Psalms 30:1

Psalm 30 ¹ 

A psalm – a song used at the dedication of the temple; ²  by David.

30:1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, ³ 

and did not allow my enemies to gloat ⁴  over me.

Psalms 68:4

68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!

Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! ⁵ 

For the Lord is his name! ⁶ 

Rejoice before him!

Psalms 71:14-24

71:14 As for me, I will wait continually,

and will continue to praise you. ⁷ 

71:15 I will tell about your justice,

and all day long proclaim your salvation, ⁸ 

though I cannot fathom its full extent. ⁹ 

71:16 I will come and tell about ¹⁰  the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.

I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ¹¹  your amazing deeds.

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ¹² 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ¹³ 

71:19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above; ¹⁴ 

you have done great things. ¹⁵ 

O God, who can compare to you? ¹⁶ 

71:20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, ¹⁷ 

revive me once again! ¹⁸ 

Bring me up once again ¹⁹  from the depths of the earth!

71:21 Raise me to a position of great honor! ²⁰ 

Turn and comfort me! ²¹ 

71:22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,

praising ²²  your faithfulness, O my God!

I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,

O Holy One of Israel! ²³ 

71:23 My lips will shout for joy! Yes, ²⁴  I will sing your praises!

I will praise you when you rescue me! ²⁵ 

71:24 All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,

for those who want to harm me ²⁶  will be embarrassed and ashamed. ²⁷ 

Psalms 103:1-2

Psalm 103 ²⁸ 

By David.

103:1 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

With all that is within me, praise ²⁹  his holy name!

103:2 Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Do not forget all his kind deeds! ³⁰ 

Daniel 4:37

4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just. He is able to bring down those who live ³¹  in pride.

[30:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 30. The author thanks the Lord for delivering him from death and urges others to join him in praise. The psalmist experienced divine discipline for a brief time, but when he cried out for help the Lord intervened and restored his favor.

[30:1]  ² tn Heb “a song of the dedication of the house.” The referent of “house” is unclear. It is possible that David wrote this psalm for the dedication ceremony of Solomon’s temple. Another possibility is that the psalm was used on the occasion of the dedication of the second temple following the return from exile, or on the occasion of the rededication of the temple in Maccabean times.

[30:1]  ³ tn Elsewhere the verb דָּלָה (dalah) is used of drawing water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19; Prov 20:5). The psalmist was trapped in the pit leading to Sheol (see v. 3), but the Lord hoisted him up. The Piel stem is used here, perhaps suggesting special exertion on the Lord’s part.

[30:1]  ⁴ tn Or “rejoice.”

[68:4]  ⁵ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term עֲרָבוֹת (’aravot) is taken as “steppe-lands” (often rendered “deserts”), but here the form is probably a homonym meaning “clouds.” Verse 33, which depicts God as the one who “rides on the sky” strongly favors this (see as well Deut 33:26), as does the reference in v. 9 to God as the source of rain. The term עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “cloud”) is cognate with Akkadian urpatu/erpetu and with Ugaritic ’rpt. The phrase rkb ’rpt (“one who rides on the clouds”) appears in Ugaritic mythological texts as an epithet of the storm god Baal. The nonphonemic interchange of the bilabial consonants b and p is attested elsewhere in roots common to Hebrew and Ugaritic, though the phenomenon is relatively rare.

[68:4]  ⁶ tc Heb “in the Lord his name.” If the MT is retained, the preposition -בְ (bet) is introducing the predicate (the so-called bet of identity), “the Lord is his name.” However, some prefer to emend the text to כִּי יָהּ שְׁמוֹ (ki yah shÿmo, “for Yah is his name”). This emendation, reflected in the present translation, assumes a confusion of bet (ב) and kaf (כ) and haplography of yod (י).

[71:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I add to all your praise.”

[71:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “my mouth declares your vindication, all the day your deliverance.”

[71:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “though I do not know [the] numbers,” that is, the tally of God’s just and saving acts. HALOT 768 s.v. סְפֹרוֹת understands the plural noun to mean “the art of writing.”

[71:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will come with.”

[71:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[71:18]  ¹² tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[71:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your justice, O God, [is] unto the height.” The Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) is here a title for the sky/heavens.

[71:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you who have done great things.”

[71:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Who is like you?”

[71:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you who have caused me to see many harmful distresses.”

[71:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you return, you give me life.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will revive me once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[71:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you return, you bring me up.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense, indicating repetition of the action described by the following verb. The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.) Another option is to understand this as a statement of confidence, “you will bring me up once again” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[71:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “increase my greatness.” The prefixed verbal form is distinctly jussive, indicating this is a prayer or wish. The psalmist’s request for “greatness” (or “honor”) is not a boastful, self-serving prayer for prominence, but, rather, a request that God would vindicate by elevating him over those who are trying to humiliate him.

[71:21]  ²¹ tn The imperfects are understood here as expressing the psalmist’s prayer or wish. (Note the use of a distinctly jussive form at the beginning of v. 21.)

[71:22]  ²² tn The word “praising” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[71:22]  ²³ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior.

[71:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “when.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) has an emphasizing (asseverative) function here.

[71:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and my life [or “soul”] which you will have redeemed.” The perfect verbal form functions here as a future perfect. The psalmist anticipates praising God, for God will have rescued him by that time.

[71:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”

[71:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “will have become embarrassed and ashamed.” The perfect verbal forms function here as future perfects, indicating future actions which will precede chronologically the action expressed by the main verb in the preceding line.

[103:1]  ²⁸ sn Psalm 103. The psalmist praises God for his mercy and willingness to forgive his people.

[103:1]  ²⁹ tn The verb “praise” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

[103:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “his benefits” (see 2 Chr 32:25, where the noun is also used of kind deeds performed by the Lord).

[4:37]  ³¹ tn Aram “walk.”