Psalms 119:5

119:5 If only I were predisposed ¹ 

to keep your statutes!

Psalms 119:26

119:26 I told you about my ways ²  and you answered me.

Teach me your statutes!

Psalms 119:59

119:59 I consider my actions ³ 

and follow ⁴  your rules.

Psalms 139:3

139:3 You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; ⁵ 

you are aware of everything I do. ⁶ 

Psalms 18:21

18:21 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands; ⁷ 

I have not rebelled against my God. ⁸ 

Psalms 18:32

18:32 The one true God ⁹  gives ¹⁰  me strength; ¹¹ 

he removes ¹²  the obstacles in my way. ¹³ 

Psalms 119:168

119:168 I keep your precepts and rules,

for you are aware of everything I do. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 39:1

Psalm 39 ¹⁵ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ¹⁶  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ¹⁷ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ¹⁸ 

Psalms 95:10

95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted ¹⁹  with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; ²⁰ 

they do not obey my commands.’ ²¹ 

[119:5]  ¹ tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”

[119:26]  ² tn Heb “my ways I proclaimed.”

[119:59]  ³ tn Heb “my ways.”

[119:59]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I turn my feet toward.”

[139:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “my traveling and my lying down you measure.” The verb זָרָה (zarah, “to measure”) is probably here a denominative from זָרָת (zarat, “a span; a measure”), though some derive it from זָרָה (zarat, “to winnow; to sift”; see BDB 279-80 s.v. זָרָה).

[139:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “all my ways.”

[18:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “for I have kept the ways of the Lord.” The phrase “ways of the Lord” refers here to the “conduct required” by the Lord. In Ps 25 the Lord’s “ways” are associated with his covenantal demands (see vv. 4, 9-10). See also Ps 119:3 (cf. vv. 1, 4), as well as Deut 8:6; 10:12; 11:22; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 30:16.

[18:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have not acted wickedly from my God.” The statement is elliptical; the idea is, “I have not acted wickedly and, in so doing, departed from my God.”

[18:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the Lord’s distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). See v. 30.

[18:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “is the one who clothes.” For similar language see 1 Sam 2:4; Pss 65:6; 93:1. The psalmist employs a generalizing hymnic style in vv. 32-34; he uses participles in vv. 32a, 33a, and 34a to describe what God characteristically does on his behalf.

[18:32]  ⁸ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

[18:32]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

[18:32]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he made my path smooth.” The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).

[119:168]  ⁷ tn Heb “for all my ways [are] before you.”

[39:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ¹¹ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[95:10]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.

[95:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”

[95:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the Lord’s “ways” are his commands, viewed as a pathway from which his people, likened to wayward sheep (see v. 7), wander.