Psalms 7:8

7:8 The Lord judges the nations. 1 

Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent, 2 

because I am blameless, 3  O Exalted One! 4 

Psalms 18:25

18:25 You prove to be loyal 5  to one who is faithful; 6 

you prove to be trustworthy 7  to one who is innocent. 8 

Psalms 64:4

64:4 in order to shoot down the innocent 9  in secluded places.

They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation. 10 

1 sn The Lord judges the nations. In hyperbolic fashion the psalmist pictures the nations assembled around the divine throne (v. 7a). He urges God to take his rightful place on the throne (v. 7b) and then pictures him making judicial decisions that vindicate the innocent (see vv. 8-16).

2 tn Heb “judge me, O Lord, according to my innocence.”

3 tn Heb “according to my blamelessness.” The imperative verb translated “vindicate” governs the second line as well.

4 tn The Hebrew form עָלָי (’alay) has been traditionally understood as the preposition עַל (’al, “over”) with a first person suffix. But this is syntactically awkward and meaningless. The form is probably a divine title derived from the verbal root עָלָה (’alah, “ascend”). This relatively rare title appears elsewhere in the OT (see HALOT 824-25 s.v. I עַל, though this text is not listed) and in Ugaritic as an epithet for Baal (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 98). See M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:44-45, and P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 98.

5 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

6 tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

7 tn Or “innocent.”

8 tn Heb “a man of innocence.”

9 tn The psalmist uses the singular because he is referring to himself here as representative of a larger group.

10 tn Heb “and are unafraid.” The words “of retaliation” are supplied in the translation for clarification.