Psalms 130:6

130:6 I yearn for the Lord, ¹ 

more than watchmen do for the morning,

yes, more than watchmen do for the morning. ² 

Psalms 5:3

5:3 Lord, in the morning ³  you will hear ⁴  me; ⁵ 

in the morning I will present my case to you ⁶  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ⁷ 

Psalms 73:14

73:14 I suffer all day long,

and am punished every morning.”

Psalms 90:5-6

90:5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” ⁸ 

In the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up;

90:6 in the morning it glistens ⁹  and sprouts up;

at evening time it withers ¹⁰  and dries up.

Psalms 92:2

92:2 It is fitting ¹¹  to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,

and your faithfulness during the night,

Psalms 55:17

55:17 During the evening, morning, and noontime

I will lament and moan, ¹² 

and he will hear ¹³  me. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 88:13

88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer confronts you.

Psalms 90:14

90:14 Satisfy us in the morning ¹⁵  with your loyal love!

Then we will shout for joy and be happy ¹⁶  all our days!

Psalms 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ¹⁷ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 46:5

46:5 God lives within it, ¹⁹  it cannot be moved. ²⁰ 

God rescues it ²¹  at the break of dawn. ²² 

Psalms 65:8

65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ²³ 

you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ²⁴ 

Psalms 101:8

101:8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,

and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Psalms 49:14

49:14 They will travel to Sheol like sheep, ²⁵ 

with death as their shepherd. ²⁶ 

The godly will rule ²⁷  over them when the day of vindication dawns; ²⁸ 

Sheol will consume their bodies and they will no longer live in impressive houses. ²⁹ 

Psalms 59:16

59:16 As for me, I will sing about your strength;

I will praise your loyal love in the morning.

For you are my refuge ³⁰ 

and my place of shelter when I face trouble. ³¹ 

Psalms 143:8

143:8 May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, ³² 

for I trust in you.

Show me the way I should go, ³³ 

because I long for you. ³⁴ 

[130:6]  ¹ tn Heb “my soul for the master.”

[130:6]  ² tn Heb “more than watchmen for the morning, watchmen for the morning.” The words “yes, more” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:3]  ³ sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).

[5:3]  ⁴ tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “Lord, in the morning hear me.”

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “my voice.”

[5:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I will watch.”

[90:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “you bring them to an end [with] sleep.” The Hebrew verb זָרַם (zaram) has traditionally been taken to mean “flood” or “overwhelm” (note the Polel form of a root זרם in Ps 77:17, where the verb is used of the clouds pouring down rain). However, the verb form here is Qal, not Polel, and is better understood as a homonym meaning “to make an end [of life].” The term שֵׁנָה (shenah, “sleep”) can be taken as an adverbial accusative; it is a euphemism here for death (see Ps 76:5-6).

[90:6]  ⁷ tn Or “flourishes.” The verb is used of a crown shining in Ps 132:18. Perhaps here in Ps 90:6 it refers to the glistening of the grass in the morning dew.

[90:6]  ⁸ tn The Polel form of this verb occurs only here. Perhaps the form should be emended to a Qal (which necessitates eliminating the final lamed [ל] as dittographic). See Ps 37:2.

[92:2]  ⁹ tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[55:17]  ¹¹ tn The first verb is clearly a cohortative form, expressing the psalmist’s resolve. The second verb, while formally ambiguous, should also be understood as cohortative here.

[55:17]  ¹² tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive normally appears in narrational contexts to indicate past action, but here it continues the anticipatory (future) perspective of the preceding line. In Ps 77:6 one finds the same sequence of cohortative + prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive. In this case as well, both forms refer to future actions.

[55:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “my voice.”

[90:14]  ¹³ sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).

[90:14]  ¹⁴ tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.

[30:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[46:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.

[46:5]  ¹⁸ tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.

[46:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.

[46:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).

[65:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.

[65:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.

[49:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “like sheep to Sheol they are appointed.” The verb form שַׁתּוּ (shatu) is apparently derived from שָׁתַת (shatat), which appears to be a variant of the more common שִׁית (shiyt, “to place; to set”; BDB 1060 s.v. שָׁתַת and GKC 183 §67.ee). Some scholars emend the text to שָׁחוּ (shakhu; from the verbal root שׁוּח [shukh, “sink down”]) and read “they descend.” The present translation assumes an emendation to שָׁטוּ (shatu; from the verbal root שׁוּט [shut, “go; wander”]), “they travel, wander.” (The letter tet [ט] and tav [ת] sound similar; a scribe transcribing from dictation could easily confuse them.) The perfect verbal form is used in a rhetorical manner to speak of their destiny as if it were already realized (the so-called perfect of certitude or prophetic perfect).

[49:14]  ²² tn Heb “death will shepherd them,” that is, death itself (personified here as a shepherd) will lead them like a flock of helpless, unsuspecting sheep to Sheol, the underworld, the land of the dead.

[49:14]  ²³ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same force as the perfect verbal form in v. 14a. The psalmist speaks of this coming event as if it were already accomplished.

[49:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will rule over them in the morning.” “Morning” here is a metaphor for a time of deliverance and vindication after the dark “night” of trouble (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 59:16; 90:14; 143:8; Isa 17:14). In this context the psalmist confidently anticipates a day of vindication when the Lord will deliver the oppressed from the rich (see v. 15) and send the oppressors to Sheol.

[49:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their form [will become an object] for the consuming of Sheol, from a lofty residence, to him.” The meaning of this syntactically difficult text is uncertain. The translation assumes that צוּר (tsur, “form”; this is the Qere [marginal] reading; the Kethib has צִירָם [tsiram, “their image”]) refers to their physical form or bodies. “Sheol” is taken as the subject of “consume” (on the implied “become” before the infinitive “to consume” see GKC 349 §114.k). The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “lofty residence” is understood as privative, “away from; so as not.” The preposition -ל (lamed) is possessive, while the third person pronominal suffix is understood as a representative singular.

[59:16]  ²³ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[59:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and my shelter in the day of my distress.”

[143:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

[143:8]  ²⁶ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

[143:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).