸  It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram-Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down ⁴⁹  12,000 Edomites ⁵⁰  in the Valley of Salt. ⁵¹ 

60:1 O God, you have rejected us. ⁵² 

You suddenly turned on us in your anger. ⁵³ 

Please restore us! ⁵⁴ 

[102:18]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has simply “this,” referring to the anticipated divine intervention on behalf of Zion (vv. 13, 16-17). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[149:9]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[149:9]  ³ tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”

[149:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).

[40:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the roll of the scroll it is written concerning me.” Apparently the psalmist refers to the law of God (see v. 8), which contains the commandments God desires him to obey. If this is a distinctly royal psalm, then the psalmist/king may be referring specifically to the regulations of kingship prescribed in Deut 17:14-20. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 315.

[40:8]  ⁶ tn Or “your will.”

[40:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.

[45:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 45. This is a romantic poem celebrating the Davidic king’s marriage to a lovely princess. The psalmist praises the king for his military prowess and commitment to justice, urges the bride to be loyal to the king, and anticipates that the marriage will be blessed with royal offspring.

[45:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to lilies.” “Lilies” may be a tune title or musical style, suggestive of romantic love. The imagery of a “lily” appears frequently in the Song of Solomon in a variety of contexts (see 2:1-2, 16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2-3; 7:2).

[45:1]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 42.

[45:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[with] a good word.” The “good word” probably refers here to the song that follows.

[45:1]  ¹² tn Heb “my works [are] for a king.” The plural “works” may here indicate degree, referring to the special musical composition that follows.

[45:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “my tongue [is] a stylus of a skillful scribe.” Words flow from the psalmist’s tongue just as they do from a scribe’s stylus.

[139:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Your eyes saw my shapeless form.” The Hebrew noun גֹּלֶם (golem) occurs only here in the OT. In later Hebrew the word refers to “a lump, a shapeless or lifeless substance,” and to “unfinished matter, a vessel wanting finishing” (Jastrow 222 s.v. גּוֹלֶם). The translation employs the dynamic rendering “when I was inside the womb” to clarify that the speaker was still in his mother’s womb at the time he was “seen” by God.

[139:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and on your scroll all of them were written, [the] days [which] were formed, and [there was] not one among them.” This “scroll” may be the “scroll of life” mentioned in Ps 69:28 (see the note on the word “living” there).

[18:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 18. In this long song of thanks, the psalmist (a Davidic king, traditionally understood as David himself) affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. The psalmist’s experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the psalm appears in 2 Sam 22:1-51.

[18:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “spoke.”

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[18:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “hand.”

[18:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

[18:1]  ²¹ tn A number of translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) assign the words “he said” to the superscription, in which case the entire psalm is in first person. Other translations (e.g., NAB) include the introductory “he said” at the beginning of v. 1.

[18:1]  ²² tn The verb רָחַם (rakham) elsewhere appears in the Piel (or Pual) verbal stem with the basic meaning, “have compassion.” The verb occurs only here in the basic (Qal) stem. The basic stem of the verbal root also occurs in Aramaic with the meaning “love” (see DNWSI 2:1068-69; Jastrow 1467 s.v. רָחַם; G. Schmuttermayr, “rhm: eine lexikalische Studie,” Bib 51 [1970]: 515-21). Since this introductory statement does not appear in the parallel version in 2 Sam 22:1-51, it is possible that it is a later addition to the psalm, made when the poem was revised for use in worship.

[18:1]  ²³ tn Heb “my strength.” “Strength” is metonymic here, referring to the Lord as the one who bestows strength to the psalmist; thus the translation “my source of strength.”

[51:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 51. The psalmist confesses his sinfulness to God and begs for forgiveness and a transformation of his inner character. According to the psalm superscription, David offered this prayer when Nathan confronted him with his sin following the king’s affair with Bathsheba (see 2 Sam 11-12). However, the final two verses of the psalm hardly fit this situation, for they assume the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed and that the sacrificial system has been temporarily suspended. These verses are probably an addition to the psalm made during the period of exile following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. The exiles could relate to David’s experience, for they, like him, and had been forced to confront their sin. They appropriated David’s ancient prayer and applied it to their own circumstances.

[51:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him when he had gone to Bathsheba.”

[51:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “according to.”

[51:1]  ²⁸ tn Traditionally “blot out my transgressions.” Because of the reference to washing and cleansing in the following verse, it is likely that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to wiping an object clean (note the use of the verb מָחָה (makhah) in the sense of “wipe clean; dry” in 2 Kgs 21:13; Prov 30:20; Isa 25:8). Another option is that the psalmist is comparing forgiveness to erasing or blotting out names from a register (see Exod 32:32-33). In this case one might translate, “erase all record of my rebellious acts.”

[52:1]  ²⁹ sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.

[52:1]  ³⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[52:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”

[52:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s head shepherd (1 Sam 21:7), informed Saul of David’s whereabouts (see 1 Sam 21-22).

[52:1]  ³² tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”

[52:1]  ³³ tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.

[54:1]  ³⁴ sn Psalm 54. The psalmist asks God for protection against his enemies, confidently affirms that God will vindicate him, and promises to give thanks to God for his saving intervention.

[54:1]  ³⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[54:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Is not David hiding with us?”

[54:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm during the period when Saul was seeking his life. On one occasion the Ziphites informed Saul that David was hiding in their territory (see 1 Sam 23:19-20).

[54:1]  ³⁷ tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:17).

[54:1]  ³⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[59:1]  ³⁹ sn Psalm 59. The psalmist calls down judgment on his foreign enemies, whom he compares to ravenous wild dogs.

[59:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-58, 75.

[59:1]  ⁴¹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-58, 60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[59:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “when Saul sent and they watched his house in order to kill him.”

[59:1]  sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when Saul sent assassins to surround David’s house and kill him in the morning (see 1 Sam 19:11). However, the psalm itself mentions foreign enemies (vv. 5, 8). Perhaps these references reflect a later adaptation of an original Davidic psalm.

[59:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “make me secure”; Heb “set me on high.”

[59:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “from those who raise themselves up [against] me.”

[60:1]  ⁴⁵ sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.

[60:1]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.

[60:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[60:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “to teach.”

[60:1]  ⁴⁹ tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.

[60:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).

[60:1]  ⁵¹ sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.

[60:1]  ⁵² sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.

[60:1]  ⁵³ tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”

[60:1]  ⁵⁴ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.