Psalms 18:21

18:21 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands; ¹ 

I have not rebelled against my God. ² 

Psalms 18:32

18:32 The one true God ³  gives ⁴  me strength; ⁵ 

he removes ⁶  the obstacles in my way. ⁷ 

Psalms 119:168

119:168 I keep your precepts and rules,

for you are aware of everything I do. ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “for I have kept the ways of the Lord.” The phrase “ways of the Lord” refers here to the “conduct required” by the Lord. In Ps 25 the Lord’s “ways” are associated with his covenantal demands (see vv. 4, 9-10). See also Ps 119:3 (cf. vv. 1, 4), as well as Deut 8:6; 10:12; 11:22; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16.

² 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.”

³ tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the Lord’s distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). See v. 30.

⁴ tn Heb “is the one who clothes.” For similar language see 1 Sam 2:4; Pss 65:6; 93:1. The psalmist employs a generalizing hymnic style in vv. 32-34; he uses participles in vv. 32a, 33a, and 34a to describe what God characteristically does on his behalf.

⁵ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

⁷ tn Heb “he made my path smooth.” The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).

⁵ tn Heb “for all my ways [are] before you.”