Psalms 5:8

5:8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness ¹ 

because of those who wait to ambush me, ² 

remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me! ³ 

Psalms 8:2

8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies

you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, ⁴ 

so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. ⁵ 

Psalms 9:14

9:14 Then I will ⁶  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ⁷ 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ⁸  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ⁹ 

Psalms 25:7

25:7 Do not hold against me ¹⁰  the sins of my youth ¹¹  or my rebellious acts!

Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! ¹² 

Psalms 30:12

30:12 So now ¹³  my heart ¹⁴  will sing to you and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will always ¹⁵  give thanks to you.

Psalms 31:3

31:3 For you are my high ridge ¹⁶  and my stronghold;

for the sake of your own reputation ¹⁷  you lead me and guide me. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 48:11

48:11 Mount Zion rejoices;

the towns ¹⁹  of Judah are happy, ²⁰ 

because of your acts of judgment. ²¹ 

Psalms 48:13

48:13 Consider its defenses! ²² 

Walk through ²³  its fortresses,

so you can tell the next generation about it! ²⁴ 

Psalms 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ²⁵  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ²⁶  you are just when you confront me; ²⁷ 

you are right when you condemn me. ²⁸ 

Psalms 68:23

68:23 so that your feet may stomp ²⁹  in their blood,

and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.” ³⁰ 

Psalms 78:6

78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,

might know about them.

They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. ³¹ 

Psalms 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ³²  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Psalms 109:21

109:21 O sovereign Lord,

intervene on my behalf for the sake of your reputation! ³³ 

Because your loyal love is good, deliver me!

[5:8]  ¹ tn God’s providential leading is in view. His צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah, “righteousness”) includes here the deliverance that originates in his righteousness; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 842 s.v.

[5:8]  ² tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 27:11; 56:2.

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “make level before me your way.” The imperative “make level” is Hiphil in the Kethib (consonantal text); Piel in the Qere (marginal reading). God’s “way” is here the way in which he leads the psalmist providentially (see the preceding line, where the psalmist asks the Lord to lead him).

[8:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ’oz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.

[8:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.

[9:14]  ⁷ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ⁹ sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[25:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.

[25:7]  ¹¹ sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.

[25:7]  ¹² tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”

[30:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “so that”; or “in order that.”

[30:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “glory.” Some view כָבוֹד (khavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 57:9; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.” “Heart” is used in the translation above for the sake of English idiom; the expression “my liver sings” would seem odd indeed to the modern reader.

[30:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “forever.”

[31:3]  ¹⁶ sn The metaphor of the high ridge pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[31:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “name.” The Hebrew term שֵׁם (shem, “name”) refers here to the Lord’s reputation. (The English term “name” is often used the same way.)

[31:3]  ¹⁸ tn The present translation assumes that the imperfect verbal forms are generalizing, “you lead me and guide me.” Other options are to take them as an expression of confidence about the future, “you will lead me and guide me” (cf. NASB), or as expressing a prayer, “lead me and guide me” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[48:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “daughters.” The reference is to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 97:8 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[48:11]  ²⁰ tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as generalizing imperfects. (For other examples of an imperfect followed by causal לְמַעַן [lÿma’an], see Ps 23:3; Isa 49:7; 55:5.) Another option is to interpret the forms as jussives, “Let Mount Zion rejoice! Let the towns of Judah be happy!” (cf. NASB, NRSV; note the imperatives in vv. 12-13.)

[48:11]  ²¹ sn These acts of judgment are described in vv. 4-7.

[48:13]  ²² tn Heb “set your heart to its rampart.”

[48:13]  ²³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word translated “walk through,” which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Cf. NEB “pass…in review”; NIV “view.”

[48:13]  ²⁴ sn The city’s towers, defenses, and fortresses are outward reminders and tangible symbols of the divine protection the city enjoys.

[51:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[68:23]  ²⁸ tc Some (e.g. NRSV) prefer to emend מָחַץ (makhats, “smash; stomp”; see v. 21) to רָחַץ (rakhats, “bathe”; see Ps 58:10).

[68:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “[and] the tongue of your dogs from [the] enemies [may eat] its portion.”

[78:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “in order that they might know, a following generation, sons [who] will be born, they will arise and will tell to their sons.”

[97:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[109:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “but you, Lord, Master, do with me for the sake of your name.” Here “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.