Psalms 68:35

68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! ¹ 

It is the God of Israel ²  who gives the people power and strength.

God deserves praise! ³ 

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. ⁴ 

[68:35]  ¹ tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).

[68:35]  ² tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”

[68:35]  ³ tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[78:38]  ⁴ 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.