Psalms 43:4

43:4 Then I will go 1  to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, 2 

so that I express my thanks to you, 3  O God, my God, with a harp.

Psalms 71:22

71:22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,

praising 4  your faithfulness, O my God!

I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,

O Holy One of Israel! 5 

1 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

2 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

3 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.

4 tn The word “praising” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

5 sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior.