Mazmur 30:4

30:4 Sing to the Lord, you faithful followers ¹  of his;

give thanks to his holy name. ² 

Mazmur 32:11

32:11 Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly!

Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright! ³ 

Mazmur 34:15

34:15 The Lord pays attention to the godly

and hears their cry for help. ⁴ 

Mazmur 34:17

34:17 The godly ⁵  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ⁶ 

Mazmur 34:21

34:21 Evil people self-destruct; ⁷ 

those who hate the godly are punished. ⁸ 

Mazmur 37:25

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ⁹  forced to search for food. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 37:33

37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,

or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ¹¹ 

Mazmur 43:1

Psalm 43 ¹² 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ¹³  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ¹⁴  from deceitful and evil men! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 52:6

52:6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,

and will mock the evildoer, saying: ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 68:3

68:3 But the godly ¹⁷  are happy;

they rejoice before God

and are overcome with joy. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 97:12

97:12 You godly ones, rejoice in the Lord!

Give thanks to his holy name. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 107:41

107:41 Yet he protected ²⁰  the needy from oppression,

and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.

Mazmur 140:13

140:13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;

the morally upright will live in your presence.

[30:4]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[32:11]  ³ tn Heb “all [you] pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[34:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord [are] toward the godly, and his ears [are] toward their cry for help.”

[34:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ⁶ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[34:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “evil kills the wicked [one].” The singular form is representative; the typical evil person is envisioned. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the typical nature of the action.

[34:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “are guilty,” but the verb is sometimes used metonymically with the meaning “to suffer the consequences of guilt,” the effect being substituted for the cause.

[37:25]  ⁹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[37:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.

[37:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.

[43:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ¹³ tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

[52:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the godly will see and will fear and at him will laugh.”

[68:3]  ¹⁷ tn By placing the subject first the psalmist highlights the contrast between God’s ecstatic people and his defeated enemies (vv. 1-2).

[68:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they are happy with joy” (cf. NEB). Some translate the prefixed verbal forms of v. 3 as jussives, “Let the godly be happy, let them rejoice before God, and let them be happy with joy!” (Cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV; note the call to praise in v. 4.)

[97:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to his holy remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זָכַר (zakhar, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 6:5; 30:4. The Lord’s “name” is “holy” in the sense that it is a reminder of his uniqueness and greatness.

[107:41]  ²⁰ tn Heb “set on high.”