Psalms 7:14

7:14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,

who conceives destructive plans,

and gives birth to harmful lies – ¹ 

Psalms 33:18

33:18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers, ² 

those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness ³ 

Psalms 48:4

48:4 For ⁴  look, the kings assemble; ⁵ 

they advance together.

Psalms 54:4

54:4 Look, God is my deliverer! ⁶ 

The Lord is among those who support me. ⁷ 

Psalms 55:7

55:7 Look, I will escape to a distant place;

I will stay in the wilderness. (Selah)

Psalms 71:17

71:17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,

and I am still declaring ⁸  your amazing deeds.

Psalms 73:12

73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, ⁹ 

those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 73:15

73:15 If I had publicized these thoughts, ¹¹ 

I would have betrayed your loyal followers. ¹² 

Psalms 73:27

73:27 Yes, ¹³  look! Those far from you ¹⁴  die;

you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 83:2

83:2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;

those who hate you are hostile. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 121:4

121:4 Look! Israel’s protector ¹⁷ 

does not sleep or slumber!

Psalms 127:3

127:3 Yes, ¹⁸  sons ¹⁹  are a gift from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalms 128:4

128:4 Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord

will be blessed in this way. ²⁰ 

[7:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and he conceives harm and gives birth to a lie.”

[33:18]  ² tn Heb “look, the eye of the Lord [is] toward the ones who fear him.” The expression “the eye…[is] toward” here indicates recognition and the bestowing of favor. See Ps 34:15. The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[33:18]  ³ tn Heb “for the ones who wait for his faithfulness.”

[48:4]  ³ tn The logical connection between vv. 3-4 seems to be this: God is the protector of Zion and reveals himself as the city’s defender – this is necessary because hostile armies threaten the city.

[48:4]  ⁴ tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 4-6 are understood as descriptive. In dramatic style (note הִנֵּה, hinneh, “look”) the psalm describes an enemy attack against the city as if it were occurring at this very moment. Another option is to take the perfects as narrational (“the kings assembled, they advanced”), referring to a particular historical event, such as Sennacherib’s siege of the city in 701 b.c. (cf. NIV, NRSV). Even if one translates the verses in a dramatic-descriptive manner (as the present translation does), the Lord’s victory over the Assyrians was probably what served as the inspiration of the description (see v. 8).

[54:4]  ⁴ tn Or “my helper.”

[54:4]  ⁵ tn Or “sustain my life.”

[71:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “and until now I am declaring.”

[73:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”

[73:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”

[73:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “If I had said, ‘I will speak out like this.’”

[73:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “look, the generation of your sons I would have betrayed.” The phrase “generation of your [i.e., God’s] sons” occurs only here in the OT. Some equate the phrase with “generation of the godly” (Ps 14:5), “generation of the ones seeking him” (Ps 24:6), and “generation of the upright” (Ps 112:2). In Deut 14:1 the Israelites are referred to as God’s “sons.” Perhaps the psalmist refers here to those who are “Israelites” in the true sense because of their loyalty to God (note the juxtaposition of “Israel” with “the pure in heart” in v. 1).

[73:27]  ⁸ tn Or “for.”

[73:27]  ⁹ sn The following line defines the phrase far from you in a spiritual sense. Those “far” from God are those who are unfaithful and disloyal to him.

[73:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “everyone who commits adultery from you.”

[83:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “lift up [their] head[s].” The phrase “lift up [the] head” here means “to threaten; to be hostile,” as in Judg 8:28.

[121:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one who guards Israel.”

[127:3]  ¹¹ tn or “look.”

[127:3]  ¹² tn Some prefer to translate this term with the gender neutral “children,” but “sons” are plainly in view here, as the following verses make clear. Daughters are certainly wonderful additions to a family, but in ancient Israelite culture sons were the “arrows” that gave a man security in his old age, for they could defend the family interests at the city gate, where the legal and economic issues of the community were settled.

[128:4]  ¹² tn Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.”