Psalms 17:2

17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf! ¹ 

Decide what is right! ² 

Psalms 26:3

26:3 For I am ever aware of your faithfulness, ³ 

and your loyalty continually motivates me. ⁴ 

Psalms 73:7

73:7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; ⁵ 

their thoughts are sinful. ⁶ 

Psalms 73:16

73:16 When I tried to make sense of this,

it was troubling to me. ⁷ 

Psalms 91:8

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ⁸ 

Psalms 116:15

116:15 The Lord values

the lives of his faithful followers. ⁹ 

Psalms 119:18

119:18 Open ¹⁰  my eyes so I can truly see ¹¹ 

the marvelous things in your law!

Psalms 119:37

119:37 Turn my eyes away from what is worthless! ¹² 

Revive me with your word! ¹³ 

Psalms 119:82

119:82 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your promise to be fulfilled. ¹⁴ 

I say, ¹⁵  “When will you comfort me?”

Psalms 119:123

119:123 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your deliverance, ¹⁶ 

for your reliable promise to be fulfilled. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 119:148

119:148 My eyes anticipate the nighttime hours,

so that I can meditate on your word.

Psalms 132:4

132:4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,

or my eyelids to slumber,

[17:2]  ¹ tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsa’) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.

[17:2]  ² tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)

[26:3]  ³ tn Heb “for your faithfulness [is] before my eyes.”

[26:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and I walk about in your loyalty.”

[73:7]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “it goes out from fatness their eye,” which might be paraphrased, “their eye protrudes [or “bulges”] because of fatness.” This in turn might refer to their greed; their eyes “bug out” when they see rich food or produce (the noun חֵלֶב [khelev, “fatness”] sometimes refers to such food or produce). However, when used with the verb יָצָא (yatsa’, “go out”) the preposition מִן (“from”) more naturally indicates source. For this reason it is preferable to emend עֵינֵמוֹ (’enemo, “their eye”) to עֲוֹנָמוֹ, (’avonamo, “their sin”) and read, “and their sin proceeds forth from fatness,” that is, their prosperity gives rise to their sinful attitudes. If one follows this textual reading, another interpretive option is to take חֵלֶב (“fatness”) in the sense of “unreceptive, insensitive” (see its use in Ps 17:10). In this case, the sin of the wicked proceeds forth from their spiritual insensitivity.

[73:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the thoughts of [their] heart [i.e., mind] cross over” (i.e., violate God’s moral boundary, see Ps 17:3).

[73:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “and [when] I pondered to understand this, troubling it [was] in my eyes.”

[91:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[116:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the Lord [is] the death of his godly ones.” The point is not that God delights in or finds satisfaction in the death of his followers! The psalmist, who has been delivered from death, affirms that the life-threatening experiences of God’s followers get God’s attention, just as a precious or rare object would attract someone’s eye. See Ps 72:14 for a similar expression of this belief.

[119:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see GKC 214 §75.cc).

[119:18]  ¹⁴ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

[119:37]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Make my eyes pass by from looking at what is worthless.”

[119:37]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “by your word.”

[119:82]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “my eyes fail for your word.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See Ps 69:3.

[119:82]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “saying.”

[119:123]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “my eyes fail for your deliverance.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See the similar phrase in v. 82.

[119:123]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and for the word of your faithfulness.”