Psalms 31:24

31:24 Be strong and confident, ¹ 

all you who wait on the Lord!

Psalms 51:15

51:15 O Lord, give me the words! ² 

Then my mouth will praise you. ³ 

Psalms 102:12

102:12 But you, O Lord, rule forever, ⁴ 

and your reputation endures. ⁵ 

Psalms 102:15

102:15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord, ⁶ 

and all the kings of the earth will respect ⁷  his splendor,

Psalms 130:2

130:2 O Lord, listen to me! ⁸ 

Pay attention to ⁹  my plea for mercy!

Psalms 138:4

138:4 Let all the kings of the earth give thanks ¹⁰  to you, O Lord,

when they hear the words you speak. ¹¹ 

Psalms 144:5

144:5 O Lord, make the sky sink ¹²  and come down! ¹³ 

Touch the mountains and make them smolder! ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn Heb “be strong and let your heart[s] be confident.”

² tn Heb “open my lips.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

³ tn Heb “and my mouth will declare your praise.”

⁴ tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.

⁵ tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”

⁶ tn Heb “will fear the name of the Lord.” To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).

⁷ tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line).

⁸ tn Heb “my voice.”

⁹ tn Heb “may your ears be attentive to the voice of.”

¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal forms here and in the following verse are understood as jussives, for the psalmist appears to be calling upon the kings to praise God. Another option is to take them as imperfects and translate, “the kings of the earth will give thanks…and will sing.” In this case the psalmist anticipates a universal response to his thanksgiving song.

¹¹ tn Heb “the words of your mouth.”

¹² tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.

¹³ tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.

¹⁴ tn Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.