Mazmur 18:23

18:23 I was innocent before him,

and kept myself from sinning. ¹ 

Mazmur 37:18

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ² 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ³ 

Mazmur 51:6

51:6 Look, ⁴  you desire ⁵  integrity in the inner man; ⁶ 

you want me to possess wisdom. ⁷ 

Mazmur 119:80

119:80 May I be fully committed to your statutes, ⁸ 

so that I might not be ashamed.

[18:23]  ¹ tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way.

[18:23]  sn Kept myself from sinning. Leading a blameless life meant that the king would be loyal to God’s covenant, purge the government and society of evil and unjust officials, and reward loyalty to the Lord (see Ps 101).

[37:18]  ² tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

[37:18]  ³ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[51:6]  ⁴ sn The juxtaposition of two occurrences of “look” in vv. 5-6 draws attention to the sharp contrast between the sinful reality of the psalmist’s condition and the lofty ideal God has for him.

[51:6]  ⁵ tn The perfect is used in a generalizing sense here.

[51:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the covered [places],” i.e., in the inner man.

[51:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the secret [place] wisdom you cause me to know.” The Hiphil verbal form is causative, while the imperfect is used in a modal sense to indicate God’s desire (note the parallel verb “desire”).

[51:6]  sn You want me to possess wisdom. Here “wisdom” does not mean “intelligence” or “learning,” but refers to moral insight and skill.

[119:80]  ⁸ tn Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”