105:1 Give thanks to the Lord!
Call on his name!
Make known his accomplishments among the nations!
106:1 Praise the Lord!
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures! 3
Book 5
(Psalms 107-150)
107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures! 5
118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures! 7
119:68 You are good and you do good.
Teach me your statutes!
119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,
and seek him with all their heart,
7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, 8
or am guilty of unjust actions, 9
7:6 Stand up angrily, 10 Lord!
Rise up with raging fury against my enemies! 11
Wake up for my sake and execute the judgment you have decreed for them! 12
“For he is good;
his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”
All the people gave a loud 14 shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established.
1 sn Psalm 105. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God because he delivered his people from Egypt in fulfillment of his covenantal promises to Abraham. A parallel version of vv. 1-15 appears in 1 Chr 16:8-22.
2 sn Psalm 106. The psalmist recalls Israel’s long history of rebellion against God, despite his mighty saving deeds on their behalf.
3 tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”
4 sn Psalm 107. The psalmist praises God for his kindness to his exiled people.
5 tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”
6 sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.
7 tn Or “is forever.”
8 tn Heb “if I have done this.”
9 tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.
10 tn Heb “in your anger.”
11 tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (’avrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.
12 tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (’eliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.
13 tn Heb “they answered.”
14 tn Heb “great.”
15 tn Heb “33:10 Thus says the
16 sn What is predicted here is a reversal of the decimation caused by the Babylonian conquest that had been threatened in 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.
17 sn This is a common hymnic introduction to both individual songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 118:1) and communal songs of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 136 where it is a liturgical refrain accompanying a recital of Israel’s early history and of the
18 tn Heb “Oracle of the
19 tn Or “I will restore the fortunes of the land.”
20 tn This phrase simply means “as formerly” (BDB 911 s.v. רִאשׁוֹן 3.a). The reference to the “as formerly” must be established from the context. See the usage in Judg 20:32; 1 Kgs 13:6; Isa 1:26.