It was expected that a king be handsome (see the description of Absalom in 2 Sam 14.25), and here the poet describes him in exaggerated terms as the fairest of the sons of men, that is, the most handsome man living; for sons of men see comment on “children of men” in 11.4. The fairest of the sons of men involves a superlative which in some languages is expressed in the following form: “You surpass all men in being fair.” Fairest or “most handsome” must sometimes be rendered as “people like to look at you” or “you are of good appearance.”
The Hebrew grace is poured upon your lips means, as Good News Translation renders it, that the king is “an eloquent speaker” (see New Jerusalem Bible “your speech is endowed with grace”; Bible en français courant “you express yourself elegantly”). The meaning can be “grace pours from your lips” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), which would indicate that he is kindly and considerate in talking to people (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “charm flows from your lips”). It hardly seems likely that the king’s lips themselves are being praised, as New English Bible “your lips are moulded in grace” seems to imply. In some languages “eloquent speaker” is rendered, for example, “you are a man of words” or “you speak the people’s words.”
Revised Standard Version therefore (also New English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) strictly means that God has always blessed the king because of his physical attributes; it seems better to take the Hebrew ʿal-ken as pointing backwards, that is, that the king’s beauty and eloquence are evidence of God’s favor (Briggs); see New Jerusalem Bible and Weiser “for God has blessed you for ever”; Bible en français courant “It is easy to see that God has blessed you forever.” The expression God has blessed you forever is sometimes rendered “God has always given you good things.”
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 .