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 38:12

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ⁴ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

Mazmur 50:21

50:21 When you did these things, I was silent, ⁵ 

so you thought I was exactly like you. ⁶ 

But now I will condemn ⁷  you

and state my case against you! ⁸ 

Mazmur 95:10

95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted ⁹  with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; ¹⁰ 

they do not obey my commands.’ ¹¹ 

[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.”

[38:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[50:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “these things you did and I was silent.” Some interpret the second clause (“and I was silent”) as a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer, “[When you do these things], should I keep silent?” (cf. NEB). See GKC 335 §112.cc.

[50:21]  sn The Lord was silent in the sense that he delayed punishment. Of course, God’s patience toward sinners eventually runs out. The divine “silence” is only temporary (see v. 3, where the psalmist, having described God’s arrival, observes that “he is not silent”).

[50:21]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew infinitive construct (הֱיוֹת, heyot) appears to function like the infinitive absolute here, adding emphasis to the following finite verbal form (אֶהְיֶה, ’ehyeh). See GKC 339-40 §113.a. Some prefer to emend הֱיוֹת (heyot) to the infinitive absolute form הָיוֹ (hayo).

[50:21]  ⁷ tn Or “rebuke” (see v. 8).

[50:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will set in order [my case against you] to your eyes.” The cohortative form expresses the Lord’s resolve to accuse and judge the wicked.

[95:10]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.

[95:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”

[95:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the Lord’s “ways” are his commands, viewed as a pathway from which his people, likened to wayward sheep (see v. 7), wander.