Psalms 18:23

18:23 I was innocent before him,

and kept myself from sinning. ¹ 

Psalms 119:1

Psalm 119 ² 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ³ 

who obey ⁴  the law of the Lord.

Psalms 15:2

15:2 Whoever lives a blameless life, ⁵ 

does what is right,

and speaks honestly. ⁶ 

Psalms 18:25

18:25 You prove to be loyal ⁷  to one who is faithful; ⁸ 

you prove to be trustworthy ⁹  to one who is innocent. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 18:32

18:32 The one true God ¹¹  gives ¹²  me strength; ¹³ 

he removes ¹⁴  the obstacles in my way. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 37:18

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ¹⁶ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 119:80

119:80 May I be fully committed to your statutes, ¹⁸ 

so that I might not be ashamed.

Psalms 18:30

18:30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; ¹⁹ 

the Lord’s promise ²⁰  is reliable; ²¹ 

he is a shield to all who take shelter ²²  in him.

Psalms 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ²³ 

The rules set down by the Lord ²⁴  are reliable ²⁵ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ²⁶ 

Psalms 101:2

101:2 I will walk in ²⁷  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ²⁸ 

Psalms 101:6

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ²⁹ 

and allow them to live with me. ³⁰ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ³¹ 

Psalms 84:11

84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ³² 

The Lord bestows favor ³³  and honor;

he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ³⁴ 

[18:23]  ¹ tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way.

[119:1]  ² sn Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.

[119:1]  ³ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in.”

[15:2]  ³ tn Heb “one who walks blamelessly.”

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “one who speaks truth in his heart”; or “one who speaks truth [that is] in his heart.” This apparently refers to formulating a truthful statement in one’s mind and then honestly revealing that statement in one’s speech.

[18:25]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[18:25]  ⁵ tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[18:25]  ⁶ tn Or “innocent.”

[18:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “a man of innocence.”

[18:32]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

[18:32]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

[18:32]  ⁹ 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).

[37:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

[37:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[119:80]  ⁷ tn Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”

[18:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (ha’el, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).

[18:30]  ⁹ sn The Lord’s promise. In the ancient Near East kings would typically seek and receive oracles from their god(s) prior to battle. For examples, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 241-42.

[18:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is purified.” The Lord’s “word” probably refers here to his oracle(s) of victory delivered to the psalmist before the battle(s) described in the following context. See also Pss 12:5-7 and 138:2-3. David frequently received such oracles before going into battle (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4-5, 10-12; 30:8; 2 Sam 5:19). The Lord’s word of promise is absolutely reliable; it is compared to metal that has been refined in fire and cleansed of impurities. See Ps 12:6.

[18:30]  ¹¹ sn Take shelter. See the note on the word “shelter” in v. 2.

[19:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ¹¹ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ¹² tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[101:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[101:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

[101:6]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

[101:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

[84:11]  ¹² tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.

[84:11]  ¹³ tn Or “grace.”

[84:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”