Psalms 32:11--33:1

32:11 Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly!

Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright! ¹ 

Psalm 33 ² 

33:1 You godly ones, shout for joy because of the Lord!

It is appropriate for the morally upright to offer him praise.

Psalms 40:3

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

praising our God. ⁴ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ⁵ 

Psalms 58:10

58:10 The godly ⁶  will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Psalms 68:2-3

68:2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. ⁷ 

As wax melts before fire,

so the wicked are destroyed before God.

68:3 But the godly ⁸  are happy;

they rejoice before God

and are overcome with joy. ⁹ 

Philippians 4:4

4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!

[32:11]  ¹ tn Heb “all [you] pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

[33:1]  ² sn Psalm 33. In this hymn the psalmist praises the Lord as the sovereign creator and just ruler of the world who protects and vindicates those who fear him.

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

[40:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ⁵ 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.

[58:10]  ⁶ tn The singular is representative here, as is the singular from “wicked” in the next line.

[68:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “as smoke is scattered, you scatter [them].”

[68:3]  ⁸ tn By placing the subject first the psalmist highlights the contrast between God’s ecstatic people and his defeated enemies (vv. 1-2).

[68:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they are happy with joy” (cf. NEB). Some translate the prefixed verbal forms of v. 3 as jussives, “Let the godly be happy, let them rejoice before God, and let them be happy with joy!” (Cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV; note the call to praise in v. 4.)