Psalms 3:2

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ¹  (Selah) ² 

Psalms 4:3

4:3 Realize that ³  the Lord shows the godly special favor; ⁴ 

the Lord responds ⁵  when I cry out to him.

Psalms 18:7

18:7 The earth heaved and shook; ⁶ 

the roots of the mountains ⁷  trembled; ⁸ 

they heaved because he was angry.

Psalms 21:2

21:2 You grant ⁹  him his heart’s desire;

you do not refuse his request. ¹⁰  (Selah)

Psalms 21:4

21:4 He asked you to sustain his life, ¹¹ 

and you have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty. ¹² 

Psalms 32:2

32:2 How blessed is the one ¹³  whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish, ¹⁴ 

in whose spirit there is no deceit. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 33:12

33:12 How blessed ¹⁶  is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 37:7

37:7 Wait patiently for the Lord! ¹⁸ 

Wait confidently ¹⁹  for him!

Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, ²⁰ 

a man who carries out wicked schemes!

Psalms 45:11

45:11 Then ²¹  the king will be attracted by ²²  your beauty.

After all, he is your master! Submit ²³  to him! ²⁴ 

Psalms 72:15

72:15 May he live! ²⁵  May they offer him gold from Sheba! ²⁶ 

May they continually pray for him!

May they pronounce blessings on him all day long! ²⁷ 

Psalms 97:7

97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,

those who boast about worthless idols.

All the gods bow down before him. ²⁸ 

Psalms 100:4

100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give him thanks!

Praise his name!

Psalms 109:12

109:12 May no one show him kindness! ²⁹ 

May no one have compassion ³⁰  on his fatherless children!

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

[3:2]  ² sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “and know that.”

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “that the Lord sets apart a faithful one for himself.” The psalmist states a general principle, though the singular form and the parallel line indicate he has himself in mind as the representative godly person. A חָסִיד (khasid; here translated as “the godly”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “hears.”

[18:7]  ⁵ sn The earth heaved and shook. The imagery pictures an earthquake in which the earth’s surface rises and falls. The earthquake motif is common in OT theophanies of God as warrior and in ancient Near Eastern literary descriptions of warring gods and kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 160-62.

[18:7]  ⁶ tn 2 Sam 22:8 has “heavens” which forms a merism with “earth” in the preceding line. The “foundations of the heavens” would be the mountains. However, the reading “foundations of the mountains” has a parallel in Deut 32:22.

[18:7]  ⁷ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the three prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive in the verse.

[21:2]  ⁷ tn The translation assumes the perfect verbal forms in v. 2 are generalizing, stating factually what God typically does for the king. Another option is to take them as present perfects, “you have granted…you have not refused.” See v. 4, which mentions a specific request for a long reign.

[21:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the request of his lips you do not refuse.”

[21:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “life he asked from you.” Another option is to translate the perfect verbal forms in v. 4 with the present tense, “he asks…you grant.”

[21:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you have granted him length of days forever and ever.” The phrase “length of days,” when used of human beings, usually refers to a lengthy period of time (such as one’s lifetime). See, for example, Deut 30:20; Job 12:12; Ps 91:16; Prov 3:2, 16; Lam 5:20. The additional phrase “forever and ever” is hyperbolic. While it seems to attribute eternal life to the king (see Pss 61:6-7; 72:5 as well), the underlying reality is the king’s enduring dynasty. He will live on, as it were, through his descendants, who will continue to rule over his kingdom long after he has passed off the scene.

[32:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “man.” The word choice reflects the perspective of the psalmist, who is male. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender and age specific “man” has been translated with the more neutral “one.”

[32:2]  ¹² tn Heb “blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord does not impute wrongdoing.”

[32:2]  ¹³ sn In whose spirit there is no deceit. The point is not that the individual is sinless and pure. In this context, which focuses on confession and forgiveness of sin, the psalmist refers to one who refuses to deny or hide his sin, but instead honestly confesses it to God.

[33:12]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[33:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “inheritance.”

[37:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Be quiet before the Lord!”

[37:7]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has וְהִתְחוֹלֵל (vÿhitkholel, Hitpolel of חִיל, khil, “writhe with fear, suffer”) but this idea fits awkwardly here. The text should be changed to וְתוֹחֵל (vÿtokhel; Hiphil of יָחַל, yakhal, “wait”). It appears that the Hebrew text is the product of dittography: (1) the initial וה (vav-he) is accidentally repeated from the preceding word (יְהוָה, yÿhvah) and (2) the final lamed (ל) is accidentally repeated (note the preceding lamed and the initial lamed on the following form, לו).

[37:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “over one who causes his way to be successful.”

[45:11]  ¹⁷ tn After the preceding imperatives, the jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is best understood as introducing a purpose (“so that the king might desire your beauty”) or result clause (see the present translation and cf. also NASB). The point seems to be this: The bride might tend to be homesick, which in turn might cause her to mourn and diminish her attractiveness. She needs to overcome this temptation to unhappiness and enter into the marriage with joy. Then the king will be drawn to her natural beauty.

[45:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “desire.”

[45:11]  ¹⁹ tn Or “bow down.”

[45:11]  ²⁰ sn Submit to him. The poet here makes the point that the young bride is obligated to bring pleasure to her new husband. Though a foreign concept to modern western culture, this was accepted as the cultural norm in the psalmist’s day.

[72:15]  ¹⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive, not imperfect. Because the form has the prefixed vav (ו), some subordinate it to what precedes as a purpose/result clause. In this case the representative poor individual might be the subject of this and the following verb, “so that he may live and give to him gold of Sheba.” But the idea of the poor offering gold is incongruous. It is better to take the jussive as a prayer with the king as subject of the verb. (Perhaps the initial vav is dittographic; note the vav at the end of the last form in v. 14.) The statement is probably an abbreviated version of the formula יְחִי הַמֶּלֶךְ (yÿkhiy hammelekh, “may the king live”; see 1 Sam 10:24; 2 Sam 16:16; 1 Kgs 1:25, 34, 39; 2 Kgs 11:12).

[72:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he will give to him some gold of Sheba.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive with a grammatically indefinite subject (“and may one give”). Of course, the king’s subjects, mentioned in the preceding context, are the tribute bearers in view here.

[72:15]  ²¹ tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives with a grammatically indefinite subject (“and may one pray…and may one bless”). Of course, the king’s subjects, mentioned in the preceding context, are in view here.

[97:7]  ²¹ tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the Lord’s mighty theophany on those who witness it (see vv. 5, 8). Another option is to take the prefixed form in the first line as a jussive (“let all who worship idols be ashamed”) and the ambiguous form in the third line as an imperative (“All you gods, bow down before him!”; cf. NIV).

[109:12]  ²³ tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”

[109:12]  ²⁴ tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).