Psalms 106:1

Psalm 106 ¹ 

106:1 Praise the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

and his loyal love endures! ² 

Psalms 118:1

Psalm 118 ³ 

118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good

and his loyal love endures! ⁴ 

Psalms 136:1-26

Psalm 136 ⁵ 

136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his loyal love endures. ⁶ 

136:2 Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his loyal love endures.

136:3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his loyal love endures,

136:4 to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,

for his loyal love endures,

136:5 to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens,

for his loyal love endures,

136:6 to the one who spread out the earth over the water,

for his loyal love endures,

136:7 to the one who made the great lights,

for his loyal love endures,

136:8 the sun to rule by day,

for his loyal love endures,

136:9 the moon and stars to rule by night,

for his loyal love endures,

136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his loyal love endures,

136:11 and led Israel out from their midst,

for his loyal love endures,

136:12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his loyal love endures,

136:13 to the one who divided ⁷  the Red Sea ⁸  in two, ⁹ 

for his loyal love endures,

136:14 and led Israel through its midst,

for his loyal love endures,

136:15 and tossed ¹⁰  Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,

for his loyal love endures,

136:16 to the one who led his people through the wilderness,

for his loyal love endures,

136:17 to the one who struck down great kings,

for his loyal love endures,

136:18 and killed powerful kings,

for his loyal love endures,

136:19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,

for his loyal love endures,

136:20 Og, king of Bashan,

for his loyal love endures,

136:21 and gave their land as an inheritance,

for his loyal love endures,

136:22 as an inheritance to Israel his servant,

for his loyal love endures,

136:23 to the one who remembered us when we were down, ¹¹ 

for his loyal love endures,

136:24 and snatched us away from our enemies,

for his loyal love endures,

136:25 to the one who gives food to all living things, ¹² 

for his loyal love endures.

136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his loyal love endures!

Psalms 136:1

Psalm 136 ¹³ 

136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his loyal love endures. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 16:1

Psalm 16 ¹⁵ 

A prayer ¹⁶  of David.

16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 16:1-2

Psalm 16 ¹⁸ 

A prayer ¹⁹  of David.

16:1 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. ²⁰ 

16:2 I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord,

my only source of well-being.” ²¹ 

Psalms 5:1

Psalm 5 ²² 

For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments; ²³  a psalm of David.

5:1 Listen to what I say, ²⁴  Lord!

Carefully consider my complaint! ²⁵ 

Psalms 7:3

7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say, ²⁶ 

or am guilty of unjust actions, ²⁷ 

Psalms 7:6

7:6 Stand up angrily, ²⁸  Lord!

Rise up with raging fury against my enemies! ²⁹ 

Wake up for my sake and execute the judgment you have decreed for them! ³⁰ 

Psalms 20:1

Psalm 20 ³¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ³²  you ³³  when you are in trouble; ³⁴ 

may the God of Jacob ³⁵  make you secure!

[106:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 106. The psalmist recalls Israel’s long history of rebellion against God, despite his mighty saving deeds on their behalf.

[106:1]  ² tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”

[118:1]  ³ sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.

[118:1]  ⁴ tn Or “is forever.”

[136:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 136. In this hymn the psalmist affirms that God is praiseworthy because of his enduring loyal love, sovereign authority, and compassion. Each verse of the psalm concludes with the refrain “for his loyal love endures.”

[136:1]  ⁶ tn Or “is forever.”

[136:13]  ⁷ tn Or “cut.”

[136:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in v. 15). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.

[136:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “into pieces.”

[136:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “shook off.”

[136:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who, in our low condition, remembered us.”

[136:25]  ¹² tn Heb “to all flesh,” which can refer to all people (see Pss 65:2; 145:21) or more broadly to mankind and animals. Elsewhere the psalms view God as the provider for all living things (see Pss 104:27-28; 145:15).

[136:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 136. In this hymn the psalmist affirms that God is praiseworthy because of his enduring loyal love, sovereign authority, and compassion. Each verse of the psalm concludes with the refrain “for his loyal love endures.”

[136:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “is forever.”

[16:1]  ¹⁵ sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.

[16:1]  ¹⁶ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[16:1]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).

[16:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 16. The psalmist seeks divine protection because he has remained loyal to God. He praises God for his rich blessings, and is confident God will vindicate him and deliver him from death.

[16:1]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term מִכְתָּם (mikhtam) is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[16:1]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results (see 7:1; 11:1).

[16:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “my good [is] not beyond you.” For the use of the preposition עַל (’al) in the sense of “beyond,” see BDB 755 s.v. 2.

[5:1]  ²² sn Psalm 5. Appealing to God’s justice and commitment to the godly, the psalmist asks the Lord to intervene and deliver him from evildoers.

[5:1]  ²³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word נְחִילוֹת (nÿkhilot), which occurs only here, is uncertain. Many relate the form to חָלִיל (khalil, “flute”).

[5:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my words.”

[5:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “sighing.” The word occurs only here and in Ps 39:3.

[7:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “if I have done this.”

[7:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “if there is injustice in my hands.” The “hands” figuratively suggest deeds or actions.

[7:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in your anger.”

[7:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Lift yourself up in the angry outbursts of my enemies.” Many understand the preposition prefixed to עַבְרוֹת (’avrot, “angry outbursts”) as adversative, “against,” and the following genitive “enemies” as subjective. In this case one could translate, “rise up against my furious enemies” (cf. NIV, NRSV). The present translation, however, takes the preposition as indicating manner (cf. “in your anger” in the previous line) and understands the plural form of the noun as indicating an abstract quality (“fury”) or excessive degree (“raging fury”). Cf. Job 21:30.

[7:6]  ³⁰ tc Heb “Wake up to me [with the] judgment [which] you have commanded.” The LXX understands אֵלִי (’eliy, “my God”) instead of אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”; the LXX reading is followed by NEB, NIV, NRSV.) If the reading of the MT is retained, the preposition probably has the sense of “on account of, for the sake of.” The noun מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, “judgment”) is probably an adverbial accusative, modifying the initial imperative, “wake up.” In this case צִוִּיתָ (tsivvita, “[which] you have commanded”) is an asyndetic relative clause. Some take the perfect as precative. In this case one could translate the final line, “Wake up for my sake! Decree judgment!” (cf. NIV). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[20:1]  ³¹ sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ³² tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ³³ sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.