Psalms 27:13

27:13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience

the Lord’s favor in the land of the living? ¹ 

Psalms 28:7

28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; ² 

I trust in him with all my heart. ³ 

I am rescued ⁴  and my heart is full of joy; ⁵ 

I will sing to him in gratitude. ⁶ 

Psalms 42:8

42:8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love, ⁷ 

and by night he gives me a song, ⁸ 

a prayer ⁹  to the living God.

Psalms 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ¹⁰  O my soul? ¹¹ 

Why are you upset? ¹² 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ¹³ 

Psalms 94:19

94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me, ¹⁴ 

your soothing touch makes me happy. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 15:16

15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in, ¹⁶ 

and they filled my heart with joy and happiness

because I belong to you. ¹⁷ 

Romans 5:3-5

5:3 Not ¹⁸  only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 5:4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God ¹⁹  has been poured out ²⁰  in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 15:4

15:4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.

Hebrews 6:17-19

6:17 In the same way ²¹  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ²²  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ²³  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, ²⁴ 

Hebrews 12:11-12

12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. ²⁵  But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness ²⁶  for those trained by it. 12:12 Therefore, strengthen ²⁷  your listless hands and your weak knees, ²⁸ 

[27:13]  ¹ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” The words “Where would I be” are supplied in the translation to clarify the intent of the statement.

[28:7]  ² tn Heb “The Lord [is] my strength and my shield.”

[28:7]  ³ tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”

[28:7]  ⁴ tn Or “I am helped.”

[28:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “and my heart exults.”

[28:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.

[42:8]  ⁷ sn The psalmist believes that the Lord has not abandoned him, but continues to extend his loyal love. To this point in the psalm, the author has used the name “God,” but now, as he mentions the divine characteristic of loyal love, he switches to the more personal divine name Yahweh (rendered in the translation as “the Lord”).

[42:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “his song [is] with me.”

[42:8]  ⁹ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”).

[42:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ¹¹ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ¹³ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[94:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”

[94:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”

[15:16]  ¹⁶ sn Heb “Your words were found and I ate them.” This along with Ezek 2:8–3:3 is a poetic picture of inspiration. The prophet accepted them, assimilated them, and made them such a part of himself that he spoke with complete assurance what he knew were God’s words.

[15:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Your name is called upon me.”

[5:3]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:5]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ (Jh agaph tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“our love for God”), subjective genitive (“God’s love for us”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). The immediate context, which discusses what God has done for believers, favors a subjective genitive, but the fact that this love is poured out within the hearts of believers implies that it may be the source for believers’ love for God; consequently an objective genitive cannot be ruled out. It is possible that both these ideas are meant in the text and that this is a plenary genitive: “The love that comes from God and that produces our love for God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (ExSyn 121).

[5:5]  ²⁰ sn On the OT background of the Spirit being poured out, see Isa 32:15; Joel 2:28-29.

[6:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “in which.”

[6:17]  ²² tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

[6:18]  ²³ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.

[6:19]  ²⁴ sn The curtain refers to the veil or drape in the temple that separated the holy place from the holy of holies.

[12:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “all discipline at the time does not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow.”

[12:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

[12:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “straighten.”

[12:12]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).