Psalms 9:4

9:4 For you defended my just cause; ¹ 

from your throne you pronounced a just decision. ² 

Psalms 17:1

Psalm 17 ³ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ⁴ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ⁵ 

Psalms 40:9

40:9 I have told the great assembly ⁶  about your justice. ⁷ 

Look! I spare no words! ⁸ 

O Lord, you know this is true.

Psalms 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ⁹ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ¹⁰ 

on behalf of justice! ¹¹ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ¹² 

Psalms 48:10

48:10 The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth

is worthy of your reputation, O God. ¹³ 

You execute justice! ¹⁴ 

Psalms 51:19

51:19 Then you will accept ¹⁵  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed ¹⁶  on your altar. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 89:14

89:14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne. ¹⁸ 

Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 94:15

94:15 For justice will prevail, ²⁰ 

and all the morally upright ²¹  will be vindicated. ²² 

Psalms 110:4

110:4 The Lord makes this promise on oath ²³  and will not revoke it: ²⁴ 

“You are an eternal priest ²⁵  after the pattern of ²⁶  Melchizedek.” ²⁷ 

[9:4]  ¹ tn Heb “for you accomplished my justice and my legal claim.”

[9:4]  ² 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”).

[17:1]  ³ sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

[17:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[40:9]  ⁵ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.

[40:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the Lord’s just acts are in view (see v. 10). His “justice” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) is here the deliverance that originates in his justice; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just.

[40:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”

[45:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ⁸ tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ⁹ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[48:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “like your name, O God, so [is] your praise to the ends of the earth.” Here “name” refers to God’s reputation and revealed character.

[48:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “your right hand is full of justice.” The “right hand” suggests activity and power.

[51:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

[51:19]  ¹² tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

[51:19]  ¹³ sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

[89:14]  ¹³ sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.

[89:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “are in front of your face.” The idiom can mean “confront” (Ps 17:13) or “meet, enter the presence of” (Ps 95:2).

[94:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for judgment will return to justice.”

[94:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 36:10; 64:10; 97:11).

[94:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and after it [are] the pure of heart.”

[110:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “swears, vows.”

[110:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will not change his mind.” The negated Niphal imperfect of נָחַם (nakham) is a way of marking an announcement as an irrevocable decree. See 1 Sam 15:29; Ezek 24:14, as well as R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

[110:4]  ¹⁹ sn You are an eternal priest. The Davidic king exercised a non-Levitical priestly role. The king superintended Judah’s cultic ritual, had authority over the Levites, and sometimes led in formal worship. David himself instructed the Levites to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:11-15), joined the procession, offered sacrifices, wore a priestly ephod, and blessed the people (2 Sam 6:12-19). At the dedication of the temple Solomon led the ceremony, offering sacrifices and praying on behalf of the people (1 Kgs 8).

[110:4]  ²⁰ tn The phrase עַל־דִּבְרָתִי (’al-divratiy) is a variant of עַל־דִּבְרָת (’al-divrat; the final yod [י] being an archaic genitival ending), which in turn is a variant of עַל דָּבַר (’al davar). Both phrases can mean “concerning” or “because of,” but neither of these nuances fits the use of עַל־דִּבְרָתִי in Ps 110:4. Here the phrase probably carries the sense “according to the manner of.” See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 81.

[110:4]  ²¹ sn The Davidic king’s priestly role is analogous to that of Melchizedek, who was both “king of Salem” (i.e., Jerusalem) and a “priest of God Most High” in the time of Abraham (Gen 14:18-20). Like Melchizedek, the Davidic king was a royal priest, distinct from the Aaronic line (see Heb 7). The analogy focuses on the king’s priestly role; the language need not imply that Melchizedek himself was “an eternal priest.”