Psalms 10:12

10:12 Rise up, Lord! ¹ 

O God, strike him down! ² 

Do not forget the oppressed!

Psalms 37:31

37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking; ³ 

their ⁴  feet do not slip.

Psalms 66:19

66:19 However, God heard;

he listened to my prayer.

Psalms 73:11

73:11 They say, “How does God know what we do?

Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” ⁵ 

Psalms 78:41

78:41 They again challenged God, ⁶ 

and offended ⁷  the Holy One of Israel. ⁸ 

Psalms 78:59

78:59 God heard and was angry;

he completely rejected Israel.

Psalms 139:23

139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! ⁹ 

Test me, and know my concerns! ¹⁰ 

[10:12]  ¹ sn Rise up, O Lord! The psalmist’s mood changes from lament to petition and confidence.

[10:12]  ² tn Heb “lift up your hand.” Usually the expression “lifting the hand” refers to praying (Pss 28:2; 134:2) or making an oath (Ps 106:26), but here it probably refers to “striking a blow” (see 2 Sam 18:28; 20:21). Note v. 15, where the psalmist asks the Lord to “break the arm of the wicked.” A less likely option is that the psalmist is requesting that the Lord declare by oath his intention to intervene.

[37:31]  ³ tn Heb “the law of his God [is] in his heart.” The “heart” is here the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[37:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “his.” The pronoun has been translated as plural to agree with the representative or typical “godly” in v. 30.

[73:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).

[78:41]  ⁷ tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.

[78:41]  ⁸ tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.

[78:41]  ⁹ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[139:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “and know my heart.”

[139:23]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun שַׂרְעַפַּי (sar’apay, “concerns”) is used of “worries” in Ps 94:19.