Psalms 50:14

50:14 Present to God a thank-offering!

Repay your vows to the sovereign One! ¹ 

Psalms 103:1-6

Psalm 103 ² 

By David.

103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

With all that is within me, praise ³  his holy name!

103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds! ⁴ 

103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,

who heals all your diseases, ⁵ 

103:4 who delivers ⁶  your life from the Pit, ⁷ 

who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,

103:5 who satisfies your life with good things, ⁸ 

so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s. ⁹ 

103:6 The Lord does what is fair,

and executes justice for all the oppressed. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 116:1-19

Psalm 116 ¹¹ 

116:1 I love the Lord

because he heard my plea for mercy, ¹² 

116:2 and listened to me. ¹³ 

As long as I live, I will call to him when I need help. ¹⁴ 

116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, ¹⁵ 

the snares ¹⁶  of Sheol confronted me.

I was confronted ¹⁷  with trouble and sorrow.

116:4 I called on the name of the Lord,

“Please Lord, rescue my life!”

116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;

our God is compassionate.

116:6 The Lord protects ¹⁸  the untrained; ¹⁹ 

I was in serious trouble ²⁰  and he delivered me.

116:7 Rest once more, my soul, ²¹ 

for the Lord has vindicated you. ²² 

116:8 Yes, ²³  Lord, ²⁴  you rescued my life from death,

and kept my feet from stumbling.

116:9 I will serve ²⁵  the Lord

in the land ²⁶  of the living.

116:10 I had faith when I said,

“I am severely oppressed.”

116:11 I rashly declared, ²⁷ 

“All men are liars.”

116:12 How can I repay the Lord

for all his acts of kindness to me?

116:13 I will celebrate my deliverance, ²⁸ 

and call on the name of the Lord.

116:14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

before all his people.

116:15 The Lord values

the lives of his faithful followers. ²⁹ 

116:16 Yes, Lord! I am indeed your servant;

I am your lowest slave. ³⁰ 

You saved me from death. ³¹ 

116:17 I will present a thank offering to you,

and call on the name of the Lord.

116:18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

before all his people,

116:19 in the courts of the Lord’s temple,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

[50:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

[103:1]  ² sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.

[103:1]  ³ tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[103:2]  ³ tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).

[103:3]  ⁴ tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).

[103:4]  ⁵ tn Or “redeems.”

[103:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.

[103:5]  ⁶ tc Heb “who satisfies with the good of your ornaments.” The text as it stands makes little, if any, sense. The translation assumes an emendation of עֶדְיֵךְ (’ed’ekh, “your ornaments”) to עֹדֵכִי (’odekhiy, “your duration; your continuance”) that is, “your life” (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 18).

[103:5]  ⁷ sn The expression your youth is renewed like an eagle’s may allude to the phenomenon of molting, whereby the eagle grows new feathers.

[103:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord does fairness, and [acts of] justice for all the oppressed.”

[116:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 116. The psalmist thanks the Lord for delivering him from a life threatening crisis and promises to tell the entire covenant community what God has done for him.

[116:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “I love because the Lord heard my voice, my pleas.” It is possible that “the Lord” originally appeared directly after “I love” and was later accidentally misplaced. The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls that God heard his cry for help (note the perfect in v. 2a and the narrative in vv. 3-4).

[116:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “because he turned his ear to me.”

[116:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and in my days I will cry out.”

[116:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[116:3]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.

[116:3]  ¹² tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.

[116:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “guards.” The active participle indicates this is a characteristic of the Lord.

[116:6]  ¹² tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Ps 19:7.

[116:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “I was low.”

[116:7]  ¹² tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”

[116:7]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).

[116:8]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[116:8]  ¹⁴ tn “Lord” is supplied here in the translation for clarification.

[116:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “walk before” (see Ps 56:13). On the meaning of the Hebrew idiom, see the notes at 2 Kgs 20:3/Isa 38:3.

[116:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “lands, regions.”

[116:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I said in my haste.”

[116:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a cup of deliverance I will lift up.” Perhaps this alludes to a drink offering the psalmist will present as he thanks the Lord for his deliverance. See v. 17.

[116:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the Lord [is] the death of his godly ones.” The point is not that God delights in or finds satisfaction in the death of his followers! The psalmist, who has been delivered from death, affirms that the life-threatening experiences of God’s followers get God’s attention, just as a precious or rare object would attract someone’s eye. See Ps 72:14 for a similar expression of this belief.

[116:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I am your servant, the son of your female servant.” The phrase “son of a female servant” (see also Ps 86:16) is used of a son born to a secondary wife or concubine (Exod 23:12). In some cases the child’s father is the master of the house (see Gen 21:10, 13; Judg 9:18). The use of the expression here certainly does not imply that the Lord has such a secondary wife or concubine! It is used metaphorically and idiomatically to emphasize the psalmist’s humility before the Lord and his status as the Lord’s servant.

[116:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you have loosed my bonds.” In this context the imagery refers to deliverance from death (see v. 3).