Psalms 16:8

16:8 I constantly trust in the Lord; 1 

because he is at my right hand, I will not be upended.

Psalms 50:8

50:8 I am not condemning 2  you because of your sacrifices,

or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me. 3 

Psalms 18:22

18:22 For I am aware of all his regulations, 4 

and I do not reject his rules. 5 

1 tn Heb “I set the Lord before me continually.” This may mean that the psalmist is aware of the Lord’s presence and sensitive to his moral guidance (see v. 7), or that he trusts in the Lord’s protection (see the following line).

2 tn Or “rebuking.”

3 tn Heb “and your burnt sacrifices before me continually.”

3 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.

4 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).