Mazmur 24:1-2

Psalm 24 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

24:1 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,

the world and all who live in it.

24:2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,

and established ²  it upon the ocean currents. ³ 

Mazmur 33:6-9

33:6 By the Lord’s decree ⁴  the heavens were made;

by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created. ⁵ 

33:7 He piles up the water of the sea; ⁶ 

he puts the oceans ⁷  in storehouses.

33:8 Let the whole earth fear ⁸  the Lord!

Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him!

33:9 For he spoke, and it ⁹  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ¹⁰  and it stood firm.

Mazmur 65:5-8

65:5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,

O God, our savior. ¹¹ 

All the ends of the earth trust in you, ¹² 

as well as those living across the wide seas. ¹³ 

65:6 You created the mountains by your power, ¹⁴ 

and demonstrated your strength. ¹⁵ 

65:7 You calm the raging seas ¹⁶ 

and their roaring waves,

as well as the commotion made by the nations. ¹⁷ 

65:8 Even those living in the most remote areas are awestruck by your acts; ¹⁸ 

you cause those living in the east and west to praise you. ¹⁹ 

Mazmur 95:1-5

Psalm 95 ²⁰ 

95:1 Come! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!

Let’s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! ²¹ 

95:2 Let’s enter his presence ²²  with thanksgiving!

Let’s shout out to him in celebration! ²³ 

95:3 For the Lord is a great God,

a great king who is superior to ²⁴  all gods.

95:4 The depths of the earth are in his hand, ²⁵ 

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

95:5 The sea is his, for he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

Mazmur 135:5-7

135:5 Yes, ²⁶  I know the Lord is great,

and our Lord is superior to all gods.

135:6 He does whatever he pleases

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all the ocean depths.

135:7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,

makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,

and brings the wind out of his storehouses.

Mazmur 136:4-9

136:4 to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,

for his loyal love endures,

136:5 to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens,

for his loyal love endures,

136:6 to the one who spread out the earth over the water,

for his loyal love endures,

136:7 to the one who made the great lights,

for his loyal love endures,

136:8 the sun to rule by day,

for his loyal love endures,

136:9 the moon and stars to rule by night,

for his loyal love endures,

Mazmur 147:4-5

147:4 He counts the number of the stars;

he names all of them.

147:5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power; ²⁷ 

there is no limit to his wisdom. ²⁸ 

[24:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.

[24:2]  ² tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.

[24:2]  ³ sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.

[33:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “word.”

[33:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” The words “were created” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons; they are understood by ellipsis (note “were made” in the preceding line). The description is consistent with Gen 1:16, which indicates that God spoke the heavenly luminaries into existence.

[33:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “[he] gathers like a pile the waters of the sea.” Some prefer to emend נֵד (ged, “heap, pile”; cf. NASB) to נֹד (nod, “bottle”; cf. NRSV; NIV “into jars”), but “pile” is used elsewhere to describe water that the Lord confines to one place (Exod 15:8; Josh 3:13, 16; Ps 78:13). This verse appears to refer to Gen 1:9, where God decrees that the watery deep be gathered to one place so that dry land might appear. If so, the participles in this and the following line depict this action with special vividness, as if the reader were present on the occasion. Another option is that the participles picture the confinement of the sea to one place as an ongoing divine activity.

[33:7]  ⁷ tn Or “watery depths.” The form תְּהוֹמוֹת (tÿhomot, “watery depths”) is the plural form of תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “great deep”; see Gen 1:2).

[33:8]  ⁸ tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”

[33:9]  ⁹ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[65:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[with] awesome acts in deliverance you answer us, O God of our salvation.”

[65:5]  ¹² tn Heb “a source of confidence [for] all the ends of the earth.”

[65:5]  sn All the ends of the earth trust in you. This idealistic portrayal of universal worship is typical hymnic hyperbole, though it does anticipate eschatological reality.

[65:5]  ¹³ tc Heb “and [the] distant sea.” The plural adjective is problematic after the singular form “sea.” One could emend יָם (yam, “sea”) to יָמִים (yamim, “seas”), or emend the plural form רְחֹקִים (rÿkhoqim, “far”) to the singular רָחֹק (rakhoq). In this case the final mem (ם) could be treated as dittographic; note the mem on the beginning of the first word in v. 6.

[65:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[the] one who establishes [the] mountains by his power.”

[65:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “one [who] is girded with strength”; or “one [who] girds himself with strength.”

[65:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the roar of the seas.”

[65:7]  ¹⁷ sn The raging seas…the commotion made by the nations. The raging seas symbolize the turbulent nations of the earth (see Ps 46:2-3, 6; Isa 17:12).

[65:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the inhabitants of the ends fear because of your signs.” God’s “signs” are the “awesome acts” (see v. 5) he performs in the earth.

[65:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the goings out of the morning and the evening you cause to shout for joy.” The phrase “goings out of the morning and evening” refers to the sunrise and sunset, that is, the east and the west.

[95:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 95. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God as the creator of the world and the nation’s protector, but he also reminds the people not to rebel against God.

[95:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”

[95:2]  ²² tn Heb “meet his face.”

[95:2]  ²³ tn Heb “with songs of joy.”

[95:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “above.”

[95:4]  ²⁵ tn The phrase “in his hand” means within the sphere of his authority.

[135:5]  ²⁶ tn Or “for.”

[147:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and great of strength.”

[147:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to his wisdom there is no counting.”