Psalms 37:37

37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly! ¹ 

For the one who promotes peace has a future. ² 

Psalms 59:4

59:4 Though I have done nothing wrong, ³  they are anxious to attack. ⁴ 

Spring into action and help me! Take notice of me! ⁵ 

Psalms 139:24

139:24 See if there is any idolatrous tendency ⁶  in me,

and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ⁷ 

[37:37]  ¹ tn Or “upright.”

[37:37]  ² tn Heb “for [there is] an end for a man of peace.” Some interpret אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) as referring to offspring (see the next verse and Ps 109:13; cf. NEB, NRSV).

[59:4]  ³ tn Heb “without sin.”

[59:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “they run and they are determined.”

[59:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “arise to meet me and see.” The Hebrew verb קָרָא (qara’, “to meet; to encounter”) here carries the nuance of “to help.”

[139:24]  ⁵ tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

[139:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.