Mazmur 105:16

105:16 He called down a famine upon the earth;

he cut off all the food supply. ¹ 

Mazmur 50:1

Psalm 50 ² 

A psalm by Asaph.

50:1 El, God, the Lord ³  speaks,

and summons the earth to come from the east and west. ⁴ 

Mazmur 147:9

147:9 He gives food to the animals,

and to the young ravens when they chirp. ⁵ 

Mazmur 105:20

105:20 The king authorized his release; ⁶ 

the ruler of nations set him free.

Mazmur 107:25

107:25 He gave the order for a windstorm, ⁷ 

and it stirred up the waves of the sea. ⁸ 

Mazmur 147:4

147:4 He counts the number of the stars;

he names all of them.

Mazmur 50:4

50:4 He summons the heavens above,

as well as the earth, so that he might judge his people. ⁹ 

Mazmur 89:26

89:26 He will call out to me,

‘You are my father, ¹⁰  my God, and the protector who delivers me.’ ¹¹ 

Mazmur 42:7

42:7 One deep stream calls out to another ¹²  at the sound of your waterfalls; ¹³ 

all your billows and waves overwhelm me. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 77:1

Psalm 77 ¹⁵ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.

77:1 I will cry out to God ¹⁶  and call for help!

I will cry out to God and he will pay attention ¹⁷  to me.

Mazmur 95:7

95:7 For he is our God;

we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep he owns. ¹⁸ 

Today, if only you would obey him! ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 65:4

65:4 How blessed ²⁰  is the one whom you choose,

and allow to live in your palace courts. ²¹ 

May we be satisfied with the good things of your house –

your holy palace. ²² 

[105:16]  ¹ tn Heb “and every staff of food he broke.” The psalmist refers to the famine that occurred in Joseph’s time (see v. 17 and Gen 41:53-57).

[50:1]  ² sn Psalm 50. This psalm takes the form of a covenant lawsuit in which the Lord comes to confront his people in a formal manner (as in Isa 1:2-20). The Lord emphasizes that he places priority on obedience and genuine worship, not empty ritual.

[50:1]  ³ sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: El (אֵל [’el], or “God”), Elohim (אֱלֹהִים [’elohim], or “God”), and Yahweh (יְהוָה [yÿhvah] or “the Lord”). There is an obvious allusion here to Josh 22:22, the only other passage where these three names appear in succession. In that passage the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh declare, “El, God, the Lord! El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth! Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord, don’t spare us today!” In that context the other tribes had accused the trans-Jordanian tribes of breaking God’s covenant by worshiping idols. The trans-Jordanian tribes appealed to “El, God, the Lord” as their witness that they were innocent of the charges brought against them. Ironically here in Ps 50 “El, God, the Lord” accuses his sinful covenant people of violating the covenant and warns that he will not spare them if they persist in their rebellion.

[50:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and calls [the] earth from the sunrise to its going.”

[147:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “which cry out.”

[105:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “[the] king sent and set him free.”

[107:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “he spoke and caused to stand a stormy wind.”

[107:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “and it stirred up its [i.e., the sea’s, see v. 23] waves.”

[50:4]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “to testify against his people.”

[50:4]  sn The personified heavens and earth (see v. 1 as well) are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people (see Isa 1:2). Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).

[89:26]  ¹⁰ sn You are my father. The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 2:7). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.

[89:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the rocky summit of my deliverance.”

[42:7]  ¹² tn Heb “deep calls to deep.” The Hebrew noun תְּהוֹם (tÿhom) often refers to the deep sea, but here, where it is associated with Hermon, it probably refers to mountain streams. The word can be used of streams and rivers (see Deut 8:7; Ezek 31:4).

[42:7]  ¹³ tn The noun צִנּוֹר (tsinnor, “waterfall”) occurs only here and in 2 Sam 5:8, where it apparently refers to a water shaft. The psalmist alludes to the loud rushing sound of mountain streams and cascading waterfalls. Using the poetic device of personification, he imagines the streams calling out to each other as they hear the sound of the waterfalls.

[42:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “pass over me” (see Jonah 2:3). As he hears the sound of the rushing water, the psalmist imagines himself engulfed in the current. By implication he likens his emotional distress to such an experience.

[77:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 77. The psalmist recalls how he suffered through a time of doubt, but tells how he found encouragement and hope as he recalled the way in which God delivered Israel at the Red Sea.

[77:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my voice to God.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to call out; to cry out”) should probably be understood by ellipsis (see Ps 3:4) both here and in the following (parallel) line.

[77:1]  ¹⁷ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive is best taken as future here (although some translations render this as a past tense; cf. NEB, NIV). The psalmist expresses his confidence that God will respond to his prayer. This mood of confidence seems premature (see vv. 3-4), but v. 1 probably reflects the psalmist’s attitude at the end of the prayer (see vv. 13-20). Having opened with an affirmation of confidence, he then retraces how he gained confidence during his trial (see vv. 2-12).

[95:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “of his hand.”

[95:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.

[65:4]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[65:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “[whom] you bring near [so that] he might live [in] your courts.”

[65:4]  ²² tn Or “temple.”