Psalms 6:6

6:6 I am exhausted as I groan;

all night long I drench my bed in tears; ¹ 

my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. ² 

Psalms 9:1

Psalm 9 ³ 

For the music director; according to the alumoth-labben style; ⁴  a psalm of David.

9:1 I will thank the Lord with all my heart!

I will tell about all your amazing deeds! ⁵ 

Psalms 10:5

10:5 He is secure at all times. ⁶ 

He has no regard for your commands; ⁷ 

he disdains all his enemies. ⁸ 

Psalms 19:4

19:4 Yet its voice ⁹  echoes ¹⁰  throughout the earth;

its ¹¹  words carry ¹²  to the distant horizon. ¹³ 

In the sky ¹⁴  he has pitched a tent for the sun. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 45:16-17

45:16 Your ¹⁶  sons will carry ¹⁷  on the dynasty of your ancestors; ¹⁸ 

you will make them princes throughout the land.

45:17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years, ¹⁹ 

then the nations will praise you ²⁰  forever.

Psalms 82:8

82:8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!

For you own ²¹  all the nations.

Psalms 88:9

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ²² 

Psalms 103:22

103:22 Praise the Lord, all that he has made, ²³ 

in all the regions ²⁴  of his kingdom!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

Psalms 111:1

Psalm 111 ²⁵ 

111:1 Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.

Psalms 119:69

119:69 Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies, ²⁶ 

but I observe your precepts with all my heart.

Psalms 143:5

143:5 I recall the old days; ²⁷ 

I meditate on all you have done;

I reflect on your accomplishments. ²⁸ 

[6:6]  ¹ tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”

[6:6]  ² tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”

[9:1]  ³ sn Psalm 9. The psalmist, probably speaking on behalf of Israel or Judah, praises God for delivering him from hostile nations. He celebrates God’s sovereignty and justice, and calls on others to join him in boasting of God’s greatness. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm.

[9:1]  ⁴ tc The meaning of the Hebrew term עַלְמוּת (’almut) is uncertain. Some mss divide the form into עַל מוּת (’al mut, “according to the death [of the son]”), while the LXX assumes a reading עֲלֻמוֹת עַל (’al ’alumot, “according to alumoth”). The phrase probably refers to a particular tune or musical style.

[9:1]  ⁵ tn The cohortative forms in vv. 1-2 express the psalmist’s resolve to praise God publicly.

[10:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “they are firm, his ways, at every time.” The verb חַיִל (khayil, “be firm, be strong”) occurs only here and in Job 20:21, where it has the sense “endure.”

[10:5]  ⁶ tc Heb “[on a] height, your judgments from before him.” If the MT is retained, then the idea may be that God’s “judgments” are high above (i.e., not recognized) by the wicked man. However, the syntax is awkward. The translation assumes an emendation of מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) to סָרוּ (saru, “[your judgments] are turned aside”), the final mem (ם) being dittographic (note the initial mem on the immediately following word [מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ, mishÿfatekha, “your judgments”). “Judgments” probably refers here to God’s laws or commands, rather than his judicial decisions or acts of judgment.

[10:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “all his enemies, he snorts against them.” This may picture the wicked man defiantly challenging his enemies because he is confident of success. Another option is to take יָפִיחַ (yafiakh) from the root יָפַח (yafakh, “to testify”) and translate “he testifies against all his enemies,” implying that he gets the upper hand over them in legal battles. The noun יָפֵחַ (yafeakh, “witness”) is attested in biblical Hebrew (see Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3). The verb, however, is not clearly attested.

[19:4]  ⁷ tc The MT reads, “their measuring line” (קוּם, qum). The noun קַו (qav, “measuring line”) makes no sense in this context. The reading קוֹלָם (qolam, “their voice”) which is supported by the LXX, is preferable.

[19:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “goes out,” or “proceeds forth.”

[19:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “their” (see the note on the word “its” in v. 3).

[19:4]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is supplied in the translation. The Hebrew text has no verb; יָצָא (yatsa’, “goes out”) is understood by ellipsis.

[19:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to the end of the world.”

[19:4]  ¹² tn Heb “in them” (i.e., the heavens).

[19:4]  ¹³ sn He has pitched a tent for the sun. The personified sun emerges from this “tent” in order to make its daytime journey across the sky. So the “tent” must refer metaphorically to the place where the sun goes to rest during the night.

[45:16]  ⁹ tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.

[45:16]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”

[45:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”

[45:17]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn The nations will praise you. As God’s vice-regent on earth, the king is deserving of such honor and praise.

[82:8]  ¹³ tn The translation assumes that the Qal of נָחַל (nakhal) here means “to own; to possess,” and that the imperfect emphasizes a general truth. Another option is to translate the verb as future, “for you will take possession of all the nations” (cf. NIV “all the nations are your inheritance”).

[88:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.

[103:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “all his works,” which includes mankind.

[103:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “places.”

[111:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 111. The psalmist praises God for his marvelous deeds, especially the way in which he provides for and delivers his people. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[119:69]  ²¹ tn Heb “smear over me a lie.”

[143:5]  ²³ tn Or “ancient times”; Heb “days from before.”

[143:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the work of your hands.”