Psalms 38:11

38:11 Because of my condition, ¹  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ² 

my neighbors stand far away. ³ 

Psalms 50:5

50:5 He says: ⁴ 

“Assemble my covenant people before me, ⁵ 

those who ratified a covenant with me by sacrifice!” ⁶ 

Psalms 60:5

60:5 Deliver by your power ⁷  and answer me, ⁸ 

so that the ones you love may be safe. ⁹ 

Psalms 103:20

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ¹⁰ 

Psalms 149:9

149:9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies ¹¹  have been sentenced. ¹² 

All his loyal followers will be vindicated. ¹³ 

Praise the Lord!

[38:11]  ¹ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ² tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ³ tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[50:5]  ⁴ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. God’s summons to the defendant follows.

[50:5]  ⁵ tn Or “Gather to me my covenant people.” The Hebrew term חָסִיד (khasid, “covenant people”) elsewhere in the psalms is used in a positive sense of God’s loyal followers (see the note at Ps 4:3), but here, as the following line makes clear, the term has a neutral sense and simply refers to those who have outwardly sworn allegiance to God, not necessarily to those whose loyalty is genuine.

[50:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “the cutters of my covenant according to sacrifice.” A sacrifice accompanied the covenant-making ceremony and formally ratified the agreement (see Exod 24:3-8).

[60:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “right hand.”

[60:5]  ⁸ tn The Qere (marginal reading) has “me,” while the Kethib (consonantal text) has “us.”

[60:5]  ⁹ tn Or “may be rescued.” The lines are actually reversed in the Hebrew text, “So that the ones you love may be rescued, deliver by your power and answer me.”

[103:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”

[149:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[149:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”

[149:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).