Psalms 22:25

22:25 You are the reason I offer praise ¹  in the great assembly;

I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers. ² 

Psalms 40:9

40:9 I have told the great assembly ³  about your justice. ⁴ 

Look! I spare no words! ⁵ 

O Lord, you know this is true.

Psalms 89:5

89:5 O Lord, the heavens ⁶  praise your amazing deeds,

as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly. ⁷ 

Psalms 149:1

Psalm 149 ⁸ 

149:1 Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Praise him in the assembly of the godly! ⁹ 

[22:25]  ¹ tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”

[22:25]  ² tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.

[40:9]  ³ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.

[40:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the Lord’s just acts are in view (see v. 10). His “justice” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) is here the deliverance that originates in his justice; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just.

[40:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”

[89:5]  ⁵ tn As the following context makes clear, the personified “heavens” here stand by metonymy for the angelic beings that surround God’s heavenly throne.

[89:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the assembly of the holy ones.” The phrase “holy ones” sometimes refers to God’s people (Ps 34:9) or to their priestly leaders (2 Chr 35:3), but here it refers to God’s heavenly assembly and the angels that surround his throne (see vv. 6-7).

[149:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 149. The psalmist calls upon God’s people to praise him because he is just and avenges them.

[149:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “his praise in the assembly of the godly ones.”