31.17 Put to shame. See note on 25.2–3. Sheol. See note on 6.5.
31.18 Slanderous accusations seem to have been made against the one praying.
31.19 Fear. See note on 34.7.
31.19–24 A song of thanksgiving and praise for deliverance. An oracle of salvation may have been given between vv. 18 and 19 that provided the assurance evoking these expressions. See note on 22.21b.
31.21 Blessed. See note on 103.1–2.
31.23–24 The salvation of the individual is an impetus for all the community of the faithful to trust in God’s help.
PSALM 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
Of David. A Maskil.
1Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried upa as by the heat of summer.
Selah
5Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah
6Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress,b the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
7You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
Selah
8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
10Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
11Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Cn: Heb at a time of finding only
32.1–11 A song of thanksgiving by an individual who has been forgiven by God. One of the penitential psalms (see note on 6.1–10). Maskil, either an “artful song” or a “didactic song,” probably the former, indicating a song that has been composed with artistic skill, though didactic elements are present also (e.g., vv. 8–9).
32.1–2 The joy of the psalmist in receiving God’s forgiveness. Quoted in Rom 4.7–8. Happy. See note on 1.1.
32.3–5 The psalmist tells about the experience of personal disintegration and distress until the acknowledgment of sin.
32.3–4 This may be a depiction of illness understood to be the result of God’s anger over sin or of the effects of sin and guilt unconfessed. Selah. See note on 3.2.
32.6–7 Instruction to others to pray to God in distress as did the psalmist. Mighty waters. See note on 18.16.
32.8–9 Probably a divine word of instruction, reflecting the character and concerns of wisdom.
32.9 See Prov 26.3. Else…you, possibly to be translated as an assurance, “Nothing will come near you.” The text, however, is very uncertain.
32.10 The lesson learned by the psalmist.
32.11 A call to the faithful to trust also and join in the psalmist’s joy (see 31.23–24).
PSALM 33
The Greatness and Goodness of God
1Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright.
2Praise the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
3Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.
6By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.
13The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind.
14From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth—
15he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds.
16A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.
18Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.
20Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and shield.
21Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
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33.1–22 A hymn of praise of God as creator of the world and Lord of history.
33.1–3 A call to praise.
33.4–9 The reason for praise is God’s creation of the world through God’s righteous and powerful word. See Gen 1.
33.6 Host, i.e., sun, moon, and stars. Waters of the sea, probably the waters above the dome of heaven (cf. Gen 1.7; Job 38.37).
33.8 Fear the LORD. See note on 34.7.
33.10–12 The Lord’s rule of the nations.
33.12 Happy. See note on 1.1. His heritage. See Deut 7.6–8; 32.8–9.
33.13–19 The Lord’s discerning and providential watch over all the inhabitants of the earth.
33.20–22 The community of faith expresses its hope in God’s steadfast love.
PSALM 34
Praise for Deliverance from Trouble
Of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
4I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
5Look to him, and be radiant;
so youra faces shall never be ashamed.
6This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
7The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
9O fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for those who fear him have no want.
10The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who s
eek the LORD lack no good thing.
11Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12Which of you desires life,
and covets many days to enjoy good?
13Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it.
15The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16The face of the LORD is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.
19Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD rescues them from them all.
20He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
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a Gk Syr Jerome: Heb their
34.1–22 A song of thanksgiving that becomes instructional and didactic in character. The address or instruction to the community that often concludes songs of thanksgiving (see 31.2–4; 32.11) is accentuated in this psalm. The historical superscription is secondarily attached to the psalm (1 Sam 21.10–15; Abimelech is an error for Achish). The psalm is an alphabetic acrostic in its Hebrew text (see note on 9.1–10.18).
34.1–3 Introductory praise and thanksgiving.
34.1 Bless. See note on 103.1–2.
34.4–10 Testimony to the goodness of God, who delivers the afflicted from their fears. The psalmist reports on God’s hearing the prayer and invites others to know the goodness of the Lord through worship and trust.
34.7 Angel of the LORD, both a messenger of the Lord and an extension of the Lord’s power (see 35.5–6; Josh 5.13–15). Fear, an all-encompassing term for worship and obedience, the proper relationship to God (cf. vv. 9, 11).
34.8 Taste. Cf. 1 Pet 2.3.
34.9 His holy ones, members of the community of faith.
34.10 Even when the most successful and self-sufficient, i.e., the young lions, go hungry, those who trust in the Lord do not want (cf. 23.1).
34.11–14 The psalmist’s reported deliverance leads into wise teaching about what is involved in the fear of the LORD (v. 11). Cf. 1 Pet 3.10–12.
34.14 Wisdom’s teaching is like the prophetic exhortations. See Isa 1.16–17; Am 5.14–15; Mic 6.8; cf. Ps 37.27.
34.15–22 The teaching continues about the Lord’s actions toward the innocent and righteous and toward the wicked. The accent is on God’s attention to the cries of the righteous in their sufferings. Righteous often refers to the innocent victims who suffer at the hands of those who do evil.
PSALM 35
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
Of David.
1Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise up to help me!
3Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil against me.
5Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them on.
6Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7For without cause they hid their neta for me;
without cause they dug a pitb for my life.
8Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
let them fall in it—to their ruin.
9Then my soul shall rejoice in the LORD,
exulting in his deliverance.
10All my bones shall say,
“O LORD, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
from those too strong for them,
the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”
11Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me about things I do not know.
12They repay me evil for good;
my soul is forlorn.
13But as for me, when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowedc on my bosom,
14as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
bowed down and in mourning.
15But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16they impiously mocked more and more,d
gnashing at me with their teeth.
17How long, O LORD, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my life from the lions!
18Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,
or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
20For they do not speak peace,
but they conceive deceitful words
against those who are quiet in the land.
21They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha,
our eyes have seen it.”
22You have seen, O LORD; do not be silent!
O Lord, do not be far from me!
23Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
25Do not let them say to themselves,
“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed youe up.”
26Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27Let those who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad,
and say evermore,
“Great is the LORD,
who delights in the welfare of his servant.”
28Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all day long.
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a Heb a pit, their net
b The word pit is transposed from the preceding line
c Or My prayer turned back
d Cn Compare Gk: Heb like the profanest of mockers of a cake
e Heb him
35.1–28 A prayer for God’s help by a person persecuted and falsely accused. The psalm is primarily a series of petitions against the persecutors and tormentors.
35.1–8 Petitions to God to fight against and undo the power of those who pursue the psalmist.
35.3b The persecuted one seeks an oracle of salvation, a divine word giving assurance of God’s presence and help. See note on 22.21b.
35.5 Chaff. See 1.4. Angel of the LORD. See note on 34.7.
35.7–8 See note on 9.15.
35.9–10 The afflicted one vows to praise the Lord when delivered.
35.11–16 The lament of the psalmist over the persecutions rendered by others.
A comparison is drawn between the support of the afflicted one for others in their sickness and their glee over the distress of the psalmist.
35.15 In light of v. 13a, the stumbling may be an illness, but the primary focus of the prayer is against the tormenting activity of others.
35.17–18 The praying one complains to God (v. 17) and vows to give thanks to God when deliverance comes (v. 18).
35.17 How long? See note on 6.3. Lions. See note on 7.2.
35.19–25 Petitions once again asking for God’s defense against the machinations and torments of the wicked who delight in the undoing of the psalmist.
35.26–27 A call for the downfall or shame of those who rejoice in the misfortune of the psalmist and for the joy and praise to God of those who support the psalmist in trouble.
35.28 The afflicted psalmist vows to praise God for the righteousness that supports the weak and undoes the wicked.
PSALM 36
Human Wickedness and Divine Goodness
To the leader. Of David, the servant of the LORD.
1Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in their hearts;
there is no fear of God
before their eyes.
2For they flatter themselves in their own eyes
that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit;
they have ceased to act wisely and do good.
4They plot mischief while on their beds;
they are set on a way that is not good;
they do not reject evil.
5Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
7How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8They feast on the abundance of your house,
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