Mazmur 16:7

16:7 I will praise ¹  the Lord who ²  guides ³  me;

yes, during the night I reflect and learn. ⁴ 

Mazmur 41:1

Psalm 41 ⁵ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ⁶  is the one who treats the poor properly! ⁷ 

When trouble comes, ⁸  the Lord delivers him. ⁹ 

Mazmur 59:14

59:14 They return in the evening;

they growl ¹⁰  like a dog

and prowl around outside ¹¹  the city.

Mazmur 88:13

88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer confronts you.

Mazmur 92:2

92:2 It is fitting ¹²  to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,

and your faithfulness during the night,

Mazmur 118:27

118:27 The Lord is God and he has delivered us. ¹³ 

Tie the offering ¹⁴  with ropes

to the horns of the altar! ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 134:1

Psalm 134 ¹⁶ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁷ 

134:1 Attention! ¹⁸  Praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who serve ¹⁹  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

Mazmur 139:12

139:12 even the darkness is not too dark for you to see, ²⁰ 

and the night is as bright as ²¹  day;

darkness and light are the same to you. ²² 

[16:7]  ¹ tn Heb “bless,” that is, “proclaim as worthy of praise.”

[16:7]  ² tn Or “because.”

[16:7]  ³ tn Or “counsels, advises.”

[16:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “yes, [during] nights my kidneys instruct [or “correct”] me.” The “kidneys” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s moral character (see Ps 26:2). In the quiet darkness the Lord speaks to his inner being, as it were, and enables him to grow in moral understanding.

[41:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

[41:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[41:1]  ⁷ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ⁹ tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[59:14]  ¹⁰ tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”

[59:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “go around.”

[92:2]  ¹² tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[118:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he has given us light.” This may be an elliptical expression, with “his face” being implied as the object (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19). In this case, “his face has given us light” = “he has smiled on us,” or “he has shown us his favor.” Another option (the one reflected in the translation) is that “light” here symbolizes divine blessing in the form of deliverance. “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Some prefer to repoint the form וְיָאֵר (vÿya’er; vav [ו] conjunctive + jussive) and translate the statement as a prayer, “may he give us light.”

[118:27]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew noun חַג (khag) normally means “festival,” but here it apparently refers metonymically to an offering made at the festival. BDB 291 s.v. חַג 2 interprets the word in this way here, citing as comparable the use of later Hebrew חֲגִיגָה, which can refer to both a festival and a festival offering (see Jastrow 424 s.v. חֲגִיגָה).

[118:27]  ¹⁵ tn The second half of v. 27 has been translated and interpreted in a variety of ways. For a survey of major views, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 122.

[134:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).

[134:1]  ¹⁷ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[134:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Look!”

[134:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “stand.”

[139:12]  ²⁰ tn The words “to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[139:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “shines like.”

[139:12]  ²² tn Heb “like darkness, like light.”