Psalms 78:18

78:18 They willfully challenged God ¹ 

by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.

Psalms 78:34

78:34 When he struck them down, ²  they sought his favor; ³ 

they turned back and longed for God.

Psalms 78:41

78:41 They again challenged God, ⁴ 

and offended ⁵  the Holy One of Israel. ⁶ 

Psalms 104:21

104:21 The lions roar for prey,

seeking their food from God. ⁷ 

Psalms 106:14

106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving ⁸  for meat; ⁹ 

they challenged God ¹⁰  in the desert.

Psalms 106:21

106:21 They rejected ¹¹  the God who delivered them,

the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,

Psalms 118:28

118:28 You are my ¹²  God and I will give you thanks!

You are my God and I will praise you!

Psalms 136:26

136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his loyal love endures!

Psalms 149:6

149:6 May they praise God

while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand, ¹³ 

Psalms 22:1

Psalm 22 ¹⁴ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ¹⁵  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ¹⁶ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ¹⁷ 

[78:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and they tested God in their heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the center of their volition.

[78:34]  ² tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.

[78:34]  ³ tn Heb “they sought him.”

[78:41]  ³ tn Heb “and they returned and tested God.” The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate that an earlier action was repeated.

[78:41]  ⁴ tn Or “wounded, hurt.” The verb occurs only here in the OT.

[78:41]  ⁵ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.

[104:21]  ⁴ sn The lions’ roaring is viewed as a request for food from God.

[106:14]  ⁵ sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.

[106:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”

[106:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “they tested God.”

[106:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “forgot.”

[118:28]  ⁷ sn You are my God. The psalmist speaks again (see v. 21), responding to the words of the worshipers (vv. 22-27).

[149:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “[May] praises of God [be] in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”

[22:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

[22:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

[22:1]  ¹¹ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

[22:1]  ¹² tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.