Psalms 4:3

4:3 Realize that 1  the Lord shows the godly special favor; 2 

the Lord responds 3  when I cry out to him.

Psalms 24:6

24:6 Such purity characterizes the people who seek his favor,

Jacob’s descendants, who pray to him. 4  (Selah)

Psalms 30:7

30:7 O Lord, in your good favor you made me secure. 5 

Then you rejected me 6  and I was terrified.

Psalms 90:17

90:17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! 7 

Make our endeavors successful!

Yes, make them successful! 8 

Psalms 106:4

106:4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people!

Pay attention to me, when you deliver,

1 tn Heb “and know that.”

2 tn Heb “that the Lord sets apart a faithful one for himself.” The psalmist states a general principle, though the singular form and the parallel line indicate he has himself in mind as the representative godly person. A חָסִיד (khasid; here translated as “the godly”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

3 tn Heb “hears.”

4 tn Heb “this [is the] generation of the ones seeking him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob.” To “seek the Lord’s face” means to seek his favor through prayer (see 2 Sam 21:1; Pss 27:8; 105:4).

sn This verse presents a somewhat idealized view of Jacob’s descendants as devoted worshipers of the Lord.

5 tn Heb “in your good favor you caused to stand for my mountain strength.” Apparently this means “you established strength for my mountain” (“mountain” in this case representing his rule, which would be centered on Mt. Zion) or “you established strength as my mountain” (“mountain” in this case being a metaphor for security).

6 tn Heb “you hid your face.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or, as here, carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Ps 88:14).

7 tn Heb “and may the delight of the Master, our God, be on us.” The Hebrew term נֹעַם (no’am, “delight”) is used in Ps 27:4 of the Lord’s “beauty,” but here it seems to refer to his favor (see BDB 653 s.v.) or kindness (HALOT 706 s.v.).

8 tn Heb “and the work of our hands establish over us, and the work of our hands, establish it.”