2:12 Give sincere homage! 1
Otherwise he 2 will be angry, 3
and you will die because of your behavior, 4
when his anger quickly ignites. 5
How blessed 6 are all who take shelter in him! 7
For the music director; according to the alumoth-labben style; 9 a psalm of David.
9:1 I will thank the Lord with all my heart!
I will tell about all your amazing deeds! 10
32:6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers 11 should pray to you
while there is a window of opportunity. 12
Certainly 13 when the surging water 14 rises,
it will not reach them. 15
39:5 Look, you make my days short-lived, 16
and my life span is nothing from your perspective. 17
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor. 18
39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord!
Listen to my cry for help!
Do not ignore my sobbing! 19
For I am dependent on you, like one residing outside his native land;
I am at your mercy, just as all my ancestors were. 20
44:3 For they did not conquer 21 the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength, 22
but rather by your power, 23 strength 24 and good favor, 25
for you were partial to 26 them.
51:4 Against you – you above all 27 – I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So 28 you are just when you confront me; 29
you are right when you condemn me. 30
52:5 Yet 31 God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. 32
He will scoop you up 33 and remove you from your home; 34
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly,
because then my people might forget the lesson. 35
Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down,
O Lord who shields us! 36
68:35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! 37
It is the God of Israel 38 who gives the people power and strength.
God deserves praise! 39
71:22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,
praising 40 your faithfulness, O my God!
I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,
O Holy One of Israel! 41
84:3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow 42 builds a nest,
where she can protect her young 43
near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,
my king and my God.
127:2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,
and work so hard for your food. 44
Yes, 45 he can provide for those whom he loves even when they sleep. 46
1 tn Traditionally, “kiss the son” (KJV). But בַּר (bar) is the Aramaic word for “son,” not the Hebrew. For this reason many regard the reading as suspect. Some propose emendations of vv. 11b-12a. One of the more popular proposals is to read בִּרְעָדָה נַשְּׁקוּ לְרַגְלָיו (bir’adah nashÿqu lÿraslayv, “in trembling kiss his feet”). It makes better sense to understand בַּר (bar) as an adjective meaning “pure” (see Pss 24:4; 73:1 and BDB 141 s.v. בַּר 3) functioning here in an adverbial sense. If read this way, then the syntactical structure of exhortation (imperative followed by adverbial modifier) corresponds to the two preceding lines (see v. 11). The verb נָשַׁק (nashaq, “kiss”) refers metonymically to showing homage (see 1 Sam 10:1; Hos 13:2). The exhortation in v. 12a advocates a genuine expression of allegiance and warns against insincerity. When swearing allegiance, vassal kings would sometimes do so insincerely, with the intent of rebelling when the time was right. The so-called “Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon” also warn against such an attitude. In this treaty the vassal is told: “If you, as you stand on the soil where this oath [is sworn], swear the oath with your words and lips [only], do not swear with your entire heart, do not transmit it to your sons who will live after this treaty, if you take this curse upon yourselves but do not plan to keep the treaty of Esarhaddon…may your sons and grandsons because of this fear in the future” (see J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East, 2:62).
2 tn Throughout the translation of this verse the third person masculine pronouns refer to the
3 tn The implied subject of the verb is the
4 tn Heb “and you will perish [in the] way.” The Hebrew word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to their rebellious behavior (not to a pathway, as often understood). It functions syntactically as an adverbial accusative in relation to the verb “perish.”
5 tn Or “burns.” The
6 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).
7 sn Who take shelter in him. “Taking 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).
8 sn Psalm 9. The psalmist, probably speaking on behalf of Israel or Judah, praises God for delivering him from hostile nations. He celebrates God’s sovereignty and justice, and calls on others to join him in boasting of God’s greatness. Many Hebrew
9 tc The meaning of the Hebrew term עַלְמוּת (’almut) is uncertain. Some
10 tn The cohortative forms in vv. 1-2 express the psalmist’s resolve to praise God publicly.
11 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
12 tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the
13 tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.
14 sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.
15 tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.
16 tn Heb “Look, handbreadths you make my days.” The “handbreadth” (equivalent to the width of four fingers) was one of the smallest measures used by ancient Israelites. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 309.
17 tn Heb “is like nothing before you.”
18 tn Heb “surely, all vapor [is] all mankind, standing firm.” Another option is to translate, “Surely, all mankind, though seemingly secure, is nothing but a vapor.”
19 tn Heb “do not be deaf to my tears.”
20 tn Heb “For a resident alien [am] I with you, a sojourner like all my fathers.”
sn Resident aliens were dependent on the mercy and goodwill of others. The Lord was concerned that resident aliens be treated properly. See Deut 24:17-22, Ps 146:9.
21 tn Or “take possession of.”
22 tn Heb “and their arm did not save them.” The “arm” here symbolizes military strength.
23 tn Heb “your right hand.” The
24 tn Heb “your arm.”
25 tn Heb “light of your face.” The idiom “light of your face” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 89:15; Dan 9:17).
26 tn Or “favorable toward.”
27 tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”
28 tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.
29 tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).
30 tn Heb “when you judge.”
31 tn The adverb גַּם (gam, “also; even”) is translated here in an adversative sense (“yet”). It highlights the contrastive correspondence between the evildoer’s behavior and God’s response.
32 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
33 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
34 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
35 tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”
sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.
36 tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”
37 tn Heb “awesome [is] God from his holy places.” The plural of מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash, “holy places”) perhaps refers to the temple precincts (see Ps 73:17; Jer 51:51).
38 tn Heb “the God of Israel, he.”
39 tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”
40 tn The word “praising” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
41 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The
42 tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.
43 tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”
sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God’s presence.
44 tn Heb “[it is] vain for you, you who are early to rise, who delay sitting, who eat the food of hard work.” The three substantival participles are parallel and stand in apposition to the pronominal suffix on the preposition. See לָכֶם (lakhem, “for you”).
45 tn Here the Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4; Ps 63:2).
46 tn Heb “he gives to his beloved, sleep.” The translation assumes that the Hebrew term שֵׁנָא (shena’, “sleep,” an alternate form of שֵׁנָה, shenah) is an adverbial accusative. The point seems to be this: Hard work by itself is not what counts, but one’s relationship to God, for God is able to bless an individual even while he sleeps. (There may even be a subtle allusion to the miracle of conception following sexual intercourse; see the reference to the gift of sons in the following verse.) The statement is not advocating laziness, but utilizing hyperbole to give perspective and to remind the addressees that God must be one’s first priority. Another option is to take “sleep” as the direct object: “yes, he gives sleep to his beloved” (cf. NIV, NRSV). In this case the point is this: Hard work by itself is futile, for only God is able to bless one with sleep, which metonymically refers to having one’s needs met. He blesses on the basis of one’s relationship to him, not on the basis of physical energy expended.