Mazmur 68:4

68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!

Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! ¹ 

For the Lord is his name! ² 

Rejoice before him!

Mazmur 77:11

77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord.

Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! ³ 

Mazmur 89:8

89:8 O Lord, sovereign God! ⁴ 

Who is strong like you, O Lord?

Your faithfulness surrounds you.

Mazmur 102:18

102:18 The account of his intervention ⁵  will be recorded for future generations;

people yet to be born will praise the Lord.

Mazmur 111:1

Psalm 111 ⁶ 

111:1 Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.

Mazmur 112:1

Psalm 112 ⁷ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ⁸  who obeys ⁹  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 113:1

Psalm 113 ¹¹ 

113:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise, you servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

Mazmur 117:2

117:2 For his loyal love towers ¹²  over us,

and the Lord’s faithfulness endures.

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 122:4

122:4 The tribes go up ¹³  there, ¹⁴ 

the tribes of the Lord,

where it is required that Israel

give thanks to the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 135:1

Psalm 135 ¹⁶ 

135:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord!

Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,

Mazmur 135:3

135:3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good!

Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant! ¹⁷ 

Mazmur 146:10--147:1

146:10 The Lord rules forever,

your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come! ¹⁸ 

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 147 ¹⁹ 

147:1 Praise the Lord,

for it is good to sing praises to our God!

Yes, ²⁰  praise is pleasant and appropriate!

Mazmur 147:20--148:1

147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;

they are not aware of his regulations.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148 ²¹ 

148:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the sky!

Praise him in the heavens!

Mazmur 148:14--149:1

148:14 He has made his people victorious, ²² 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ²³ 

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 149 ²⁴ 

149:1 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Praise him in the assembly of the godly! ²⁵ 

Mazmur 149:9

149:9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies ²⁶  have been sentenced. ²⁷ 

All his loyal followers will be vindicated. ²⁸ 

Praise the Lord!

[68:4]  ¹ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term עֲרָבוֹת (’aravot) is taken as “steppe-lands” (often rendered “deserts”), but here the form is probably a homonym meaning “clouds.” Verse 33, which depicts God as the one who “rides on the sky” strongly favors this (see as well Deut 33:26), as does the reference in v. 9 to God as the source of rain. The term עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “cloud”) is cognate with Akkadian urpatu/erpetu and with Ugaritic ’rpt. The phrase rkb ’rpt (“one who rides on the clouds”) appears in Ugaritic mythological texts as an epithet of the storm god Baal. The nonphonemic interchange of the bilabial consonants b and p is attested elsewhere in roots common to Hebrew and Ugaritic, though the phenomenon is relatively rare.

[68:4]  ² tc Heb “in the Lord his name.” If the MT is retained, the preposition -בְ (bet) is introducing the predicate (the so-called bet of identity), “the Lord is his name.” However, some prefer to emend the text to כִּי יָהּ שְׁמוֹ (ki yah shÿmo, “for Yah is his name”). This emendation, reflected in the present translation, assumes a confusion of bet (ב) and kaf (כ) and haplography of yod (י).

[77:11]  ³ tn Heb “yes, I will remember from old your wonders.”

[77:11]  sn The psalmist refuses to allow skepticism to win out. God has revealed himself to his people in tangible, incontrovertible ways in the past and the psalmist vows to remember the historical record as a source of hope for the future.

[89:8]  ⁴ tn Traditionally “God of hosts.” The title here pictures the Lord as enthroned in the midst of the angelic hosts of heaven.

[102:18]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has simply “this,” referring to the anticipated divine intervention on behalf of Zion (vv. 13, 16-17). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[111:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 111. The psalmist praises God for his marvelous deeds, especially the way in which he provides for and delivers his people. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[113:1]  ¹¹ sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.

[117:2]  ¹² tn For this sense of the Hebrew verb גָּבַר (gavar), see Ps 103:11 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.

[122:4]  ¹³ tn Or “went up.”

[122:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”

[122:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”

[135:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 135. The psalmist urges God’s people to praise him because he is the incomparable God and ruler of the world who has accomplished great things for Israel.

[135:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for [it is] pleasant.” The translation assumes that it is the Lord’s “name” that is pleasant. Another option is to understand the referent of “it” as the act of praising (see Ps 147:1).

[146:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.”

[147:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people.

[147:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “for.”

[148:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 148. The psalmist calls upon all creation to praise the Lord, for he is the creator and sovereign king of the world.

[148:14]  ²² tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ²³ tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.

[149:1]  ²⁴ sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.

[149:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”

[149:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[149:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”

[149:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).