Mazmur 18:25

18:25 You prove to be loyal ¹  to one who is faithful; ² 

you prove to be trustworthy ³  to one who is innocent. ⁴ 

Mazmur 21:6

21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;

you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence. ⁵ 

Mazmur 21:8

21:8 You ⁶  prevail over ⁷  all your enemies;

your power is too great for those who hate you. ⁸ 

Mazmur 25:3

25:3 Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.

Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted ⁹  and humiliated.

Mazmur 31:14

31:14 But I trust in you, O Lord!

I declare, “You are my God!”

Mazmur 36:7

36:7 How precious ¹⁰  is your loyal love, O God!

The human race finds shelter under your wings. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 38:15

38:15 Yet ¹²  I wait for you, O Lord!

You will respond, O Lord, my God!

Mazmur 41:4

41:4 As for me, I said: ¹³ 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

Mazmur 44:8

44:8 In God I boast all day long,

and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)

Mazmur 56:8-9

56:8 You keep track of my misery. ¹⁴ 

Put my tears in your leather container! ¹⁵ 

Are they not recorded in your scroll? ¹⁶ 

56:9 My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help; ¹⁷ 

I know that God is on my side. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 61:7

61:7 May he reign ¹⁹  forever before God!

Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 74:11

74:11 Why do you remain inactive?

Intervene and destroy him! ²¹ 

Mazmur 76:10

76:10 Certainly ²²  your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise; ²³ 

you reveal your anger in full measure. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 77:19

77:19 You walked through the sea; ²⁵ 

you passed through the surging waters, ²⁶ 

but left no footprints. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 79:2

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ²⁸ 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

Mazmur 79:12

79:12 Pay back our neighbors in full! ²⁹ 

May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! ³⁰ 

Mazmur 80:15

80:15 the root ³¹  your right hand planted,

the shoot you made to grow! ³² 

Mazmur 83:3

83:3 They carefully plot ³³  against your people,

and make plans to harm ³⁴  the ones you cherish. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 85:7

85:7 O Lord, show us your loyal love!

Bestow on us your deliverance!

Mazmur 86:15

86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.

You are patient ³⁶  and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. ³⁷ 

Mazmur 89:1

Psalm 89 ³⁸ 

A well-written song ³⁹  by Ethan the Ezrachite.

89:1 I will sing continually ⁴⁰  about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness. ⁴¹ 

Mazmur 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ⁴²  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Mazmur 104:3

104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ⁴³ 

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 118:27

118:27 The Lord is God and he has delivered us. ⁴⁵ 

Tie the offering ⁴⁶  with ropes

to the horns of the altar! ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 119:74

119:74 Your loyal followers will be glad when they see me, ⁴⁸ 

for I find hope in your word.

Mazmur 119:85

119:85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, ⁴⁹ 

which violates your law. ⁵⁰ 

Mazmur 119:88

119:88 Revive me with ⁵¹  your loyal love,

that I might keep ⁵²  the rules you have revealed. ⁵³ 

Mazmur 119:119

119:119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag. ⁵⁴ 

Therefore I love your rules. ⁵⁵ 

Mazmur 119:168

119:168 I keep your precepts and rules,

for you are aware of everything I do. ⁵⁶ 

Mazmur 132:2

132:2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,

and swore an oath to the powerful ruler of Jacob. ⁵⁷ 

Mazmur 139:14

139:14 I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. ⁵⁸ 

You knew me thoroughly; ⁵⁹ 

Mazmur 144:9

144:9 O God, I will sing a new song to you!

Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,

[18:25]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[18:25]  ² tn Or “to a faithful follower.” 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).

[18:25]  ³ tn Or “innocent.”

[18:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man of innocence.”

[21:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.

[21:8]  ⁶ tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the Lord is still being addressed, but v. 9 militates against this proposal, for there the Lord is mentioned in the third person and appears to be distinct from the addressee (unless, of course, one takes “Lord” in v. 9 as vocative; see the note on “them” in v. 9b). Verse 7 begins this transition to a new addressee by referring to both the king and the Lord in the third person (in vv. 1-6 the Lord is addressed and only the king referred to in the third person).

[21:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.

[21:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”

[25:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who deal in treachery in vain.” The adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “in vain”) probably refers to the failure (or futility) of their efforts. Another option is to understand it as meaning “without cause” (cf. NIV “without excuse”; NRSV “wantonly treacherous”).

[36:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “valuable.”

[36:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the sons of man in the shadow of your wings find shelter.” The preservation of physical life is in view, as the next verse makes clear.

[38:15]  ¹² tn Or perhaps “surely.”

[41:4]  ¹³ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[56:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “my wandering you count, you.” The Hebrew term נֹד (nod, “wandering,” derived from the verbal root נוֹד, nod, “to wander”; cf. NASB) here refers to the psalmist’s “changeable circumstances of life” and may be translated “misery.” The verb סָפַר (safar, “count”) probably carries the nuance “assess” here. Cf. NIV “my lament”; NRSV “my tossings.”

[56:8]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally “your bottle.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20). If such a container is metaphorically in view here, then the psalmist seems to be asking God to store up his tears as a reminder of his suffering.

[56:8]  ¹⁶ tn The word “recorded” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The rhetorical question assumes a positive response (see the first line of the verse).

[56:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “then my enemies will turn back in the day I cry out.” The Hebrew particle אָז (’az, “then”) is probably used here to draw attention to the following statement.

[56:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “this I know, that God is for me.”

[61:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.

[61:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”

[74:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.

[76:10]  ²² tn Or “for.”

[76:10]  ²³ tn Heb “the anger of men will praise you.” This could mean that men’s anger (subjective genitive), when punished by God, will bring him praise, but this interpretation does not harmonize well with the next line. The translation assumes that God’s anger is in view here (see v. 7) and that “men” is an objective genitive. God’s angry judgment against men brings him praise because it reveals his power and majesty (see vv. 1-4).

[76:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the rest of anger you put on.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear. Perhaps the idea is that God, as he prepares for battle, girds himself with every last ounce of his anger, as if it were a weapon.

[77:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”

[77:19]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”

[77:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”

[79:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[79:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Return to our neighbors sevenfold into their lap.” The number seven is used rhetorically to express the thorough nature of the action. For other rhetorical/figurative uses of the Hebrew phrase שִׁבְעָתַיִם (shiv’atayim, “seven times”) see Gen 4:15, 24; Ps 12:6; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[79:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “their reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord.”

[80:15]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).

[80:15]  ³² tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.

[83:3]  ³³ tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”

[83:3]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and consult together against.”

[83:3]  ³⁵ tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”

[86:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “slow to anger.”

[86:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”

[86:15]  sn The psalmist’s confession of faith in this verse echoes Exod 34:6.

[89:1]  ³⁸ sn Psalm 89. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God’s covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized. The covenant promised the Davidic king military victories, but the king has now been subjected to humiliating defeat.

[89:1]  ³⁹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 88.

[89:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “forever.”

[89:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to a generation and a generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.”

[97:8]  ⁴² tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[104:3]  ⁴³ tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.

[104:3]  ⁴⁴ sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[118:27]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and he has given us light.” This may be an elliptical expression, with “his face” being implied as the object (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19). In this case, “his face has given us light” = “he has smiled on us,” or “he has shown us his favor.” Another option (the one reflected in the translation) is that “light” here symbolizes divine blessing in the form of deliverance. “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Some prefer to repoint the form וְיָאֵר (vÿya’er; vav [ו] conjunctive + jussive) and translate the statement as a prayer, “may he give us light.”

[118:27]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew noun חַג (khag) normally means “festival,” but here it apparently refers metonymically to an offering made at the festival. BDB 291 s.v. חַג 2 interprets the word in this way here, citing as comparable the use of later Hebrew חֲגִיגָה, which can refer to both a festival and a festival offering (see Jastrow 424 s.v. חֲגִיגָה).

[118:27]  ⁴⁷ tn The second half of v. 27 has been translated and interpreted in a variety of ways. For a survey of major views, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 122.

[119:74]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “those who fear you will see me and rejoice.”

[119:85]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “for me.”

[119:85]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”

[119:88]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “according to.”

[119:88]  ⁵² tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:88]  ⁵³ tn Heb “of your mouth.”

[119:119]  ⁵⁴ sn Traditionally “dross” (so KJV, ASV, NIV). The metaphor comes from metallurgy; “slag” is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.

[119:119]  ⁵⁵ sn As he explains in the next verse, the psalmist’s fear of judgment motivates him to obey God’s rules.

[119:168]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “for all my ways [are] before you.”

[132:2]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.”

[139:14]  ⁵⁸ tc Heb “because awesome things, I am distinct, amazing [are] your works.” The text as it stands is syntactically problematic and makes little, if any, sense. The Niphal of פָּלָה (pala’) occurs elsewhere only in Exod 33:16. Many take the form from פָלָא (pala’; see GKC 216 §75.qq), which in the Niphal perfect means “to be amazing” (see 2 Sam 1:26; Ps 118:23; Prov 30:18). Some, following the LXX and some other ancient witnesses, also prefer to emend the verb from first to second person, “you are amazing” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 249, 251). The present translation assumes the text conflates two variants: נפלאים, the otherwise unattested masculine plural participle of פָלָא, and נִפְלָאוֹת (nifla’ot), the usual (feminine) plural form of the Niphal participle. The latter has been changed to a verb by later scribes in an attempt to accommodate it syntactically. The original text likely read, נוראות נפלאותים מעשׂיך (“your works [are] awesome [and] amazing”).

[139:14]  ⁵⁹ tc Heb “and my being knows very much.” Better parallelism is achieved (see v. 15a) if one emends יֹדַעַת (yoda’at), a Qal active participle, feminine singular form, to יָדַעְתָּ (yada’ta), a Qal perfect second masculine singular perfect. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 252.