Mazmur 18:25-26

18:25 You prove to be loyal ¹  to one who is faithful; ² 

you prove to be trustworthy ³  to one who is innocent. ⁴ 

18:26 You prove to be reliable ⁵  to one who is blameless,

but you prove to be deceptive ⁶  to one who is perverse. ⁷ 

Mazmur 137:7-8

137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell. ⁸ 

They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, ⁹ 

right to its very foundation!”

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ¹⁰ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ¹¹ 

[18:25]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 25-29 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 25-27) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 28-29). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26-27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see GKC 149-50 §54.e.

[18:25]  ² tn Or “to a faithful follower.” A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).

[18:25]  ³ tn Or “innocent.”

[18:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “a man of innocence.”

[18:26]  ⁵ tn Or “blameless.”

[18:26]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words.

[18:26]  ⁷ tn The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted, crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4).

[18:26]  sn Verses 25-26 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28.

[137:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.”

[137:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.”

[137:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”