Psalms 51:5-6

51:5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,

a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. ¹ 

51:6 Look, ²  you desire ³  integrity in the inner man; ⁴ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ⁵ 

Psalms 139:4

139:4 Certainly ⁶  my tongue does not frame a word

without you, O Lord, being thoroughly aware of it. ⁷ 

Psalms 68:33

68:33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times! ⁸ 

Look! He thunders loudly. ⁹ 

Psalms 78:20

78:20 Yes, ¹⁰  he struck a rock and water flowed out,

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”

[51:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, in wrongdoing I was brought forth, and in sin my mother conceived me.” The prefixed verbal form in the second line is probably a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive), stating a simple historical fact. The psalmist is not suggesting that he was conceived through an inappropriate sexual relationship (although the verse has sometimes been understood to mean that, or even that all sexual relationships are sinful). The psalmist’s point is that he has been a sinner from the very moment his personal existence began. By going back beyond the time of birth to the moment of conception, the psalmist makes his point more emphatically in the second line than in the first.

[51:6]  ² sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

[51:6]  ³ tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

[51:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

[51:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

[139:4]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[139:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”

[68:33]  ⁴ tc Heb “to the one who rides through the skies of skies of ancient times.” If the MT is retained, one might translate, “to the one who rides through the ancient skies.” (שְׁמֵי [shÿmey, “skies of”] may be accidentally repeated.) The present translation assumes an emendation to בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִקֶּדֶם (bashamayim miqqedem, “[to the one who rides] through the sky from ancient times”), that is, God has been revealing his power through the storm since ancient times.

[68:33]  ⁵ tn Heb “he gives his voice a strong voice.” In this context God’s “voice” is the thunder that accompanies the rain (see vv. 8-9, as well as Deut 33:26).

[78:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “look.”