34:7 The Lord’s angel camps around
the Lord’s 1 loyal followers 2 and delivers them. 3
36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky; 4
your faithfulness to the clouds. 5
36:7 How precious 6 is your loyal love, O God!
The human race finds shelter under your wings. 7
36:10 Extend 8 your loyal love to your faithful followers, 9
and vindicate 10 the morally upright! 11
44:26 Rise up and help us!
Rescue us 12 because of your loyal love!
48:9 We reflect on your loyal love, O God,
within your temple.
57:10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky, 13
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
61:7 May he reign 14 forever before God!
Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. 15
62:12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love. 16
For you repay men for what they do. 17
63:3 Because 18 experiencing 19 your loyal love is better than life itself,
my lips will praise you.
77:8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?
Has his promise 20 failed forever?
85:7 O Lord, show us your loyal love!
Bestow on us your deliverance!
85:10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet; 21
deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. 22
86:2 Protect me, 23 for I am loyal!
O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!
89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; 24
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” 25
89:14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne. 26
Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule. 27
89:24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love, 28
and by my name he will win victories. 29
89:28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure. 30
89:33 But I will not remove 31 my loyal love from him,
nor be unfaithful to my promise. 32
94:18 If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your loyal love, O Lord, supports me.
100:5 For the Lord is good.
His loyal love endures, 33
and he is faithful through all generations. 34
103:4 who delivers 35 your life from the Pit, 36
who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion,
103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient 37 and demonstrates great loyal love. 38
106:45 He remembered his covenant with them,
and relented 39 because of his great loyal love.
Book 5
(Psalms 107-150)
107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures! 41
108:4 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky, 42
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
115:11 You loyal followers of the Lord, 43 trust in the Lord!
He is their deliverer 44 and protector. 45
118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures! 47
118:3 Let the family 48 of Aaron say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures!”
118:29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures! 49
ו (Vav)
119:41 May I experience your loyal love, 50 O Lord,
and your deliverance, 51 as you promised. 52
119:63 I am a friend to all your loyal followers, 53
and to those who keep your precepts.
119:64 O Lord, your loyal love fills the earth.
Teach me your statutes!
119:76 May your loyal love console me,
as you promised your servant. 54
119:79 May your loyal followers 55 turn to me,
those who know your rules.
119:88 Revive me with 56 your loyal love,
that I might keep 57 the rules you have revealed. 58
119:132 Turn toward me and extend mercy to me,
as you typically do to your loyal followers. 59
119:149 Listen to me 60 because of 61 your loyal love!
O Lord, revive me, as you typically do! 62
119:159 See how I love your precepts!
O Lord, revive me with your loyal love!
132:9 May your priests be clothed with integrity! 63
May your loyal followers shout for joy!
135:20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord!
You loyal followers 64 of the Lord, praise the Lord!
136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his loyal love endures. 66
136:2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his loyal love endures.
136:3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his loyal love endures,
136:4 to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,
for his loyal love endures,
136:5 to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens,
for his loyal love endures,
136:6 to the one who spread out the earth over the water,
for his loyal love endures,
136:7 to the one who made the great lights,
for his loyal love endures,
136:8 the sun to rule by day,
for his loyal love endures,
136:9 the moon and stars to rule by night,
for his loyal love endures,
136:10 to the one who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his loyal love endures,
136:11 and led Israel out from their midst,
for his loyal love endures,
136:12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his loyal love endures,
136:13 to the one who divided 67 the Red Sea 68 in two, 69
for his loyal love endures,
136:14 and led Israel through its midst,
for his loyal love endures,
136:15 and tossed 70 Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,
for his loyal love endures,
136:16 to the one who led his people through the wilderness,
for his loyal love endures,
136:17 to the one who struck down great kings,
for his loyal love endures,
136:21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
for his loyal love endures,
136:22 as an inheritance to Israel his servant,
for his loyal love endures,
136:23 to the one who remembered us when we were down, 71
for his loyal love endures,
136:24 and snatched us away from our enemies,
for his loyal love endures,
136:25 to the one who gives food to all living things, 72
for his loyal love endures.
136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his loyal love endures!
145:8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient 73 and demonstrates great loyal love. 74
145:10 All he has made will give thanks to the Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
1 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the
2 tn Heb “those who fear him.”
3 tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.
4 tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”
5 sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).
6 tn Or “valuable.”
7 tn Heb “and the sons of man in the shadow of your wings find shelter.” The preservation of physical life is in view, as the next verse makes clear.
8 tn Heb “draw out to full length.”
9 tn Heb “to those who know you.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “know”) is used here of those who “know” the
10 tn Heb “and your justice to.” The verb “extend” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the previous line).
11 tn Heb “the pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 32:11; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).
12 tn Or “redeem us.” See Pss 25:22; 26:11; 69:18; 119:134.
13 tn Heb “for great upon the sky [or “heavens”] [is] your loyal love.”
14 tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.
15 tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”
16 tn Heb “and to you, O Master, [is] loyal love.”
17 tn Heb “for you pay back to a man according to his deed.” Another option is to understand vv. 11b and 12a as the first principle and v. 12b as the second. In this case one might translate, “God has declared one principle, two principles I have heard, namely, that God is strong, and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love, and that you repay men for what they do.”
sn You repay men for what they do. The psalmist views God’s justice as a demonstration of both his power (see v. 11c) and his loyal love (see v. 12a). When God judges evildoers, he demonstrates loyal love to his people.
18 tn This line is understood as giving the basis for the praise promised in the following line. Another option is to take the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) as asseverative/emphasizing, “Indeed, your loyal love is better” (cf. NEB, which leaves the particle untranslated).
19 tn The word “experiencing” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist does not speak here of divine loyal love in some abstract sense, but of loyal love revealed and experienced.
20 tn Heb “word,” which may refer here to God’s word of promise (note the reference to “loyal love” in the preceding line).
21 tn The psalmist probably uses the perfect verbal forms in v. 10 in a dramatic or rhetorical manner, describing what he anticipates as if it were already occurring or had already occurred.
22 sn Deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss. The psalmist personifies these abstract qualities to emphasize that God’s loyal love and faithfulness will yield deliverance and peace for his people.
23 tn Heb “my life.”
24 tn Heb “built.”
25 sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).
26 sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.
27 tn Heb “are in front of your face.” The idiom can mean “confront” (Ps 17:13) or “meet, enter the presence of” (Ps 95:2).
28 tn Heb “and my faithfulness and my loyal love [will be] with him.”
29 tn Heb “and by my name his horn will be lifted up.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 92:10; Lam 2:17).
30 tn Heb “forever I will keep for him my loyal love and will make my covenant secure for him.”
31 tn Heb “break”; “make ineffectual.” Some prefer to emend אָפִיר (’afir; the Hiphil of פָּרַר, parar, “to break”) to אָסִיר (’asir; the Hiphil of סוּר, sur, “to turn aside”), a verb that appears in 2 Sam 7:15.
32 tn Heb “and I will not deal falsely with my faithfulness.”
33 tn Or “is forever.”
34 tn Heb “and to a generation and a generation [is] his faithfulness.”
35 tn Or “redeems.”
36 tn The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 49:9; 55:24.
37 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).
38 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).
39 tn The Niphal of נָחַם (nakham) refers here to God relenting from a punishment already underway.
40 sn Psalm 107. The psalmist praises God for his kindness to his exiled people.
41 tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”
42 tn Heb “for great upon the sky [or “heavens”] [is] your loyal love.”
43 tn Heb “[you] fearers of the
44 tn Or “[source of] help.”
45 tn Heb “and their shield.”
46 sn Psalm 118. The psalmist thanks God for his deliverance and urges others to join him in praise.
47 tn Or “is forever.”
48 tn Heb “house.”
49 tn Or “is forever.”
50 tn Heb “and may your loyal love come to me.”
51 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions).
52 tn Heb “according to your word.”
53 tn Heb “to all who fear you.”
54 tn Heb “according to your word to your servant.”
55 tn Heb “those who fear you.”
56 tn Heb “according to.”
57 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
58 tn Heb “of your mouth.”
59 tn Heb “according to custom toward the lovers of your name.” The “lovers of” God’s “name” are the
60 tn Heb “my voice.”
61 tn Heb “according to.”
62 tn Heb “according to your custom.”
63 tn Or “righteousness.”
64 tn Heb “fearers.”
65 sn Psalm 136. In this hymn the psalmist affirms that God is praiseworthy because of his enduring loyal love, sovereign authority, and compassion. Each verse of the psalm concludes with the refrain “for his loyal love endures.”
66 tn Or “is forever.”
67 tn Or “cut.”
68 tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in v. 15). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.
69 tn Heb “into pieces.”
70 tn Or “shook off.”
71 tn Heb “who, in our low condition, remembered us.”
72 tn Heb “to all flesh,” which can refer to all people (see Pss 65:2; 145:21) or more broadly to mankind and animals. Elsewhere the psalms view God as the provider for all living things (see Pss 104:27-28; 145:15).
73 tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).
74 tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Pss 86:15; 103:8).