Psalms 37:23-24

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. ¹ 

37:24 Even if ²  he trips, he will not fall headlong, ³ 

for the Lord holds ⁴  his hand.

Psalms 37:31

37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking; ⁵ 

their ⁶  feet do not slip.

[37:23]  ¹ tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

[37:24]  ² tn Other translation options for כִּי in this context are “when” (so NASB) or “though” (so NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[37:24]  ³ tn Heb “be hurled down.”

[37:24]  ⁴ tn The active participle indicates this is characteristically true. See v. 17.

[37:31]  ³ tn Heb “the law of his God [is] in his heart.” The “heart” is here the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.

[37:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “his.” The pronoun has been translated as plural to agree with the representative or typical “godly” in v. 30.