Psalms 7:9

7:9 May the evil deeds of the wicked ¹  come to an end! ² 

But make the innocent ³  secure, ⁴ 

O righteous God,

you who examine ⁵  inner thoughts and motives! ⁶ 

Psalms 17:7

17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, ⁷ 

you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. ⁸ 

Psalms 18:30

18:30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; ⁹ 

the Lord’s promise ¹⁰  is reliable; ¹¹ 

he is a shield to all who take shelter ¹²  in him.

Psalms 25:7

25:7 Do not hold against me ¹³  the sins of my youth ¹⁴  or my rebellious acts!

Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! ¹⁵ 

Psalms 39:5

39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, ¹⁶ 

and my life span is nothing from your perspective. ¹⁷ 

Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 40:4

40:4 How blessed ¹⁹  is the one ²⁰  who trusts in the Lord ²¹ 

and does not seek help from ²²  the proud or from liars! ²³ 

Psalms 40:16

40:16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ²⁴  your deliverance say continually, ²⁵ 

“May the Lord be praised!” ²⁶ 

Psalms 48:2

48:2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, ²⁷ 

a source of joy to the whole earth. ²⁸ 

Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; ²⁹ 

it is the city of the great king.

Psalms 68:27

68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, ³⁰ 

and the princes of Judah in their robes, ³¹ 

along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

Psalms 70:4

70:4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ³²  your deliverance say continually, ³³ 

“May God ³⁴  be praised!” ³⁵ 

Psalms 101:3

101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ³⁶ 

I hate doing evil; ³⁷ 

I will have no part of it. ³⁸ 

Psalms 106:5

106:5 so I may see the prosperity ³⁹  of your chosen ones,

rejoice along with your nation, ⁴⁰ 

and boast along with the people who belong to you. ⁴¹ 

Psalms 128:3

128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine ⁴² 

in the inner rooms of your house;

your children ⁴³  will be like olive branches,

as they sit all around your table.

Psalms 131:1

Psalm 131 ⁴⁴ 

A song of ascents, ⁴⁵  by David.

131:1 O Lord, my heart is not proud,

nor do I have a haughty look. ⁴⁶ 

I do not have great aspirations,

or concern myself with things that are beyond me. ⁴⁷ 

[7:9]  ¹ tn In the psalms the Hebrew term רְשָׁעִים (rÿsha’im, “wicked”) describes people who are proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander (Ps 50:16-20), and cheat others (Ps 37:21). They oppose God and his people.

[7:9]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive, expressing an imprecation here.

[7:9]  ³ tn Or “the godly” (see Ps 5:12). The singular form is collective (see the plural “upright in heart” in v. 10), though it may reflect the personal focus of the psalmist in this context.

[7:9]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form expresses the psalmist’s prayer or wish.

[7:9]  ⁵ tn For other uses of the verb in this sense, see Job 7:18; Pss 11:4; 26:2; 139:23.

[7:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [the one who] tests hearts and kidneys, just God.” The translation inverts the word order to improve the English style. The heart and kidneys were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.

[17:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”

[17:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “[O] one who delivers those who seek shelter from the ones raising themselves up, by your right hand.” The Lord’s “right hand” here symbolizes his power to protect and deliver.

[18:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (ha’el, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).

[18:30]  ¹⁴ sn The Lord’s promise. In the ancient Near East kings would typically seek and receive oracles from their god(s) prior to battle. For examples, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 241-42.

[18:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is purified.” The Lord’s “word” probably refers here to his oracle(s) of victory delivered to the psalmist before the battle(s) described in the following context. See also Pss 12:5-7 and 138:2-3. David frequently received such oracles before going into battle (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4-5, 10-12; 30:8; 2 Sam 5:19). The Lord’s word of promise is absolutely reliable; it is compared to metal that has been refined in fire and cleansed of impurities. See Ps 12:6.

[18:30]  ¹⁶ sn Take shelter. See the note on the word “shelter” in v. 2.

[25:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.

[25:7]  ²⁰ sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.

[25:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.”

[39:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.

[39:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”

[39:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”

[40:4]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[40:4]  ³² tn Heb “man.” See the note on the word “one” in Ps 1:1.

[40:4]  ³³ tn Heb “who has made the Lord his [object of] trust.”

[40:4]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and does not turn toward.”

[40:4]  ³⁵ tn Heb “those falling away toward a lie.”

[40:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by the Lord.

[40:16]  ³⁸ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing upon the godly.

[40:16]  ³⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great” (cf. NRSV). See Ps 35:27.

[48:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “beautiful of height.” The Hebrew term נוֹף (nof, “height”) is a genitive of specification after the qualitative noun “beautiful.” The idea seems to be that Mount Zion, because of its lofty appearance, is pleasing to the sight.

[48:2]  ⁴⁴ sn A source of joy to the whole earth. The language is hyperbolic. Zion, as the dwelling place of the universal king, is pictured as the world’s capital. The prophets anticipated this idealized picture becoming a reality in the eschaton (see Isa 2:1-4).

[48:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “Mount Zion, the peaks of Zaphon.” Like all the preceding phrases in v. 2, both phrases are appositional to “city of our God, his holy hill” in v. 1, suggesting an identification in the poet’s mind between Mount Zion and Zaphon. “Zaphon” usually refers to the “north” in a general sense (see Pss 89:12; 107:3), but here, where it is collocated with “peaks,” it refers specifically to Mount Zaphon, located in the vicinity of ancient Ugarit and viewed as the mountain where the gods assembled (see Isa 14:13). By alluding to West Semitic mythology in this way, the psalm affirms that Mount Zion is the real divine mountain, for it is here that the Lord God of Israel lives and rules over the nations. See P. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 353, and T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 103.

[68:27]  ⁴⁹ sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

[68:27]  ⁵⁰ tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.

[70:4]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by God.

[70:4]  ⁵⁶ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing on the godly.

[70:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Ps 40:16 uses the divine name “Lord” here instead of “God.”

[70:4]  ⁵⁸ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.” See Ps 35:27.

[101:3]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”

[101:3]  ⁶² tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).

[101:3]  ⁶³ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”

[106:5]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “good.”

[106:5]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “in order that [I may] rejoice with the rejoicing of your nation.”

[106:5]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “with your inheritance.”

[128:3]  ⁷³ sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).

[128:3]  ⁷⁴ tn One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders.

[131:1]  ⁷⁹ sn Psalm 131. The psalmist affirms his humble dependence on the Lord and urges Israel to place its trust in God.

[131:1]  ⁸⁰ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[131:1]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “and my eyes are not lifted up.”

[131:1]  ⁸² tn Heb “I do not walk in great things, and in things too marvelous for me.”