Psalms 34:1

Psalm 34 ¹ 

Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away. ² 

34:1 I will praise ³  the Lord at all times;

my mouth will continually praise him. ⁴ 

Psalms 68:35

68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! ⁵ 

It is the God of Israel ⁶  who gives the people power and strength.

God deserves praise! ⁷ 

Psalms 104:35

104:35 May sinners disappear ⁸  from the earth,

and the wicked vanish!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 106:48

106:48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise, ⁹ 

in the future and forevermore. ¹⁰ 

Let all the people say, “We agree! ¹¹  Praise the Lord!” ¹² 

Psalms 134:1

Psalm 134 ¹³ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁴ 

134:1 Attention! ¹⁵  Praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who serve ¹⁶  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

[34:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 34. In this song of thanksgiving the psalmist praises God for delivering him from distress. He encourages others to be loyal to the Lord, tells them how to please God, and assures them that the Lord protects his servants. The psalm is an acrostic; vv. 1-21 begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Verse 6 begins with the letter he (ה) and v. 7 with the letter zayin (ז). The letter vav (ו), which comes between ה and ז, seems to be omitted, although it does appear at the beginning of v. 6b. The final verse of the psalm, which begins with the letter pe (פ), is outside the acrostic scheme.

[34:1]  ² tn Heb “By David, when he changed his sense before Abimelech and he drove him away and he went.”

[34:1]  ³ tn Heb “bless.”

[34:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “continually [will] his praise [be] in my mouth.”

[68:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).

[68:35]  ⁶ tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”

[68:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[104:35]  ⁹ tn Or “be destroyed.”

[106:48]  ¹³ tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.

[106:48]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from everlasting to everlasting.”

[106:48]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “surely” (אָמֵן, ’amen), traditionally transliterated “amen.”

[106:48]  ¹⁶ sn The final verse (v. 48) is a conclusion to this fourth “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the first, second and third “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52, respectively).

[134:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).

[134:1]  ¹⁸ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[134:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Look!”

[134:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “stand.”