Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ¹ 

praising our God. ² 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ³ 

Psalms 65:1

Psalm 65 ⁴ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.

65:1 Praise awaits you, ⁵  O God, in Zion.

Vows made to you are fulfilled.

Psalms 145:1

Psalm 145 ⁶ 

A psalm of praise, by David.

145:1 I will extol you, my God, O king!

I will praise your name continually! ⁷ 

Psalms 147:1

Psalm 147 ⁸ 

147:1 Praise the Lord,

for it is good to sing praises to our God!

Yes, ⁹  praise is pleasant and appropriate!

Psalms 148:14

148:14 He has made his people victorious, ¹⁰ 

and given all his loyal followers reason to praise –

the Israelites, the people who are close to him. ¹¹ 

Praise the Lord!

[40:3]  ¹ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ² tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ³ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[65:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.

[65:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”

[145:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.

[145:1]  ⁸ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”

[147:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people.

[147:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[148:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

[148:14]  ¹⁴ tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.