Psalms 119:171

119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,

for you teach me your statutes.

Psalms 145:7

145:7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness, ¹ 

and sing about your justice. ² 

Psalms 78:2

78:2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;

I will make insightful observations about the past. ³ 

Psalms 94:4

94:4 They spew out threats ⁴  and speak defiantly;

all the evildoers boast. ⁵ 

[145:7]  ¹ tn Heb “the fame of the greatness of your goodness.”

[145:7]  ² tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 7 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may they talk…and sing.”

[78:2]  ¹ tn Heb “I will open with a wise saying my mouth, I will utter insightful sayings from long ago.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word pair חִידָה+מָשָׁל (mashal + khidah) refers to a taunt song (Hab 2:6), a parable (Ezek 17:2), proverbial sayings (Prov 1:6), and an insightful song that reflects on the mortality of humankind and the ultimate inability of riches to prevent death (Ps 49:4).

[94:4]  ¹ tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

[94:4]  ² tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).