¹tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”
²tn Heb “meet his face.”
³tn Heb “with songs of joy.”
⁴tn Heb “above.”
⁵tn The phrase “in his hand” means within the sphere of his authority.
⁶tn Heb “kneel down.”
⁷tn Heb “of his hand.”
⁸tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle <a (“if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (see Ps 81:8 and BDB 50). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
⁹tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the following words are spoken by the Lord (see vv. 9-11).
¹⁰sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13, see also Pss 81:7; 106:32). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
¹¹sn The name Massah means “testing.” This was another name (along with Meribah) given to the place where Israel complained following the Red Sea Crossing (see Exod 17:1-7, as well as Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8).
¹²tn Heb “do not harden your heart[s] as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness.”
¹³tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”
¹⁴tn 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.
¹⁵tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
¹⁶tn 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 (se v. 7), wander.
¹⁷tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).
¹⁸sn Psalm 96. The psalmist summons everyone to praise the Lord, the sovereign creator of the world who preserves and promotes justice in the earth.