22:25 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; 1
he took notice of my blameless behavior. 2
22:1 3 David sang 4 to the Lord the words of this song when 5 the Lord rescued him from the power 6 of all his enemies, including Saul. 7
1:23 Saul and Jonathan were greatly loved 8 during their lives,
and not even in their deaths were they separated.
They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
1:1 After the death of Saul, 9 when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, 10 he stayed at Ziklag 11 for two days.
8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah 12 from the Philistines. 13
7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, 14
or am guilty of unjust actions, 15
7:4 or have wronged my ally, 16
or helped his lawless enemy, 17
7:8 The Lord judges the nations. 18
Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, 19
because I am blameless, 20 O Exalted One! 21
18:20 The Lord repaid 22 me for my godly deeds; 23
he rewarded 24 my blameless behavior. 25
18:21 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands; 26
I have not rebelled against my God. 27
18:22 For I am aware of all his regulations, 28
and I do not reject his rules. 29
18:23 I was innocent before him,
and kept myself from sinning. 30
18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; 31
he took notice of my blameless behavior. 32
18:25 You prove to be loyal 33 to one who is faithful; 34
you prove to be trustworthy 35 to one who is innocent. 36
19:11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; 37
those who obey them receive a rich reward. 38
For the music director; a psalm of David.
19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; 40
the sky displays his handiwork. 41
1:1 From Paul, 42 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1 tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” See v. 21.
2 tn Heb “according to my purity before his eyes.”
3 sn In this long song of thanks, David affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. His experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the song appears in Ps 18.
4 tn Heb “spoke.”
5 tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”
6 tn Heb “hand.”
7 tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”
8 tn Heb “beloved and dear.”
9 sn This chapter is closely linked to 1 Sam 31. It should be kept in mind that 1 and 2 Samuel were originally a single book, not separate volumes. Whereas in English Bible tradition the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra-Nehemiah are each regarded as two separate books, this was not the practice in ancient Hebrew tradition. Early canonical records, for example, counted them as single books respectively. The division into two books goes back to the Greek translation of the OT and was probably initiated because of the cumbersome length of copies due to the Greek practice (unlike that of Hebrew) of writing vowels. The present division into two books can be a little misleading in terms of perceiving the progression of the argument of the book; in some ways it is preferable to treat the books of 1-2 Samuel in a unified fashion.
10 sn The Amalekites were a nomadic people who inhabited Judah and the Transjordan. They are mentioned in Gen 36:15-16 as descendants of Amalek who in turn descended from Esau. In Exod 17:8-16 they are described as having acted in a hostile fashion toward Israel as the Israelites traveled to Canaan from Egypt. In David’s time the Amalekites were viewed as dangerous enemies who raided, looted, and burned Israelite cities (see 1 Sam 30).
11 sn Ziklag was a city in the Negev which had been given to David by Achish king of Gath. For more than a year David used it as a base from which he conducted military expeditions (see 1 Sam 27:5-12). According to 1 Sam 30:1-19, Ziklag was destroyed by the Amalekites while Saul fought the Philistines.
12 tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).
13 tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
14 tn Heb “if I have done this.”
15 tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.
16 tn Heb “if I have repaid the one at peace with me evil.” The form שׁוֹלְמִי (sholÿmi, “the one at peace with me”) probably refers to a close friend or ally, i.e., one with whom the psalmist has made a formal agreement. See BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלוֹם 4.a.
17 tn Heb “or rescued my enemy in vain.” The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive (the verb form is pseudo-cohortative; see IBHS 576-77 §34.5.3) carries on the hypothetical nuance of the perfect in the preceding line. Some regard the statement as a parenthetical assertion that the psalmist is kind to his enemies. Others define חָלַץ (khalats) as “despoil” (cf. NASB, NRSV “plundered”; NIV “robbed”), an otherwise unattested nuance for this verb. Still others emend the verb to לָחַץ (lakhats, “oppress”). Most construe the adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “emptily, vainly”) with “my enemy,” i.e., the one who is my enemy in vain.” The present translation (1) assumes an emendation of צוֹרְרִי (tsorÿriy, “my enemy”) to צוֹרְרוֹ (tsorÿro, “his [i.e., the psalmist’s ally’s] enemy”) following J. Tigay, “Psalm 7:5 and Ancient Near Eastern Treaties,” JBL 89 (1970): 178-86, (2) understands the final mem (ם) on רֵיקָם as enclitic, and (3) takes רִיק (riq) as an adjective modifying “his enemy.” (For other examples of a suffixed noun followed by an attributive adjective without the article, see Pss 18:17 (“my strong enemy”), 99:3 (“your great and awesome name”) and 143:10 (“your good spirit”). The adjective רִיק occurs with the sense “lawless” in Judg 9:4; 11:3; 2 Chr 13:7. In this case the psalmist affirms that he has not wronged his ally, nor has he given aid to his ally’s enemies. Ancient Near Eastern treaties typically included such clauses, with one or both parties agreeing not to lend aid to the treaty partner’s enemies.
18 sn The
19 tn Heb “judge me, O
20 tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.
21 tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.
22 tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.
23 tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-24 make clear, the psalmist refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. In these verses the psalmist explains that the
24 tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 24) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.
25 tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” “Hands” suggest activity and behavior.
26 tn Heb “for I have kept the ways of the
27 tn Heb “I have not acted wickedly from my God.” The statement is elliptical; the idea is, “I have not acted wickedly and, in so doing, departed from my God.”
28 tn Heb “for all his regulations [are] before me.” The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim, “regulations”) refers to God’s covenantal requirements, especially those which the king is responsible to follow (cf. Deut 17:18-20). See also Pss 19:9 (cf. vv. 7-8); 89:30; 147:20 (cf. v. 19), as well as the numerous uses of the term in Ps 119.
29 tn Heb “and his rules I do not turn aside from me.” 2 Sam 22:23 reads, “and his rules, I do not turn aside from it.” The prefixed verbal form is probably an imperfect; the psalmist here generalizes about his loyalty to God’s commands. The Lord’s “rules” are the stipulations of the covenant which the king was responsible to obey (see Ps 89:31; cf. v. 30 and Deut 17:18-20).
30 tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way.
31 tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”
32 tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.” 2 Sam 22:25 reads “according to my purity before his eyes.” The verbal repetition (compare vv. 20 and 24) sets off vv. 20-24 as a distinct sub-unit within the psalm.
33 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.
34 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).
35 tn Or “innocent.”
36 tn Heb “a man of innocence.”
37 tn Heb “moreover your servant is warned by them.”
38 tn Heb “in the keeping of them [there is] a great reward.”
39 sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.
40 sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.
41 tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.
42 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.