63:3 Because 1 experiencing 2 your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
73:25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?
I desire no one but you on earth. 3
73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, 4
but God always 5 protects my heart and gives me stability. 6
8:18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared 7 to the glory that will be revealed to us.
1 tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).
2 tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.
3 tn Heb “Who [is there] for me in heaven? And besides you I do not desire [anyone] in the earth.” The psalmist uses a merism (heaven/earth) to emphasize that God is the sole object of his desire and worship in the entire universe.
4 tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).
5 tn Or “forever.”
6 tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the
7 tn Grk “are not worthy [to be compared].”