Mazmur 4:3

4:3 Realize that ¹  the Lord shows the godly special favor; ² 

the Lord responds ³  when I cry out to him.

Mazmur 12:1

Psalm 12 ⁴ 

For the music director; according to the sheminith style; ⁵  a psalm of David.

12:1 Deliver, Lord!

For the godly ⁶  have disappeared; ⁷ 

people of integrity ⁸  have vanished. ⁹ 

Mazmur 30:4

30:4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers ¹⁰  of his;

give thanks to his holy name. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 31:23

31:23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers ¹²  of his!

The Lord protects those who have integrity,

but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. ¹³ 

Mazmur 37:28

37:28 For the Lord promotes ¹⁴  justice,

and never abandons ¹⁵  his faithful followers.

They are permanently secure, ¹⁶ 

but the children ¹⁷  of evil men are wiped out. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 50:5

50:5 He says: ¹⁹ 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ²⁰ 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ²¹ 

Mazmur 79:2

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ²² 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

Mazmur 85:8

85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says. ²³ 

For he will make ²⁴  peace with his people, his faithful followers. ²⁵ 

Yet they must not ²⁶  return to their foolish ways.

Mazmur 86:2

86:2 Protect me, ²⁷  for I am loyal!

O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!

Mazmur 89:19

89:19 Then you ²⁸  spoke through a vision to your faithful followers ²⁹  and said:

“I have energized a warrior; ³⁰ 

I have raised up a young man ³¹  from the people.

Mazmur 97:10

97:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil!

He protects ³²  the lives of his faithful followers;

he delivers them from the power ³³  of the wicked.

Mazmur 116:15

116:15 The Lord values

the lives of his faithful followers. ³⁴ 

Mazmur 145:10

145:10 All he has made will give thanks to the Lord.

Your loyal followers will praise you.

Mazmur 148:14

148:14 He has made his people victorious, ³⁵ 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ³⁶ 

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 149:9

149:9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies ³⁷  have been sentenced. ³⁸ 

All his loyal followers will be vindicated. ³⁹ 

Praise the Lord!

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and know that.”

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “that the Lord sets apart a faithful one for himself.” The psalmist states a general principle, though the singular form and the parallel line indicate he has himself in mind as the representative godly person. A חָסִיד (khasid; here translated as “the godly”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “hears.”

[12:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 12. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, for society is overrun by deceitful, arrogant oppressors and godly individuals are a dying breed. When the Lord announces his intention to defend the oppressed, the psalmist affirms his confidence in the divine promise.

[12:1]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn The singular form is collective or representative. Note the plural form “faithful [ones]” in the following line. A “godly [one]” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[12:1]  ⁷ tn Or “have come to an end.”

[12:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “the faithful [ones] from the sons of man.”

[12:1]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb פָּסַס (pasas) occurs only here. An Akkadian cognate means “efface, blot out.”

[30:4]  ¹⁰ tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד) 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).

[30:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to his holy remembrance.” The noun זֵכֵר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 6:5; 97:12.The Lord’s “name” is “holy” in the sense that it is a reminder of his uniqueness and greatness.

[31:23]  ¹² tn 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).

[31:23]  ¹³ tn The participial forms in the second and third lines characterize the Lord as one who typically protects the faithful and judges the proud.

[37:28]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.

[37:28]  ¹⁶ tn Or “protected forever.”

[37:28]  ¹⁷ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:28]  ¹⁸ tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.

[50:5]  ¹⁹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.

[50:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).

[79:2]  ²² tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[85:8]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ 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.

[86:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “my life.”

[89:19]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I have placed help upon a warrior.”

[89:19]  ³¹ tn Or perhaps “a chosen one.”

[97:10]  ³² tn The participle may be verbal, though it might also be understood as substantival and appositional to “the Lord.” In this case one could translate, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord, the one who protects the lives…and delivers them.”

[97:10]  ³³ tn Heb “hand.”

[116:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the Lord [is] the death of his godly ones.” The point is not that God delights in or finds satisfaction in the death of his followers! The psalmist, who has been delivered from death, affirms that the life-threatening experiences of God’s followers get God’s attention, just as a precious or rare object would attract someone’s eye. See Ps 72:14 for a similar expression of this belief.

[148:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ³⁶ tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.

[149:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[149:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”

[149:9]  ³⁹ 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).