Psalms 4:6-7

4:6 Many say, “Who can show us anything good?”

Smile upon us, Lord! ¹ 

4:7 You make me happier ² 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. ³ 

Psalms 16:11

16:11 You lead me in ⁴  the path of life; ⁵ 

I experience absolute joy in your presence; ⁶ 

you always give me sheer delight. ⁷ 

Psalms 45:7

45:7 You love ⁸  justice and hate evil. ⁹ 

For this reason God, your God ¹⁰  has anointed you ¹¹ 

with the oil of joy, ¹²  elevating you above your companions. ¹³ 

Psalms 63:2-5

63:2 Yes, ¹⁴  in the sanctuary I have seen you, ¹⁵ 

and witnessed ¹⁶  your power and splendor.

63:3 Because ¹⁷  experiencing ¹⁸  your loyal love is better than life itself,

my lips will praise you.

63:4 For this reason ¹⁹  I will praise you while I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. ²⁰ 

63:5 As if with choice meat ²¹  you satisfy my soul. ²² 

My mouth joyfully praises you, ²³ 

Acts 2:28

2:28 You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of joy with your presence.’ ²⁴ 

[4:6]  ¹ tn Heb “lift up upon us the light of your face, Lord.” The verb נסה is apparently an alternate form of נשׂא, “lift up.” See GKC 217 §76.b. The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

[4:7]  ³ tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

[16:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”

[16:11]  ⁵ tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.

[16:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.

[16:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).

[45:7]  ⁸ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ⁹ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ¹⁰ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ¹¹ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ¹² sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[63:2]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).

[63:2]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”

[63:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.

[63:3]  ¹⁷ tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).

[63:3]  ¹⁸ tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.

[63:4]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps “then.”

[63:4]  ²⁰ sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).

[63:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”

[63:5]  ²² tn Or “me.”

[63:5]  ²³ tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”

[2:28]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 16:8-11.