Turning from Yahweh’s goodness to him personally, the psalmist now describes the qualities of Yahweh as revealed in his relation to the people of Israel. First there is the manifestation of his righteousness and justice toward the oppressed. In verse 6 the psalmist uses the plural of tsedeq and mishpat (see 4.1; 7.6), perhaps to stress the various deeds of the LORD in favor of his people. New Jerusalem Bible translates “executes righteous acts and judgments,” and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates the verse “The LORD accomplishes deeds of justice, he does what is right to all who are exploited.” But it is not necessary to use a plural in translation; see Revised Standard Version and Dahood, vindication and justice. All who are oppressed is sometimes rendered as “those who have no rights,” “people who have no power,” or “those who have no one to defend them.”

The righteousness of Yahweh is manifest also in his relation to the people of Israel (verse 7), who saw “his mighty deeds,” primarily the great acts of salvation (verse 7b). The ways which he revealed to Moses (verse 7a) were his will, his purpose, his plans, for the people of Israel. He made known his ways to Moses may be recast to say, for example, “he showed Moses what he planned to do.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .