Discovery BoxPsalms 48:8 
Context48:8 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)
Psalms 104:3
Context104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. 4
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels along on the wings of the wind. 5
Psalms 104:15
Context104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, 6
and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, 7
as well as food that sustains people’s lives. 8
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 “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
5 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
6 tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
7 tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
8 tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
