Discovery BoxPsalms 16:7 
Context16:7 I will praise 1 the Lord who 2 guides 3 me;
yes, during the night I reflect and learn. 4
Psalms 55:10
Context55:10 Day and night they walk around on its walls, 5
while wickedness and destruction 6 are within it.
Psalms 74:16
Context74:16 You established the cycle of day and night; 7
you put the moon 8 and sun in place. 9
Psalms 91:5
Context91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, 10
the arrow that flies by day,
Psalms 119:55
Context119:55 I remember your name during the night, O Lord,
and I will keep 11 your law.
Psalms 119:62
Context119:62 In the middle of the night I arise 12 to thank you
for your just regulations.
Psalms 121:6
Context121:6 The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night. 13
Psalms 136:9
Context136:9 the moon and stars to rule by night,
for his loyal love endures,
1 tn Heb “bless,” that is, “proclaim as worthy of praise.”
2 tn Or “because.”
3 tn Or “counsels, advises.”
4 tn Heb “yes, [during] nights my kidneys instruct [or “correct”] me.” The “kidneys” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s moral character (see Ps 26:2). In the quiet darkness the
5 tn Heb “day and night they surround it, upon its walls.” Personified “violence and conflict” are the likely subjects. They are compared to watchmen on the city’s walls.
6 sn Wickedness and destruction. These terms are also closely associated in Ps 7:14.
7 tn Heb “To you [is] day, also to you [is] night.”
8 tn Heb “[the] light.” Following the reference to “day and night” and in combination with “sun,” it is likely that the Hebrew term מָאוֹר (ma’or, “light”) refers here to the moon.
9 tn Heb “you established [the] light and [the] sun.”
10 tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).
11 tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve to obey the law.
12 tn The psalmist uses an imperfect verbal form to emphasize that this is his continuing practice.
13 sn One hardly thinks of the moon’s rays as being physically harmful, like those of the sun. The reference to the moon may simply lend poetic balance to the verse, but it is likely that the verse reflects an ancient, primitive belief that the moon could have an adverse effect on the mind (note the English expression “moonstruck,” which reflects such a belief). Another possibility is that the sun and moon stand by metonymy for harmful forces characteristic of the day and night, respectively.
