Psalms 15:1

Psalm 15 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ² 

Who may live on your holy hill? ³ 

Psalms 24:4

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ⁴ 

who does not lie, ⁵ 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ⁶ 

Psalms 24:6

24:6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,

Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. ⁷  (Selah)

Psalms 25:14

25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, ⁸ 

and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. ⁹ 

Psalms 33:8

33:8 Let the whole earth fear ¹⁰  the Lord!

Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him!

Psalms 33:18

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ¹¹ 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ¹² 

Psalms 34:7

34:7 The Lord’s angel camps around

the Lord’s ¹³  loyal followers ¹⁴  and delivers them. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 78:58

78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, ¹⁶ 

and made him jealous with their idols.

Psalms 96:8

96:8 Ascribe to the Lord the splendor he deserves! ¹⁷ 

Bring an offering and enter his courts!

Psalms 103:13

103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, ¹⁸ 

so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 106:28

106:28 They worshiped ²⁰  Baal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to the dead. ²¹ 

Psalms 119:63

119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers, ²² 

and to those who keep your precepts.

[15:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ² tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ³ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[24:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”

[24:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).

[25:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the advice of the Lord belongs to those who fear him.”

[25:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”

[33:8]  ¹³ tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”

[33:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[34:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[34:7]  ²¹ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.

[78:58]  ²² tn Traditionally, “high places.”

[96:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the splendor of [i.e., “due”] his name.”

[103:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “sons,” but the Hebrew term sometimes refers to children in general.

[103:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[106:28]  ³¹ tn Heb “joined themselves to.”

[106:28]  ³² tn Here “the dead” may refer to deceased ancestors (see Deut 26:14). Another option is to understand the term as a derogatory reference to the various deities which the Israelites worshiped at Peor along with Baal (see Num 25:2 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 49).

[119:63]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to all who fear you.”