¹ sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

² tn The prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer. The psalmist calls on God to reward his faithful followers.

³ tn Or perhaps more hyperbolically, “forever.”

⁴ tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal form is a jussive of wish or prayer.

⁵ tn Heb “put a cover over them.” The verb form is a Hiphil imperfect from סָכַךְ (sakhakh, “cover, shut off”). The imperfect expresses the psalmist’s wish or request.

⁶ tn Heb “the lovers of your name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to the Lord. See Pss 69:36; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

⁷ tn The vav (ו) with prefixed verbal form following the volitional “shelter them” indicates purpose or result (“so that those…may rejoice).

⁸ tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

⁹ tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

¹¹ tn Heb “[you] fearers of the Lord.” See Ps 15:4.

¹² tn Heb “fear him.”

¹³ tn Heb “from with you [is] my praise.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.” When asking the Lord for help, the psalmists would typically promise to praise the Lord publicly if he intervened and delivered them.

¹⁵ tn Or “How abundant are your blessings!”

¹⁶ tn Heb “for those who fear you.”

¹⁷ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 2:12; 5:11-12; 34:21-22).

¹⁸ tn Heb “you work [your favor] for the ones seeking shelter in you before the sons of men.”

¹⁹ sn The psalmist believes that the Lord has not abandoned him, but continues to extend his loyal love. To this point in the psalm, the author has used the name “God,” but now, as he mentions the divine characteristic of loyal love, he switches to the more personal divine name Yahweh (rendered in the translation as “the Lord”).

²⁰ tn Heb “his song [is] with me.”

²¹ tc A few medieval Hebrew mss read תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) instead of תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”).

²² tn The disjunctive construction (vav [ו] + subject) highlights the contrast between the evildoer’s destiny (vv. 5-7) and that of the godly psalmist’s security.

²³ tn Or “luxuriant, green, leafy.”

²⁴ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever and ever.”

²⁵ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever.”

²⁶ tn Or “for.”

²⁷ tn Heb “you have acted.” The perfect verbal form (1) probably indicates a future perfect here. The psalmist promises to give thanks when the expected vindication has been accomplished. Other options include (2) a generalizing (“for you act”) or (3) rhetorical (“for you will act”) use.

²⁸ tn Or “wait.”

²⁹ tn Heb “your name.” God’s “name” refers here to his reputation and revealed character.

³⁰ tn Heb “for it is good in front of your loyal followers.”

³¹ tn Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. NRSV).

³² tn Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”

³³ tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O Lord, [in] a time of favor.”

³⁴ tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”

³⁵ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

³⁶ sn Morning is used metaphorically for a time of renewed joy after affliction (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; 49:14; 59:16; 143:8).

³⁷ tn After the imperative (see the preceding line) the cohortatives with the prefixed conjunction indicate purpose/result.

³⁸ tn The words “the Lord says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the words which follow are the Lord’s oracle of assurance.

³⁹ tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).

⁴⁰ tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).

⁴¹ tn Heb “he remembers his loyal love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel.”

⁴² tn Heb “the deliverance of our God,” with “God” being a subjective genitive (= God delivers).

⁴³ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.”

⁴⁴ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

⁴⁵ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

⁴⁷ tn Heb “but you, Lord, Master, do with me for the sake of your name.” Here “name” stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

⁴⁸ sn Psalm 115. The psalmist affirms that Israel’s God is superior to pagan idols and urges Israel to place their confidence in him.

⁴⁹ tn Or “give glory.”

⁵⁰ sn The psalmist asks the Lord to demonstrate his loyal love and faithfulness, not simply so Israel may benefit, but primarily so that the Lord will receive honor among the nations, who will recognize, contrary to their present view (see v. 2), that Israel’s God is committed to his people.

⁵¹ sn Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children.

⁵² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

⁵³ tn Heb “every fearer of the Lord.”

⁵⁴ tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”

⁵⁵ tn Heb “cause me to hear in the morning your loyal love.” Here “loyal love” probably stands metonymically for an oracle of assurance promising God’s intervention as an expression of his loyal love.

sn The morning is sometimes viewed as the time of divine intervention (see Pss 30:5; 59:16; 90:14).

⁵⁶ sn The way probably refers here to God’s moral and ethical standards and requirements (see v. 10).

⁵⁷ tn Heb “for to you I lift up my life.” The Hebrew expression נָאָשׂ נֶפֶשׁ (na’as nefesh, “to lift up [one’s] life”) means “to desire; to long for” (see Deut 24:15; Prov 19:18; Jer 22:27; 44:14; Hos 4:8, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 16).

⁵⁸ tn Heb “in [or “by”] your faithfulness.”

⁵⁹ tn The perfect with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the mood of the preceding imperfect.

⁶⁰ tn Heb “all the enemies of my life.”

⁶¹ tn Heb “and he lifted up a horn for his people.” The horn of an ox underlies the metaphor (see Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 92:10). The horn of the wild ox is frequently a metaphor for military strength; the idiom “exalt/lift up the horn” signifies military victory (see 1 Sam 2:10; Pss 75:10; 89:17, 24; 92:10; Lam 2:17). Another option is to take the “horn” as a symbol for the Davidic king, through whom the Lord gives his people military victory.

⁶² tn “[there is] praise for all his loyal followers, to the sons of Israel, the people near him.” Here “praise” stands by metonymy for the victory that prompts it.

⁶³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the enemies of the people of God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶⁴ tn Heb “to do against them judgment [that] is written.”

⁶⁵ tn Heb “it is honor for all his godly ones.” The judgment of the oppressive kings will bring vindication and honor to God’s people (see vv. 4-5).