Psalms 37:23

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ¹ 

Psalms 18:25

18:25 You prove to be loyal ²  to one who is faithful; ³ 

you prove to be trustworthy ⁴  to one who is innocent. ⁵ 

Psalms 128:4

128:4 Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord

will be blessed in this way. ⁶ 

Psalms 89:48

89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. ⁷  (Selah)

Psalms 103:11

103:11 For as the skies are high above the earth,

so his loyal love towers ⁸  over his faithful followers. ⁹ 

Psalms 117:2

117:2 For his loyal love towers ¹⁰  over us,

and the Lord’s faithfulness endures.

Praise the Lord!

¹ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

² tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

³ tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

⁴ tn Or “innocent.”

⁵ tn Heb “a man of innocence.”

³ tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.”

⁴ tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

⁵ tn For this sense of the verb גָבַר (gavar), see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.

⁶ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

⁶ tn For this sense of the Hebrew verb גָּבַר (gavar), see Ps 103:11 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 17, 19.