Mazmur 3:2

3:2 Many say about me,

“God will not deliver him.” ¹  (Selah) ² 

Mazmur 14:5

14:5 They are absolutely terrified, ³ 

for God defends the godly. ⁴ 

Mazmur 18:28

18:28 Indeed, ⁵  you are my lamp, Lord. ⁶ 

My God ⁷  illuminates the darkness around me. ⁸ 

Mazmur 30:2

30:2 O Lord my God,

I cried out to you and you healed me. ⁹ 

Mazmur 44:4

44:4 You are my ¹⁰  king, O God!

Decree ¹¹  Jacob’s ¹²  deliverance!

Mazmur 44:20-21

44:20 If we had rejected our God, ¹³ 

and spread out our hands in prayer to another god, ¹⁴ 

44:21 would not God discover it,

for he knows ¹⁵  one’s thoughts? ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 45:6

45:6 Your throne, ¹⁷  O God, is permanent. ¹⁸ 

The scepter ¹⁹  of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

Mazmur 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ²⁰ 

The God of Jacob ²¹  is our protector! ²²  (Selah)

Mazmur 47:5

47:5 God has ascended his throne ²³  amid loud shouts; ²⁴ 

the Lord has ascended his throne amid the blaring of ram’s horns. ²⁵ 

Mazmur 48:3

48:3 God is in its fortresses;

he reveals himself as its defender. ²⁶ 

Mazmur 50:6

50:6 The heavens declare his fairness, ²⁷ 

for God is judge. ²⁸  (Selah)

Mazmur 55:16

55:16 As for me, I will call out to God,

and the Lord will deliver me.

Mazmur 66:5

66:5 Come and witness ²⁹  God’s exploits! ³⁰ 

His acts on behalf of people are awesome! ³¹ 

Mazmur 66:20

66:20 God deserves praise, ³² 

for ³³  he did not reject my prayer

or abandon his love for me! ³⁴ 

Mazmur 69:30

69:30 I will sing praises to God’s name! ³⁵ 

I will magnify him as I give him thanks! ³⁶ 

Mazmur 71:11

71:11 They say, ³⁷  “God has abandoned him.

Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him!”

Mazmur 73:1

Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)

Psalm 73 ³⁸ 

A psalm by Asaph.

73:1 Certainly God is good to Israel, ³⁹ 

and to those whose motives are pure! ⁴⁰ 

Mazmur 73:26

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ⁴¹ 

but God always ⁴²  protects my heart and gives me stability. ⁴³ 

Mazmur 74:12

74:12 But God has been my ⁴⁴  king from ancient times,

performing acts of deliverance on the earth. ⁴⁵ 

Mazmur 77:3

77:3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;

I will think about him while my strength leaves me.” ⁴⁶  (Selah)

Mazmur 78:10

78:10 They did not keep their covenant with God, ⁴⁷ 

and they refused to obey ⁴⁸  his law.

Mazmur 78:22

78:22 because they did not have faith in God,

and did not trust his ability to deliver them. ⁴⁹ 

Mazmur 78:59

78:59 God heard and was angry;

he completely rejected Israel.

Mazmur 83:12

83:12 who said, ⁵⁰  “Let’s take over ⁵¹  the pastures of God!”

Mazmur 84:9

84:9 O God, take notice of our shield! ⁵² 

Show concern for your chosen king! ⁵³ 

Mazmur 90:1

Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90 ⁵⁴ 

A prayer of Moses, the man of God.

90:1 O Lord, you have been our protector ⁵⁵  through all generations!

Mazmur 99:5

99:5 Praise ⁵⁶  the Lord our God!

Worship ⁵⁷  before his footstool!

He is holy!

Mazmur 104:33

104:33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist! ⁵⁸ 

Mazmur 109:26

109:26 Help me, O Lord my God!

Because you are faithful to me, deliver me! ⁵⁹ 

Mazmur 149:6

149:6 May they praise God

while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand, ⁶⁰ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”

[3:2]  ² sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.

[14:5]  ³ tn Heb “there they are afraid [with] fear.” The perfect verbal form is probably used in a rhetorical manner; the psalmist describes the future demise of the oppressors as if it were already occurring. The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is also used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the wicked standing in fear at a spot that is this vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.). The cognate accusative following the verb emphasizes the degree of their terror.

[14:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “for God is with a godly generation.” The Hebrew noun דּוֹר (dor, “generation”) refers here to the general class of people who are characterized by godliness. See BDB 190 s.v. for other examples where “generation” refers to a class of people.

[18:28]  ⁵ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki)is asseverative here.

[18:28]  ⁶ tn Ps 18:28 reads literally, “you light my lamp, Lord.” 2 Sam 22:29 has, “you are my lamp, Lord.” The Ps 18 reading may preserve two variants, נֵרִי (neriy, “my lamp”) and אוֹרִי (’oriy, “my light”), cf. Ps 27:1. The verb תָּאִיר (ta’ir, “you light”) in Ps 18:28 would, in this case, be a corruption of the latter. See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 150, n. 64. The metaphor, which likens the Lord to a lamp or light, pictures him as the psalmist’s source of life. For other examples of “lamp” used in this way, see Job 18:6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20. For other examples of “light” as a symbol for life, see Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:13.

[18:28]  ⁷ tn 2 Sam 22:29 repeats the name “Lord.”

[18:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “my darkness.”

[30:2]  ⁹ sn You healed me. Apparently the psalmist was plagued by a serious illness that threatened his life. See Ps 41.

[44:4]  ¹⁰ sn The speaker changes here to an individual, perhaps the worship leader or the king. The oscillation between singular (vv. 4, 6) and plural (vv. 1-3, 5, 7-8) in vv. 1-8 may reflect an antiphonal ceremony.

[44:4]  ¹¹ tc The LXX assumes a participle here (מְצַוֶּה [mÿtsavveh], “the one who commands/decrees”) which would stand in apposition to “my God.” It is possible that the MT, which has the imperative (צַוֵּה, tsavveh) form, has suffered haplography of the letter mem (ם). Note that the preceding word (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) ends in mem. Another option is that the MT is divided in the wrong place; perhaps one could move the final mem from אֱלֹהִים to the beginning of the next word and read מְצַוֶּה אֱלֹהָי (’elohay mÿtsavveh, “[You are my king,] my God, the one who decrees”).

[44:4]  tn Or “command.” This may be the Israelites’ petition prior to the battle. See the introductory note to the psalm.

[44:4]  ¹² tn That is, Israel. See Pss 14:7; 22:23.

[44:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “If we had forgotten the name of our God.” To “forget the name” here refers to rejecting the Lord’s authority (see Jer 23:27) and abandoning him as an object of prayer and worship (see the next line).

[44:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and spread out your hands to another god.” Spreading out the hands was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). In its most fundamental sense זר (“another; foreign; strange”) refers to something that is outside one’s circle, often making association with it inappropriate. A “strange” god is an alien deity, an “outside god” (see L. A. Snijders, TDOT 4:54-55).

[44:21]  ¹⁵ tn The active participle describes what is characteristically true.

[44:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “would not God search out this, for he knows the hidden things of [the] heart?” The expression “search out” is used metonymically here, referring to discovery, the intended effect of a search. The “heart” (i.e., mind) is here viewed as the seat of one’s thoughts. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he would!” The point seems to be this: There is no way the Israelites who are the speakers in the psalm would reject God and turn to another god, for the omniscient God would easily discover such a sin.

[45:6]  ¹⁷ sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.

[45:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “forever and ever.”

[45:6]  sn O God. The king is clearly the addressee here, as in vv. 2-5 and 7-9. Rather than taking the statement at face value, many prefer to emend the text because the concept of deifying the earthly king is foreign to ancient Israelite thinking (cf. NEB “your throne is like God’s throne, eternal”). However, it is preferable to retain the text and take this statement as another instance of the royal hyperbole that permeates the royal psalms. Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him. A similar use of hyperbole appears in Isa 9:6, where the ideal Davidic king of the eschaton is given the title “Mighty God” (see the note on this phrase there). Ancient Near Eastern art and literature picture gods training kings for battle, bestowing special weapons, and intervening in battle. According to Egyptian propaganda, the Hittites described Rameses II as follows: “No man is he who is among us, It is Seth great-of-strength, Baal in person; Not deeds of man are these his doings, They are of one who is unique” (see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:67). Ps 45:6 and Isa 9:6 probably envision a similar kind of response when friends and foes alike look at the Davidic king in full battle regalia. When the king’s enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.

[45:6]  ¹⁹ sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.

[46:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:7]  ²¹ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:7]  ²² tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[47:5]  ²³ sn God ascended his throne. In the context of vv. 3-4, which refer to the conquest of the land under Joshua, v. 5 is best understood as referring to an historical event. When the Lord conquered the land and placed his people in it, he assumed a position of kingship, as predicted by Moses (see Exod 15:17-18, as well as Ps 114:1-2). That event is here described metaphorically in terms of a typical coronation ceremony for an earthly king (see 2 Sam 15:10; 2 Kgs 9:13). Verses 1-2, 8-9 focus on God’s continuing kingship, which extends over all nations.

[47:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “God ascended amid a shout.” The words “his throne” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord’s coronation as king is described here (see v. 8). Here the perfect probably has a present perfect function, indicating a completed action with continuing effects.

[47:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the Lord amid the sound of the ram horn.” The verb “ascended” is understood by ellipsis; see the preceding line.

[48:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he is known for an elevated place.”

[50:6]  ²⁷ tn Or “justice.”

[50:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “for God, he is about to judge.” The participle may be taken as substantival (as in the translation above) or as a predicate (indicating imminent future action in this context).

[66:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “see.”

[66:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “acts” (see Ps 46:8).

[66:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “awesome [is] an act toward the sons of man.” It is unclear how the prepositional phrase relates to what precedes. If collocated with “act,” it may mean “on behalf of” or “toward.” If taken with “awesome” (see 1 Chr 16:25; Pss 89:7; 96:4; Zeph 2:11), one might translate “his awesome acts are beyond human comprehension” or “his awesome acts are superior to anything men can do.”

[66:20]  ³² tn Heb “blessed [be] God.”

[66:20]  ³³ tn Or “who.” In a blessing formula after בָּרוּךְ (barukh, “blessed be”) the form אֲשֶׁר (’asher), whether taken as a relative pronoun or causal particle, introduces the basis for the blessing/praise.

[66:20]  ³⁴ tn Heb “did not turn aside my prayer and his loyal love with me.”

[69:30]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I will praise the name of God with a song.”

[69:30]  ³⁶ tn Heb “I will magnify him with thanks.”

[71:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[73:1]  ³⁸ sn Psalm 73. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist offers a personal testimony of his struggle with the age-old problem of the prosperity of the wicked. As he observed evil men prosper, he wondered if a godly lifestyle really pays off. In the midst of his discouragement, he reflected upon spiritual truths and realities. He was reminded that the prosperity of the wicked is only temporary. God will eventually vindicate his people.

[73:1]  ³⁹ tn Since the psalm appears to focus on an individual’s concerns, not the situation of Israel, this introduction may be a later addition designed to apply the psalm’s message to the entire community. To provide a better parallel with the next line, some emend the Hebrew phrase לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֱלֹהִים (lÿyisra’el ’elohim, “to Israel, God”) to אֱלֹהִים [or אֵל] לָיָּשָׁר (’elohim [or ’el] lÿyyashar, “God [is good] to the upright one”).

[73:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “to the pure of heart.”

[73:26]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).

[73:26]  ⁴² tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ⁴³ tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to a rocky summit where one could go for protection and to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[74:12]  ⁴⁴ tn The psalmist speaks as Israel’s representative here.

[74:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “in the midst of the earth.”

[77:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “I will remember God and I will groan, I will reflect and my spirit will grow faint.” The first three verbs are cohortatives, the last a perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The psalmist’s statement in v. 4 could be understood as concurrent with v. 1, or, more likely, as a quotation of what he had said earlier as he prayed to God (see v. 2). The words “I said” are supplied in the translation at the beginning of the verse to reflect this interpretation (see v. 10).

[78:10]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the covenant of God.”

[78:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “walk in.”

[78:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and they did not trust his deliverance.”

[83:12]  ⁵⁰ tn The translation assumes that “Zebah and Zalmunna” are the antecedents of the relative pronoun (“who [said]”). Another option is to take “their nobles…all their rulers” as the antecedent and to translate, “those who say.”

[83:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “let’s take possession for ourselves.”

[84:9]  ⁵² tn The phrase “our shield” refers metaphorically to the Davidic king, who, as God’s vice-regent, was the human protector of the people. Note the parallelism with “your anointed one” here and with “our king” in Ps 89:18.

[84:9]  ⁵³ tn Heb “look [on] the face of your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase מְשִׁיחֶךָ (mÿshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17).

[90:1]  ⁵⁴ sn Psalm 90. In this communal lament the worship leader affirms that the eternal God and creator of the world has always been Israel’s protector. But God also causes men, who are as transient as grass, to die, and in his fierce anger he decimates his covenant community, whose brief lives are filled with suffering and end in weakness. The community asks for wisdom, the restoration of God’s favor, a fresh revelation of his power, and his blessing upon their labors.

[90:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “place of safety.” See Ps 71:3.

[99:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “exalt.”

[99:5]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “bow down.”

[104:33]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “in my duration.”

[109:26]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “deliver me according to your faithfulness.”

[149:6]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “[May] praises of God [be] in their throat, and a two-edged sword in their hand.”