17:7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds, 1
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies. 2
66:3 Say to God:
“How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power your enemies cower in fear 3 before you.
78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds 4 in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment 5 in the region of Zoan.
89:7 a God who is honored 6 in the great angelic assembly, 7
and more awesome than 8 all who surround him?
96:4 For the Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise;
he is more awesome than all gods. 9
111:9 He delivered his people; 10
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever. 11
His name is holy and awesome.
135:9 He performed awesome deeds 12 and acts of judgment 13
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
1 tn Heb “Set apart faithful acts.”
2 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.
sn Those who look to you for protection from their enemies. “Seeking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).
3 tn See Deut 33:29; Ps 81:15 for other uses of the verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the sense “cower in fear.” In Ps 18:44 the verb seems to carry the nuance “be weak, powerless” (see also Ps 109:24).
4 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
5 tn Or “portents, omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are referred to here (see vv. 44-51).
6 tn Heb “feared.”
7 tn Heb “in the great assembly of the holy ones.”
8 tn Or perhaps “feared by.”
9 tn Or perhaps “and feared by all gods.” See Ps 89:7.
10 tn Heb “redemption he sent for his people.”
11 tn Heb “he commanded forever his covenant.”
12 tn Or “signs” (see Ps 65:8).
13 tn Or “portents”; “omens” (see Ps 71:7). The Egyptian plagues are alluded to here.