Psalms 10:4

10:4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,

“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” ¹ 

Psalms 13:3

13:3 Look at me! ²  Answer me, O Lord my God!

Revive me, ³  or else I will die! ⁴ 

Psalms 17:13

17:13 Rise up, Lord!

Confront him! ⁵  Knock him down! ⁶ 

Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man! ⁷ 

Psalms 21:6

21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;

you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence. ⁸ 

Psalms 21:10

21:10 You destroy their offspring ⁹  from the earth,

their descendants ¹⁰  from among the human race. ¹¹ 

Psalms 44:22

44:22 Yet because of you ¹²  we are killed all day long;

we are treated like ¹³  sheep at the slaughtering block. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 45:12

45:12 Rich people from Tyre ¹⁵ 

will seek your favor by bringing a gift. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 60:4

60:4 You have given your loyal followers ¹⁷  a rallying flag,

so that they might seek safety from the bow. ¹⁸  (Selah)

Psalms 61:7

61:7 May he reign ¹⁹  forever before God!

Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. ²⁰ 

Psalms 68:1

Psalm 68 ²¹ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ²² 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ²³  run from him. ²⁴ 

Psalms 89:17

89:17 For you give them splendor and strength. ²⁵ 

By your favor we are victorious. ²⁶ 

Psalms 90:8

90:8 You are aware of our sins; ²⁷ 

you even know about our hidden sins. ²⁸ 

Psalms 99:9

99:9 Praise ²⁹  the Lord our God!

Worship on his holy hill,

for the Lord our God is holy!

Psalms 112:8

112:8 His resolve ³⁰  is firm; he will not succumb to fear

before he looks in triumph on his enemies.

Psalms 140:13

140:13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;

the morally upright will live in your presence.

[10:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the wicked [one], according to the height of his nose, he does not seek, there is no God, all his thoughts.” The phrase “height of his nose” probably refers to an arrogant or snooty attitude; it likely pictures one with his nose turned upward toward the sky in pride. One could take the “wicked” as the subject of the negated verb “seek,” in which case the point is that the wicked do not “seek” God. The translation assumes that this statement, along with “there is no God,” is what the wicked man thinks to himself. In this case God is the subject of the verb “seek,” and the point is that God will not hold the wicked man accountable for his actions. Verse 13 strongly favors this interpretation. The statement “there is no God” is not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that he is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see v. 11).

[13:3]  ² tn Heb “see.”

[13:3]  ³ tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (’ur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.

[13:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”

[17:13]  ³ tn Heb “Be in front of his face.”

[17:13]  ⁴ tn Or “bring him to his knees.”

[17:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “rescue my life from the wicked [one] [by] your sword.”

[21:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.

[21:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “fruit.” The next line makes it clear that offspring is in view.

[21:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “seed.”

[21:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “sons of man.”

[44:22]  ⁶ tn The statement “because of you” (1) may simply indicate that God is the cause of the Israelites’ defeat (see vv. 9-14, where the nation’s situation is attributed directly to God’s activity, and cf. NEB, NRSV), or (2) it may suggest they suffer because of their allegiance to God (see Ps 69:7 and Jer 15:15). In this case one should translate, “for your sake” (cf. NASB, NIV). The citation of this verse in Rom 8:36 follows the LXX (Ps 43:23 LXX), where the Greek term ἕνεκεν (Jeneken; LXX ἕνεκα) may likewise mean “because of” or “for the sake of” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἕνεκα 1).

[44:22]  ⁷ tn Or “regarded as.”

[44:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “like sheep of slaughtering,” that is, sheep destined for slaughter.

[45:12]  ⁷ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[45:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “and a daughter of Tyre with a gift, your face they will appease, the rich of people.” The phrase “daughter of Tyre” occurs only here in the OT. It could be understood as addressed to the bride, indicating she was a Phoenician (cf. NEB). However, often in the OT the word “daughter,” when collocated with the name of a city or country, is used to personify the referent (see, for example, “Daughter Zion” in Ps 9:14, and “Daughter Babylon” in Ps 137:8). If that is the case here, then “Daughter Tyre” identifies the city-state of Tyre as the place from which the rich people come (cf. NRSV). The idiom “appease the face” refers to seeking one’s favor (see Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9).

[60:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “those who fear you.”

[60:4]  ⁹ tn There is a ray of hope in that God has allowed his loyal followers to rally under a battle flag. The translation assumes the verb is from the root נוּס (nus, “flee”) used here in the Hitpolel in the sense of “find safety for oneself” (HALOT 681 s.v. נוס) or “take flight for oneself” (BDB 630-31 s.v. נוּס). Another option is to take the verb as a denominative from נֵס (nes, “flag”) and translate “that it may be displayed” (BDB 651 s.v. II נסס) or “that they may assemble under the banner” (HALOT 704 s.v. II נסס). Here קֹשֶׁט (qoshet) is taken as an Aramaized form of קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”; BDB 905-6 s.v. קֶשֶׁת), though some understand the homonymic קֹשְׁטְ (qosht, “truth”) here (see Prov 22:21; cf. NASB). If one follows the latter interpretation, the line may be translated, “so that they might assemble under the banner for the sake of truth.”

[61:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.

[61:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”

[68:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ¹² tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ¹³ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[89:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for the splendor of their strength [is] you.”

[89:17]  ¹² tn Heb “you lift up our horn,” or if one follows the marginal reading (Qere), “our horn is lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:24; 92:10; Lam 2:17).

[90:8]  ¹² tn Heb “you set our sins in front of you.”

[90:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “what we have hidden to the light of your face.” God’s face is compared to a light or lamp that exposes the darkness around it.

[99:9]  ¹³ tn Or “exalt.”

[112:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his heart,” viewed here as the seat of the volition.