For the music director; a psalm of David.
19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; 2
the sky displays his handiwork. 3
30:9 “What 4 profit is there in taking my life, 5
in my descending into the Pit? 6
Can the dust of the grave 7 praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty? 8
64:9 and all people will fear. 9
They will proclaim 10 what God has done,
and reflect on his deeds.
92:15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my protector,
is just and never unfair. 11
1 sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.
2 sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.
3 tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.
4 sn The following two verses (vv. 9-10) contain the prayer (or an excerpt of the prayer) that the psalmist offered to the Lord during his crisis.
5 tn Heb “What profit [is there] in my blood?” “Blood” here represents his life.
6 tn The Hebrew term שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4).
7 tn Heb “dust.” The words “of the grave” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
8 tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “Of course not!”
7 tc Many medieval Hebrew
8 tn Heb “the work of God,” referring to the judgment described in v. 7.
10 tn Heb “so that [they] proclaim that upright [is] the