Psalms 37:32

37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly

and try to kill them. ¹ 

Psalms 5:3

5:3 Lord, in the morning ²  you will hear ³  me; ⁴ 

in the morning I will present my case to you ⁵  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ⁶ 

Psalms 66:7

66:7 He rules ⁷  by his power forever;

he watches ⁸  the nations.

Stubborn rebels should not exalt ⁹  themselves. (Selah)

[37:32]  ¹ tn Heb “an evil [one] watches the godly [one] and seeks to kill him.” The singular forms are used in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and godly individual are in view. The active participles describe characteristic behavior.

[5:3]  ² sn In the morning is here viewed as the time of prayer (Pss 59:16; 88:13) and/or of deliverance (Ps 30:5).

[5:3]  ³ tn The imperfect is here understood in a specific future sense; the psalmist is expressing his confidence that God will be willing to hear his request. Another option is to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s wish or request. In this case one could translate, “Lord, in the morning hear me.”

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “my voice.”

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will arrange for you.” Some understand a sacrifice or offering as the implied object (cf. NEB “I set out my morning sacrifice”). The present translation assumes that the implied object is the psalmist’s case/request. See Isa 44:7.

[5:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and I will watch.”

[66:7]  ³ tn Heb “[the] one who rules.”

[66:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “his eyes watch.” “Eyes” are an anthropomorphism, attributed to God here to emphasize his awareness of all that happens on earth.

[66:7]  ⁵ tn The verb form is jussive (note the negative particle אַל, ’al). The Kethib (consonantal text) has a Hiphil form of the verb, apparently to be understood in an exhibitive sense (“demonstrate stubborn rebellion”; see BDB 927 s.v. רוּם Hiph), while the Qere (marginal reading) has a Qal form, to be understood in an intransitive sense. The preposition -לְ (lamed) with pronominal suffix should be understood in a reflexive sense (“for themselves”) and indicates that the action is performed with the interest of the subject in mind.