1 Chronicles 16:8

16:8 Give thanks to the Lord!

Call on his name!

Make known his accomplishments among the nations!

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ¹ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ²  when wicked men seem to succeed! ³ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 70:1

Psalm 70 ⁴ 

For the music director; by David; written to get God’s attention. ⁵ 

70:1 O God, please be willing to rescue me! ⁶ 

O Lord, hurry and help me! ⁷ 

Psalms 103:2

103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds! ⁸ 

Psalms 105:5

105:5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,

his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed, ⁹ 

Isaiah 62:6-7

62:6 I ¹⁰  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ¹¹ 

You who pray to ¹²  the Lord, don’t be silent!

62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, ¹³ 

until he makes Jerusalem the pride ¹⁴  of the earth.

[37:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ² tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ³ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[70:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 70. This psalm is almost identical to Ps 40:13-17. The psalmist asks for God’s help and for divine retribution against his enemies.

[70:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cause to remember.” The same form, a Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the superscription of Ps 38. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[70:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “O God, to rescue me.” A main verb is obviously missing. The verb רָצָה (ratsah, “be willing”) should be supplied (see Ps 40:13). Ps 40:13 uses the divine name “Lord” rather than “God.”

[70:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.

[103:2]  ⁸ tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).

[105:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the judgments of his mouth.”

[62:6]  ¹⁰ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ¹² tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”

[62:7]  ¹³ tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.

[62:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”