Psalms 20:4

20:4 May he grant your heart’s desire; ¹ 

may he bring all your plans to pass! ² 

Psalms 33:5

33:5 The Lord promotes ³  equity and justice;

the Lord’s faithfulness extends throughout the earth. ⁴ 

Psalms 38:7

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ⁵ 

and my whole body is sick. ⁶ 

Psalms 74:20

74:20 Remember your covenant promises, ⁷ 

for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules. ⁸ 

Psalms 80:9

80:9 You cleared the ground for it; ⁹ 

it took root, ¹⁰ 

and filled the land.

Psalms 83:16

83:16 Cover ¹¹  their faces with shame,

so they might seek ¹²  you, ¹³  O Lord.

Psalms 107:9

107:9 For he has satisfied those who thirst, ¹⁴ 

and those who hunger he has filled with food. ¹⁵ 

[20:4]  ¹ tn Heb “may he give to you according to your heart.” This probably refers to the king’s prayer for protection and victory in battle. See vv. 5-6.

[20:4]  ² sn May he bring all your plans to pass. This probably refers to the king’s strategy for battle.

[33:5]  ³ tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the Lord’s commitment to principles of equity and justice causes him to actively promote these principles as he governs the world.

[33:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “fills the earth.”

[38:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[74:20]  ⁷ tc Heb “look at the covenant.” The LXX reads “your covenant,” which seems to assume a second person pronominal suffix. The suffix may have been accidentally omitted by haplography. Note that the following word (כִּי) begins with kaf (כ).

[74:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “for the dark places of the earth are full of dwelling places of violence.” The “dark regions” are probably the lands where the people have been exiled (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:157). In some contexts “dark regions” refers to Sheol (Ps 88:6) or to hiding places likened to Sheol (Ps 143:3; Lam 3:6).

[80:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you cleared away before it.”

[80:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and it took root [with] its roots.”

[83:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fill.”

[83:16]  ¹² tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose or result (“then they will seek”).

[83:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “your name,” which stands here for God’s person.

[107:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “[the] longing throat.” The noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), which frequently refers to one’s very being or soul, here probably refers to one’s parched “throat” (note the parallelism with נֶפֱשׁ רְעֵבָה, nefesh rÿ’evah, “hungry throat”).

[107:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and [the] hungry throat he has filled [with] good.”