Psalms 21:9

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace 1  when you appear; 2 

the Lord angrily devours them; 3 

the fire consumes them.

Psalms 85:9

85:9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance; 4 

then his splendor will again appear in our land. 5 

1 tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

2 tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

3 tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

4 tn Heb “certainly his deliverance [is] near to those who fear him.”

5 tn Heb “to dwell, glory, in our land.” “Glory” is the subject of the infinitive. The infinitive with -לְ (lÿ), “to dwell,” probably indicates result here (“then”). When God delivers his people and renews his relationship with them, he will once more reveal his royal splendor in the land.