Psalms 7:8

7:8 The Lord judges the nations. ¹ 

Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, ² 

because I am blameless, ³  O Exalted One! ⁴ 

Psalms 9:4

9:4 For you defended my just cause; ⁵ 

from your throne you pronounced a just decision. ⁶ 

Psalms 9:19

9:19 Rise up, Lord! ⁷ 

Don’t let men be defiant! ⁸ 

May the nations be judged in your presence!

Psalms 10:18

10:18 You defend ⁹  the fatherless and oppressed, ¹⁰ 

so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. ¹¹ 

Psalms 26:1

Psalm 26 ¹² 

By David.

26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have integrity, ¹³ 

and I trust in the Lord without wavering.

Psalms 43:1

Psalm 43 ¹⁴ 

43:1 Vindicate me, O God!

Fight for me ¹⁵  against an ungodly nation!

Deliver me ¹⁶  from deceitful and evil men! ¹⁷ 

Psalms 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ¹⁸  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ¹⁹  you are just when you confront me; ²⁰ 

you are right when you condemn me. ²¹ 

Psalms 58:11

58:11 Then ²²  observers ²³  will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! ²⁴ 

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges ²⁵  in the earth!”

Psalms 67:4

67:4 Let foreigners ²⁶  rejoice and celebrate!

For you execute justice among the nations,

and govern the people living on earth. ²⁷  (Selah)

Psalms 82:1

Psalm 82 ²⁸ 

A psalm of Asaph.

82:1 God stands in ²⁹  the assembly of El; ³⁰ 

in the midst of the gods ³¹  he renders judgment. ³² 

Psalms 82:8

82:8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!

For you own ³³  all the nations.

[7:8]  ¹ sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.

[9:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “for you accomplished my justice and my legal claim.”

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “you sat on a throne [as] one who judges [with] righteousness.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 4 probably allude to a recent victory (see vv. 5-7). Another option is to understand the verbs as describing what is typical (“you defend…you sit on a throne”).

[9:19]  ⁹ sn Rise up, Lord! …May the nations be judged. The psalm concludes with a petition that the Lord would continue to exercise his justice as he has done in the recent crisis.

[9:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “prevail.”

[10:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “to judge (on behalf of),” or “by judging (on behalf of).”

[10:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “crushed.” See v. 10.

[10:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he will not add again [i.e., “he will no longer”] to terrify, man from the earth.” The Hebrew term אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh, “man”) refers here to the wicked nations (v. 16). By describing them as “from the earth,” the psalmist emphasizes their weakness before the sovereign, eternal king.

[26:1]  ¹⁷ sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.

[26:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”

[43:1]  ²¹ sn Psalm 43. Many medieval Hebrew mss combine Psalm 43 and Psalm 42 into one psalm. Psalm 43 is the only psalm in Book 2 of the Psalter (Psalms 42-72) that does not have a heading, suggesting that it was originally the third and concluding section of Psalm 42. Ps 43:5 is identical to the refrain in Ps 42:11 and almost identical to the refrain in Ps 42:5.

[43:1]  ²² tn Or “argue my case.”

[43:1]  ²³ tn The imperfect here expresses a request or wish. Note the imperatives in the first half of the verse. See also v. 3.

[43:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from the deceitful and evil man.” The Hebrew text uses the singular form “man” in a collective sense, as the reference to a “nation” in the parallel line indicates.

[51:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[58:11]  ²⁹ tn Following the imperfects of v. 10, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates a result or consequence of what precedes.

[58:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “man.” The singular is representative here.

[58:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “surely [there] is fruit for the godly.”

[58:11]  ³² tn The plural participle is unusual here if the preceding אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is here a plural of majesty, referring to the one true God. Occasionally the plural of majesty does take a plural attributive (see GKC 428-29 §132.h). It is possible that the final mem (ם) on the participle is enclitic, and that it was later misunderstood as a plural ending. Another option is to translate, “Yes indeed, there are gods who judge in the earth.” In this case, the statement reflects the polytheistic mindset of pagan observers who, despite their theological ignorance, nevertheless recognize divine retribution when they see it.

[67:4]  ³³ tn Or “peoples.”

[67:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for you judge nations fairly, and [as for the] peoples in the earth, you lead them.” The imperfects are translated with the present tense because the statement is understood as a generalization about God’s providential control of the world. Another option is to understand the statement as anticipating God’s future rule (“for you will rule…and govern”).

[82:1]  ³⁷ sn Psalm 82. The psalmist pictures God standing in the “assembly of El” where he accuses the “gods” of failing to promote justice on earth. God pronounces sentence upon them, announcing that they will die like men. Having witnessed the scene, the psalmist then asks God to establish his just rule over the earth.

[82:1]  ³⁸ tn Or “presides over.”

[82:1]  ³⁹ tn The phrase עֲדַת אֵל (’adat ’el, “assembly of El”) appears only here in the OT. (1) Some understand “El” to refer to God himself. In this case he is pictured presiding over his own heavenly assembly. (2) Others take אֵל as a superlative here (“God stands in the great assembly”), as in Pss 36:6 and 80:10. (3) The present translation assumes this is a reference to the Canaanite high god El, who presided over the Canaanite divine assembly. (See Isa 14:13, where El’s assembly is called “the stars of El.”) In the Ugaritic myths the phrase ’dt ’ilm refers to the “assembly of the gods,” who congregate in King Kirtu’s house, where Baal asks El to bless Kirtu’s house (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). If the Canaanite divine assembly is referred to here in Ps 82:1, then the psalm must be understood as a bold polemic against Canaanite religion. Israel’s God invades El’s assembly, denounces its gods as failing to uphold justice, and announces their coming demise. For an interpretation of the psalm along these lines, see W. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” EBC 5:533-36.

[82:1]  ⁴⁰ sn The present translation assumes that the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “gods”) here refers to the pagan gods who supposedly comprise El’s assembly according to Canaanite religion. Those who reject the polemical view of the psalm prefer to see the referent as human judges or rulers (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to officials appointed by God, see Exod 21:6; 22:8-9; Ps 45:6) or as angelic beings (אֱלֹהִים sometimes refers to angelic beings, see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5).

[82:1]  ⁴¹ sn The picture of God rendering judgment among the gods clearly depicts his sovereign authority as universal king (see v. 8, where the psalmist boldly affirms this truth).

[82:8]  ⁴¹ tn The translation assumes that the Qal of נָחַל (nakhal) here means “to own; to possess,” and that the imperfect emphasizes a general truth. Another option is to translate the verb as future, “for you will take possession of all the nations” (cf. NIV “all the nations are your inheritance”).