Psalms 63:4-8

63:4 For this reason ¹  I will praise you while I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. ² 

63:5 As if with choice meat ³  you satisfy my soul. ⁴ 

My mouth joyfully praises you, ⁵ 

63:6 whenever ⁶  I remember you on my bed,

and think about you during the nighttime hours.

63:7 For you are my deliverer; ⁷ 

under your wings ⁸  I rejoice.

63:8 My soul ⁹  pursues you; ¹⁰ 

your right hand upholds me.

[63:4]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “then.”

[63:4]  ² sn I will lift up my hands. Lifting up one’s hands toward God was a gesture of prayer (see Ps 28:2; Lam 2:19) or respect (Ps 119:48).

[63:5]  ³ tn Heb “like fat and fatness.”

[63:5]  ⁴ tn Or “me.”

[63:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and [with] lips of joy my mouth praises.”

[63:6]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term אִם (’im) is used here in the sense of “when; whenever,” as in Ps 78:34.

[63:7]  ⁷ tn Or “[source of] help.”

[63:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”

[63:8]  ⁹ tn Or “I.” 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).

[63:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).