Psalms 44:5

44:5 By your power ¹  we will drive back ²  our enemies;

by your strength ³  we will trample down ⁴  our foes! ⁵ 

Psalms 63:4

63:4 For this reason ⁶  I will praise you while I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. ⁷ 

Psalms 89:16

89:16 They rejoice in your name all day long,

and are vindicated ⁸  by your justice.

Psalms 89:12

89:12 You created the north and the south.

Tabor and Hermon ⁹  rejoice in your name.

Psalms 54:1

Psalm 54 ¹⁰ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ¹¹  by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.” ¹² 

54:1 O God, deliver me by your name! ¹³ 

Vindicate me ¹⁴  by your power!

Psalms 79:6

79:6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you, ¹⁵ 

on the kingdoms that do not pray to you! ¹⁶ 

[44:5]  ¹ tn Heb “by you.”

[44:5]  ² tn Heb “gore” (like an ox). If this portion of the psalm contains the song of confidence/petition the Israelites recited prior to battle, then the imperfects here and in the next line may express their expectation of victory. Another option is that the imperfects function in an emphatic generalizing manner. In this case one might translate, “you [always] drive back…you [always] trample down.”

[44:5]  ³ tn Heb “in your name.” The Lord’s “name” refers here to his revealed character or personal presence. Specifically in this context his ability to deliver, protect, and energize for battle is in view (see Ps 54:1).

[44:5]  ⁴ sn The image of the powerful wild ox continues; see the note on the phrase “drive back” in the preceding line.

[44:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who rise up [against] us.”

[63:4]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps “then.”

[63:4]  ⁷ 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).

[89:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “are lifted up.”

[89:12]  ¹⁶ sn Tabor and Hermon were two of the most prominent mountains in Palestine.

[54:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 54. The psalmist asks God for protection against his enemies, confidently affirms that God will vindicate him, and promises to give thanks to God for his saving intervention.

[54:1]  ²² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[54:1]  ²³ tn Heb “Is not David hiding with us?”

[54:1]  ²⁴ tn God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character, which would instill fear in the psalmist’s enemies (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:17).

[54:1]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

[79:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “which do not know you.” Here the Hebrew term “know” means “acknowledge the authority of.”

[79:6]  ²⁷ sn The kingdoms that do not pray to you. The people of these kingdoms pray to other gods, not the Lord, because they do not recognize his authority over them.