Psalms 4:6-7

4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”

Smile upon us, Lord! ¹ 

4:7 You make me happier ² 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. ³ 

Psalms 42:1-2

Book 2
(Psalms 42-72)

Psalm 42 ⁴ 

For the music director; a well-written song ⁵  by the Korahites.

42:1 As a deer ⁶  longs ⁷  for streams of water,

so I long ⁸  for you, O God!

42:2 I thirst ⁹  for God,

for the living God.

I say, ¹⁰  “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” ¹¹ 

Psalms 63:1-3

Psalm 63 ¹² 

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ¹³ 

63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! ¹⁴ 

My soul thirsts ¹⁵  for you,

my flesh yearns for you,

in a dry and parched ¹⁶  land where there is no water.

63:2 Yes, ¹⁷  in the sanctuary I have seen you, ¹⁸ 

and witnessed ¹⁹  your power and splendor.

63:3 Because ²⁰  experiencing ²¹  your loyal love is better than life itself,

my lips will praise you.

Psalms 63:8

63:8 My soul ²²  pursues you; ²³ 

your right hand upholds me.

Isaiah 26:8-9

26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, ²⁴ 

O Lord, we wait for you.

We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ²⁵ 

26:9 I ²⁶  look for ²⁷  you during the night,

my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,

for when your judgments come upon the earth,

those who live in the world learn about justice. ²⁸ 

Luke 24:32

24:32 They ²⁹  said to each other, “Didn’t ³⁰  our hearts ³¹  burn within us ³²  while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining ³³  the scriptures to us?”

Philippians 1:23

1:23 I feel torn between the two, ³⁴  because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far,

[4:6]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face, Lord.” The verb נסה is apparently an alternate form of נשׂא, “lift up.” See GKC 217 §76.b. The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

[4:7]  ³ tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

[42:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 42. The psalmist recalls how he once worshiped in the Lord’s temple, but laments that he is now oppressed by enemies in a foreign land. Some medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalms 42 and 43 into a single psalm.

[42:1]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[42:1]  ⁶ tn Since the accompanying verb is feminine in form, the noun אָיִּל (’ayyil, “male deer”) should be emended to אַיֶּלֶת (’ayyelet, “female deer”). Haplography of the letter tav has occurred; note that the following verb begins with tav.

[42:1]  ⁷ tn Or “pants [with thirst].”

[42:1]  ⁸ tn Or “my soul pants [with thirst].” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[42:2]  ⁹ tn Or “my soul thirsts.”

[42:2]  ¹⁰ tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

[42:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).

[63:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.

[63:1]  ¹³ sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.

[63:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.

[63:2]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).

[63:2]  ¹⁸ tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”

[63:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.

[63:3]  ²⁰ tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).

[63:3]  ²¹ tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.

[63:8]  ²² tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[63:8]  ²³ tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).

[26:8]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.

[26:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”

[26:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).

[26:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).

[26:9]  ²⁸ tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).

[24:32]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[24:32]  ³⁰ tn This question uses a Greek particle (οὐχί, ouci) that expects a positive reply.

[24:32]  ³¹ tn This is a collective singular use of the term καρδία (kardia), so each of their hearts were burning, a reference itself to the intense emotion of their response.

[24:32]  ³² tc ‡ Most mss have the phrase ἐν ἡμῖν (en Jhmin, “within us”) after οὐχὶ ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν καιομένη ἦν (ouci Jh kardia Jhmwn kaiomenh hn, “Didn’t our hearts burn”). The phrase “within us” is lacking in some early mss (Ì⁷⁵ B D c e sy^s,c). These early witnesses could have overlooked the words, since there are several occurrences of ἡμῖν in the context. But it seems likely that other scribes wanted to clarify the abrupt expression “Didn’t our hearts burn,” even as the translation has done here. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[24:32]  ³³ tn Grk “opening” (cf. Acts 17:3).

[1:23]  ³⁴ tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.