Psalms 63:2

63:2 Yes, ¹  in the sanctuary I have seen you, ² 

and witnessed ³  your power and splendor.

Psalms 77:12-14

77:12 I will think about all you have done;

I will reflect upon your deeds!”

77:13 ⁴ O God, your deeds are extraordinary! ⁵ 

What god can compare to our great God? ⁶ 

77:14 You are the God who does amazing things;

you have revealed your strength among the nations.

Psalms 77:2

77:2 In my time of trouble I sought ⁷  the Lord.

I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. ⁸ 

I ⁹  refused to be comforted.

Psalms 20:5

20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your ¹⁰  victory;

we will rejoice ¹¹  in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all your requests!

Isaiah 26:8

26:8 Yes, as your judgments unfold, ¹² 

O Lord, we wait for you.

We desire your fame and reputation to grow. ¹³ 

[63:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).

[63:2]  ² tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”

[63:2]  ³ tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.

[77:13]  ⁴ sn Verses 13-20 are the content of the psalmist’s reflection (see vv. 11-12). As he thought about God’s work in Israel’s past, he reached the place where he could confidently cry out for God’s help (see v. 1).

[77:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “O God, in holiness [is] your way.” God’s “way” here refers to his actions. “Holiness” is used here in the sense of “set apart, unique,” rather than in a moral/ethical sense. As the next line and the next verse emphasize, God’s deeds are incomparable and set him apart as the one true God.

[77:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who [is] a great god like God?” The rhetorical question assumes the answer, “No one!”

[77:2]  ⁷ tn Here the psalmist refers back to the very recent past, when he began to pray for divine help.

[77:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “my hand [at] night was extended and was not growing numb.” The verb נָגַר (nagar), which can mean “flow” in certain contexts, here has the nuance “be extended.” The imperfect form (תָפוּג, tafug, “to be numb”) is used here to describe continuous action in the past.

[77:2]  ⁹ tn Or “my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[20:5]  ¹⁰ sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).

[20:5]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).

[26:8]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has, “yes, the way of your judgments.” The translation assumes that “way” is related to the verb “we wait” as an adverbial accusative (“in the way of your judgments we wait”). מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ (mishpatekha, “your judgments”) could refer to the Lord’s commandments, in which case one might translate, “as we obey your commands.” However, in verse 9 the same form refers to divine acts of judgment on evildoers.

[26:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “your name and your remembrance [is] the desire of [our?] being.”