28:5 For they do not understand the Lord’s actions,
or the way he carries out justice. 1
The Lord 2 will permanently demolish them. 3
37:28 For the Lord promotes 4 justice,
and never abandons 5 his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure, 6
but the children 7 of evil men are wiped out. 8
40:9 I have told the great assembly 9 about your justice. 10
Look! I spare no words! 11
O Lord, you know this is true.
45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! 12
Ride forth for the sake of what is right, 13
on behalf of justice! 14
Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! 15
45:7 You love 16 justice and hate evil. 17
For this reason God, your God 18 has anointed you 19
with the oil of joy, 20 elevating you above your companions. 21
48:10 The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth
is worthy of your reputation, O God. 22
You execute justice! 23
71:19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above; 24
you have done great things. 25
O God, who can compare to you? 26
71:24 All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,
for those who want to harm me 27 will be embarrassed and ashamed. 28
96:13 before the Lord, for he comes!
For he comes to judge the earth!
He judges the world fairly, 29
and the nations in accordance with his justice. 30
A psalm of David.
143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my plea for help!
Because of your faithfulness and justice, answer me!
1 tn Heb “or the work of his hands.” In this context “the
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
3 tn Heb “will tear them down and not rebuild them.” The ungodly are compared to a structure that is permanently demolished.
4 tn Heb “loves.” The verb “loves” is here metonymic; the
5 tn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to this generalizing statement.
6 tn Or “protected forever.”
7 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
8 tn Or “cut off”; or “removed.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 28b state general truths.
9 sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.
10 tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the
11 tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”
12 tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.
13 tn Or “for the sake of truth.”
14 tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.
15 tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.
16 sn To love justice means to actively promote it.
17 sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.
18 tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“
19 sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.
20 sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.
21 tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.
sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.
22 tn Heb “like your name, O God, so [is] your praise to the ends of the earth.” Here “name” refers to God’s reputation and revealed character.
23 tn Heb “your right hand is full of justice.” The “right hand” suggests activity and power.
24 tn Heb “your justice, O God, [is] unto the height.” The Hebrew term מָרוֹם (marom, “height”) is here a title for the sky/heavens.
sn Extends to the skies above. Similar statements are made in Pss 36:5 and 57:10.
25 tn Heb “you who have done great things.”
26 tn Or “Who is like you?”
27 tn Heb “those who seek my harm.”
28 tn Heb “will have become embarrassed and ashamed.” The perfect verbal forms function here as future perfects, indicating future actions which will precede chronologically the action expressed by the main verb in the preceding line.
29 tn The verbal forms in v. 13 probably describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, though they may depict in dramatic fashion the outworking of divine judgment or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions, in which case they could be translated “will judge the world.”
30 tn Heb “and the nations with his integrity.”
31 sn Psalm 143. As in the previous psalm, the psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.