Psalms 113:1

Psalm 113 ¹ 

113:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise, you servants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

Psalms 134:1

Psalm 134 ² 

A song of ascents. ³ 

134:1 Attention! ⁴  Praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who serve ⁵  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

Psalms 149:1-3

Psalm 149 ⁶ 

149:1 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Praise him in the assembly of the godly! ⁷ 

149:2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator!

Let the people ⁸  of Zion delight in their king! ⁹ 

149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing!

Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp!

[113:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 113. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign king of the world who reaches down to help the needy.

[134:1]  ² sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).

[134:1]  ³ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[134:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look!”

[134:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “stand.”

[149:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.

[149:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”

[149:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons.”

[149:2]  ⁹ sn The Lord is the king here, as the parallelism in the previous line (“their creator”) indicates.