Mazmur 20:5

20:5 Then we will shout for joy over your ¹  victory;

we will rejoice ²  in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all your requests!

Mazmur 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ³ 

praising our God. ⁴ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ⁵ 

Mazmur 42:11

42:11 Why are you depressed, ⁶  O my soul? ⁷ 

Why are you upset? ⁸ 

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention. ⁹ 

Mazmur 45:7

45:7 You love ¹⁰  justice and hate evil. ¹¹ 

For this reason God, your God ¹²  has anointed you ¹³ 

with the oil of joy, ¹⁴  elevating you above your companions. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 46:1

Psalm 46 ¹⁶ 

For the music director; by the Korahites; according to the alamoth style; ¹⁷  a song.

46:1 God is our strong refuge; ¹⁸ 

he is truly our helper in times of trouble. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 52:7

52:7 “Look, here is the man who would not make ²⁰  God his protector!

He trusted in his great wealth

and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” ²¹ 

Mazmur 54:3

54:3 For foreigners ²²  attack me; ²³ 

ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. ²⁴  (Selah)

Mazmur 55:1

Psalm 55 ²⁵ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song ²⁶  by David.

55:1 Listen, O God, to my prayer!

Do not ignore ²⁷  my appeal for mercy!

Mazmur 59:13

59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish!

Let them know that God rules

in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah)

Mazmur 61:5

61:5 For you, O God, hear my vows;

you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers. ²⁸ 

Mazmur 65:1

Psalm 65 ²⁹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.

65:1 Praise awaits you, ³⁰  O God, in Zion.

Vows made to you are fulfilled.

Mazmur 68:1

Psalm 68 ³¹ 

For the music director; by David, a psalm, a song.

68:1 God springs into action! ³² 

His enemies scatter;

his adversaries ³³  run from him. ³⁴ 

Mazmur 68:16

68:16 Why do you look with envy, ³⁵  O mountains ³⁶  with many peaks,

at the mountain where God has decided to live? ³⁷ 

Indeed ³⁸  the Lord will live there ³⁹  permanently!

Mazmur 70:4

70:4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you!

May those who love to experience ⁴⁰  your deliverance say continually, ⁴¹ 

“May God ⁴²  be praised!” ⁴³ 

Mazmur 78:8

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 100:3

100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us and we belong to him; ⁴⁵ 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Mazmur 106:47

106:47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God!

Gather us from among the nations!

Then we will give thanks ⁴⁶  to your holy name,

and boast about your praiseworthy deeds. ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 123:2

123:2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,

as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress, ⁴⁸ 

so my eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.

[20:5]  ¹ sn Your victory. Here the king is addressed (see v. 1).

[20:5]  ² tc The Hebrew verb דָּגַל (dagal) occurs only here in the Qal. If accepted as original, it may carry the nuance “raise a banner,” but it is preferable to emend the form to נגיל (“we will rejoice”) which provides better parallelism with “shout for joy” and fits well with the prepositional phrase “in the name of our God” (see Ps 89:16).

[40:3]  ³ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

[40:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

[40:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

[42:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “Why do you bow down?”

[42:11]  ⁷ sn For poetic effect the psalmist addresses his soul, or inner self.

[42:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “and why are you in turmoil upon me?”

[42:11]  ⁹ tc Heb “for again I will give him thanks, the saving acts of my face and my God.” The last line should be emended to read יְשׁוּעֹת פְנֵי אֱלֹהָי (yÿshu’ot fÿney ’elohay, “[for] the saving acts of the face of my God”), that is, the saving acts associated with God’s presence/intervention. This refrain is almost identical to the one in v. 5. See also Ps 43:5.

[45:7]  ¹⁰ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ¹¹ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ¹² tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ¹³ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ¹⁴ sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[45:7]  sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.

[46:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 46. In this so-called “Song Of Zion” God’s people confidently affirm that they are secure because the great warrior-king dwells within Jerusalem and protects it from the nations that cause such chaos in the earth. A refrain (vv. 7, 11) concludes the song’s two major sections.

[46:1]  ¹⁷ sn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲלָמוֹת (alamoth, which means “young women”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. Cf. 1 Chr 15:20.

[46:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “our refuge and strength,” which is probably a hendiadys meaning “our strong refuge” (see Ps 71:7). Another option is to translate, “our refuge and source of strength.”

[46:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a helper in times of trouble he is found [to be] greatly.” The perfect verbal form has a generalizing function here. The adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “greatly”) has an emphasizing function.

[52:7]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to the ongoing nature of the action. The evildoer customarily rejected God and trusted in his own abilities. Another option is to take the imperfect as generalizing, “[here is the man who] does not make.”

[52:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “he was strong in his destruction.” “Destruction” must refer back to the destructive plans mentioned in v. 2. The verb (derived from the root עָזַז, ’azaz, “be strong”) as it stands is either an imperfect (if so, probably used in a customary sense) or a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive). However the form should probably be emended to וַיָּעָז (vayya’az), a Qal preterite (with vav [ו] consecutive) from עָזַז. Note the preterite form without vav (ו) consecutive in the preceding line (וַיִּבְטַח, vayyivtakh, “and he trusted”). The prefixed vav (ו) was likely omitted by haplography (note the suffixed vav [ו] on the preceding עָשְׁרוֹ, ’oshro, “his wealth”).

[54:3]  ²² tc Many medieval Hebrew mss read זֵדִים (zedim, “proud ones”) rather than זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”). (No matter which reading one chooses as original, dalet-resh confusion accounts for the existence of the variant.) The term זֵדִים (“proud ones”) occurs in parallelism with עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Ps 86:14 and Isa 13:11. However, זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) is parallel to עָרִיצִים (’aritsim, “violent ones”) in Isa 25:5; 29:5; Ezek 28:7; 31:12.

[54:3]  ²³ tn Heb “rise against me.”

[54:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and ruthless ones seek my life, they do not set God in front of them.”

[55:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 55. The suffering and oppressed author laments that one of his friends has betrayed him, but he is confident that God will vindicate him by punishing his deceitful enemies.

[55:1]  ²⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 52.

[55:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “hide yourself from.”

[61:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “you grant the inheritance of those who fear your name.” “Inheritance” is normally used of land which is granted as an inheritance; here it refers metaphorically to the blessings granted God’s loyal followers. To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).

[65:1]  ²⁹ sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.

[65:1]  ³⁰ tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”

[68:1]  ³¹ sn Psalm 68. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior and celebrates the fact that God exerts his power on behalf of his people.

[68:1]  ³² tn Or “rises up.” The verb form is an imperfect, not a jussive. The psalmist is describing God’s appearance in battle in a dramatic fashion.

[68:1]  ³³ tn Heb “those who hate him.”

[68:1]  ³⁴ sn The wording of v. 1 echoes the prayer in Num 10:35: “Spring into action, Lord! Then your enemies will be scattered and your adversaries will run from you.”

[68:16]  ³⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb רָצַד (ratsad), translated here “look with envy,” is uncertain; it occurs only here in the OT. See BDB 952-53. A cognate verb occurs in later Aramaic with the meaning “to lie in wait; to watch” (Jastrow 1492 s.v. רְצַד).

[68:16]  ³⁶ tn Perhaps the apparent plural form should be read as a singular with enclitic mem (ם; later misinterpreted as a plural ending). The preceding verse has the singular form.

[68:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.

[68:16]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.

[68:16]  ³⁹ tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[70:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “those who love,” which stands metonymically for its cause, the experience of being delivered by God.

[70:4]  ⁴¹ tn The three prefixed verbal forms prior to the quotation are understood as jussives. The psalmist balances out his imprecation against his enemies with a prayer of blessing on the godly.

[70:4]  ⁴² tn Ps 40:16 uses the divine name “Lord” here instead of “God.”

[70:4]  ⁴³ tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive, “may the Lord be magnified [in praise].” Another option is to take the verb as an imperfect, “the Lord is great.” See Ps 35:27.

[78:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “a generation that did not make firm its heart and whose spirit was not faithful with God.” The expression “make firm the heart” means “to be committed, devoted” (see 1 Sam 7:3).

[100:3]  ⁴⁵ tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.

[106:47]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “to give thanks.” The infinitive construct indicates result after the imperative.

[106:47]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “to boast in your praise.”

[123:2]  ⁴⁸ sn Servants look to their master for food, shelter, and other basic needs.