Psalms 32:11

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

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

Psalms 74:8

74:8 They say to themselves, ² 

“We will oppress all of them.” ³ 

They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land. ⁴ 

Psalms 111:7

111:7 His acts are characterized by ⁵  faithfulness and justice;

all his precepts are reliable. ⁶ 

Psalms 119:118

119:118 You despise ⁷  all who stray from your statutes,

for they are deceptive and unreliable. ⁸ 

Psalms 138:4

138:4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks ⁹  to you, O Lord,

when they hear the words you speak. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 143:12

143:12 As a demonstration of your loyal love, ¹¹  destroy my enemies!

Annihilate ¹²  all who threaten my life, ¹³ 

for I am your servant.

[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).

[74:8]  ² tn Heb “in their heart.”

[74:8]  ³ tc Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:159) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).

[74:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”

[111:7]  ³ tn Heb “the deeds of his hands [are].”

[111:7]  ⁴ tn That is, fair and for man’s good.

[119:118]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb סָלָה (salah, “to disdain”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:15. Cognate usage in Aramaic and Akkadian, as well as Lam 1:15, suggest it may have a concrete nuance of “to throw away.”

[119:118]  ⁵ tn Heb “for their deceit [is] falsehood.”

[138:4]  ⁵ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.

[138:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”

[143:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

[143:12]  ⁷ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

[143:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”