In these two verses the various attributes of Yahweh are praised (see similar lists in 33.4-5; 35.5-6, and the comments there): deliverance (tsedeq; see comments on “right” in 4.1); saving help (tsedaqah; see comments on “righteousness” in 5.8); faithfulness (ʾemunah; see 36.5); salvation (teshuʿah; see related noun “deliverance” in 3.8, and the related verb “help” in 12.1); steadfast love (chesed; see comments on 5.7); and faithfulness or “truth” (ʾemeth; see comment on “truth” in 15.2). These are not mutually exclusive qualities; their meanings overlap, and they are all expressive of Yahweh’s constant commitment to the covenant he made with his people always to love, bless, and protect them.

The great congregation (verses 9b, 10d) is the people of Israel assembled for worship in the Temple (see 22.25; 35.18). The great congregation may sometimes be rendered “your people who meet to worship you” or “the great meeting of your people in worship.”

In various ways the psalmist declares his firm resolve ever to proclaim Yahweh’s saving help. I have told (verse 9a); I have not restrained my lips (verse 9c); I have not hid … within my heart (verse 10a), meaning “I have not kept it a secret”; I have spoken (verse 10b); I have not concealed (verse 10c). Many languages will express verse 10a in a form more closely parallel to the Hebrew than to the Good News Translation; for example, “I have not kept silently in my heart that you save your people.” Thy faithfulness and thy salvation must often be rendered as verb phrases; for example, “I have always told people how you are faithful to your people and how you help them.” In the same way thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness must often be recast in some such ways as “how you are always loyal to your people and how you always love them faithfully.”

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 .