Psalms 119:49-56

ז (Zayin)

119:49 Remember your word to your servant,

for you have given me hope.

119:50 This ¹  is what comforts me in my trouble,

for your promise revives me. ² 

119:51 Arrogant people do nothing but scoff at me. ³ 

Yet I do not turn aside from your law.

119:52 I remember your ancient regulations, ⁴ 

O Lord, and console myself. ⁵ 

119:53 Rage takes hold of me because of the wicked,

those who reject your law.

119:54 Your statutes have been my songs ⁶ 

in the house where I live. ⁷ 

119:55 I remember your name during the night, O Lord,

and I will keep ⁸  your law.

119:56 This ⁹  has been my practice,

for I observe your precepts.

[119:50]  ¹ tn The demonstrative “this” refers back to the hope just mentioned or forward to the statement in the second line concerning the promise’s power to revive. See the note on the word “me” at the end of the verse for further discussion.

[119:50]  ² tn The hope generated by the promise (see v. 49b) brings comfort because (note “for” at the beginning of the line) the promise revives the psalmist’s spirits. Another option is to take כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the second line in the sense of “that,” in which case “this” refers to the promise’s power to revive.

[119:51]  ¹ tn Heb “scoff at me to excess.”

[119:52]  ¹ tn Heb “I remember your regulations from of old.” The prepositional phrase “from of old” apparently modifies “your regulations,” alluding to the fact that God revealed them to Israel in the distant past. Another option is to understand the prepositional phrase as modifying the verb, in which case one might translate, “I have long remembered your regulations.”

[119:52]  ² tn Or “find comfort.”

[119:54]  ¹ tn Heb “songs were your statutes to me.”

[119:54]  ² tn Heb “in the house of my dwelling place.” Some take the Hebrew noun מָגוֹר (magor) in the sense of “temporary abode,” and see this as a reference to the psalmist’s status as a resident alien (see v. 19). But the noun can refer to a dwelling place in general (see Ps 55:15).

[119:55]  ¹ tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve to obey the law.

[119:56]  ¹ tn Heb “this has been to me.” The demonstrative “this” (1) refers back to the practices mentioned in vv. 54-55, or (2) looks forward to the statement in the second line, in which case the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the second line should be translated “that.”