Mazmur 18:50

18:50 He ¹  gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ² 

he is faithful ³  to his chosen ruler, ⁴ 

to David and his descendants ⁵  forever.” ⁶ 

Mazmur 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ⁷  of the oppressed; ⁸ 

he did not ignore him; ⁹ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 111:9

111:9 He delivered his people; ¹¹ 

he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. ¹² 

His name is holy and awesome.

Mazmur 127:2

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

and work so hard for your food. ¹³ 

Yes, ¹⁴  he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. ¹⁵ 

[18:50]  ¹ tn Or “the one who.”

[18:50]  ² tn Heb “magnifies the victories of his king.” “His king” refers to the psalmist, the Davidic king whom God has chosen to rule Israel.

[18:50]  ³ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty.”

[18:50]  ⁴ tn Heb “his anointed [one],” i.e., the psalmist/Davidic king. See Ps 2:2.

[18:50]  ⁵ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[18:50]  ⁶ sn If David is the author of the psalm (see the superscription), then he here anticipates that God will continue to demonstrate loyalty to his descendants who succeed him. If the author is a later Davidic king, then he views the divine favor he has experienced as the outworking of God’s faithful promises to David his ancestor.

[22:24]  ⁷ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ⁸ sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “heard.”

[111:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”

[111:9]  ¹² tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”

[127:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).

[127:2]  ¹⁵ 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.