Psalms 25:12

25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers

the way they should live. ¹ 

Psalms 112:1

Psalm 112 ² 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ³  who obeys ⁴  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ⁵ 

Psalms 128:1

Psalm 128 ⁶ 

A song of ascents. ⁷ 

128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, ⁸ 

each one who keeps his commands! ⁹ 

[25:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.” The singular (note “man”) is representative here (see v. 14, where the plural is used), and has thus been translated as a plural (“followers…they”).

[112:1]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ⁵ 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.

[128:1]  ³ sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.

[128:1]  ⁴ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[128:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “every fearer of the Lord.”

[128:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”