“He says” (Good News Translation): the Hebrew text does not say to whom God is speaking. But it seems that the imperative Gather to me is addressed to the heavens and the earth, as messengers who are to bring God’s people to judgment (see Briggs); it is highly unlikely that angels are being addressed. My faithful ones: see comments on “godly” in 4.3; here the translation can be “those who are devoted (or, dedicated) to me.”

In Good News Translation Gather occurs as a command. If the translator follows this wording, it will often be necessary to express the one who is being commanded. Since it is not clear that anyone is being told to do the gathering, it will most often be easier to express line a as a request or command to the people themselves; for example, “God says, ‘I want my people to gather to me’ ” or “God says, ‘Let my people come to me.’ ”

The people are described as those who made a covenant with God by sacrifice. This could refer to the original ratification of the covenant (Exo 24.5-8) or to a ceremony in which the covenant was renewed, perhaps during the Festival of Shelters. In some languages covenant is rendered by such terms as “treaty,” “alliance,” or “compact” (see 25.10).

The heavens declare: perhaps this means the heavenly beings; more likely, as in verse 4, heaven is here personified. In some languages one cannot say that The heavens declare or “proclaim.” It is often possible to say, however, “the heavens show that God is righteous.”

The initial conjunction in verse 4b may mean “because” or for (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) instead of “that” (Good News Translation, An American Translation, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). In some languages it will be necessary to shift from a noun phrase to a verb phrase in the expression God himself is judge; for example, “God himself is the one who judges people.”

For Selah see 3.2.

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 .