Psalms 18:20

18:20 The Lord repaid 1  me for my godly deeds; 2 

he rewarded 3  my blameless behavior. 4 

Psalms 18:24

18:24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds; 5 

he took notice of my blameless behavior. 6 

Psalms 37:23

37:23 The Lord grants success to the one

whose behavior he finds commendable. 7 

Psalms 119:15

119:15 I will meditate on 8  your precepts

and focus 9  on your behavior. 10 

1 tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not imperfect.

2 tn Heb “according to my righteousness.” As vv. 22-24 make clear, the psalmist refers here to his unwavering obedience to God’s commands. In these verses the psalmist explains that the Lord was pleased with him and willing to deliver him because he had been loyal to God and obedient to his commandments. Ancient Near Eastern literature contains numerous parallels. A superior (a god or king) would typically reward a subject (a king or the servant of a king, respectively) for loyalty and obedience. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 211-13.

3 tn The unreduced Hiphil prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, in which case the psalmist would be generalizing. However, both the preceding and following contexts (see especially v. 24) suggest he is narrating his experience. Despite its unreduced form, the verb is better taken as a preterite. For other examples of unreduced Hiphil preterites, see Pss 55:14a; 68:9a, 10b; 80:8a; 89:43a; 107:38b; 116:6b.

4 tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands he repaid to me.” “Hands” suggest activity and behavior.

5 tn Heb “according to my righteousness.”

6 tn Heb “according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.” 2 Sam 22:25 reads “according to my purity before his eyes.” The verbal repetition (compare vv. 20 and 24) sets off vv. 20-24 as a distinct sub-unit within the psalm.

7 tn Heb “from the Lord the steps of a man are established, and in his way he delights.” The second line qualifies the first. The man whose behavior is commendable in God’s sight is the one whose ways are established by God. Another option is that the second line refers to the godly man delighting in God’s “way,” namely the lifestyle which he prescribes for men. In this case one might translate, “The Lord grants success to the one who desires to obey his commands.”

8 tn The cohortative verbal forms in this verse express the psalmist’s resolve.

9 tn Heb “gaze [at].”

10 tn Heb “ways” (referring figuratively to God’s behavior here).