Psalms 61:6-7

61:6 Give the king long life!

Make his lifetime span several generations! ¹ 

61:7 May he reign ²  forever before God!

Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. ³ 

Psalms 85:10

85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; ⁴ 

deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. ⁵ 

Psalms 89:1-2

Psalm 89 ⁶ 

A well-written song ⁷  by Ethan the Ezrachite.

89:1 I will sing continually ⁸  about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness. ⁹ 

89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; ¹⁰ 

in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” ¹¹ 

Psalms 89:14

89:14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne. ¹² 

Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule. ¹³ 

Proverbs 20:28

20:28 Loyal love and truth ¹⁴  preserve a king,

and his throne is upheld by loyal love. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 29:14

29:14 If a king judges the poor in truth, ¹⁶ 

his throne ¹⁷  will be established forever.

Luke 1:69-75

1:69 For ¹⁸  he has raised up ¹⁹  a horn of salvation ²⁰  for us in the house of his servant David, ²¹ 

1:70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, ²² 

1:71 that we should be saved ²³  from our enemies, ²⁴ 

and from the hand of all who hate us.

1:72 He has done this ²⁵  to show mercy ²⁶  to our ancestors, ²⁷ 

and to remember his holy covenant ²⁸  –

1:73 the oath ²⁹  that he swore to our ancestor ³⁰  Abraham.

This oath grants ³¹ 

1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our ³²  enemies,

may serve him without fear, ³³ 

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ³⁴  before him for as long as we live. ³⁵ 

[61:6]  ¹ tn Heb “days upon days of the king add, his years like generation and generation.”

[61:7]  ² tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.

[61:7]  ³ tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”

[85:10]  ⁴ tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.

[85:10]  ⁵ sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.

[89:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 89. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God’s covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized. The covenant promised the Davidic king military victories, but the king has now been subjected to humiliating defeat.

[89:1]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 88.

[89:1]  ⁸ tn Or “forever.”

[89:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “to a generation and a generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.”

[89:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “built.”

[89:2]  ¹¹ sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).

[89:14]  ¹² sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.

[89:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “are in front of your face.” The idiom can mean “confront” (Ps 17:13) or “meet, enter the presence of” (Ps 95:2).

[20:28]  ¹⁴ tn The first line uses two Hebrew words, חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (khesed ve’emet, “loyal love and truth”), to tell where security lies. The first word is the covenant term for “loyal love; loving-kindness; mercy”; and the second is “truth” in the sense of what is reliable and dependable. The two words often are joined together to form a hendiadys: “faithful love.” That a hendiadys is intended here is confirmed by the fact that the second line uses only the critical word חֶסֶד.

[20:28]  ¹⁵ sn The emphasis is on the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:11-16; Ps 89:19-37). It is the Lord and his faithful love for his covenant that ultimately makes the empire secure. But the enjoyment of divine protection requires the king to show loyal love as well.

[29:14]  ¹⁶ tn The king must judge “in truth” (בֶּאֱמֶת, be’emet). Some have interpreted this to mean “faithfully” (KJV, ASV) but that is somewhat unclear. The idea is that the poor must be treated fairly and justly (cf. NIV “with fairness”; NRSV “with equity”); “truth” is that which corresponds to the standard of the law revealed by God. There must be no miscarriage of justice for these people simply because they are poor.

[29:14]  ¹⁷ sn The term “throne” is a metonymy of subject; it represents the dynasty, the reign of this particular king and his descendants. The qualification of the enduring administration is its moral character. The language of this proverb reflects the promise of the Davidic Covenant (e.g., Prov 16:12; 20:28; 25:5; 31:5).

[1:69]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and,” but specifying the reason for the praise in the psalm.

[1:69]  ¹⁹ sn The phrase raised up means for God to bring someone significant onto the scene of history.

[1:69]  ²⁰ sn The horn of salvation is a figure that refers to the power of Messiah and his ability to protect, as the horn refers to what an animal uses to attack and defend (Ps 75:4-5, 10; 148:14; 2 Sam 22:3). Thus the meaning of the figure is “a powerful savior.”

[1:69]  ²¹ sn In the house of his servant David is a reference to Messiah’s Davidic descent. Zechariah is more interested in Jesus than his own son John at this point.

[1:70]  ²² tn Grk “from the ages,” “from eternity.”

[1:71]  ²³ tn Grk “from long ago, salvation.”

[1:71]  ²⁴ sn The theme of being saved from our enemies is like the release Jesus preached in Luke 4:18-19. Luke’s narrative shows that one of the enemies in view is Satan and his cohorts, with the grip they have on humanity.

[1:72]  ²⁵ tn The words “He has done this” (referring to the raising up of the horn of salvation from David’s house) are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to allow a new sentence to be started in the translation. The Greek sentence is lengthy and complex at this point, while contemporary English uses much shorter sentences.

[1:72]  ²⁶ sn Mercy refers to God’s loyal love (steadfast love) by which he completes his promises. See Luke 1:50.

[1:72]  ²⁷ tn Or “our forefathers”; Grk “our fathers.” This begins with the promise to Abraham (vv. 55, 73), and thus refers to many generations of ancestors.

[1:72]  ²⁸ sn The promises of God can be summarized as being found in the one promise (the oath that he swore) to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3).

[1:73]  ²⁹ tn This is linked back grammatically by apposition to “covenant” in v. 72, specifying which covenant is meant.

[1:73]  ³⁰ tn Or “forefather”; Grk “father.”

[1:73]  ³¹ tn Again for reasons of English style, the infinitival clause “to grant us” has been translated “This oath grants” and made the beginning of a new sentence in the translation.

[1:74]  ³² tc Many important early mss (א B L W [0130] Ë^1,13 565 892 pc) lack “our,” while most (A C D [K] Θ Ψ 0177 33 Ï pc) supply it. Although the addition is most likely not authentic, “our” has been included in the translation due to English stylistic requirements.

[1:74]  ³³ tn This phrase in Greek is actually thrown forward to the front of the verse to give it emphasis.

[1:75]  ³⁴ sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

[1:75]  ³⁵ tn Grk “all our days.”