Psalms 22:8

22:8 They say, ¹ 

“Commit yourself ²  to the Lord!

Let the Lord ³  rescue him!

Let the Lord ⁴  deliver him, for he delights in him.” ⁵ 

Psalms 40:6

40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. ⁶ 

You make that quite clear to me! ⁷ 

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

Psalms 41:11

41:11 By this ⁸  I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does ⁹  not triumph ¹⁰  over me.

Psalms 51:16

51:16 Certainly ¹¹  you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it; ¹² 

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice. ¹³ 

Psalms 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ¹⁴  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ¹⁵  on your altar. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ¹⁷ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ¹⁸  who obeys ¹⁹  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ²⁰ 

Psalms 135:6

135:6 He does whatever he pleases

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all the ocean depths.

[22:8]  ¹ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons. The psalmist here quotes the sarcastic taunts of his enemies.

[22:8]  ² tn Heb “roll [yourself].” The Hebrew verb גלל here has the sense of “commit” (see Prov 16:3). The imperatival form in the Hebrew text indicates the enemies here address the psalmist. Since they refer to him in the third person in the rest of the verse, some prefer to emend the verb to a perfect, “he commits himself to the Lord.”

[22:8]  ³ tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “Let him”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:8]  ⁵ tn That is, “for he [the Lord] delights in him [the psalmist].” For other cases where the expression “delight in” refers to God’s delight in a person, see Num 14:8; 1 Kgs 10:9; Pss 18:19; 40:8.

[40:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).

[40:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.

[41:11]  ¹¹ sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.

[41:11]  ¹² tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).

[41:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “shout.”

[51:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “For.” The translation assumes the particle is asseverative (i.e., emphasizing: “certainly”). (Some translations that consider the particle asseverative leave it untranslated.) If taken as causal or explanatory (“for”, cf. NRSV), the verse would explain why the psalmist is pleading for forgiveness, rather than merely offering a sacrifice.

[51:16]  ¹⁷ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative is used in a hypothetical manner in a formally unmarked conditional sentence, “You do not want a sacrifice, should I offer [it]” (cf. NEB). For other examples of cohortatives in the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, see GKC 320 §108.e. (It should be noted, however, that GKC understands this particular verse in a different manner. See GKC 320 §108.f, where it is suggested that the cohortative is part of an apodosis with the protasis being suppressed.)

[51:16]  ¹⁸ sn You do not desire a burnt sacrifice. The terminology used in v. 16 does not refer to expiatory sacrifices, but to dedication and communion offerings. This is not a categorical denial of the sacrificial system in general or of the importance of such offerings. The psalmist is talking about his specific situation. Dedication and communion offerings have their proper place in worship (see v. 19), but God requires something more fundamental, a repentant and humble attitude (see v. 17), before these offerings can have real meaning.

[51:19]  ²¹ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ²² tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ²³ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[112:1]  ²⁶ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.