Psalms 19:9

19:9 The commands to fear the Lord are right ¹ 

and endure forever. ² 

The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy

and absolutely just. ³ 

Psalms 31:5

31:5 Into your hand I entrust my life; ⁴ 

you will rescue ⁵  me, O Lord, the faithful God.

Psalms 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ⁶ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ⁷ 

on behalf of justice! ⁸ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ⁹ 

Psalms 119:43

119:43 Do not completely deprive me of a truthful testimony, ¹⁰ 

for I await your justice.

Psalms 132:11

132:11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David; ¹¹ 

he will not go back on his word. ¹² 

He said, ¹³  “I will place one of your descendants ¹⁴  on your throne.

Psalms 146:6

146:6 the one who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

who remains forever faithful, ¹⁵ 

[19:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord is clean.” The phrase “fear of the Lord” probably refers here to the law, which teaches one how to demonstrate proper reverence for the Lord. See Ps 111:10 for another possible use of the phrase in this sense.

[19:9]  ² tn Heb “[it] stands permanently.”

[19:9]  ³ sn Trustworthy and absolutely just. The Lord’s commands accurately reflect God’s moral will for his people and are an expression of his just character.

[31:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “my spirit.” The noun רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) here refers to the animating spirit that gives the psalmist life.

[31:5]  ⁵ tn Or “redeem.” The perfect verbal form is understood here as anticipatory, indicating rhetorically the psalmist’s certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer that he can describe his deliverance as if it had already happened. Another option is to take the perfect as precative, expressing a wish or request (“rescue me”; cf. NIV). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[45:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ⁸ tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ⁹ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[119:43]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not snatch from my mouth a word of truth to excess.” The psalmist wants to be able to give a reliable testimony about the Lord’s loyal love (vv. 41-42), but if God does not intervene, the psalmist will be deprived of doing so, for the evidence of such love (i.e., deliverance) will be lacking.

[132:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord swore an oath to David [in] truth.”

[132:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he will not turn back from it.”

[132:11]  ¹⁵ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the fruit of your body.”

[146:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”