Psalms 24:1

Psalm 24 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

24:1 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,

the world and all who live in it.

Psalms 33:8

33:8 Let the whole earth fear ²  the Lord!

Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him!

Psalms 49:1

Psalm 49 ³ 

For the music director, a psalm by the Korahites.

49:1 Listen to this, all you nations!

Pay attention, all you inhabitants of the world! ⁴ 

Psalms 77:18

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ⁵ 

Psalms 89:11

89:11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.

You made the world and all it contains. ⁶ 

Psalms 90:2

90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence, ⁷ 

or you brought the world into being, ⁸ 

you were the eternal God. ⁹ 

Psalms 98:9

98:9 before the Lord!

For he comes to judge the earth!

He judges the world fairly, ¹⁰ 

and the nations in a just manner.

[24:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.

[33:8]  ² tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”

[49:1]  ³ sn Psalm 49. In this so-called wisdom psalm (see v. 3) the psalmist states that he will not fear the rich enemies who threaten him, for despite their wealth, they are mere men who will die like everyone else. The psalmist is confident the Lord will vindicate the godly and protect them from the attacks of their oppressors.

[49:1]  ⁴ tn The rare noun חָלֶד (kheled, “world”) occurs in Ps 17:14 and perhaps also in Isa 38:11 (see the note on “world” there).

[77:18]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

[89:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the world and its fullness, you established them.”

[90:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “were born.”

[90:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.

[90:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (’el, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (’al, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vato’mer, “and you said/say”).

[98:9]  ⁷ tn The verbal forms in v. 9 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).