Psalms 16:6

16:6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields

or received a beautiful tract of land. ¹ 

Psalms 18:36

18:36 You widen my path; ² 

my feet ³  do not slip.

Psalms 35:21-22

35:21 They are ready to devour me; ⁴ 

they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!” ⁵ 

35:22 But you take notice, ⁶  Lord!

O Lord, do not remain far away from me!

Psalms 40:7

40:7 Then I say,

“Look! I come!

What is written in the scroll pertains to me. ⁷ 

Psalms 50:5

50:5 He says: ⁸ 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ⁹ 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ¹⁰ 

Psalms 80:12

80:12 Why did you break down its walls, ¹¹ 

so that all who pass by pluck its fruit? ¹² 

Psalms 88:3

88:3 For my life ¹³  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 89:43

89:43 You turn back ¹⁵  his sword from the adversary, ¹⁶ 

and have not sustained him in battle. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 103:7

103:7 The Lord revealed his faithful acts ¹⁸  to Moses,

his deeds to the Israelites.

Psalms 103:19

103:19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;

his kingdom extends over everything. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 109:27

109:27 Then they will realize ²⁰  this is your work, ²¹ 

and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.

Psalms 119:26

119:26 I told you about my ways ²²  and you answered me.

Teach me your statutes!

Psalms 119:57

ח (Khet)

119:57 The Lord is my source of security. ²³ 

I have determined ²⁴  to follow your instructions. ²⁵ 

Psalms 119:102

119:102 I do not turn aside from your regulations,

for you teach me.

Psalms 119:173

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey ²⁶  your precepts.

[16:6]  ¹ tn Heb “measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant [places]; yes, property [or “an inheritance”] is beautiful for me.” On the dative use of עַל, see BDB 758 s.v. II.8. Extending the metaphor used in v. 5, the psalmist compares the divine blessings he has received to a rich, beautiful tract of land that one might receive by allotment or inheritance.

[18:36]  ² tn Heb “you make wide my step under me.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives the psalmist the capacity to run quickly.

[18:36]  ³ tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”

[35:21]  ³ tn Heb “and they cause their mouth to be wide against me.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the generalizing mood of the previous verse. For other examples of this use of the prefixed verbal form with vav consecutive, see GKC 329 §111.t.

[35:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “our eye sees.” Apparently this is an idiom meaning to “look in triumph” or “gloat over” (see Ps 54:7).

[35:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “you see, O Lord.” There is a deliberate play on words. In v. 21 the enemies say, “our eye sees,” but the psalmist is confident that the Lord “sees” as well, so he appeals to him for help (see also v. 17).

[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.

[50:5]  ⁶ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).

[80:12]  ⁷ sn The protective walls of the metaphorical vineyard are in view here (see Isa 5:5).

[80:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “pluck it.”

[88:3]  ⁸ tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[89:43]  ⁹ tn The perfect verbal form predominates in vv. 38-45. The use of the imperfect in this one instance may be for rhetorical effect. The psalmist briefly lapses into dramatic mode, describing the king’s military defeat as if it were happening before his very eyes.

[89:43]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “you turn back, rocky summit, his sword.” The Hebrew term צוּר (tsur, “rocky summit”) makes no sense here, unless it is a divine title understood as vocative, “you turn back, O Rocky Summit, his sword.” Some emend the form to צֹר (tsor, “flint”) on the basis of Josh 5:2, which uses the phrase חַרְבוֹת צֻרִים (kharvot tsurim, “flint knives”). The noun צֹר (tsor, “flint”) can then be taken as “flint-like edge,” indicating the sharpness of the sword. Others emend the form to אָחוֹר (’akhor, “backward”) or to מִצַּר (mitsar, “from the adversary”). The present translation reflects the latter, assuming an original reading תָּשִׁיב מִצָּר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv mitsar kharbo), which was corrupted to תָּשִׁיב צָר חַרְבּוֹ (tashiv tsar kharbo) by virtual haplography (confusion of bet/mem is well-attested) with צָר (tsar, “adversary”) then being misinterpreted as צוּר in the later tradition.

[89:43]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and you have not caused him to stand in the battle.”

[103:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “made known his ways.” God’s “ways” in this context are his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 18:30; 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 138:5; 145:17).

[103:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his kingdom rules over all.”

[109:27]  ¹² tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.

[109:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “that your hand [is] this.”

[119:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “my ways I proclaimed.”

[119:57]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my portion [is] the Lord.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel (see Ps 16:5).

[119:57]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I said.”

[119:57]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to keep your words” (see v. 9).

[119:173]  ¹⁵ tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.