Psalms 16:3

16:3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,

and the leading officials I admired so much ¹  –

Psalms 89:5

89:5 O Lord, the heavens ²  praise your amazing deeds,

as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly. ³ 

Psalms 89:7

89:7 a God who is honored ⁴  in the great angelic assembly, ⁵ 

and more awesome than ⁶  all who surround him?

[16:3]  ¹ tn Heb “regarding the holy ones who [are] in the land, they; and the mighty [ones] in [whom is/was] all my desire.” The difficult syntax makes the meaning of the verse uncertain. The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s angelic assembly (see Ps 89:5, 7), but the qualifying clause “who are in the land” suggests that here it refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3).

[89:5]  ² tn As the following context makes clear, the personified “heavens” here stand by metonymy for the angelic beings that surround God’s heavenly throne.

[89:5]  ³ tn Heb “in the assembly of the holy ones.” The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3), but here it refers to God’s heavenly assembly and the angels that surround his throne (see vv. 6-7).

[89:7]  ³ tn Heb “feared.”

[89:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”

[89:7]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps “feared by.”