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! ¹ 

Mazmur 51:12

51:12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!

Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! ² 

Mazmur 78:7

78:7 Then they will place their confidence in God.

They will not forget the works of God,

and they will obey ³  his commands.

Mazmur 81:11

81:11 But my people did not obey me; ⁴ 

Israel did not submit to me. ⁵ 

Mazmur 81:13

81:13 If only my people would obey me! ⁶ 

If only Israel would keep my commands! ⁷ 

Mazmur 99:7

99:7 He spoke to them from a pillar of cloud; ⁸ 

they obeyed his regulations and the ordinance he gave them.

Mazmur 111:10

111:10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living; ⁹ 

all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight. ¹⁰ 

He will receive praise forever. ¹¹ 

[32:11]  ¹ 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).

[51:12]  ² tn Heb “and [with] a willing spirit sustain me.” The psalmist asks that God make him the kind of person who willingly obeys the divine commandments. The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[78:7]  ³ tn Heb “keep.”

[81:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “did not listen to my voice.”

[81:11]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew expression אָבָה לִי (’avah liy) means “submit to me” (see Deut 13:8).

[81:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).

[81:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”

[99:7]  ⁸ sn A pillar of cloud. The psalmist refers to the reality described in Exod 33:9-10; Num 12:5; and Deut 31:15.

[111:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “the beginning of wisdom [is] the fear of the Lord.”

[111:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “good sense [is] to all who do them.” The third masculine plural pronominal suffix must refer back to the “precepts” mentioned in v. 7. In the translation the referent has been specified for clarity. The phrase שֵׂכֶל טוֹב (shekhel tov) also occurs in Prov 3:4; 13:15 and 2 Chr 30:22.

[111:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his praise stands forever.”