Psalms 1:1

Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1 ¹ 

1:1 How blessed ²  is the one ³  who does not follow ⁴  the advice ⁵  of the wicked, ⁶ 

or stand in the pathway ⁷  with sinners,

or sit in the assembly ⁸  of scoffers! ⁹ 

Psalms 7:1

Psalm 7 ¹⁰ 

A musical composition ¹¹  by David, which he sang to the Lord concerning ¹²  a Benjaminite named Cush. ¹³ 

7:1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter. ¹⁴ 

Deliver me from all who chase me! Rescue me!

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 ¹⁵ 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; ¹⁶  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, ¹⁷ 

how magnificent ¹⁸  is your reputation ¹⁹  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! ²⁰ 

Psalms 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ²¹ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ²² 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ²³  in you. ²⁴ 

Psalms 40:4

40:4 How blessed ²⁵  is the one ²⁶  who trusts in the Lord ²⁷ 

and does not seek help from ²⁸  the proud or from liars! ²⁹ 

Psalms 55:19

55:19 God, the one who has reigned as king from long ago,

will hear and humiliate them. ³⁰  (Selah)

They refuse to change,

and do not fear God. ³¹ 

Psalms 69:4

69:4 Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head.

Those who want to destroy me, my enemies for no reason, ³²  outnumber me. ³³ 

They make me repay what I did not steal! ³⁴ 

Psalms 84:3

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ³⁵  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ³⁶ 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

Psalms 88:5

88:5 adrift ³⁷  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ³⁸ 

Psalms 106:38

106:38 They shed innocent blood –

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

The land was polluted by bloodshed. ³⁹ 

Psalms 109:16

109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; ⁴⁰ 

he harassed the oppressed and needy,

and killed the disheartened. ⁴¹ 

Psalms 127:5

127:5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

They will not be put to shame ⁴²  when they confront ⁴³  enemies at the city gate.

[1:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 1. In this wisdom psalm the author advises his audience to reject the lifestyle of the wicked and to be loyal to God. The psalmist contrasts the destiny of the wicked with that of the righteous, emphasizing that the wicked are eventually destroyed while the godly prosper under the Lord’s protective care.

[1:1]  ² tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 3; Pss 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[1:1]  ³ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” (Generic “he” is employed in vv. 2-3). Since the godly man described in the psalm is representative of followers of God (note the plural form צַדִּיקִים [tsadiqim, “righteous, godly”] in vv. 5-6), one could translate the collective singular with the plural “those” both here and in vv. 2-3, where singular pronouns and verbal forms are utilized in the Hebrew text (cf. NRSV). However, here the singular form may emphasize that godly individuals are usually outnumbered by the wicked. Retaining the singular allows the translation to retain this emphasis.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in.” The three perfect verbal forms in v. 1 refer in this context to characteristic behavior. The sequence “walk–stand–sit” envisions a progression from relatively casual association with the wicked to complete identification with them.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew noun translated “advice” most often refers to the “counsel” or “advice” one receives from others. To “walk in the advice of the wicked” means to allow their evil advice to impact and determine one’s behavior.

[1:1]  ⁶ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21).

[1:1]  ⁷ tn “Pathway” here refers to the lifestyle of sinners. To “stand in the pathway of/with sinners” means to closely associate with them in their sinful behavior.

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Here the Hebrew term מוֹשַׁב (moshav), although often translated “seat” (cf. NEB, NIV), appears to refer to the whole assembly of evildoers. The word also carries the semantic nuance “assembly” in Ps 107:32, where it is in synonymous parallelism with קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”).

[1:1]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word refers to arrogant individuals (Prov 21:24) who love conflict (Prov 22:10) and vociferously reject wisdom and correction (Prov 1:22; 9:7-8; 13:1; 15:12). To “sit in the assembly” of such people means to completely identify with them in their proud, sinful plans and behavior.

[7:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 7. The psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from his enemies. He protests his innocence and declares his confidence in God’s justice.

[7:1]  ¹¹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שִׁגָּיוֹן (shiggayon; translated here “musical composition”) is uncertain. Some derive the noun from the verbal root שָׁגָה (shagah, “swerve, reel”) and understand it as referring to a “wild, passionate song, with rapid changes of rhythm” (see BDB 993 s.v. שִׁגָּיוֹן). But this proposal is purely speculative. The only other appearance of the noun is in Hab 3:1, where it occurs in the plural.

[7:1]  ¹² tn Or “on account of.”

[7:1]  ¹³ sn Apparently this individual named Cush was one of David’s enemies.

[7:1]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[8:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

[8:1]  ²¹ tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

[8:1]  ²² tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

[8:1]  ²³ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[8:1]  ²⁴ tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

[31:19]  ²⁸ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

[31:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

[31:19]  ³⁰ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

[31:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

[40:4]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[40:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “man.” See the note on the word “one” in Ps 1:1.

[40:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “who has made the Lord his [object of] trust.”

[40:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and does not turn toward.”

[40:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “those falling away toward a lie.”

[55:19]  ⁴⁶ tc Heb “God will hear and answer them, even [the] one who sits [from] ancient times.” The prefixed verbal from with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the anticipatory force of the preceding imperfect. The verb appears to be a Qal form from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). If this reading is retained, the point would be that God “answered” them in judgment. The translation assumes an emendation to the Piel וַיְעַנֵּם (vay’annem; see 2 Kgs 17:20) and understands the root as עָנָה (’anah, “to afflict”; see also 1 Kgs 8:35).

[55:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “[the ones] for whom there are no changes, and they do not fear God.”

[69:4]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “[with] a lie.” The Hebrew noun שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, “lie”) is used here as an adverb, “falsely, wrongfully” (see Pss 35:19; 38:19).

[69:4]  ⁵⁶ tn The Hebrew verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority; note the parallel verb רָבַב (ravav, “be many”).

[69:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “that which I did not steal, then I restore.” Apparently אָז (’az, “then”) is used here to emphasize the verb that follows.

[84:3]  ⁶⁴ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”

[88:5]  ⁷³ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[106:38]  ⁸² sn Num 35:33-34 explains that bloodshed defiles a land.

[109:16]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”

[109:16]  ⁹² tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”

[127:5]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Being “put to shame” is here metonymic for being defeated, probably in a legal context, as the reference to the city gate suggests. One could be humiliated (Ps 69:12) or deprived of justice (Amos 5:12) at the gate, but with strong sons to defend the family interests this was less likely to happen.

[127:5]  ¹⁰¹ tn Heb “speak with.”