Psalms 25:10

25:10 The Lord always proves faithful and reliable ¹ 

to those who follow the demands of his covenant. ² 

Psalms 56:4

56:4 In God – I boast in his promise ³  –

in God I trust, I am not afraid.

What can mere men ⁴  do to me? ⁵ 

Psalms 89:1

Psalm 89 ⁶ 

A well-written song ⁷  by Ethan the Ezrachite.

89:1 I will sing continually ⁸  about the Lord’s faithful deeds;

to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness. ⁹ 

Psalms 98:3

98:3 He remains loyal and faithful to the family of Israel. ¹⁰ 

All the ends of the earth see our God deliver us. ¹¹ 

Psalms 138:2

138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,

and give thanks to your name,

because of your loyal love and faithfulness,

for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. ¹² 

Micah 7:20

7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob

and extend your loyal love to Abraham, ¹³ 

which you promised on oath to our ancestors ¹⁴ 

in ancient times. ¹⁵ 

Romans 15:8

15:8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised ¹⁶  on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, ¹⁷ 

[25:10]  ¹ tn Heb “all the paths of the Lord are faithful and trustworthy.” The Lord’s “paths” refer here to his characteristic actions.

[25:10]  ² tn Heb “to the ones who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”

[56:4]  ³ tn Heb “in God I boast, his word.” The syntax in the Hebrew text is difficult. (1) The line could be translated, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” Such a translation assumes that the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and that “his word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. Another option (2) is to translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” is a song of praise. (In this view the pronominal suffix “his” must be omitted as in v. 10.) The present translation reflects yet another option (3): In this case “I praise his word” is a parenthetical statement, with “his word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in the next line, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.

[56:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “flesh,” which refers by metonymy to human beings (see v. 11, where “man” is used in this same question), envisioned here as mortal and powerless before God.

[56:4]  ⁵ tn The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “Nothing!” The imperfect is used in a modal sense here, indicating capability or potential.

[89:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 89. The psalmist praises God as the sovereign creator of the world. He recalls God’s covenant with David, but then laments that the promises of the covenant remain unrealized. The covenant promised the Davidic king military victories, but the king has now been subjected to humiliating defeat.

[89:1]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 88.

[89:1]  ⁸ tn Or “forever.”

[89:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “to a generation and a generation I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.”

[98:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

[98:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

[138:2]  ¹² tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God's mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.

[7:20]  ¹³ tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.

[7:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.

[7:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”

[15:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “of the circumcision”; that is, the Jews.

[15:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to the patriarchs.”