Verse 17a thou art the glory of their strength seems to mean “You give them your wonderful strength” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch); glory translates the same word used in 71.8; 78.61 (see comments there). New Jerusalem Bible (similarly New English Bible) translates “You are their strength in which they glory”; another possible version is “Their splendor and their strength come from you” (similarly Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New International Version); Bible en français courant “You are their sovereign strength.” Dahood “you are our glorious triumph” is like Good News Translation. It may be that the line means that Israel’s power and her fame come from Yahweh, parallel with line b “in your love you make us triumphant” (literally our horn is exalted; see 75.4).
Good News Translation uses the first person plural “us” in verse 17a in place of the third person (Revised Standard Version their), to make the line consistent with line b, which uses the first person, our. Good News Translation‘s “You give us great victories” must be recast in some languages to say, for example, “You powerfully enable us to defeat our enemies.”
In verse 18a the two lines are synonymous: “For to Yahweh (is) our shield, to the Holy One of Israel (is) our king.” As shield the king is the protector of Israel (see discussion under 47.9; 84.9). Good News Translation understands the Hebrew “is to” or belongs to (Revised Standard Version) to mean that it was Yahweh who chose and gave the people of Israel their king; it is in this sense that the king “belongs to” Yahweh. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, however, takes the verse to mean “Our protector is the Lord! Our king is the Holy One of Israel” (so New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). It seems better to follow Good News Translation here. Good News Translation has recast the verb structures into active verbs, thus providing a good model for many translations.
For a discussion of the Holy One of Israel, see 71.22.
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 .