Psalms 3:2

3:2 Many say about me,

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

Psalms 4:6

4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”

Smile upon us, Lord! ³ 

Psalms 29:3

29:3 The Lord’s shout is heard over the water; ⁴ 

the majestic God thunders, ⁵ 

the Lord appears over the surging water. ⁶ 

Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ⁷ 

praising our God. ⁸ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ⁹ 

Psalms 56:2

56:2 Those who anticipate my defeat ¹⁰  attack me all day long.

Indeed, ¹¹  many are fighting against me, O Exalted One. ¹² 

Psalms 77:19

77:19 You walked through the sea; ¹³ 

you passed through the surging waters, ¹⁴ 

but left no footprints. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 89:50

89:50 Take note, O Lord, ¹⁶  of the way your servants are taunted, ¹⁷ 

and of how I must bear so many insults from people! ¹⁸ 

Psalms 93:4

93:4 Above the sound of the surging water, ¹⁹ 

and the mighty waves of the sea,

the Lord sits enthroned in majesty. ²⁰ 

Psalms 144:7

144:7 Reach down ²¹  from above!

Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, ²² 

from the power of foreigners, ²³ 

[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.

[4:6]  ³ tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face, Lord.” The verb נסה is apparently an alternate form of נשׂא, “lift up.” See GKC 217 §76.b. The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[29:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the voice of the Lord [is] over the water.” As the next line makes clear, the “voice of the Lord” is here the thunder that accompanies a violent storm. The psalm depicts the Lord in the role of a warrior-king, so the thunder is his battle cry, as it were.

[29:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew perfect verbal form is probably descriptive. In dramatic fashion the psalmist portrays the Lord coming in the storm to do battle with his enemies and to vindicate his people.

[29:3]  ⁷ tn Traditionally “many waters.” The geographical references in the psalm (Lebanon, Sirion, Kadesh) suggest this is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea (see Ezek 26:19; 27:26). The psalmist describes a powerful storm moving in from the sea and sweeping over the mountainous areas north of Israel. The “surging waters” may symbolize the hostile enemies of God who seek to destroy his people (see Pss 18:17; 32:6; 77:20; 93:4; 144:7; Isa 17:13; Jer 51:55; Ezek 26:19; Hab 3:15). In this case the Lord is depicted as elevated above and sovereign over the raging waters.

[40:3]  ⁷ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[56:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “to those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 27:11; 54:5; 59:10.

[56:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for.”

[56:2]  ¹¹ tn Some take the Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “on high; above”) as an adverb modifying the preceding participle and translate, “proudly” (cf. NASB; NIV “in their pride”). The present translation assumes the term is a divine title here. The Lord is pictured as enthroned “on high” in Ps 92:8. (Note the substantival use of the term in Isa 24:4 and see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:34), who prefer to place the term at the beginning of the next verse.)

[77:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the sea [was] your way.”

[77:19]  ¹² tn Heb “and your paths [were] in the mighty waters.”

[77:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “and your footprints were not known.”

[89:50]  ¹³ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read here יְהוָה (yehvah, “the Lord”).

[89:50]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, the taunt against your servants.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular here, “your servant” (that is, the psalmist).

[89:50]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “my lifting up in my arms [or “against my chest”] all of the many, peoples.” The term רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”) makes no apparent sense here. For this reason some emend the text to רִבֵי (rivey, “attacks by”), a defectively written plural construct form of רִיב (riv, “dispute; quarrel”).

[93:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “mighty waters.”

[93:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “mighty on high [is] the Lord.”

[144:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”

[144:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).

[144:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”