48:8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, 1
in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, 2
in the city of our God.
God makes it permanently secure. 3 (Selah)
74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; 4
there are no longer any prophets 5
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. 6
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; 8 a psalm of Asaph; a song.
75:1 We give thanks to you, O God! We give thanks!
You reveal your presence; 9
people tell about your amazing deeds.
78:4 we will not hide from their 10 descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, 11
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
1 tn Heb “As we have heard, so we have seen.” The community had heard about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history. Having personally witnessed his saving power with their own eyes, they could now affirm that the tradition was not exaggerated or inaccurate.
2 tn Heb “the
3 tn Or “God makes it secure forever.” The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.
4 tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).
5 tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”
6 tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”
7 sn Psalm 75. The psalmist celebrates God’s just rule, which guarantees that the godly will be vindicated and the wicked destroyed.
8 tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the superscription to Pss 57-59.
9 tn Heb “and near [is] your name.”
10 tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).
11 tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the