Translation and Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan KS, 31 Aug 2014
1. An inscription belonging to David.
God, protect me, for I have taken refuge in You.
2. You said to Yahweh, “You are My Master. No way does my goodness exceed yours.”
3. Concerning holy ones on the earth, it is they who are also magnificent ones - all my delight is in them.
4. Their sorrows will be many; they hurried after another. Never will I pour their libations of blood, and never will I take up their names upon my lips.
5. Yahweh is the allotment of my inheritance and my cup. You Yourself are holding onto my lot;
6. property-lines have fallen for me pleasantly. Moreover, as for [my] inheritance, it shines over me!
7. I will earnestly bless Yahweh, who has counseled me; moreover there are nights [when] my conscience has admonished me.
8. I have kept Yahweh dead-level in front of me always, because I will never be overthrown from my right hand.
9. Therefore my heart has been happy and my glory has been rejoicing.
Moreover, my flesh will settle down confidently,
10. because you will not abandon my soul to Sheol; you will not destine Your godly man to the Pit.
11. You will cause me to know the path of life; fullness of happinesses is with your presence; endless pleasures are in Your right hand!
· I’m told that ever since the minimum wage laws were passed, benefits have become an important part of salary packages. O.K. so this is the take-home pay, but do I get life insurance with it? How about health insurance? What about discounts at related businesses?
o I just heard that employees at the Hilton get a very discounted rate when they stay at any Hilton hotel.
o The same is true of certain club memberships; my membership in HSLDA entitles me to a discount at Accor hotels, but it’s not a very big discount.
· But you know, there are much bigger benefits from being a Christian?
· Elsewhere the Psalms tell us to bless the Lord and forget not all His benefits. In these five verses (vs. 7-11) I see five benefits that motivate us to bless the LORD, namely, Wisdom, Peace, Happiness, Life, and Pleasure. Let’s look at each one in turn and let them set our hearts to praise and bless God.
· This is a very personal statement, First person pronouns appear two dozen times in the eleven verses of this psalm. It is intended to be applied personally. Will you yourself bless the LORD?
What does it mean to bless? Following is a survey of how the Psalms use other phrases in parallel with the word “bless,” showing us through context what it means to bless.
· Lift Up and make great: Psalm 18:46 The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. Psalm 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty (NKJV)
· Praise: Psalm 34:1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 104:35b Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD! (NKJV)
· Opposite of Curse: Psalm 62:4b They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly. (NKJV) So it is the opposite of cursing; it is praising and lifting up as exalted. We also learn that it is something God first did to us:
· Reciprocity: Psalm 5:12a For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous Psalm 28:9 Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever. (NKJV) Reminds me of 1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.”
· Raised hands: Psalm 63:4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD. (NKJV)
· Spoken aloud: Psalm 66:8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard Psalm 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever. (NKJV)
· Attitude of favor: Psalm 67:1 God be merciful to us and bless us,And cause His face to shine upon us (NKJV)
· Thanks for benefits: Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits Psalm 144:1 A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle… (NKJV)
In the following verses, I see five reasons for praising and blessing the Lord. In the latter half of this verse (7) we see the first reason, and that is the wisdom (or “counsel” and “instruction”) that He gives.
1. Wisdom: Yahweh (The LORD) gives good Counsel to His people to guide them in wise paths. He does that through the words He recorded in the Bible for us.
· Psalm 32:8 says He even counsels us with His eye[3]!
· In Isaiah 9:6, God calls Jesus the “Counselor”: “For unto us a Child is born… And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (NKJV).
· The end of v.7 says that we bless the LORD not only because He provides positive advice, but also because He provides negative admonition when we need a kick in the pants.
· The word translated “instructed” here in most English versions is translated with a punitive word like “admonish,” “chasten,” or “discipline” practically every other time the word is translated in the Psalms[4], so, when you think of the “mind/heart” “instructing” at night, think of it more in terms of the way we have already seen that verb used in Psalm 2:9-12, where the message is: “You will break them with a rod of iron; like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them. So now, O kings, consider wisely. Be admonished, O judges of earth! Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling…. otherwise He will become angry and y’all will perish in the way…” (NAW) It’s a warning message that God will punish sin and that we’d better beg God for mercy.
The Hebrew word כִלְיוֹתָי , which is the subject of the last verb in verse seven, normally and literally means “kidneys.” But four times in the Psalms (and four times in the book of Jeremiah[5]) it is used figuratively. When I examined these figurative uses of the word in the Old Testament, I noticed that:
·
These
figurative “kidneys” can be tested for accuracy according to God’s righteousness,
Psalm 7:9b and the God of righteousness will test
hearts and consciences. (NAW),
Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O
LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. (NKJV)
·
They
can be grieved over sin:
Psalm 73:21 Thus my heart was grieved, And I was vexed
in my mind. (NKJV)
·
And
they can be made happy when they hear what is right.
Prov. 23:16 Yes, my inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak right things. (NKJV)
· Now, what is it that part of us which feels bad about wrong things, feels good about right things, and should be tested for accuracy according to the righteousness of God? I propose that this is what we call our “conscience.”
· Have you ever been lying awake in bed at night, and your mind settles down just enough to think clearly through something that happened earlier in the day, and suddenly your conscience pricks you as you realize that you did something wrong without realizing it, and you need to make it right? I think that is what David is talking about here.
· Our conscience is our sense of what is right and wrong, and this is connected to God’s Word and His Spirit which reveal right from wrong. For some people, this connection to God’s word is looser than others, but, we all have at least some connection[6]. In this way, there is some parallel between the Lord counseling us and our conscience pricking us, as we see in this verse.[7]
o Aren’t you glad that God guides us by His Holy Spirit putting thoughts in our minds – and by the words we have read and heard from the Bible to tell us what we should do?
o And when we don’t do right, aren’t you glad that God lets us know that we’ve done wrong and need to repent?
o Aren’t you glad that He treats you like a good father should and not with passive indifference or unforgiving anger when you go astray? He doesn’t allow you to live with sin indefinitely; He brings chastening punishment, and conviction of sin, and He gives His children the power to forsake sins and to do what it right instead.
Bless the Lord for sharing His wisdom with us!
Now, the second benefit we do not want to forget to bless God for is the peace that we experience in relationship with Him. Both halves of verse eight speak of peaceful stability:
In the first half we see that this peace involves a stable perspective.
· The first verb in this verse is not the usual Hebrew word for setting things in place (sit); it is the word shivah, meaning, “level” or “even,” and it is in the intensive Piel spelling.
· The picture I get in my mind is of a determined infant maneuvering itself in order to always be facing Mama. You know, infants think that if you love somebody, you will be with them 100% of the time. I was just having a little fun with my 1-year-old yesterday. She wanted Mama, but Mama needed to sit on the couch and talk with somebody else without being disturbed. So picked up my little girl and stood at a distance from my wife and told my daughter that she couldn’t be with Mama right now. Well, little Maggie leaned her head as far away from me as she could in the direction of Mama, stretching her little arms out directly toward Mama. She wanted Mama and was orienting her whole body in the direction she wanted. I told her “No,” and turned ninety degrees away from Mama. Sensing that she was no longer pointed toward Mama, little Maggie bent her arms and body around ninety degrees in my arms until she was facing Mama again. This put her in danger of falling out of my arms, so I readjusted and held her more closely so that she could not lean her body toward Mama, but even then, she kept her eyes riveted on her Mama, and whenever I turned, she would move her eyes to stay fixed on her.
· That’s the picture I get of this believer who in v.1 has taken refuge in the Lord, always keeping the Lord before him – always level with his eyes. It gives stability and peace.
· This is the way ballet dancers keep their balance too. My sister studied ballet growing up and all the way into college – and even taught at the Boston School of Ballet after college. One time I asked her how she kept from getting dizzy when she did pirouettes, because whenever I spin around, I loose my balance and get sick! She said what she does is to keep a fixed spot that she looks at while her body is turning. At some point she has to whip her head around as her body turns, but as she whips her head around, she returns her eyes to that same spot, and is able to remain stable.
· Jesus is that “spot” for us. Remember in Psalm 15 we saw that Jesus will “never be shaken”? Well, when we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, then we ourselves become stable too!
· Matthew Henry wrote, “[I]t is our wisdom and duty to set the Lord always before us, and to see him continually at our right hand, wherever we are, to eye him as our chief good and highest end, our owner, ruler, and judge, our gracious benefactor, our sure guide and strict observer; and, while we do thus, we shall not be moved either from our duty or from our comfort.”
In the second half of v.8, we see that peace and stability come from keeping the Lord at his right hand (or I think it could also be interpreted that the Lord is his right hand). Of course, in the Hebrew culture, as in many others, the right hand is the place of greatest honor.
· What would it look like for you to put Jesus in a place of greater honor than any other relationship?
· When Jesus in the place of greatest honor in our lives, we will not be “shaken/moved/overthrown.”
o In Psalm 13:4 we saw the wicked trying to “shake/overthrow” the righteous, and
o and in Psalm 10:6, we saw the wicked foolishly thinking that he would “never be overthrown and thus never be in bad [times] for generations,” but the wicked will be overthrown.
o However, we saw in Psalm 15:1, the one who is Jesus’ guest and who settles down in the mountain of God’s holiness, this is the one who will never be shaken or moved forever!
· Does this mean that we will never experience hardships and never sin? No. The Apostle Paul put it this way in Romans 8:38-39 “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
· That is peace! That is stability! Bless the Lord for it! Keep your eyes on Jesus and that benefit will be yours!
Wisdom… peace… now the third benefit in v.9 is Joy:
· If you’re wondering how the NIV got “my tongue rejoices” instead of “my glory rejoices” it’s because the Hebrew word for “glory” (cevōd) and the Hebrew word for “tongue” (cevēd) are only differentiated by one vowel. Apparently there are a couple of Hebrew manuscripts without the holem-vav vowel in the spelling, and the ancient Greek Septuagint[9] interpreted that to mean “tongue”, and the NIV tends to follow the Septuagint because it is a lot older than the Masoretic text, even though it is a translation.
· However, I don’t see that it’s a big deal because it is only one entry in a list of three which seems to comprehend the whole person, including
o my heart (the seat of my thoughts and emotions),
o my flesh (all the physical part of me),
o and my glory or my tongue (both of which indicate the social part of me that relates to other people)
o so, either way – tongue or glory, when you take the sentence as a whole, it is speaking of the effect that a right relationship has with God on our whole being – internal thoughts, external relationships, and physical body (cf. 1 Thess5:23).
· And what is that effect? Gladness, rejoicing, and the security and hope of faith!
o Gladness is a consistent theme of the Psalms, for instance, Psalm 5:11-12 “all those who take refuge in You will be happy, they will sing out forever… and lovers of Your name will exult in You! Because You yourself really bless a righteous [person]; like a big shield, Yahweh, you encircle him with favor.” (NAW)
o Other psalms explain that what we “rejoice” over is God’s salvation: Psalm 13:5 “I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart will rejoice in Your salvation.” … Psalm 9:14b “…I will rejoice in Your salvation.” (NAW)
o It even has a physical effect on our bodies when we are able to relax and be happy. The Mayo Clinic published an article on its website claiming, “Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.” They also say it “relieves stress,” “relieves pain” and “improves your immune system”![10]
o Bless the Lord for the times when you have been able to rest by faith in the powerful protection of the Lord and “settle down” instead of being tense and anxious!
o Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You – You alone, Yahweh, cause me to settle down confidently. (NAW)
This benefit of happiness and joy looks back into the past with the two Hebrew perfect tense verbs “has been happy” and “has been rejoicing,” and it also looks into the future with the Hebrew Imperfect tense verb “I will settle down/I will dwell.” The happiness we have experienced in the past is something we can anticipate on into the Future! And verse 10 tells us there is even more to look forward to in the future, and that it the glory of the resurrection and eternal life!
I see two keys to interpreting verse 10.
1. The first is that this is poetry which is organized around the use of parallel statements. In other words, the first half of this verse means essentially the same thing as the second half of this verse.
· For instance, the Hebrew word Sheol (translated “hell” in the KJV and “grave” in the NIV) in the first half of the verse means the same thing as the Hebrew word Shachat (translated Pit, corruption, or decay) in the second half of the verse. The two words are also used interchangeably throughout Job 33:18-30, and indeed, both words basically mean a depression in the ground[13] and can figuratively mean “grave” or “place of the dead.”
· Continuing in this parallel construction then, “my soul” is the same as “Your Holy (or Godly) one”
· and “allow… to see” parallels the verb “abandon/leave.” Indeed, as a phrase “natan… leroat” doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t ever see decay or the Pit, but more that it won’t be his final fate, a different lot in life has been given to him by God.
· Bless the Lord that not even death can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Death is not our final fate; we will be resurrected to eternal life in glory with Jesus!
2. But there is a second interpretive key, and that is the importance of seeing how Jesus and the Apostles interpreted Old Testament passages when they quoted them in the New Testament. Since Peter and Paul quoted this psalm, we need to see how they interpreted it.
· In Acts 2, Peter said, “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades [which is Greek for Sheol], nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” (Acts 2:29-32, NKJV)
· Later, in Acts 13, Paul said to the Jews in Psidian Antioch, “And we declare to you glad tidings--that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION.’ For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:32-39, NASB)
· Clearly, Peter and Paul saw the fulfillment of this psalm in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. King David’s body was not magically suspended in some cryogenic chamber. It turned back to dirt in some tomb in Palestine. Jesus’ body, however, is in glorious form in heaven now[14].
· Nevertheless there is a definite connection between the resurrection of Jesus and the preservation of our own bodies, for Jesus was raised on the day of firstfruits (the Sunday after Passover) and His resurrection was intended to be a prototype of our own resurrection and a promise that our bodies would be brought back to life and made glorified at His second coming.
· The Apostle Paul covers this at length in First Corinthians chapter 15:16 “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.”
· Bless the Lord for sending His son Jesus to die on the cross in order to suffer God’s judgment for our sins, but more than that, bless the Lord for raising Jesus from death and promising that not only will the spiritual souls of believers not be abandoned to hell because Jesus suffered hell in our place, but even our bodies will not be left behind, but will be resurrected because Jesus’ body was resurrected and taken up in glory.
But even as glorious at the resurrection is, the prospect of eternal life would be absolutely dreadful if the life you had to live forever was unpleasant. So verse 11 provides the capstone of reasons to bless the Lord: Pleasure in the presence of God.
With three quick phrases, David puts to rest any anxiety we might have about spending eternity with God in heaven:
· He is the one who came up with life in the first place. He is the one who brought you into existence, and He is the one who purchased and applied to you the spiritual life you have. Forever into the future, those who take refuge in Jesus will continue to have the creative, informing, guidance of God Himself showing the way to really live life and enjoy it.
· He promises to make you happy, so happy that you are full of joy – you can’t possibly be any happier.
· The Hebrew word shoba’ used here is used elsewhere[15] to refer to having a full tummy from eating all you can possibly eat. Just as certainly as God has provided you with food that makes your physical body feel full, so He promises to make your soul full of happiness.
o Maybe you’ve had a few experiences like that while hanging out with friends or family or on vacation. That is what it is like to even be in God’s presence in heaven.
· Furthermore, you will never feel empty or dissatisfied again.
o You know, I like apple pie, but if I were to eat nothing but apple pie for a week, I’d get sick of it. Not so with the pleasures we will experience with God. They will not end; they are eternal, forever. I can hardly imagine what it would be like to experience a pleasure that will never fade; I want to see what that it like!
· As the property lines on earth fell in “pleasant” places in v.6, so, in some similar way, the experiences of heaven at God’s right hand will be endless “pleasures” (The same Hebrew word is used in both places.)
· By the way, who sits at the right hand of God? Jesus does! It is in Jesus that we will find “endless comforts/pleasures forevermore.” We already can begin to taste those things when we take refuge in Him by trusting Him to save us and lead us and we begin to bless His name.
· Wisdom… Peace… Joy… Life…. and Pleasure. No greater benefits are imaginable! God’s benefit plan is better than we could have ever hoped!
· Let us therefore, “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.” (Psalm 147:1, NKJV)
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PSALM 16 |
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NIV |
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Brenton |
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(א) מִכְתָּם לְדָוִד שָׁמְרֵנִי אֵל כִּי חָסִיתִי בָךְ. |
1. An inscription belonging to David. God, protect me, for I have taken refuge in You. |
1 Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. |
1 A Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. |
1 A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. |
1 A Mikhtam of David. Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You. |
1 A miktam of David. Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. |
1 Στηλογραφία τῷ Δαυιδ. Φύλαξόν με, κύριε[16], ὅτι ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα. |
1 A writing of David. Keep me, O Lord; for I have hoped in thee. |
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(ב) אָמַרְתְּ לַיהוָה אֲדֹנָי אָתָּה טוֹבָתִי בַּל עָלֶיךָ. |
2. You said to Yahweh, “You are My Master. No way does my goodness exceed yours.” |
2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; |
2 O my soul, you have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You." |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 εἶπα τῷ κυρίῳ Κύριός μου εἶ σύ, ὅτι τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου οὐ [χρείαν ἔχεις[17]]. |
2 |
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(ג) לִקְדוֹשִׁים אֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ הֵמָּה וְאַדִּירֵי כָּל חֶפְצִי בָם. |
3. Concerning holy ones on the earth, it is they who are also magnificent ones - all my delight is in them. |
3 But to [the] saints that are in the earth, and to [the] excellent, in whom is all my delight. |
3 As for [the] saints who are on the earth, "They are X [the] excellent ones, in whom is all my delight." |
3 As for [the] saints in the land, they are [the] excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. |
3 As for [the] saints who are in the earth, They are X [the] majestic ones in whom is all my delight. |
3 As for [the] saints who are in the land, they are X [the] glorious ones in whom is all my delight. |
3 τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς ἐν τῇ γῇ |
3 On
behalf of[21]
the saints that are in [his] land, he
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(ד) יִרְבּוּ עַצְּבוֹתָם אַחֵר מָהָרוּ בַּל אַסִּיךְ נִסְכֵּיהֶם מִדָּם וּבַל אֶשָּׂא אֶת שְׁמוֹתָם עַל שְׂפָתָי. |
4. Their sorrows will be many; they hurried after another. Never will I pour their libations of blood, and never will I take up their names upon my lips. |
4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. |
4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied [who] hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips. |
4 The sorrows of those [who] run after another [god] shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. |
4 The sorrows of those [who] have bartered for another god will be multiplied; I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, Nor will I take their names upon my lips. |
4 The sorrows of those will increase who run after other [gods]. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. |
4 ἐπληθύνθησαν αἱ ἀσθένειαι[23] αὐτῶν, μετὰ ταῦτα ἐτάχυναν· οὐ μὴ |
4 Their
weaknesses have been multiplied; afterward they hasted. I will by no means |
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(ה) יְהוָה מְנָת חֶלְקִי וְכוֹסִי אַתָּה תּוֹמִיךְ גּוֹרָלִי. |
5. Yahweh is the allotment of my inheritance and my cup. You Yourself are holding onto my lot; |
5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. |
5 O LORD, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. |
5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. |
5 The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. |
5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. |
5 κύριος ἡ μερὶς τῆς κληρονομίας μου καὶ τοῦ ποτηρίου μου· σὺ εἶ |
5 The
Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou art |
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(ו) חֲבָלִים נָפְלוּ לִי בַּנְּעִמִים אַף נַחֲלָת שָׁפְרָה עָלָי. |
6. propety-Lines have fallen for me pleasanty. Moreover, as for [my] inheritance, it shines over me. |
6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I [have] a goodly heritage. |
6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, [I have] a good inheritance. |
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, [I have] a beautiful inheritance. |
6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, [my] heritage is beautiful to me. |
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely [I have] a delightful inheritance. |
6 σχοινία ἐπέπεσάν μοι ἐν τοῖς κρατίστοις[26]· καὶ γὰρ ἡ κληρονομία μου κρατίστη μοί [ἐστιν]. |
6 The lines have fallen to me in the best places, yea, I have[27] a most excellent heritage. |
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(ז) אֲבָרֵךְ אֶת יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר יְעָצָנִי אַף לֵילוֹת יִסְּרוּנִי כִלְיוֹתָי. |
7. I will earnestly[28] bless Yahweh, who has counseled me; moreover there are nights[29] [when] my conscience has admonished me. |
7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me [in the] night [seasons]. |
7 I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me [in the] night [seasons]. |
7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; [in the] night also my heart instructs me. |
7 I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me [in the] night. |
7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. |
7 εὐλογήσω τὸν κύριον τὸν συνετίσαντά με· ἔτι [δὲ καὶ ἕως] νυκτὸς ἐπαίδευσάν με οἱ νεφροί μου. |
7 I will bless the Lord who has instructed me; my reins too have chastened me [even till] night. |
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(ח) שִׁוִּיתִי יְהוָה לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד כִּי מִימִינִי בַּל אֶמּוֹט. |
8. I have kept Yahweh dead-level in front of me always. Because I will never be overthrown from my right hand. |
8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. |
8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. |
8 I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. |
8 I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. |
8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. |
8 προωρώμην τὸν κύριον ἐνώπιόν μου διὰ παντός, ὅτι ἐκ δεξιῶν μού ἐστιν, ἵνα μὴ σαλευθῶ. |
8 I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, that I should not be [shaken]. |
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(ט) לָכֵן שָׂמַח לִבִּי וַיָּגֶל כְּבוֹדִי אַף בְּשָׂרִי יִשְׁכֹּן לָבֶטַח. |
9. Therefore my heart has been[30] happy and my glory has been rejoicing. Moreover, my flesh will settle down, confidently, |
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. |
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. |
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. |
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. |
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, |
9 διὰ τοῦτο ηὐφράνθη ἡ καρδία μου, καὶ ἠγαλλιάσατο ἡ γλῶσσά μου, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ σάρξ μου κατασκηνώσει ἐπ᾿ ἐλπίδι, |
9 Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue exulted; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: |
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(י) כִּי לֹא תַעֲזֹב נַפְשִׁי לִשְׁאוֹל לֹא תִתֵּן חֲסִידְךָ לִרְאוֹת שָׁחַת. |
10. because you will not abandon my soul to Sheol; you will not destine[31] Your godly[32] man to the Pit. |
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. |
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. |
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. |
10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. |
10 because you will not abandon me X to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. |
10 ὅτι οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψεις τὴν ψυχήν μου εἰς ᾅδην οὐδὲ δώσεις τὸν ὅσιόν σου ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν. |
10 because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy [better “godly”] One to see corruption. |
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(יא) תּוֹדִיעֵנִי אֹרַח חַיִּים שֹׂבַע שְׂמָחוֹת אֶת פָּנֶיךָ נְעִמוֹת בִּימִינְךָ נֶצַח. |
11. You will cause me to know the path of life; fullness of happinesses are with your presence; endless pleasures are in Your right hand! |
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. |
11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. |
11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. |
11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. |
11 You
have made known to me the path of life; |
11 ἐγνώρισάς μοι ὁδοὺς ζωῆς· πληρώσ |
11 Thou
hast made known to me the ways of life; |
[1] The Hebrew Piel form of the word “bless” adds extra intensity to the verb, which is why I added the word “earnestly.”
[2] The Hebrew word for conscience (“reins”) is actually plural, but I couldn’t think of a way to make it plural in English. I think I have found a way to accurately render the Hebrew plural of the word for “nights” by adding an assumed verb of being. I’m not sure why the ESV, NIV, and NASB changed “nights” to a singular in their translations. I also do not understand why the KJV, NKJV, ESV, and NASB changed verb tenses in English between the Perfect “have counseled” and the Present “instructs” when both verbs are Perfect tense in Hebrew and in parallel with each other.
[3] Ps. 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will give counsel over you [by] My eye. (NAW)
[4] with the exception of the NKJV. The norm, however is found in verses like Psalm 6:1 “Don’t judge me in your anger, Yahweh, and don’t discipline me in your fury!”
[5] 11:20; 12:2; 17:10; 20:12
[6] C.S. Lewis argued convincingly in his book, Mere Christianity, that the universal human sense that some things are right and some things are wrong is an evidence of the existence of a creator-God who is ethical.
[7] “The night season which the sinner chooses for his sins is the hallowed hour of quiet when believers hear the soft still voices of heaven, and of the heavenly life within themselves.” ~Charles Spurgeon
[8] For what it’s worth, I rendered the first two verbs in the Perfect tense (has been happy and has been rejoicing) because the Hebrew verbs are Perfect and Vav Consecutive Imperfect (which throws the tense back into Perfect), but the third Hebrew verb is an Imperfect with no Vav, so that’s why I translated it in the English Future tense.
[10] http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456
[11] I felt it necessary to render the literal Hebrew “give… to see” paraphrastically for what I believe the two Hebrew words mean together as a phrase, namely, “to destine,” or “to make it one’s lot in life,” or, to risk an allusion to Graeco-Roman religion, “to make this his only fate.” This avoids the misinterpretation of Muslims and others that Jesus’ body never actually experienced being in a grave and makes the second half of the verse more parallel to the first half. This is also consistent with the other time in Deut 29:4 where natan occurs together with leraōt (as well as other similar combinations of these Hebrew words in places like Genesis 13:15 & 41:41, Ex. 16:29, Deut. 1:8, 11:26, 1 Ki. 1:48, etc.).
[12] I find it curious that all the English versions opt for “Holy” instead of “godly” here. Holy is a different word in Hebrew, and is not even the word chosen by the Septuagint or by Peter in Acts 2 (both use hosios “godly”). With some exceptions in the KJV, English translations don’t translate this Hebrew word chesed as “holy” except for in this verse.
[13] cf. Ps. 7:15 & 9:15 “pit”
[14] Furthermore, with fewer than three full days in the tomb, Jesus’ body did not suffer ceremonial corruption either, as Matthew Henry pointed out, “Under the law it was strictly ordered that those parts of the sacrifices which were not burnt upon the altar should by no means be kept till the third day, lest they should putrefy (Lev. 7:15-18), which perhaps pointed at Christ's rising the third day, that he might not see corruption…”
[15] Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels' food; He sent them food to the full. (Psalm 78:23-25, NKJV)
[16] Aquilla and Theodotion translated this word iscure, perhaps to undercut Christians applying the LXX reading “lord” to Jesus, but Symmachus’ translation was more literal: QeoV
[17] Aquilla and Symmachus again diverged from the Septuagint with a more literal reading which is more like my translation, indicating, that the Masoretic text we have today for this verse is the same as what was used by Jews in the second century AD.
[18] This is plural nominative in Hebrew Masoretic text.
[19] This is a noun in Hebrew, as well as in the Greek translations of Symmachus and Theodotian, but some ancient translations, including the Septuagint turn it into a verb. It doesn’t subvert the overall meaning of the verse, though.
[20] 1st person in Heb.
[21] Brendon is a little paraphrastic here in his English translation of the Septuagint. A more literal rendering of the Dative case would be “Toward…”
[22] The Masoretic text reads “my” instead of “his;” it is but the difference of the length of a pen-stroke on the first letter of of the Hebrew word.
[23] cf. Aquilla diaponemata “evil”, Theodotian (and AJV) eidwla “idols,” Symmachus kakopatheiai “bad passions”
[24] cf. Aqilla and Symmachus speisw [tas] spondas “spill out the drink-offering,” which is closer to the Masoretic Hebrew
[25] Kittel indicates that there are some Hebrew manuscripts which spell this verb with different vowels as a participle (תוׄמֵךְ) and that the Septuagint reading took its cue from them. It doesn’t make for a significant difference in meaning, though.
[26] cf. Aquilla euprepesi, Symmachus=kallistois
[27] Or, more literally, the Septuagint reads, “There is for me a…”
[28] The Hebrew Piel form of the word “bless” adds extra intensity to the verb, which is why I added the word “earnestly.”
[29] The Hebrew word for conscience (“reins”) is actually plural, but I couldn’t think of a way to make it plural in English, but I think I have found a way to accurately render the Hebrew plural of the word for “nights” by adding an assumed verb of being. I’m not sure why the ESV, NIV, and NASB changed “nights” to a singular in their translations. I also do not understand why the KJV, NKJV, ESV, and NASB changed verb tenses in English between the Perfect “have counseled” and the Present “instructs” when both verbs are Perfect tense in Hebrew and in parallel with each other.
[30] For what it’s worth, I rendered the first two verbs in the Perfect tense (has been happy and has been rejoicing) because the Hebrew verbs are Perfect and Vav Consecutive Imperfect (which throws the tense back into Perfect), but the third Hebrew verb is an Imperfect with no Vav, so that’s why I translated it in the English Future tense.
[31] I felt it necessary to render the literal Hebrew “give… to see” paraphrastically for what I believe the two Hebrew words mean together as a phrase, namely, “to destine,” or “to make it one’s lot in life,” or, to risk an allusion to Graeco-Roman religion, “to make this his only fate.” This avoids the misinterpretation of Muslims and others that Jesus’ body never actually experienced being in a grave and makes the second half of the verse more parallel to the first half. This is also consistent with the other time in Deut 29:4 where natan occurs together with leraōt (as well as other similar combinations of these Hebrew words in places like Genesis 13:15 & 41:41, Ex. 16:29, Deut. 1:8, 11:26, 1 Ki. 1:48, etc.).
[32] I find it curious that all the English versions opt for “Holy” instead of “godly” here. Holy is a different word in Hebrew, and is not even the word chosen by the Septuagint or by Peter in Acts 2 (both use hosios). With some exceptions in the KJV, English translations don’t translate this Hebrew word chesed as “holy” except for in this verse.
[33] Once again, the NIV follows the Septuagint from about the second century BC instead of the Masoretic text from about 1000 AD, by making the second verb “fill” second person (“you will fill”) instead of third person (“there is fullness”). The third person is what the Hellenistic Jews had before them when they made corrections to the Septuagint around 100 AD (Aquilla & Symmachus plesmone eufrosunwn, cf. Theodotian ‘epta eufrosunaV), so I suspect it is original, but the context supports the fact that it is God who fills us with joy, because he is where the pleasure is at and He is the one who makes known to us the path of life.