Psalms 19:8

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair ¹ 

and make one joyful. ² 

The Lord’s commands ³  are pure ⁴ 

and give insight for life. ⁵ 

Psalms 34:18

34:18 The Lord is near the brokenhearted;

he delivers ⁶  those who are discouraged. ⁷ 

Psalms 44:21

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows ⁸  one’s thoughts? ⁹ 

Psalms 51:10

51:10 Create for me a pure heart, O God! ¹⁰ 

Renew a resolute spirit within me! ¹¹ 

Psalms 51:17

51:17 The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit ¹²  –

O God, a humble and repentant heart ¹³  you will not reject. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 64:10

64:10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord

and take shelter in him.

All the morally upright ¹⁵  will boast. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 76:5

76:5 The bravehearted ¹⁷  were plundered; ¹⁸ 

they “fell asleep.” ¹⁹ 

All the warriors were helpless. ²⁰ 

Psalms 94:15

94:15 For justice will prevail, ²¹ 

and all the morally upright ²²  will be vindicated. ²³ 

Psalms 119:69

119:69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies, ²⁴ 

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

[19:8]  ¹ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

[19:8]  ² tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.

[19:8]  ³ tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.

[19:8]  ⁴ tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.

[19:8]  ⁵ tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.

[34:18]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form highlights the generalizing statement and draws attention to the fact that the Lord typically delivers the oppressed and needy.

[34:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “the crushed in spirit.”

[44:21]  ¹¹ tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.

[44:21]  ¹² tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.

[51:10]  ¹⁶ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s motives and moral character.

[51:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and a reliable spirit renew in my inner being.”

[51:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “a broken spirit.”

[51:17]  ²² tn Heb “a broken and crushed heart.”

[51:17]  ²³ tn Or “despise.”

[64:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “upright in heart.”

[64:10]  ²⁷ tn That is, about the Lord’s accomplishments on their behalf.

[76:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “strong of heart.” In Isa 46:12, the only other text where this phrase appears, it refers to those who are stubborn, but here it seems to describe brave warriors (see the next line).

[76:5]  ³² tn The verb is a rare Aramaized form of the Hitpolel (see GKC 149 §54.a, n. 2); the root is שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder”).

[76:5]  ³³ tn Heb “they slept [in] their sleep.” “Sleep” here refers to the “sleep” of death. A number of modern translations take the phrase to refer to something less than death, however: NASB “cast into a deep sleep”; NEB “fall senseless”; NIV “lie still”; NRSV “lay stunned.”

[76:5]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and all the men of strength did not find their hands.”

[94:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”

[94:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11).

[94:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”

[119:69]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “smear over me a lie.”