Mazmur 4:7

4:7 You make me happier ¹ 

than those who have abundant grain and wine. ² 

Mazmur 9:4

9:4 For you defended my just cause; ³ 

from your throne you pronounced a just decision. ⁴ 

Mazmur 9:11

9:11 Sing praises to the Lord, who rules ⁵  in Zion!

Tell the nations what he has done! ⁶ 

Mazmur 12:3

12:3 May the Lord cut off ⁷  all flattering lips,

and the tongue that boasts! ⁸ 

Mazmur 16:7

16:7 I will praise ⁹  the Lord who ¹⁰  guides ¹¹  me;

yes, during the night I reflect and learn. ¹² 

Mazmur 18:3

18:3 I called ¹³  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ¹⁴ 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

Mazmur 21:6

21:6 For you grant him lasting blessings;

you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence. ¹⁵ 

Mazmur 21:8

21:8 You ¹⁶  prevail over ¹⁷  all your enemies;

your power is too great for those who hate you. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 21:12

21:12 For you make them retreat ¹⁹ 

when you shoot your arrows at them. ²⁰ 

Mazmur 22:21

22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion, ²¹ 

and from the horns of the wild oxen! ²² 

You have answered me! ²³ 

Mazmur 25:3

25:3 Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.

Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted ²⁴  and humiliated.

Mazmur 27:3

27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,

I do not fear. ²⁵ 

Even when war is imminent, ²⁶ 

I remain confident. ²⁷ 

Mazmur 28:9

28:9 Deliver your people!

Empower ²⁸  the nation that belongs to you! ²⁹ 

Care for them like a shepherd and carry them in your arms ³⁰  at all times! ³¹ 

Mazmur 34:17

34:17 The godly ³²  cry out and the Lord hears;

he saves them from all their troubles. ³³ 

Mazmur 39:9

39:9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth

because of what you have done. ³⁴ 

Mazmur 44:9

44:9 But ³⁵  you rejected and embarrassed us!

You did not go into battle with our armies. ³⁶ 

Mazmur 44:17

44:17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you ³⁷ 

or violated your covenant with us. ³⁸ 

Mazmur 56:10

56:10 In God – I boast in his promise ³⁹  –

in the Lord – I boast in his promise ⁴⁰  –

Mazmur 61:4

61:4 I will be a permanent guest in your home; ⁴¹ 

I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. ⁴²  (Selah)

Mazmur 61:7

61:7 May he reign ⁴³  forever before God!

Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him. ⁴⁴ 

Mazmur 62:2

62:2 He alone is my protector ⁴⁵  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ⁴⁶  I will not be upended. ⁴⁷ 

Mazmur 62:6

62:6 He alone is my protector ⁴⁸  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ⁴⁹  I will not be upended. ⁵⁰ 

Mazmur 67:2

67:2 Then those living on earth will know what you are like;

all nations will know how you deliver your people. ⁵¹ 

Mazmur 71:6

71:6 I have leaned on you since birth; ⁵² 

you pulled me ⁵³  from my mother’s womb.

I praise you continually. ⁵⁴ 

Mazmur 71:16

71:16 I will come and tell about ⁵⁵  the mighty acts of the sovereign Lord.

I will proclaim your justice – yours alone.

Mazmur 74:7

74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire;

they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground. ⁵⁶ 

Mazmur 74:19

74:19 Do not hand the life of your dove ⁵⁷  over to a wild animal!

Do not continue to disregard ⁵⁸  the lives of your oppressed people!

Mazmur 74:21

74:21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame!

Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! ⁵⁹ 

Mazmur 77:11

77:11 I will remember the works of the Lord.

Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! ⁶⁰ 

Mazmur 89:6

89:6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings, ⁶¹ 

Mazmur 89:11

89:11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.

You made the world and all it contains. ⁶² 

Mazmur 91:13

91:13 You will subdue ⁶³  a lion and a snake; ⁶⁴ 

you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.

Mazmur 112:1

Psalm 112 ⁶⁵ 

112:1 Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the one ⁶⁶  who obeys ⁶⁷  the Lord,

who takes great delight in keeping his commands. ⁶⁸ 

Mazmur 119:40

119:40 Look, I long for your precepts.

Revive me with your deliverance! ⁶⁹ 

Mazmur 119:168

119:168 I keep your precepts and rules,

for you are aware of everything I do. ⁷⁰ 

Mazmur 126:6

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ⁷¹  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ⁷² 

Mazmur 138:1

Psalm 138 ⁷³ 

By David.

138:1 I will give you thanks with all my heart;

before the heavenly assembly ⁷⁴  I will sing praises to you.

Mazmur 147:1

Psalm 147 ⁷⁵ 

147:1 Praise the Lord,

for it is good to sing praises to our God!

Yes, ⁷⁶  praise is pleasant and appropriate!

Mazmur 147:20

147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;

they are not aware of his regulations.

Praise the Lord!

Mazmur 150:1

Psalm 150 ⁷⁷ 

150:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary!

Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength! ⁷⁸ 

[4:7]  ¹ tn Heb “you place joy in my heart.” Another option is to understand the perfect verbal form as indicating certitude, “you will make me happier.”

[4:7]  ² tn Heb “from (i.e., more than) the time (when) their grain and their wine are abundant.”

[9:4]  ³ tn Heb “for you accomplished my justice and my legal claim.”

[9:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “you sat on a throne [as] one who judges [with] righteousness.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 4 probably allude to a recent victory (see vv. 5-7). Another option is to understand the verbs as describing what is typical (“you defend…you sit on a throne”).

[9:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “sits” (i.e., enthroned, and therefore ruling – see v. 4). Another option is to translate as “lives” or “dwells.”

[9:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “declare among the nations his deeds.”

[12:3]  ⁷ tn The verb form is a jussive, indicating that the statement is imprecatory (“May the Lord cut off”), not indicative (“The Lord will cut off”; see also Ps 109:15 and Mal 2:12). The psalmist appeals to God to destroy the wicked, rather than simply stating his confidence that he will. In this way he seeks to activate divine judgment by appealing to God’s just character. For an example of the power of such a curse, see Judg 9:7-57.

[12:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “a tongue speaking great [things].”

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “bless,” that is, “proclaim as worthy of praise.”

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Or “because.”

[16:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “counsels, advises.”

[16:7]  ¹² 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.

[18:3]  ¹³ tn In this song of thanksgiving, where the psalmist recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect.

[18:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah): “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

[21:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you make him happy with joy with [i.e., “close by” or “in”] your face.” On the idiom “with your face” (i.e., “in your presence”) see Ps 16:11 and BDB 816 s.v. פָּנֻה II.2.a.

[21:8]  ¹⁶ tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the Lord is still being addressed, but v. 9 militates against this proposal, for there the Lord is mentioned in the third person and appears to be distinct from the addressee (unless, of course, one takes “Lord” in v. 9 as vocative; see the note on “them” in v. 9b). Verse 7 begins this transition to a new addressee by referring to both the king and the Lord in the third person (in vv. 1-6 the Lord is addressed and only the king referred to in the third person).

[21:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.

[21:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”

[21:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you make them a shoulder,” i.e., “you make them turn and run, showing the back of their neck and shoulders.”

[21:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with your bowstrings you fix against their faces,” i.e., “you fix your arrows on the bowstrings to shoot at them.”

[22:21]  ²¹ sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).

[22:21]  ²² tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (rÿ’emim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).

[22:21]  ²³ tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.

[25:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “those who deal in treachery in vain.” The adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “in vain”) probably refers to the failure (or futility) of their efforts. Another option is to understand it as meaning “without cause” (cf. NIV “without excuse”; NRSV “wantonly treacherous”).

[27:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”

[27:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”

[27:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”

[28:9]  ²⁸ tn Or “bless.”

[28:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “your inheritance.” The parallelism (note “your people”) indicates that Israel is in view.

[28:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “shepherd them and lift them up.”

[28:9]  sn The shepherd metaphor is sometimes associated with royal responsibility. See 2 Sam 5:2; 7:7; Mic 5:2-4).

[28:9]  ³¹ tn Or “forever.”

[34:17]  ³² tn Heb “they” (i.e., the godly mentioned in v. 15).

[34:17]  ³³ tn The three perfect verbal forms are taken in a generalizing sense in v. 17 and translated with the present tense (note the generalizing mood of vv. 18-22).

[39:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “because you acted.” The psalmist has in mind God’s disciplinary measures (see vv. 10-13).

[44:9]  ³⁵ tn The particle אַף (’af, “but”) is used here as a strong adversative contrasting the following statement with what precedes.

[44:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “you did not go out with our armies.” The prefixed verbal form is a preterite (without vav [ו] consecutive).

[44:17]  ³⁷ tn Heb “we have not forgotten you.” To “forget” God refers here to worshiping false gods and thereby refusing to recognize his sovereignty (see v. 20, as well as Deut 8:19; Judg 3:7; 1 Sam 12:9; Isa 17:10; Jer 3:21; Ps 9:17).Thus the translation “we have not rejected you” has been used.

[44:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and we did not deal falsely with your covenant.”

[56:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in God I praise a word.” The syntax of the Hebrew text is difficult. The statement is similar to that of v. 4, except that the third person pronominal suffix is omitted here, where the text has simply “a word” instead of “his word.” (1) One could translate, “in God I will boast [with] a word.” In this case, the “word” refers to a song of praise. (2) If one assumes that God’s word is in view, as in v. 4, then one option is to translate, “in God I boast, [in] his word.” In this case the prepositional phrase “in God” goes with the following verb “I boast” (see Ps 44:8) and “[his] word” is appositional to “in God” and more specifically identifies the basis for the psalmist’s confidence. God’s “word” is here understood as an assuring promise of protection. (3) The present translation reflects another option: In this case “I praise [his] word” is a parenthetical statement, with “[his] word” being the object of the verb. The sentence begun with the prepositional phrase “in God” is then completed in v. 11, with the prepositional phrase being repeated after the parenthesis.

[56:10]  ⁴⁰ tn The phrase “in the Lord” parallels “in God” in the first line. Once again the psalmist parenthetically remarks “I boast in [his] word” before completing the sentence in v. 11.

[61:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “I will live as a resident alien in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[61:4]  ⁴² sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.

[61:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.

[61:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”

[62:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:2]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be upended, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly upended” meaning “I will not be annihilated.”

[62:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:6]  ⁵⁰ sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.

[67:2]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “to know in the earth your way, among all nations your deliverance.” The infinitive with -לְ (lamed) expresses purpose/result. When God demonstrates his favor to his people, all nations will recognize his character as a God who delivers. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) refers here to God’s characteristic behavior, more specifically, to the way he typically saves his people.

[71:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “from the womb.”

[71:6]  ⁵³ tc The form in the MT is derived from גָזָה (gazah, “to cut off”), perhaps picturing God as the one who severed the psalmist’s umbilical cord. Many interpreters and translators prefer to emend the text to גֹחִי (gokhiy), from גוּח (gukh) or גִיח, (gikh, “pull out”; see Ps 22:9; cf. the present translation) or to עוּזִּי (’uzziy, “my strength”; cf. NEB “my protector since I left my mother’s womb”).

[71:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “in you [is] my praise continually.”

[71:16]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “I will come with.”

[74:7]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “to the ground they desecrate the dwelling place of your name.”

[74:19]  ⁵⁷ sn Your dove. The psalmist compares weak and vulnerable Israel to a helpless dove.

[74:19]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “do not forget forever.”

[74:21]  ⁵⁹ sn Let the oppressed and poor praise your name! The statement is metonymic. The point is this: May the oppressed be delivered from their enemies! Then they will have ample reason to praise God’s name.

[77:11]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “yes, I will remember from old your wonders.”

[77:11]  sn The psalmist refuses to allow skepticism to win out. God has revealed himself to his people in tangible, incontrovertible ways in the past and the psalmist vows to remember the historical record as a source of hope for the future.

[89:6]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “sons of gods”; or “sons of God.” Though אֵלִים (’elim) is vocalized as a plural form (“gods”) in the Hebrew text, it is likely that the final mem (ם) is actually enclitic rather than a plural marker. In this case one may read “God.” Some, following a Qumran text and the LXX, also propose the phrase occurred in the original text of Deut 32:8. The phrase בְנֵי אֵלִים (vÿney ’elim, “sons of gods” or “sons of God”) occurs only here and in Ps 29:1. Since the “sons of gods/God” are here associated with “the assembly of the holy ones” and “council of the holy ones,” the heavenly assembly (comprised of so-called “angels” and other supernatural beings) appears to be in view. See Job 5:1; 15:15 and Zech 14:5, where these supernatural beings are referred to as “holy ones.” In Canaanite mythological texts the divine council of the high god El is called “the sons of El.” The OT apparently uses the Canaanite phrase, applying it to the supernatural beings that surround the Lord’s heavenly throne.

[89:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “the world and its fullness, you established them.”

[91:13]  ⁶³ tn Heb “walk upon.”

[91:13]  ⁶⁴ tn Or perhaps “cobra” (see Ps 58:4).

[112:1]  ⁶⁵ sn Psalm 112. This wisdom psalm lists some of the benefits of living a godly life. The psalm is an acrostic. After the introductory call to praise, every poetic line (twenty-two in all) begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[112:1]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The individual is representative of a larger group, called the “godly” in vv. 3-4. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in the following verses.

[112:1]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “fears.”

[112:1]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “in his commands he delights very much.” The words “in keeping” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Taking delight in the law is metonymic here for obeying God’s moral will. See Ps 1:2.

[119:40]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “righteousness.”

[119:168]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “for all my ways [are] before you.”

[126:6]  ⁷¹ tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.

[126:6]  ⁷² tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.

[126:6]  sn Verse 6 expands the image of v. 5. See the note on the word “harvest” there.

[138:1]  ⁷³ sn Psalm 138. The psalmist vows to thank the Lord for his deliverance and protection.

[138:1]  ⁷⁴ tn The referent of the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) is unclear. It refers either to the angelic assembly (see Gen 3:5; Ps 8:5) or to the pagan gods (see Pss 82:1, 6; 86:8; 97:7), in which case the psalmist’s praise takes on a polemical tone.

[147:1]  ⁷⁵ sn Psalm 147. The psalmist praises the Lord for he is the sovereign ruler of the world who cares for the needs of his covenant people.

[147:1]  ⁷⁶ tn Or “for.”

[150:1]  ⁷⁷ sn Psalm 150. The Psalter concludes with a resounding call for praise from everything that has breath.

[150:1]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “the sky of his strength.”