Psalms 7:17

7:17 I will thank the Lord for ¹  his justice;

I will sing praises to the sovereign Lord! ² 

Psalms 14:5

14:5 They are absolutely terrified, ³ 

for God defends the godly. ⁴ 

Psalms 69:30

69:30 I will sing praises to God’s name! ⁵ 

I will magnify him as I give him thanks! ⁶ 

Psalms 87:6

87:6 The Lord writes in the census book of the nations, ⁷ 

“This one was born there.” ⁸  (Selah)

Psalms 102:21

102:21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,

and praise him ⁹  in Jerusalem, ¹⁰ 

Psalms 104:17

104:17 where the birds make nests,

near the evergreens in which the herons live. ¹¹ 

Psalms 104:26

104:26 The ships travel there,

and over here swims the whale ¹²  you made to play in it.

Psalms 113:2-3

113:2 May the Lord’s name be praised

now and forevermore!

113:3 From east to west ¹³ 

the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.

Psalms 132:17

132:17 There I will make David strong; ¹⁴ 

I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 139:8

139:8 If I were to ascend ¹⁶  to heaven, you would be there.

If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there you would be. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 148:5

148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he gave the command and they came into existence.

[7:17]  ¹ tn Heb “according to.”

[7:17]  ² tn Heb “[to] the name of the Lord Most High.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case the compound “Lord Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.

[14:5]  ³ tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror.

[14:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “for God is with a godly generation.” The Hebrew noun דּוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the general class of people who are characterized by godliness. See BDB 190 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[69:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will praise the name of God with a song.”

[69:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will magnify him with thanks.”

[87:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord records in the writing of the nations.”

[87:6]  ⁸ tn As noted in v. 4, the translation assumes a contrast between “there” (the various foreign lands) and “in her” (Zion). In contrast to foreigners, the citizens of Zion have special status because of their birthplace (v. 5). In this case vv. 4 and 6 form a structural frame around v. 5.

[102:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “his praise.”

[102:21]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[104:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”

[104:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.

[113:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The extent is not temporal (“from sunrise to sunset”) but spatial (“from the place where the sun rises [the east] to the place where it sets [the west].” In the phenomenological language of OT cosmology, the sun was described as rising in the east and setting in the west.

[132:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “there I will cause a horn to sprout for David.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (cf. Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Pss 18:2; 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). In the ancient Near East powerful warrior-kings would sometimes compare themselves to a goring bull that used its horns to kill its enemies. For examples, see P. Miller, “El the Warrior,” HTR 60 (1967): 422-25, and R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 135-36.

[132:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I have arranged a lamp for my anointed one.” Here the “lamp” is a metaphor for the Davidic dynasty (see 1 Kgs 11:36).

[139:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew verb סָלַק (salaq, “to ascend”) occurs only here in the OT, but the word is well-attested in Aramaic literature from different time periods and displays a wide semantic range (see DNWSI 2:788-90).

[139:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “look, you.”