2:11 Serve 1 the Lord in fear!
Repent in terror! 2
3:8 The Lord delivers; 3
you show favor to your people. 4 (Selah)
4:5 Offer the prescribed sacrifices 5
and trust in the Lord! 6
5:6 You destroy 7 liars; 8
the Lord despises 9 violent and deceitful people. 10
6:4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! 11
Deliver me because of your faithfulness! 12
18:13 The Lord thundered 13 in 14 the sky;
the sovereign One 15 shouted. 16
22:28 For the Lord is king 17
and rules over the nations.
By David.
25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. 19
29:7 The Lord’s shout strikes 20 with flaming fire. 21
33:13 The Lord watches 22 from heaven;
he sees all people. 23
38:22 Hurry and help me, 24 O Lord, my deliverer!
68:11 The Lord speaks; 25
many, many women spread the good news. 26
89:52 27 The Lord deserves praise 28 forevermore!
We agree! We agree! 29
94:11 The Lord knows that
peoples’ thoughts are morally bankrupt. 30
102:12 But you, O Lord, rule forever, 31
and your reputation endures. 32
102:16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,
and reveals his splendor,
116:5 The Lord is merciful and fair;
our God is compassionate.
116:15 The Lord values
the lives of his faithful followers. 33
119:12 You deserve praise, 34 O Lord!
Teach me your statutes!
119:52 I remember your ancient regulations, 35
O Lord, and console myself. 36
131:3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord!
147:2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, 37
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
147:12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
1 tn The Hebrew verb translated “serve” refers here to submitting to the Lord’s sovereignty as expressed through the rule of the Davidic king. Such “service” would involve maintaining allegiance to the Davidic king by paying tribute on a regular basis.
2 tn Traditionally, “rejoice with trembling” (KJV). The verb גִּיל (gil) normally means “rejoice,” but this meaning does not fit well here in conjunction with “in trembling.” Some try to understand “trembling” (and the parallel יִרְאָה, yir’ah, “fear”) in the sense of “reverential awe” and then take the verbs “serve” and “rejoice” in the sense of “worship” (cf. NASB). But רְעָדָה (rÿ’adah, “trembling”) and its related terms consistently refer to utter terror and fear (see Exod 15:15; Job 4:14; Pss 48:6; 55:5; 104:32; Isa 33:14; Dan 10:11) or at least great emotional distress (Ezra 10:9). It seems more likely here that גִּיל carries its polarized meaning “mourn, lament,” as in Hos 10:5. “Mourn, lament” would then be metonymic in this context for “repent” (referring to one’s rebellious ways). On the meaning of the verb in Hos 10:5, see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-57.
3 tn Heb “to the
4 tn Heb “upon your people [is] your blessing.” In this context God’s “blessing” includes deliverance/protection, vindication, and sustained life (see Pss 21:3, 6; 24:5).
5 tn Or “proper, right.” The phrase also occurs in Deut 33:19 and Ps 51:19.
6 sn Trust in the
7 tn The imperfect verbal form indicates God’s typical response to such individuals. Another option is to translate the verb as future (“You will destroy”); the psalmist may be envisioning a time of judgment when God will remove the wicked from the scene.
8 tn Heb “those who speak a lie.” In the OT a “lie” does not refer in a general philosophical sense to any statement that fails to correspond to reality. Instead it refers more specifically to a slanderous and/or deceitful statement that promotes one’s own selfish, sinful interests and/or exploits or harms those who are innocent. Note the emphasis on violence and deceit in the following line.
9 tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the
10 tn Heb “a man of bloodshed and deceit.” The singular אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) is used here in a collective or representative sense; thus the translation “people” is appropriate here. Note the plural forms in vv. 5-6a.
11 tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
12 sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.
13 sn Thunder is a common motif in OT theophanies and in ancient Near Eastern portrayals of the storm god and warring kings. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 179-83.
14 tn 2 Sam 22:14 has “from.”
15 tn Heb “the Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.
16 tc The text of Ps 18:13 adds at this point, “hail and coals of fire.” These words are probably accidentally added from v. 12b; they do not appear in 2 Sam 22:14.
tn Heb “offered his voice.” In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. Note the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line.
17 tn Heb “for to the
18 sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.
19 tn Heb “to you, O
20 tn The verb normally means “to hew [stone or wood],” or “to hew out.” In Hos 6:5 it seems to mean “cut in pieces,” “knock down,” or perhaps “hack” (see F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea [AB], 428). The Ugaritic cognate can mean “assault.” In v. 7 the verb seems to have a similar meaning, perhaps “attack, strike.” The phrase “flames of fire” is an adverbial accusative; the
21 sn The
22 tn The Hebrew perfect verbal forms in v. 13 state general facts.
23 tn Heb “all the sons of men.”
24 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.
25 tn Heb “gives a word.” Perhaps this refers to a divine royal decree or battle cry.
26 tn Heb “the ones spreading the good news [are] a large army.” The participle translated “the ones spreading the good news” is a feminine plural form. Apparently the good news here is the announcement that enemy kings have been defeated (see v. 12).
27 sn The final verse of Ps 89, v. 52, is a conclusion to this third “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the first, second and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 41:13; 72:18-19; 106:48, respectively).
28 tn Heb “[be] blessed.” See Pss 18:46; 28:6; 31:21.
29 tn Heb “surely and surely” (אָמֵן וְאָמֵן [’amen vÿ’amen], i.e., “Amen and amen”). This is probably a congregational response to the immediately preceding statement about the propriety of praising God; thus it has been translated “We agree! We agree!”
30 tn Heb “the
31 tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
32 tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”
33 tn Heb “precious in the eyes of the
34 tn Heb “[are] blessed.”
35 tn Heb “I remember your regulations from of old.” The prepositional phrase “from of old” apparently modifies “your regulations,” alluding to the fact that God revealed them to Israel in the distant past. Another option is to understand the prepositional phrase as modifying the verb, in which case one might translate, “I have long remembered your regulations.”
36 tn Or “find comfort.”
37 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.