Psalms 45:17

45:17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years, ¹ 

then the nations will praise you ²  forever.

Psalms 45:2

45:2 You are the most handsome of all men! ³ 

You speak in an impressive and fitting manner! ⁴ 

For this reason ⁵  God grants you continual blessings. ⁶ 

Psalms 13:1

Psalm 13 ⁷ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ⁸ 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ⁹ 

Psalms 13:1

Psalm 13 ¹⁰ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ¹¹ 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ¹² 

Psalms 14:1

Psalm 14 ¹³ 

For the music director; by David.

14:1 Fools say to themselves, ¹⁴  “There is no God.” ¹⁵ 

They sin and commit evil deeds; ¹⁶ 

none of them does what is right. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 20:1

Psalm 20 ¹⁸ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

20:1 May the Lord answer ¹⁹  you ²⁰  when you are in trouble; ²¹ 

may the God of Jacob ²²  make you secure!

Psalms 32:8

32:8 I will instruct and teach you ²³  about how you should live. ²⁴ 

I will advise you as I look you in the eye. ²⁵ 

[45:17]  ¹ tn Heb “I will cause your name to be remembered in every generation and generation.” The cohortative verbal form expresses the poet’s resolve. The king’s “name” stands here for his reputation and character, which the poet praised in vv. 2-7.

[45:17]  ² sn The nations will praise you. As God’s vice-regent on earth, the king is deserving of such honor and praise.

[45:2]  ³ tn Heb “you are handsome from the sons of man.” The preposition “from” is used in a comparative (“more than”) sense. The peculiar verb form יָפְיָפִיתָ (yafyafita) is probably the result of dittography of yod-pe (יפ) and should be emended to יָפִיתָ (yafita). See GKC 152 §55.e.

[45:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “favor is poured out on your lips.” “Lips” probably stands by metonymy for the king’s speech. Some interpret the Hebrew term חֵן (khen) as referring here to “gracious (i.e., kind and polite) speech”, but the word probably refers more generally to “attractive” speech that is impressively articulated and fitting for the occasion. For other instances of the term being used of speech, see Prov 22:11 and Eccl 10:12.

[45:2]  ⁵ tn Or “this demonstrates.” The construction עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken, “therefore”) usually indicates what logically follows from a preceding statement. However, here it may infer the cause from the effect, indicating the underlying basis or reason for what precedes (see BDB 487 s.v. I כֵּן 3.f; C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 1:386).

[45:2]  ⁶ tn Or “blesses you forever.” Here “bless” means to “endue with the power and skill to rule effectively,” as the following verses indicate.

[13:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ¹² tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[14:1]  ¹³ sn Psalm 14. The psalmist observes that the human race is morally corrupt. Evildoers oppress God’s people, but the psalmist is confident of God’s protection and anticipates a day when God will vindicate Israel.

[14:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a fool says in his heart.” The singular is used here in a collective or representative sense; the typical fool is envisioned.

[14:1]  ¹⁵ sn “There is no God.” The statement is probably not a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that God is unconcerned about how men live morally and ethically (see Ps 10:4, 11).

[14:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they act corruptly, they make a deed evil.” The verbs describe the typical behavior of the wicked. The subject of the plural verbs is “sons of man” (v. 2). The entire human race is characterized by sinful behavior. This practical atheism – living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions – makes them fools, for one of the earmarks of folly is to fail to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.

[14:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[20:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 20. The people pray for the king’s success in battle. When the king declares his assurance that the Lord will answer the people’s prayer, they affirm their confidence in God’s enablement.

[20:1]  ¹⁹ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in vv. 1b-5 are interpreted as jussives of prayer (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). Another option is to understand them as imperfects, “the Lord will answer,” etc. In this case the people declare their confidence that the Lord will intervene on behalf of the king and extend to him his favor.

[20:1]  ²⁰ sn May the Lord answer you. The people address the king as they pray to the Lord.

[20:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “in a day of trouble.”

[20:1]  ²² tn Heb “the name of the God of Jacob.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his very person and to the divine characteristics suggested by his name, in this case “God of Jacob,” which highlights his relationship to Israel.

[32:8]  ²³ tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the Lord addresses the psalmist in vv. 8-9 (cf. NASB “I will instruct you and teach you…I will counsel you with My eye upon you”).

[32:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”

[32:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the Lord for intervention. Here the expression “my eye upon you” may simply mean that the psalmist will teach his pupils directly and personally.