Mazmur 34:8

34:8 Taste ¹  and see that the Lord is good!

How blessed ²  is the one ³  who takes shelter in him! ⁴ 

Mazmur 39:9

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done. ⁵ 

Mazmur 44:13

44:13 You made us ⁶  an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ⁷ 

Mazmur 68:28

68:28 God has decreed that you will be powerful. ⁸ 

O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power,

Mazmur 74:18

74:18 Remember how ⁹  the enemy hurls insults, O Lord, ¹⁰ 

and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name!

Mazmur 89:12

89:12 You created the north and the south.

Tabor and Hermon ¹¹  rejoice in your name.

Mazmur 96:12

96:12 Let the fields and everything in them celebrate!

Then let the trees of the forest shout with joy

Mazmur 104:3

104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. ¹² 

He makes the clouds his chariot,

and travels along on the wings of the wind. ¹³ 

Mazmur 119:176

119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. ¹⁴ 

Come looking for your servant,

for I do not forget your commands.

Mazmur 129:6

129:6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops

which withers before one can even pull it up, ¹⁵ 

[34:8]  ¹ tn This verb is normally used of tasting or savoring food. The metaphor here appears to compare the Lord to a tasty meal.

[34:8]  ² 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, 3; 2:12; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[34:8]  ³ tn Heb “man.” The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.”

[34:8]  ⁴ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[39:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

[44:13]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.”

[68:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “God has commanded your strength.” The statement is apparently addressed to Israel (see v. 26).

[74:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “remember this.”

[74:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “[how] the enemy insults the Lord.”

[89:12]  ¹¹ sn Tabor and Hermon were two of the most prominent mountains in Palestine.

[104:3]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[119:176]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).

[129:6]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).