Mazmur 19:7

19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect

and preserves one’s life. ¹ 

The rules set down by the Lord ²  are reliable ³ 

and impart wisdom to the inexperienced. ⁴ 

Mazmur 34:22

34:22 The Lord rescues his servants; ⁵ 

all who take shelter in him escape punishment. ⁶ 

Mazmur 37:9

37:9 Wicked men ⁷  will be wiped out, ⁸ 

but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land. ⁹ 

Mazmur 37:40

37:40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;

he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, ¹⁰ 

for they seek his protection.

Mazmur 56:10

56:10 In God – I boast in his promise ¹¹  –

in the Lord – I boast in his promise ¹²  –

Mazmur 64:10

64:10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord

and take shelter in him.

All the morally upright ¹³  will boast. ¹⁴ 

Mazmur 74:22

74:22 Rise up, O God! Defend your honor! ¹⁵ 

Remember how fools insult you all day long! ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 78:7

78:7 Then they will place their confidence in God.

They will not forget the works of God,

and they will obey ¹⁷  his commands.

Mazmur 78:57

78:57 They were unfaithful ¹⁸  and acted as treacherously as ¹⁹  their ancestors;

they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 80:18

80:18 Then we will not turn away from you.

Revive us and we will pray to you! ²¹ 

Mazmur 91:14

91:14 The Lord says, ²² 

“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;

I will protect him ²³  because he is loyal to me. ²⁴ 

Mazmur 108:1

Psalm 108 ²⁵ 

A song, a psalm of David.

108:1 I am determined, ²⁶  O God!

I will sing and praise you with my whole heart. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 111:5

111:5 He gives ²⁸  food to his faithful followers; ²⁹ 

he always remembers his covenant. ³⁰ 

Mazmur 112:1

Psalm 112 ³¹ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ³²  who obeys ³³  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ³⁴ 

Mazmur 119:79

119:79 May your loyal followers ³⁵  turn to me,

those who know your rules.

Mazmur 141:8

141:8 Surely I am looking to you, ³⁶  O sovereign Lord.

In you I take shelter.

Do not expose me to danger! ³⁷ 

Mazmur 145:19

145:19 He satisfies the desire ³⁸  of his loyal followers; ³⁹ 

he hears their cry for help and delivers them.

[19:7]  ¹ tn Heb “[it] restores life.” Elsewhere the Hiphil of שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) when used with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”) as object, means to “rescue or preserve one’s life” (Job 33:30; Ps 35:17) or to “revive one’s strength” (emotionally or physically; cf. Ruth 4:15; Lam 1:11, 16, 19). Here the point seems to be that the law preserves the life of the one who studies it by making known God’s will. Those who know God’s will know how to please him and can avoid offending him. See v. 11a.

[19:7]  ² tn Traditionally, “the testimony of the Lord.” The noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law.

[19:7]  ³ tn God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly.

[34:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “redeems the life of his servants.” The Hebrew participial form suggests such deliverance is characteristic.

[34:22]  ⁶ 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; 31:19).

[37:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “for evil men.” The conjunction כִּי (ki, “for”) relates to the exhortations in v. 8; there is no reason to be frustrated, for the evildoers will be punished in due time.

[37:9]  ⁸ tn Or “cut off, removed.”

[37:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and those who wait on the Lord, they will possess the land.”

[37:40]  ¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry on the generalizing tone of the preceding verse.

[56:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in God I praise a word.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult. The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except that the third person pronominal suffix is omitted here, where the text has simply “a word” instead of “his word.” (1) One could translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” refers to a song of praise. (2) If one assumes that God’s word is in view, as in v. 4, then one option is to translate, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” In this case the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and “[his] word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. (3) The present translation reflects another option: In this case “I praise [his] word” is a parenthetical statement, with “[his] word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in v. 11, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.

[56:10]  ¹² tn The phrase “in the Lord” parallels “in God” in the first line. Once again the psalmist parenthetically remarks “I boast in [his] word” before completing the sentence in v. 11.

[64:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “upright in heart.”

[64:10]  ¹⁴ tn That is, about the Lord’s accomplishments on their behalf.

[74:22]  ¹⁵ tn Or “defend your cause.”

[74:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “remember your reproach from a fool all the day.”

[78:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “keep.”

[78:57]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they turned back.”

[78:57]  ¹⁹ tn Or “acted treacherously like.”

[78:57]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they turned aside like a deceitful bow.”

[80:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “and in your name we will call.”

[91:14]  ²² 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.

[91:14]  ²³ tn Or “make him secure” (Heb “set him on high”).

[91:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “because he knows my name” (see Ps 9:10).

[108:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 108. With some minor variations, this psalm is a composite of Ps 57:7-11 (see vv. 1-5) and Ps 60:5-12 (see vv. 6-13).

[108:1]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps “confident”; Heb “my heart is steadfast.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and/or emotions.

[108:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “also my glory,” but this makes little sense in the context. Some view the term כָּבוֹד (“glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvodiy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 30:12; 57:9; as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 3:93. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[111:5]  ²⁸ tn Or “gave,” if the events of the exodus and conquest period (see v. 6, 9) are primarily in view.

[111:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[111:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “he remembers his covenant forever” (see Ps 105:8).

[112:1]  ³¹ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ³² tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ³³ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[119:79]  ³⁵ tn Heb “those who fear you.”

[141:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “my eyes [are] toward you.”

[141:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “do not lay bare my life.” Only here is the Piel form of the verb collocated with the term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “life”). In Isa 53:12 the Lord’s servant “lays bare (the Hiphil form of the verb is used) his life to death.”

[145:19]  ³⁸ tn In this context “desire” refers to the followers’ desire to be delivered from wicked enemies.

[145:19]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the desire of those who fear him, he does.”