¹ tn The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s outrage that the wicked would have the audacity to disdain God.

² tn Heb “he says in his heart” (see vv. 6, 11). Another option is to understand an ellipsis of the interrogative particle here (cf. the preceding line), “Why does he say in his heart?”

³ tn Here the wicked man addresses God directly.

⁴ tn Heb “you will not seek.” The verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as generalizing about what is typical and translate, “you do not hold [people] accountable.”

⁵ tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

⁶ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

⁷ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

⁸ tn Heb “man.” The word choice reflects the perspective of the psalmist, who is male. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender and age specific “man” has been translated with the more neutral “one.”

⁹ tn Heb “blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord does not impute wrongdoing.”

¹⁰ sn In whose spirit there is no deceit. The point is not that the individual is sinless and pure. In this context, which focuses on confession and forgiveness of sin, the psalmist refers to one who refuses to deny or hide his sin, but instead honestly confesses it to God.

¹¹ tn Heb “he ceases to exhibit wisdom to do good.” The Hiphil forms are exhibitive, indicating the outward expression of an inner attitude.

¹² tn Heb “the Lord does not abandon him into his hand or condemn him when he is judged.” The imperfects draw attention to the Lord’s characteristic behavior in this regard.

¹³ sn By this. Having recalled his former lament and petition, the psalmist returns to the confident mood of vv. 1-3. The basis for his confidence may be a divine oracle of deliverance, assuring him that God would intervene and vindicate him. The demonstrative pronoun “this” may refer to such an oracle, which is assumed here, though its contents are not included. See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 319, 321.

¹⁴ tn Or “will.” One may translate the imperfect verbal form as descriptive (present, cf. NIV) or as anticipatory (future, cf. NEB).

¹⁵ tn Heb “shout.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “all of it turns away.” Ps 14:1 has הָכֹּל (hakkol) instead of כֻּלּוֹ, and סָר (sar, “turn aside”) instead of סָג (sag, “turn away”).

¹⁷ tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “How does God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High?” They appear to be practical atheists, who acknowledge God’s existence and sovereignty in theory, but deny his involvement in the world (see Pss 10:4, 11; 14:1).

²⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive signals a return to the narrative.

²¹ tn Heb “and he remembered that they [were] flesh, a wind [that] goes and does not return.”

²² tn Heb “the world and its fullness, you established them.”

²³ tn Or “for.”

²⁴ tn Heb “look, O Lord, you know all of it.”