Psalms 34:2-5

34:2 I will boast ¹  in the Lord;

let the oppressed hear and rejoice! ² 

34:3 Magnify the Lord with me!

Let’s praise ³  his name together!

34:4 I sought the Lord’s help ⁴  and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

34:5 Those who look to him for help are happy;

their faces are not ashamed. ⁵ 

Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ⁶ 

praising our God. ⁷ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ⁸ 

Psalms 51:12-13

51:12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance!

Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey! ⁹ 

51:13 Then I will teach ¹⁰  rebels your merciful ways, ¹¹ 

and sinners will turn ¹²  to you.

Psalms 51:2

51:2 Wash away my wrongdoing! ¹³ 

Cleanse me of my sin! ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ¹⁵  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹⁷  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[34:2]  ¹ tn Heb “my soul will boast”; or better, “let my soul boast.” Following the cohortative form in v. 1, it is likely that the prefixed verbal form here is jussive.

[34:2]  ² tn The two prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best taken as jussives, for the psalmist is calling his audience to worship (see v. 3).

[34:3]  ³ tn Or “exalt.”

[34:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “I sought the Lord.”

[34:5]  ⁵ tc Heb “they look to him and are radiant and their faces are not ashamed.” The third person plural subject (“they”) is unidentified; there is no antecedent in the Hebrew text. For this reason some prefer to take the perfect verbal forms in the first line as imperatives, “look to him and be radiant” (cf. NEB, NRSV). Some medieval Hebrew mss and other ancient witnesses (Aquila, the Syriac, and Jerome) support an imperatival reading for the first verb. In the second line some (with support from the LXX and Syriac) change “their faces” to “your faces,” which allows one to retain more easily the jussive force of the verb (suggested by the preceding אַל [’al]): “do not let your faces be ashamed.” It is probable that the verbal construction in the second line is rhetorical, expressing the conviction that the action in view cannot or should not happen. See GKC 322 §109.e.

[40:3]  ⁶ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ⁸ 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.

[51:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and [with] a willing spirit sustain me.” The psalmist asks that God make him the kind of person who willingly obeys the divine commandments. The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[51:13]  ¹⁰ tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. This may be a vow or promise. If forgiven, the psalmist will “repay” the Lord by declaring God’s mercy and motivating other sinners to repent.

[51:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your ways.” The word “merciful” is added for clarification. God’s “ways” are sometimes his commands, but in this context, where the teaching of God’s ways motivates repentance (see the next line), it is more likely that God’s merciful and compassionate way of dealing with sinners is in view. Thanksgiving songs praising God for his deliverance typically focus on these divine attributes (see Pss 34, 41, 116, 138).

[51:13]  ¹² tn Or “return,” i.e., in repentance.

[51:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “Thoroughly wash me from my wrongdoing.”

[51:2]  ¹⁴ sn In vv. 1b-2 the psalmist uses three different words to emphasize the multifaceted character and degree of his sin. Whatever one wants to call it (“rebellious acts,” “wrongdoing,” “sin”), he has done it and stands morally polluted in God’s sight. The same three words appear in Exod 34:7, which emphasizes that God is willing to forgive sin in all of its many dimensions. In v. 2 the psalmist compares forgiveness and restoration to physical cleansing. Perhaps he likens spiritual cleansing to the purification rites of priestly law.

[1:4]  ¹⁵ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:16]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.