As a result of Yahweh’s action, the psalmist has a new song (see 33.3 and comments), a song of praise to sing to God. The expression our God is inclusive, that is, it includes the fellow Israelites to whom the psalmist was speaking. He put a new song in my mouth means “He gave me a new song to sing.” Where intelligible and natural, “He placed a new song on my lips (or, in my mouth)” can be an effective translation of the Hebrew.

A song of praise to our God must be recast in many languages to say, for example, “a song which says our God is great” or, if stated in direct discourse, “a song whose words say ‘God, you are great.’ ”

The result of the psalmist’s experience on those who hear about it is that they will see and fear. (In Hebrew there is an effective alliteration: yiru … yirau.) This act of seeing probably is to be understood as a reference to the public recital in the Temple (notice our God in verse 3b) of what Yahweh has done for the psalmist. The psalmist’s fellow worshipers will be filled with fear, awe, the proper reverence for God that all his people should have (see 34.7, 9). Bible en français courant translates and fear as a separate line, “they will recognize the authority of the Lord.”

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 .