Mazmur 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ¹  justice,

and never abandons ²  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ³ 

but the children ⁴  of evil men are wiped out. ⁵ 

Mazmur 85:8

85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. ⁶ 

For he will make ⁷  peace with his people, his faithful followers. ⁸ 

Yet they must not ⁹  return to their foolish ways.

Mazmur 89:19

89:19 Then you ¹⁰  spoke through a vision to your faithful followers ¹¹  and said:

“I have energized a warrior; ¹² 

I have raised up a young man ¹³  from the people.

[37:28]  ¹ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world. The active participle describes characteristic behavior.

[37:28]  ² tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ³ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ⁴ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ⁵ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[85:8]  ⁶ sn I will listen. Having asked for the Lord’s favor, the psalmist (who here represents the nation) anticipates a divine word of assurance.

[85:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “speak.” The idiom “speak peace” refers to establishing or maintaining peaceful relations with someone (see Gen 37:4; Zech 9:10; cf. Ps 122:8).

[85:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “to his people and to his faithful followers.” The translation assumes that “his people” and “his faithful followers” are viewed as identical here.

[85:8]  ⁹ tn Or “yet let them not.” After the negative particle אֵל (’el), the prefixed verbal form is jussive, indicating the speaker’s desire or wish.

[89:19]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun “you” refers to the Lord, who is addressed here. The quotation that follows further develops the announcement of vv. 3-4.

[89:19]  ¹¹ tc Many medieval mss read the singular here, “your faithful follower.” In this case the statement refers directly to Nathan’s oracle to David (see 2 Sam 7:17).

[89:19]  ¹² tn Heb “I have placed help upon a warrior.”

[89:19]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”