Psalms 4:6

Context

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

Smile upon us, Lord!¹

Psalms 42:5

Context

42:5 Why are you depressed,² O my soul?³

Why are you upset?⁴

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention.⁵

Psalms 89:15

Context

89:15 How blessed are the people who worship you!⁶

O Lord, they experience your favor.⁷

Acts 2:28

Context

2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of joy with your presence.’⁸

[4:6] ¹tn 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).

[42:5] ²tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:5] ³sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:5] ⁴tn Heb “and [why] are you in turmoil upon me?” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries on the descriptive present nuance of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

[42:5] ⁵tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of his face.” The verse division in the Hebrew text is incorrect. אֱלֹהַי (’elohay, “my God”) at the beginning of v. 7 belongs with the end of v. 6 (see the corresponding refrains in 42:11 and 43:5, both of which end with “my God” after “saving acts of my face”). The Hebrew term פָּנָיו (panayv, “his face”) should be emended to פְּנֵי (pÿney, “face of”). The emended text reads, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God,” that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention.

[89:15] ⁶tn Heb “who know the shout.” “Shout” here refers to the shouts of the Lord’s worshipers (see Pss 27:6; 33:3; 47:5).

[89:15] ⁷tn Heb “in the light of your face they walk.” 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 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; Dan 9:17).

[2:28] ⁸sn A quotation from Ps 16:8-11.