Psalms 29:9

29:9 The Lord’s shout bends ¹  the large trees ² 

and strips ³  the leaves from the forests. ⁴ 

Everyone in his temple says, “Majestic!” ⁵ 

Psalms 31:19

31:19 How great is your favor, ⁶ 

which you store up for your loyal followers! ⁷ 

In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter ⁸  in you. ⁹ 

Psalms 63:11

63:11 But the king ¹⁰  will rejoice in God;

everyone who takes oaths in his name ¹¹  will boast,

for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ¹² 

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¹ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form is descriptive in function; the psalmist depicts the action as underway.

² tc Heb “the deer.” Preserving this reading, some translate the preceding verb, “causes [the deer] to give premature birth” (cf. NEB, NASB). But the Polel of חוּל/חִיל (khul/khil) means “give birth,” not “cause to give birth,” and the statement “the Lord’s shout gives birth to deer” is absurd. In light of the parallelism (note “forests” in the next line) and v. 5, it is preferable to emend אַיָּלוֹת (’ayyalot, “deer”) to אֵילוֹת (’elot, “large trees”) understanding the latter as an alternate form of the usual plural form אַיָּלִים (’ayyalim).

³ tn The verb is used in Joel 1:7 of locusts stripping the leaves from a tree. The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the descriptive function of the preceding imperfect. See GKC 329 §111.t.

⁴ tn The usual form of the plural of יַעַר (ya’ar, “forest”) is יְעָרִים (yÿ’arim). For this reason some propose an emendation to יְעָלוֹת (yÿ’alot, “female mountain goats”) which would fit nicely in the parallelism with “deer” (cf. NEB “brings kids early to birth”). In this case one would have to understand the verb חָשַׂף (khasaf) to mean “cause premature birth,” an otherwise unattested homonym of the more common חָשַׂף (“strip bare”).

sn The Lord’s thunderous shout is accompanied by high winds which damage the trees of the forest.

⁵ tn Heb “In his temple, all of it says, ‘Glory.’”

⁶ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

⁷ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

⁸ tn “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 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

⁹ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

¹⁰ sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.

¹¹ tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”

¹² tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.