Discovery BoxPsalms 9:8 
Context9:8 He judges the world fairly;
he makes just legal decisions for the nations. 1
Psalms 18:47
Context18:47 The one true God 2 completely vindicates me; 3
he makes nations submit to me. 4
Psalms 29:6
Context29:6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion 5 like a young ox. 6
Psalms 94:19
Context94:19 When worries threaten to overwhelm me, 7
your soothing touch makes me happy. 8
Psalms 102:5
Context102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin. 9
Psalms 104:4
Context104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant. 10
Psalms 113:9
Context113:9 He makes the barren woman of the family 11
a happy mother of children. 12
Praise the Lord!
Psalms 147:13
Context147:13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children 13 within you.
1 tn Heb “the peoples.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 8 either describe God’s typical, characteristic behavior, or anticipate a future judgment of worldwide proportions (“will judge…”).
2 tn Heb “the God.” See v. 32.
3 tn Heb “is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication.
sn Completely vindicates me. In the ancient Near East military victory was sometimes viewed as a sign that one’s God had judged in favor of the victor, avenging and/or vindicating him. See, for example, Judg 11:27, 32-33, 36.
4 tn Heb “he subdues nations beneath me.” On the meaning of the verb דָּבַר (davar, “subdue,” a homonym of דָּבַר, davar, “speak”), see HALOT 209-10 s.v. I דבר. See also Ps 47:3 and 2 Chr 22:10. 2 Sam 22:48 reads “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”
5 sn Sirion is another name for Mount Hermon (Deut 3:9).
6 sn Lebanon and Sirion are compared to frisky young animals (a calf…a young ox) who skip and jump. The thunderous shout of the Lord is so powerful, one can see the very mountains shake on the horizon.
7 tn Heb “when my worries are many within me.”
8 tn Heb “your comforts cause my soul to delight.”
9 tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.
10 tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).
sn In Ugaritic mythology Yam’s messengers appear as flaming fire before the assembly of the gods. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 42.
11 tn Heb “of the house.”
12 tn Heb “sons.”
13 tn Heb “your sons.”
