Psa 71:22-24 | NETfull | STEP | I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument, praising your faithfulness, O my God! I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp, O Holy One of Israel!

Psalms 71:22-24

22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,
praising ^{▼▼ The word “praising” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.} your faithfulness, O my God!
I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,
O Holy One of Israel! ^{▼▼ The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior.}
23 My lips will shout for joy! Yes, ^{▼▼ Or “when.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) has an emphasizing (asseverative) function here.} I will sing your praises!
I will praise you when you rescue me! ^{▼▼ Heb “and my life [or “soul”] which you will have redeemed.” The perfect verbal form functions here as a future perfect. The psalmist anticipates praising God, for God will have rescued him by that time.}
All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,
for those who want to harm me ^{▼▼ Heb “those who seek my harm.”} will be embarrassed and ashamed. ^{▼▼ Heb “will have become embarrassed and ashamed.” The perfect verbal forms function here as future perfects, indicating future actions which will precede chronologically the action expressed by the main verb in the preceding line.}

Psalm 72

^{▼▼ Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16–17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2–15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2–7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9–14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15–17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18–19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42–72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.}

For Solomon.

24 ^{▼▼ The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.}