Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ¹ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ²  when wicked men seem to succeed! ³ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 45:14

45:14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.

Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,

are led before you. ⁴ 

Psalms 69:32

69:32 The oppressed look on – let them rejoice!

You who seek God, ⁵  may you be encouraged! ⁶ 

Psalms 78:42

78:42 They did not remember what he had done, ⁷ 

how he delivered them from the enemy, ⁸ 

Psalms 105:44

105:44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, ⁹ 

Psalms 109:11

109:11 May the creditor seize ¹⁰  all he owns!

May strangers loot his property! ¹¹ 

Psalms 128:2

128:2 You ¹²  will eat what you worked so hard to grow. ¹³ 

You will be blessed and secure. ¹⁴ 

[37:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ² tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ³ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[45:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.

[69:32]  ⁷ sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

[69:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

[78:42]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his hand,” symbolizing his saving activity and strength, as the next line makes clear.

[78:42]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[the] day [in] which he ransomed them from [the] enemy.”

[105:44]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the [product of the] work of peoples they possessed.”

[109:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).

[109:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the product of his labor.”

[128:2]  ¹⁹ tn The psalmist addresses the representative God-fearing man, as indicated by the references to “your wife” (v. 3) and “the man” (v. 4), as well as the second masculine singular pronominal and verbal forms in vv. 2-6.

[128:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the work of your hands, indeed you will eat.”

[128:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “how blessed you [will be] and it will be good for you.”