Mazmur 27:4

27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –

this is what I desire!

I want to live ¹  in the Lord’s house ²  all the days of my life,

so I can gaze at the splendor ³  of the Lord

and contemplate in his temple.

Mazmur 51:4

51:4 Against you – you above all ⁴  – I have sinned;

I have done what is evil in your sight.

So ⁵  you are just when you confront me; ⁶ 

you are right when you condemn me. ⁷ 

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 71:3

71:3 Be my protector and refuge, ⁸ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ⁹ 

For you are my high ridge ¹⁰  and my stronghold.

Mazmur 78:5

78:5 He established a rule ¹¹  in Jacob;

he set up a law in Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to make his deeds known to their descendants, ¹² 

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. ¹³ 

Mazmur 106:23

106:23 He threatened ¹⁴  to destroy them,

but ¹⁵  Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him ¹⁶ 

and turned back his destructive anger. ¹⁷ 

[27:4]  ¹ tn Heb “my living.”

[27:4]  ² sn The Lord’s house. This probably refers to the tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).

[27:4]  ³ tn Or “beauty.”

[51:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “only you,” as if the psalmist had sinned exclusively against God and no other. Since the Hebrew verb חָטָא (hata’, “to sin”) is used elsewhere of sinful acts against people (see BDB 306 s.v. 2.a) and David (the presumed author) certainly sinned when he murdered Uriah (2 Sam 12:9), it is likely that the psalmist is overstating the case to suggest that the attack on Uriah was ultimately an attack on God himself. To clarify the point of the hyperbole, the translation uses “especially,” rather than the potentially confusing “only.”

[51:4]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term לְמַעַן (lÿma’an) normally indicates purpose (“in order that”), but here it introduces a logical consequence of the preceding statement. (Taking the clause as indicating purpose here would yield a theologically preposterous idea – the psalmist purposely sinned so that God’s justice might be vindicated!) For other examples of לְמַעַן indicating result, see 2 Kgs 22:17; Jer 27:15; Amos 2:7, as well as IBHS 638-40 §38.3.

[51:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “when you speak.” In this context the psalmist refers to God’s word of condemnation against his sin delivered through Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 12:7-12).

[51:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “when you judge.”

[71:3]  ⁸ tc Heb “become for me a rocky summit of a dwelling place.” The Hebrew term מָעוֹן (ma’on, “dwelling place”) should probably be emended to מָעוֹז (ma’oz, “refuge”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ⁹ tc Heb “to enter continually, you commanded to deliver me.” The Hebrew phrase לָבוֹא תָּמִיד צִוִּיתָ (lavo’ tamid tsivvita, “to enter continually, you commanded”) should be emended to לְבֵית מְצוּדוֹת (lÿvet mÿtsudot, “a house of strongholds”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ¹⁰ sn You are my high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[78:5]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).

[78:5]  ¹² tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the Lord’s mighty deeds (see vv. 3-4).

[78:8]  ¹³ 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).

[106:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he said.”

[106:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”

[106:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”

[106:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”

[106:23]  sn Verses 19-23 describe the events of Exod 32:1-35.