Psalms 65:3

65:3 Our record of sins overwhelms me, ¹ 

but you forgive ²  our acts of rebellion.

Psalms 78:38

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ³ 

Psalms 79:9

79:9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!

For the sake of your glorious reputation, ⁴  rescue us!

Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation! ⁵ 

[65:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the records of sins are too strong for me.”

[65:3]  ² tn Or “make atonement for.”

[78:38]  ³ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.

[79:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the glory of your name.” Here and in the following line “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[79:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “your name.”