A psalm of David.
24:1 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,
the world and all who live in it.
24:2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,
and established 2 it upon the ocean currents. 3
50:12 Even if I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all it contains belong to me.
95:4 The depths of the earth are in his hand, 4
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
95:5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
135:6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
135:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord!
Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,
1 sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.
2 tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.
3 sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.
4 tn The phrase “in his hand” means within the sphere of his authority.
5 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.
6 tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.
7 tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).
8 tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.
9 tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.