Psalms 11:7

11:7 Certainly ¹  the Lord is just; ² 

he rewards godly deeds; ³ 

the upright will experience his favor. ⁴ 

Psalms 22:31

22:31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds; ⁵ 

they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished. ⁶ 

Psalms 24:5

24:5 Such godly people are rewarded by the Lord, ⁷ 

and vindicated by the God who delivers them. ⁸ 

Psalms 33:5

33:5 The Lord promotes ⁹  equity and justice;

the Lord’s faithfulness extends throughout the earth. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 36:10

36:10 Extend ¹¹  your loyal love to your faithful followers, ¹² 

and vindicate ¹³  the morally upright! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 69:27

69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! ¹⁵ 

Do not vindicate them! ¹⁶ 

Psalms 71:2

71:2 Vindicate me by rescuing me! ¹⁷ 

Listen to me! ¹⁸  Deliver me! ¹⁹ 

Psalms 71:16

71:16 I will come and tell about ²⁰  the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.

I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.

Psalms 72:1

Psalm 72 ²¹ 

For ²²  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ²³ 

Grant the king’s son ²⁴  the ability to make fair decisions! ²⁵ 

Psalms 88:12

88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced ²⁶  in the dark region, ²⁷ 

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? ²⁸ 

Psalms 89:16

89:16 They rejoice in your name all day long,

and are vindicated ²⁹  by your justice.

Psalms 98:2

98:2 The Lord demonstrates his power to deliver; ³⁰ 

in the sight of the nations he reveals his justice.

Psalms 106:3

106:3 How blessed are those who promote justice,

and do what is right all the time!

Psalms 106:31

106:31 This brought him a reward,

an eternal gift. ³¹ 

Psalms 143:11

143:11 O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, ³²  revive me! ³³ 

Because of your justice, rescue me from trouble! ³⁴ 

[11:7]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[11:7]  ² tn Or “righteous.”

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “he loves righteous deeds.” The “righteous deeds” are probably those done by godly people (see v. 5). The Lord “loves” such deeds in the sense that he rewards them. Another option is to take צְדָקוֹת (tsÿdaqot) as referring to God’s acts of justice (see Ps 103:6). In this case one could translate, “he loves to do just deeds.”

[11:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the upright will see his face.” The singular subject (“upright”) does not agree with the plural verb. However, collective singular nouns can be construed with a plural predicate (see GKC 462 §145.b). Another possibility is that the plural verb יֶחֱזוּ (yekhezu) is a corruption of an original singular form. To “see” God’s “face” means to have access to his presence and to experience his favor (see Ps 17:15 and Job 33:26 [where רָאָה (ra’ah), not חָזָה (khazah), is used]). On the form פָנֵימוֹ (fanemo, “his face”) see GKC 300-301 §103.b, n. 3.

[22:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “his righteousness.” Here the noun צִדָקָה (tsidaqah) refers to the Lord’s saving deeds whereby he vindicates the oppressed.

[22:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “to a people [to be] born that he has acted.” The words “they will tell” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “he (the righteous individual described in v. 4) lifts up a blessing from the Lord.” The singular subject is representative here, as v. 6 makes clear. The referent (godly people like the individual in v. 4) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The imperfect verbal form is generalizing; such people are typically rewarded for their deeds.

[24:5]  ¹⁰ tn “and vindication from the God of his deliverance.”

[33:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of equity and justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world.

[33:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fills the earth.”

[36:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “draw out to full length.”

[36:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to those who know you.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “know”) is used here of those who “know” the Lord in the sense that they recognize his royal authority and obey his will (see Jer 22:16).

[36:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and your justice to.” The verb “extend” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the previous line).

[36:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[69:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”

[69:27]  ²² tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”

[71:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in your vindication rescue me and deliver me.” Ps 31:1 omits “and deliver me.”

[71:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[71:2]  ²⁷ tn Ps 31:2 adds “quickly” before “deliver.”

[71:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will come with.”

[72:1]  ³³ sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ³⁴ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ³⁵ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ³⁶ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[88:12]  ³⁷ tn Heb “known.”

[88:12]  ³⁸ tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.

[88:12]  ³⁹ tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”

[89:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “are lifted up.”

[98:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “makes known his deliverance.”

[106:31]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, to a generation and a generation forever.” The verb חָשַׁב (khashav, “to reckon”) is collocated with צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) only in Ps 106:31 and Gen 15:6, where God rewards Abram’s faith with a land grant.

[143:11]  ⁵³ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[143:11]  ⁵⁴ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 11-12a are understood as expressing the psalmist’s desire. Note the petitionary tone of vv. 7-10a.

[143:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “by your justice bring out my life from trouble.”