3:8 The Lord delivers; 1
you show favor to your people. 2 (Selah)
5:6 You destroy 3 liars; 4
the Lord despises 5 violent and deceitful people. 6
17:3 You have scrutinized my inner motives; 7
you have examined me during the night. 8
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful. 9
18:36 You widen my path; 10
my feet 11 do not slip.
By David.
25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. 13
36:9 For you are the one who gives
and sustains life. 14
48:7 With an east wind
you shatter 15 the large ships. 16
49:2 Pay attention, all you people, 17
both rich and poor!
50:17 For you hate instruction
and reject my words. 18
52:5 Yet 19 God will make you a permanent heap of ruins. 20
He will scoop you up 21 and remove you from your home; 22
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
56:3 When 23 I am afraid,
I trust in you.
63:7 For you are my deliverer; 24
under your wings 25 I rejoice.
63:8 My soul 26 pursues you; 27
your right hand upholds me.
65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain; 28
you make it rich and fertile 29
with overflowing streams full of water. 30
You provide grain for them, 31
for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. 32
66:8 Praise 33 our God, you nations!
Loudly proclaim his praise! 34
74:11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him! 35
102:12 But you, O Lord, rule forever, 36
and your reputation endures. 37
119:4 You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept. 38
119:12 You deserve praise, 39 O Lord!
Teach me your statutes!
119:138 The rules you impose are just, 40
and absolutely reliable.
139:20 They 41 rebel against you 42 and act deceitfully; 43
your enemies lie. 44
1 tn Heb “to the
2 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).
3 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.
4 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.
5 tn The imperfect verbal form highlights the
6 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.
7 tn Heb “you tested my heart.”
8 tn Heb “you visited [at] night.”
9 tc Heb “you tested me, you do not find, I plan, my mouth will not cross over.” The Hebrew verbal form זַמֹּתִי (zammotiy) is a Qal perfect, first person singular from the root זָמַם (zamam, “plan, plan evil”). Some emend the form to a suffixed form of the noun, זִמָּתִי (zimmatiy, “my plan/evil plan”), and take it as the object of the preceding verb “find.” However, the suffix seems odd, since the psalmist is denying that he has any wrong thoughts. If one takes the form with what precedes, it might make better sense to read זִמּוֹת (zimmot, “evil plans”). However, this emendation leaves an unclear connection with the next line. The present translation maintains the verbal form found in the MT and understands it in a neutral sense, “I have decided” (see Jer 4:28). The words “my mouth will not cross over” (i.e., “transgress, sin”) can then be taken as a noun clause functioning as the object of the verb.
10 tn Heb “you make wide my step under me.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives the psalmist the capacity to run quickly.
11 tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”
12 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.
13 tn Heb “to you, O
14 tn Heb “for with you is the fountain of life, in your light we see light.” Water (note “fountain”) and light are here metaphors for life.
15 tn The switch to the imperfect, as well as the introduction of the ship metaphor, perhaps signals a change to a generalizing tone; the
16 tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to and from the distant western port of Tarshish. These ships, which were the best of their class, here symbolize the mere human strength of hostile armies, which are incapable of withstanding the
17 tn Heb “even the sons of mankind, even the sons of man.” Because of the parallel line, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, some treat these expressions as polar opposites, with בְּנֵי אָדָם (bÿney ’adam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bÿney ’ish) to higher classes (cf. NIV, NRSV). But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; 62:9; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand “even the sons of mankind” and “even the sons of man” as synonymous expressions (cf. NEB “all mankind, every living man”). The repetition emphasizes the need for all people to pay attention, for the psalmist’s message is relevant to everyone.
18 tn Heb “and throw my words behind you.”
19 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.
20 tn Heb “will tear you down forever.”
21 tn This rare verb (חָתָה, khatah) occurs only here and in Prov 6:27; 25:22; Isa 30:14.
22 tn Heb “from [your] tent.”
23 tn Heb “[in] a day.”
24 tn Or “[source of] help.”
25 tn Heb “in the shadow of your wings.”
26 tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
27 tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).
28 tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”
29 tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”
30 tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).
31 tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.
32 tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.
33 tn Heb “bless,” in the sense of declaring “God to be the source of…special power” (see HALOT 160 s.v. II ברך pi).
34 tn Heb “cause the voice of his praise to be heard.”
35 tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.
36 tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
37 tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”
38 tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
39 tn Heb “[are] blessed.”
40 tn Heb “you commanded [in] justice your rules.”
41 tn Heb “who.”
42 tc Heb “they speak [of] you.” The suffixed form of the verb אָמַר (’amar, “to speak”) is peculiar. The translation assumes an emendation to יַמְרֻךָ (yamrukha), a Hiphil form from מָרָה (marah, “to rebel”; see Ps 78:40).
43 tn Heb “by deceit.”
44 tc Heb “lifted up for emptiness, your cities.” The Hebrew text as it stands makes no sense. The form נָשֻׂא (nasu’; a Qal passive participle) should be emended to נָשְׂאוּ (nosÿu; a Qal perfect, third common plural, “[they] lift up”). Many emend עָרֶיךָ (’arekha, “your cities”) to עָלֶיךָ (’alekha, “against you”), but it is preferable to understand the noun as an Aramaism and translate “your enemies” (see Dan 4:16 and L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 253).