12:7 You, Lord, will protect them; 1
you will continually shelter each one from these evil people, 2
26:3 For I am ever aware of your faithfulness, 3
and your loyalty continually motivates me. 4
71:14 As for me, I will wait continually,
and will continue to praise you. 5
73:23 But I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
83:17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified! 6
May they die in shame! 7
84:4 How blessed 8 are those who live in your temple
and praise you continually! (Selah)
105:4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives!
Seek his presence continually!
119:44 Then I will keep 9 your law continually
now and for all time. 10
119:117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.
Then I will focus 11 on your statutes continually.
145:2 Every day I will praise you!
I will praise your name continually! 12
1 tn The third person plural pronominal suffix on the verb is masculine, referring back to the “oppressed” and “needy” in v. 5 (both of those nouns are plural in form), suggesting that the verb means “protect” here. The suffix does not refer to אִמֲרוֹת (’imarot, “words”) in v. 6, because that term is feminine gender.
2 tn Heb “you will protect him from this generation permanently.” The third masculine singular suffix on the verb “protect” is probably used in a distributive sense, referring to each one within the group mentioned previously (the oppressed/needy, referred to as “them” in the preceding line). On this grammatical point see GKC 396 §123.f (where the present text is not cited). (Some Hebrew
3 tn Heb “for your faithfulness [is] before my eyes.”
4 tn Heb “and I walk about in your loyalty.”
sn The psalmist’s awareness of the Lord’s faithfulness and…loyalty toward him motivates him to remain loyal to the Lord and to maintain his moral purity.
5 tn Heb “and I add to all your praise.”
6 tn Heb “and may they be terrified to perpetuity.” The Hebrew expression עֲדֵי־עַד (’adey-’ad, “to perpetuity”) can mean “forevermore” (see Pss 92:7; 132:12, 14), but here it may be used hyperbolically, for the psalmist asks that the experience of judgment might lead the nations to recognize (v. 18) and even to seek (v. 16) God.
7 tn Heb “may they be ashamed and perish.” The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling severe judgment down on his enemies. The strong language of the imprecation seems to run contrary to the positive outcome of divine judgment envisioned in v. 16b. Perhaps the language of v. 17 is overstated for effect. Another option is that v. 16b expresses an ideal, while the strong imprecation of vv. 17-18 anticipates reality. It would be nice if the defeated nations actually pursued a relationship with God, but if judgment does not bring them to that point, the psalmist asks that they be annihilated so that they might at least be forced to acknowledge God’s power.
8 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 12 and Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
9 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the negated jussive (see v. 43).
10 tn Or “forever and ever.”
11 tn Or “and that I might focus.” The two cohortatives with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the imperative at the beginning of the verse.
12 tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”