Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42 introduces Book II of the Psalter . Originally, Psalms 42 and 43 were a unified psalm because: 

1. Together they complete the motifs of a lament psalm.

2. Psalm 43 uniquely in Books II and III lacks a superscript.

3. Most significantly, the same refrain occurs at the end of their five verse stanzas, apart from a center line (42:8).

The psalm was already divided into two psalms in the Elohistic Psalter (Pss 42–84) if its composition of forty-two psalms is significant . The petition motif of Psalm 43 was probably separated from the lament motif of Psalm 42 for liturgical reasons (cf. Ps 70 with 40:13–18).

The content and structure of the original lament psalm (Pss 42–43) at a glance:

Superscript

I. Stanza I: 42:1–5

A. Lament: 1–4

1. Yearns to Appear before God: 1–2

2. People Mock His Religion: 3–4

B. Confidence: Self-Admonition to Hope in God: 5

II. Stanza II: 42:6–11

A. Lament: 6–7, 9–10

1. Downcast by Memory of Festivals: 6–7

X. The LORD Constantly “Commands” His Love: 8

2. Forgotten by God: 9–10

B. Confidence: Self-Admonition to Hope in God: 11

III. Stanza III: 43:1–5

A. Petitions: 43:1–4

1. Vindicate Me: 1–2

2. Restore Me to the Temple: 3–4

B. Confidence: Self-Admonition to Hope in God: 5

Postscript: Psalm 44: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 41 .

“A Maskil.” See 32:1.

“Of the sons of Korah” (see 1Chr 6:22; also Pss 42–49, 84–85, 87).

The sons of Korah love and celebrate Mount Zion (Pss 42–43, 46–48, 84, 87). The psalms “by the sons of Korah” had to be identified as such because the father, Korah, rebelled against Moses and Aaron (Num 16), whereas Korah’s sons, as their psalms testify, remained loyal to the Mosaic covenant. Moreover, they love and celebrate Mount Zion (42–43, 46–48, 84, 87). However, the Korahite priest who composed this psalm is barred from going to the Zion festivals (42:4; 43:3) by the “unfaithful nation” (43:1), probably the apostate Northern Kingdom, for he is restricted near the source of the Jordan River (see 42: 4, 6).

The motif of confidence in this petition psalm  dominates. In the refrains, he admonishes his soul to wait expectantly for God to answer his petitions. In a striking center line (42:8, the key verse), he breaks the fourth wall and proclaims to us that the LORD, Israel’s covenant-keeping God, constantly assures him of his steadfast love. This is the psalm’s message. His refusal to succumb to despair is so dominant that it morphs his formal lament psalm into a thematic psalm of confident hope, a song at night that dispels the darkness.

Today, the true Church is exiled in a world that mocks her faith in God. But she knows the love of God in Christ Jesus and determines to live in the hope of seeing Christ face to face. His resurrection and ascension vindicate that hope.

Lament: 1–4

Yearns to Appear before God: 1–2

“As” a “deer pants for flowing stream” to survive, “so my soul (i.e., his appetites, see 6:3) [pants] for you, O God” (see 16:1); more specifically, his “soul thirsts . . . to go and appear before God” in the temple liturgy (cf. Exod 29:42ff; 30:6; see Ps 63:1–2; 84:2, 5–7; Jonah 2:4).

People Mock His Religion: 3–4

“My tears (see 6:6) have been my” toxic “food day and night,” a merism for constantly, “while [people]” mockingly “say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’” His sorrow and reproach are unrelenting. “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul (see 62:8): how I would go with the throng . . . a multitude keeping festival” (cf. Exod 12:14; Num 29:12).

Confidence: Self-Admonition to Hope in God: 5

“Why”—an expostulation—”are you downcast?”¹⁹⁶ “Hope (see 3:24) in God, for I shall again praise . . . my God.” God’s gift of faith in the core of his being admonishes his soul to hope its appetites will be satisfied in a better tomorrow.

Lament: 6–7, 9–10

Downcast by Memory of Festivals: 6–7

“My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will (volitional) remember you, while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan and the Hermon range, at Mount Mizmar” (“Small Mountain,” translation mine). “Small Mountain” may be an ironic belittling of Mount Hermon before mighty Mount Zion (48:2; 68:15ff; Isa 2:2). If not, its location in the Hermon range is unknown. Barred from the Zion festivals, the exiled priest revives his downcast soul by recalling them. But the contrast between his memory and his reality depresses him. Instead of having his thirst quenched, “deep (i.e., the ocean depths, symbolic of chaos) calls to deep [in] the roar of your waterfalls,” a gruesome reversal of the joyful antiphonal singing at the temple. The roar of waterfalls can be heard in the sources of the Jordan River at the base of Mount Hermon. As Jonah was overwhelmed in the ocean, so the psalmist’s psyche is overwhelmed in despair by his unrelenting chaotic situation: “all your breakers and waves have gone over me” (cf. Jonah 2:3b). God, not Chance or some greater Power, has brought about his awful situation.

Center Line: The LORD Constantly “Commands” His Love: 8

“By day the LORD commands his steadfast love” (see 5:7) to go forth “to him.” His unrelenting faith in the LORD’s love is commanded by God in his sovereign grace, not a decision of his own will (cf. John 1:13; Eph 4:8; Rom 8:35–39). Assured of God’s love, “at night his song is with me,” vis-à-vis, “a prayer to the God of my life” (see 17:1), which pants for God’s presence (see 17:1).

Forgotten by God: 9–10

“I say (volitional) to God my Rock (see 18:3), ‘Why’—a rhetorical expostulation—’have you forgotten me (i.e., not come to my aid)?’ ‘Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy,’” echoed in 43:2b. “My bones (see 6:2) suffer mortal agony” (NIV).

Confidence: Self-Admonition to Hope in God: 11

See verse 5.

Petitions: 43:1–4

Vindicate Me: 1–2

“Vindicate me (i.e., “exercise your authority and render a just decision that punishes the wrong-doers and rewards the innocent”), O God, and defend my cause” (Hebrew rîb, an oral complaint against a party for a grievance) by answering prayer “against an unfaithful nation” (lō’ [“not”] hāsîd [see 4:3]; cf. Hos 4:1) by rescuing “me from the deceitful (see 5:6) and wicked (see 37:1) man,” presumably the leader of the enemy (43:2). “For you are the God in whom I take refuge . . . Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” Though facts contradict his faith (43:2; see 22:1), he perseveres (43:3–5).

Restore Me to the Temple: 3–4

“Send me your light (see 36:9) and your truth” (i.e., what is true to your own character and promises [see 19:2; 25:10; cf. 42:8]; cf. John 14:6). Using personification, he prays, “let them lead me (see 23:4); let them bring me to your holy mountain (see 2:6), to the place where you dwell (NIV; see 26:8).” “Then I will go to the altar” to offer the sacrifice of praise  “. . . I will praise you” with the accompanying word of praise.

Confidence: Self-Admonition to Hope in God: 5

See 42:5.

The content and structure of this complaint psalm  at a glance:

Superscript

I. Confidence and Praise: 1–8 (ten lines)

A. Recital of Salvation History: 1–3

B. Confession of Faith: 4–8

1. Confession of Faith in God: 4–5

2. Rejection of Faith in Weapons: 6–7

3. Conclusion: Israel’s Everlasting Praise of God: 8

II. Lament: 9–16 (eight lines)

A. Defeated by the Enemy: 9–12

1. Literal Account: 9–10

2. Metaphorical Account: 11–12

B. Humiliated by the Enemy: 13–16

1. Nation’s Humiliation: 13–14

2. King’s Humiliation: 15–16

III. Protest: 17–22 (six lines)

A. Assertion of Innocence: 17–19

B. Proof of Innocence: 20–22

IV. Petitions: 23–26 (four lines)

A. Wake Up: 23–24

B. Redeem Us: 25–26

Postscript: Psalm 45: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 42–43.

“Of the Sons of Korah. A Maskil.” See Psalm 42–43: superscript.

The Levites put their inspired song into the mouth of the king of Israel.

In Psalm 44,¹⁹⁷ the number of lines of Hebrew poetry per stanza, identified by the motifs of a complaint psalm , decreases by two: ten, eight, six, four. Ridderbos¹⁹⁸ argues this is intentionally structured to resemble a Babylonian temple ziggurat, a pyramidal structure with an ascending stairway to a shrine at the summit, where petitions were offered. Each stanza consists of two strophes of equal length, and these can be further analyzed into pairs of equal length or balanced moieties. This symmetry discloses the psalmist’s spiritual harmony in cognitive cacophony.

The first three stanzas end with couplets mentioning “all day long” (44:8, 15, 22), yielding the paradox that Israel praises God all day long, while they are being put to death. Praise and protest in the Psalter are not opposing voices, but a duet of true faith.

This prayer for martyrs was sung antiphonally by the people (cf. “we”/“our”/“us”; e.g., 44:1–3) and probably the king (cf. “I”/“my”/“me”; e.g., 44:4, 6, 15) after a devastating defeat on the battlefield. Its message: the blessings and curses of the Law are not a tidy and simplistic quid pro quo in this life; before blessings, the faithful may suffer undeservedly, even to death (cf. Gen 3:15), as Abel and Christ did (Matt 23:35; cf. Heb 5:7–8; 12:4). Moberly comments, “the experience of anguish and puzzlement in the life of faith is not a sign of deficient faith, something to be outgrown or put behind one, but is intrinsic to the very nature of faith”¹⁹⁹ (cf. 2Cor 4:8–11).

Jesus Christ exemplified that faith (see Ps 22:1), and Paul cited this psalm to claim that through Christ, martyrs are more than conquerors (Rom 8:35–37; 2Cor 4:7ff). The martyrs of Psalm 44 laid hold of God’s sovereignty, omniscience, and steadfast love.

Recital of Salvation History: 1–3

“We . . . us” shows that saints successfully pass on the trustworthy and spiritually nourishing tradition of salvation history from generation to generation (cf. Exod 10:2; Deut 6:6–9; 32:7; Prov 4:1–9; Rom 10:17).

“You . . . drove out the nations” looks back to the conquest of the land (Josh 1–12), “but them you planted” recalls its settlement (Josh 13–19). These saving acts are due to the Gardener. Emphatically, “you with your own hand” planted the choicest slip as a vine that later spread outs its branches over the entire land. The nation is a shadow of the true Vine, Jesus Christ, and the branches are a type of the Church (John 15:1–6), which today covers every continent.

Joshua’s army used swords, but it was “not by their own sword” that dried up the swollen Jordan (Josh 3–4) or felled the walls of Jericho (cf. Josh 6:1–21; 10:11–14; 24:12). Human effort can no more explain Israel’s dispossession of seven nations greater than they, with cities walled up to the heavens (Deut 9:1), than human power can explain the victory of Christian lambs over mighty Rome. God’s people possessed the land because its Owner in sovereign grace “favored them” (NAB).

Confession of Faith: 4–8

God’s fidelity to his covenant promises in the past pertains as much to the present and future.

Confession of Faith in God: 4–5

First the king (44:4) and then the people (44:5) confess their faith. Another emphatic “you” (alone) introduces the second strophe. “My King” signifies the king’s acceptance of the God of Jacob as having final and absolute authority (Deut 33:2–5). “Through you”—the source of Israel’s strength (18:2)—”we gore” (translation mine, Deut 33:17) pictures Israel as having horns, symbols of invincible weapons (cf. Ps 148:14; Ezek 29:21). In Revelation 5:6 the Lamb has seven horns; paradoxically, the most submissive One possesses absolute power. “Through your name” (see Ps 5:11) signifies to recognize his authority, directions, and empowerment, and to act in union and communion with him.

Rejection of Faith in Weapons: 6–7

Again, first the king (I, 44:6) and then the people (we, 44:7) reject faith in weapons. The poet now validates that God alone gives victory by rejecting the secular alternative of trust in “their own arm.” “You have saved us,” better translated “you save” us (3:7), shows God does not change.

Conclusion: Israel’s Everlasting Praise of God: 8

“O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name” (NLT²⁰⁰).

With a sustained rhythm and a manifold “you” introducing the first six verses of the second stanza, the psalmist blames God for orchestrating Israel’s defeat (44:9–12) and humiliation (44:13–16). The inclusio “disgrace” (44:9, 15) frames the stanza.

Defeated by the Enemy: 9–12

Literal Account: 9–10

“Rejected and disgraced us” stands opposed to God’s favor to the fathers. “Our armies” signifies the tribal militia who serve not of their own volition but as required by a superior. Paradoxically, the God who drafted them did “not go into battle with them” (NET). “Have taken spoil” refers to the articles and food supplies left behind by the fleeing troops (e.g., Num 31:32–54).

Metaphorical Account: 11–12

The dead soldiers are pictured as butchered “sheep” and the survivors as exiled slaves “among the nations.” “Scattered” implies a defeat so devastating that none survives to take root again. “You sold your people for a pittance” (NIV) signifies the enemy suffered almost no casualties.

Humiliated by the Enemy: 13–16

The catchword “taunt” fames the strophe.

Nation’s Humiliation: 13–14

“You . . . neighbors” from whom one might expect sympathetic support. “Derision and scorn” connotes the defeat was so lopsided it was comical (see 2:4), and “a byword among the nations” signifies Israel’s army became an exemplar of absurd impotence. “A laughingstock” (lit. “wagging their heads”), symbolic of schadenfreude (22:7; Isa 37:22), the enemy unwittingly typified the tormentors of Jesus Christ (Matt 27:27–44).

King’s Humiliation: 15–16

“My (the king’s) disgrace” (i.e., his inner feelings of being held in contempt and of isolation [see 44:16]) “is before me” (i.e., the derisive mob around him). As a result, “my face is covered with shame” (NIV; i.e., he blushes crimson red). “The avenger” signifies the enemy’s dependence upon themselves, not God (see 8:2).

The stanza exhibits alternating moieties, each beginning with a couplet wherein the people testify to their covenant fidelity (44:17ff, 20ff) and ending with a single verse beginning with kî (“but,” “yet”) “you” (44:19, 22).

Assertion of Innocence: 17–19

“We had not forgotten (i.e., dismembered from a former allegiance) . . . your covenant” as fully explicated in the Book of the Law (Deut 5–26). “Our heart (see Ps 7:9; cf. Deut 6:5) had not turned back,” and consequently “our steps had not strayed from your path” (NIV; i.e., their behavior conformed precisely to the stipulations of the covenant). “But you (see 44:9–16) have broken us in the place of jackals,” which cry mournfully in desolate places.

Proof of Innocence: 20–22

“If we had forgotten (see 44:17) the name of our God,” a revelation of his essential being, “or spread out our hands,” a gesture of prayer, “to a foreign (i.e., outside the kin group) god” involves an exchange of confidence and so entails a deep commitment and connection to a god opposed to Israel’s living God. “Would not God search this out” (JPS) is a metonymy of cause for God rebuking the sinful nation, as happened in Joshua’s catastrophic defeat at Ai (Josh 7:10–12). The rhetorical question explicitly asserts “he knows the secrets of the heart” and implies that he is too good not to censor the people if they were derelict. God’s silence proves their claim of having pure hearts. “Yet . . . we are regarded,” or evaluated, “as sheep to be slaughtered” (see 44:11). This assertion is true because the inspired poet knows the mind of God (1Cor 2:11). Yet, we know God is good and not sadistic; his purpose sometimes remains mysterious.

Wake Up: 23–24

Rhetorical and accusatory “why” links the stanza’s verses. The fervent imperative “awake . . . Lord” aims to rouse the Sovereign from his slumber. In doctrine God does not sleep (cf. 121:4), but in religious activity he requires fervent prayer to energize him to saving acts (Jas 5:16b–18). So also, the disciples had to rouse Christ from his sleep when storm waves threatened to swamp their boat and drown them (Matt 8:23–27). “Do not reject us forever” (i.e., in perpetuity without limits) looks back to verse 9. “Hide your face” (i.e., prevent yourself from seeing and taking pity) is a second metaphor for signifying indifference.

Redeem Us: 25–26

“We collapse in the dust” (NLT) symbolizes their abject humiliation, not their punishment. “Rise up” reprises Moses’s old war cry (Num 10:15; cf. Pss 7:6; 12:5). “Our help” entails that God has sufficient ability to give them relief. “Redeem us (see Ps 25:22) . . . because of your steadfast love” (see 5:7).

“To the choirmaster.”  The postscript entails that the Sovereign answered the closing pleas.

The content and structure of this royal psalm , unique both in addressing a human being and in its structure, at a glance:

Superscript

I. Author and Theme: 1

II. Praise of Royal Bridegroom and His Bride: 2–16

A. Praise of the Bridegroom: 2–9

1. Most Excellent of Men: 2

2. Instruction: Gain Splendor in Battle for Righteousness: 3–5

3. Splendor of the King: 6–9

B. Praise of His Gentile Bride: 10–15

1. Instruction: Honor the King and Gain Gifts: 10–12

2. Splendor of the Bride: 13–15

C. Royal Princes Will Rule the Earth: 16

III. Dedication of Poem to Honor King: 17

Postscript: Psalm 46: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 44 .

“Of the sons of Korah. A Maskil.” See Psalm 44: superscript. “A love song.”

The poet’s autobiographical comments on his reverence for the king frame the psalm (45:1, 17), and within it a single verse on God’s blessings on him and hope for his sons also frames the eulogy (45:2, 16). This laudatory wedding song consists of addresses to the royal bridegroom (45:3–9) and to his queen consort (45:10–15) in an alternating pattern of instruction (45:3–5, 10–12) and of praise (45:6–9, 13–15). The king’s marriage to a Gentile bride bespeaks his prestige and power among the nations. Indeed, the poet instructs him to conquer the nations to establish universal justice that his disposition embodies (45:3–7).

The inspired poet carries the ideal king in his heart and places his generic wedding song as a majestic, magnificent robe upon the royal bridegroom in the House of David. His aim is to so exalt the king’s splendor that his name will be remembered forever (45:17, the key verse). His ideal is no less than the Messiah. Though sung at every king’s wedding, the ideal challenges every royal groom to aspire to the ideal. But no pre-exilic king, the heir of the Davidic covenant, had shoulders broad enough to fill the poet’s ideal. In the post-exilic period, when Israel had no king, they held the royal robe for the coming Messiah. The writer of Hebrews says verses 6–7 are about God’s Son (Heb 1:8ff), also the son of David (cf. Rom 1:3ff). The psalm’s internal evidence supports this conclusion.

Jesus Messiah fulfills the wedding song. Christ spoke with amazing grace (see 45:2; Luke 4:22; John 7:46), and he goes forth in the body of his Church (Col 1:24) that is clothed with God’s own armor (see Ps 45:3–5; Eph 6:10–18) to establish his kingdom where righteousness is realized (Matt 28:18–20). He is the incarnate image of God (see 45:6, Col 1:15; Heb 1:3) to whom God gave a Gentile bride (see 45:10; Rom 11:13; Eph 5:32; Rev 19:7; 22:17); she worships him as Son of God (Matt 16:16) and calls him Lord (see 45:11; Rom 10:9). In sum, the name that is remembered through all generations is “The Lord Jesus Christ.”

“My heart (see 7:10) is stirred by a noble theme” (NIV), to wit, the king’s “personal beauty, the justice of his government, the success of his arms, the glory of his kingdom.”²⁰¹ Here is the king worthy to rule the world. “I address my verses to the king” as part of the palace wedding ceremony and to be overheard by the guests; “my tongue is like the pen of a skillful scribe” (NIV; i.e., well-educated). Israel’s poets of royal psalms are the most poetically gifted “by far . . . among all peoples of the Ancient Near East.”²⁰²

Praise of the Bridegroom: 2–9

Most Excellent of Men: 2

“You are the most handsome of the sons of men” (cf. Isa 33:17). “Grace is poured upon your lips” by God (NKJ; cf. Eccl 10:12); he rules by persuasion, not brute force. “Therefore God has blessed you forever.”

Instruction: Gain Splendor in Battle for Righteousness: 3–5

As Israel’s “mighty one” (i.e., champion; see 19:6), he is to prepare for battle: “gird your sword,” symbolic of killing in war; then “ride out” in a war chariot drawn by horses—”for the cause of truth.” “Your arrows are sharp and penetrate the hearts of the king’s” proud and unrighteous “enemies” (NET). “The peoples fall under you” is the Bible’s central theme.²⁰³

Splendor of the King: 6–9

On the one hand, in connection with “your throne,” his title “God” signifies that he is God’s representative judge (cf. Exod 7:1; 21:6; 22:8; Judg 5:8). On the other hand, in connection with his superiority to sons of men (Ps 45:2, 7), the title signifies that he possesses untarnished in very being God’s communicable attributes, including truth, justice, and mercy (cf. Rom 9:5). “Is forever and ever” fulfills the Davidic covenant (2Sam 7:16). “The scepter (see Ps 2:9) of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness,” a metonymy for “justice” or “rectitude,” and “will be the scepter of your kingdom.” “You love (see 11:7) righteousness (5:8) and hate wickedness” (1:1). “Therefore God (see 16:10), your God” subordinates the Messiah to God (cf. John 10:29; 14:28; 1Cor 15:28), but the predicate, “has anointed you with the oil of joy”—not of consecration to office (Ps 2:2)—that sets you “above” or “apart from” “your companions” (i.e., the other dignified guests), exalts him above ordinary humankind.

“All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia,” perfumes from great distances, such as India, prized and displayed as part of a king’s treasury (2Kgs 20:13). “At your right hand,” the symbol of power and might, is “the royal bride in the gold of Ophir” (location uncertain), a janus to the next stanza.

Praise of His Gentile Bride: 10–15

Instruction: Honor the King and Gain Gifts: 10–12

“Hear, O daughter” is the language of a sage addressing his son (cf. Prov 1:8; 2:1; passim). His admonition “forget” (see Ps 9:17; 44:17)—like Ruth—”your . . . father’s house” (cf. Gen 12:1) reflects the common practice in the ancient Near East of political marriages (e.g., 1Kgs 3:1; cf. 2Cor 11:2). “Let the king be enthralled by your beauty” (NIV; cf. Prov 5:18ff). “Since he is your lord” (cf. 1Pet 3:5ff). “The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people” (cf. Isa 23; Ezek 26:1–28:19).

Splendor of the Bride: 13–15

“She is led to the king, . . . they enter the palace of the king,” where the marriage will be consummated.

Royal Princes Will Rule the Earth: 16

“In place of your (masculine, the king’s) fathers” in the house of David “shall be your sons.” “You will make them princes (i.e., rulers) throughout the earth” (KJV; cf. 45:5, 17; Heb 2:10a, 13).

The poet dedicates his poem to the royal bridegroom: “I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations.” He doesn’t name him because it was used as a generic wedding song. The ideal, however, becomes reality in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 2:9–11).

“For the choirmaster.” Psalm 46: superscript.

The content and structure of this song of Zion at a glance:

Superscript

I. Confidence and Refrain: 1–7

A. People’s Confession of Faith in God in Natural Disaster: 1–3

B. Promise to the People of Deliverance in Political Disaster: 4–6

1. A River Gladdens the City of God: 4

2. Kingdoms Are Toppled but Not the City of God: 5–6

C. Refrain: 7

II. Prophetic Oracle and Refrain: 8–11

A. Prophetic Oracle: “Be Still”: 8–10

1. God Makes War Cease by Bringing Desolations: 8–9

2. Be Still and Know That the LORD Is God: 10

B. Refrain: 11

Postscript: Psalm 47: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 45.

“Of the Sons of Korah.” See Psalm 42: superscript. “According to Alamoth” (“virgins”; cf. 1Chr 15:20). “A song,” perhaps sung antiphonally.

Psalm 46 celebrates the LORD’s protective presence in Zion (cf. 46:1, 4, 5, 7, 11). God’s miraculous destruction of nations attacking Zion augers that Zion’s God will ultimately crush them. That vision is successively expanded in Psalms 46 and 47.

Possibly the destruction of Sennacherib’s army (701 BC) inspired the psalm (Isa 36–37). Zion’s miraculous deliverance is a pledge of the LORD’s kingship over all nations and of universal peace (Ps 46:9–10). That vision will be expanded in Psalms 47 and 48 (see also Ps 76).

The refrain “the LORD of hosts is with us” (46:7, 11), plus Selah, divides the psalm into a song of confidence (46:1–6) and a prophecy (46:8–10). In the former, the people confess that God is their refuge even in cosmic catastrophe (46:1–3), and an anonymous singer responds that God is their protector in political upheaval (46:4–6). A Selah after verse 3 divides the psalm into three parts of equal length (46:1–3, 4–6, 8–10). The refrain is the psalm’s message and key verse.

Psalm 46 inspired Martin Luther’s majestic hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” That hymn rightly identifies Zion with the Church, and God with Jesus Christ (cf. 45:6; Matt 28:20). The psalm envisions the eschatological Messianic age when war will cease. At his first advent Christ inaugurated that new age, and at his Parousia he will consummate it (cf. Isa 2:2–4; Mic 4:1–4).

People’s Confession of Faith in Natural Disaster: 1–3

“God is our refuge and strength” and so a place to run to “in trouble” (Prov 18:10). The Jerusalemites “will not fear” even in the worst of all scenarios: “though the earth (cf. Gen 1:9–11) gives way and the mountains (i.e., the pillars of the earth [Ps 18:7]) be moved (Hebrew verb môṭ, “be toppled”) into the heart (i.e., extending beyond visible horizons) of the sea” (i.e., the original abyss, symbolic of chaos). “Though its waters roar (Hebrew verb hāmāh) and foam and the mountains quake at its swelling pride” (NAS). The surging waters symbolize death and chaos (see Gen 1:2) and the mountains, a synecdoche for the earth, symbolize life. The mountains quake before slipping into the sea. Death and chaos may overwhelm life and order for an instant (Jer 4:23–28), but not forever. The catchwords hāmāh (“roar”/“uproar”) and môṭ (“fall”/“be moved,” cf. 46:6) suggest that the natural catastrophe (46:2–3) symbolizes political upheaval. The imagery illuminates the Creator’s protection of Zion, where his protective presence resides forever (see 46:4–6; 2:6).

Promise to the People of Deliverance in Political Disaster: 4–6

An anonymous singer responds.

A River Gladdens the City of God: 4

The roaring sea is contrasted with a “river whose streams make glad the city of God.” The poet may be alluding to the river that flowed from the top of the mountain of the Garden of Eden—a walled-off area where God dwelt and so a temple—with such abundant water that it became the headwater for four rivers that fructified the earth.²⁰⁴ This scene of the Garden of Eden may explain the origin of an Assyrian relief that depicts a temple on the top of a mountain surrounded by a park.²⁰⁵ A river flows from the back of a temple at a forty-five-degree angle through the park with channels of water branching off it to water the entire garden (see 1:3).²⁰⁶ Such a river also informs Ezekiel’s vision of the river that flows from the eschatological temple (Ezek 47). If this interpretation is right, the river and its streams are an incomplete metaphor signifying the abundant blessings that flow from God. How “glad” is “the city” that replaced Eden as the dwelling place of “the Most High” (see 7:17).

“God is in the midst of her; she shall not fall” (môṭ, “be toppled”). The promise “God will help her (see 46:2) at break of day” (cf. Isa 37:36) echoes the Exodus (Exod 14:27). The scenic depiction depicts the hope of a new day, dispelling the darkness and danger of night.

Kingdoms Are Toppled but Not the City of God: 5–6

“Nations (see 2:2) are in uproar” (NIV; hāmāh; see 46:3) as were the surging seas; “kingdoms fall” (môṭ, “be toppled”; see 46:2), as did the mountains. The Most High is the ultimate cause of both cosmic and political catastrophes: “he lifts his voice” (i.e., “thunders,” the symbol of divine judgment [cf. 18:8; 76:8]) over the uproar, and “the earth (see 46:2) melts” (cf. 97:4–5).

Refrain: 7

The people respond in faith to the word of assurance: “the LORD  of Heavenly Armies (NLT; cf. 1Kgs 22:19) is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (lit. “our impregnable, secure height”). God is not neutral.

A prophet now speaks for God (46:10).

Prophetic Oracle: “Be Still”: 8–10

God Makes War Cease by Bringing Desolations: 8–9

“Come (in imagination) and see (with insight; cf. John 1:46) . . . the desolations he has brought on the earth” (cf. Isa 10:5–11; 36:18–20; 37:11–13). Salvation history teaches the faithful to hope. “He makes wars cease to the end of the earth,” a promise consummated in the last days (cf. Isa 2:2–4).

Be Still and Know That the LORD Is God: 10

“Be still” is not applicable to all circumstances (contrast Exod 14:14 with Josh 3; 1Sam 17), but to depend on him in every circumstance is (cf. Hab 2:20). The recognition formula “and know that I am God”is used for God’s miraculous interventions.²⁰⁷

Refrain: 11

See verse 7.

“For the choirmaster” (Psalm 47: superscript).

Psalm 47 expands the vision of God exalted among the nations (46:10).

The content and structure of this hymn at a glance:

Superscript

I. All Peoples to Praise God as the Great King through Israel’s Rule: 1–4

A. Summons and Reason: 1–2

1. Summons: All Peoples to Praise God: 1

2. Reason: The LORD Is the Great King: 2

B. Explanation: 3–4

1. The LORD Subdued Nations under Israel: 3

2. The LORD Elected Israel: 4

X. The Preeminent Moment: God Ascends His Throne: 5

II. All Peoples to Praise God’s Reign as His People: 6–9

A. Summons and Reason: 6–7

1. Summons: All Peoples to Praise Israel’s King: 6

2. Reason: God Is King of All the Earth: 7

B. Explanation: 8–9

1. God Sits Enthroned: 8

2. Rulers Assemble as His People: 9

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 46 

“Of the sons of Korah” (see Ps 42: superscript)

“A psalm” 

The repeated, alternating motifs of a hymn (47:1–4, 6–9) are structured around a center line (47:5), the psalm’s message and key verse.

Remembering when David brought up the ark to Jerusalem as a present event, the psalm envisions that enthronement as inaugurating an unprecedented, universal new world order under the rule of God through Israel. The vision finds its fulfillment in the ascension of Jesus Christ to his heavenly throne (Acts 2:31) from which he has extended his kingdom globally through his church (Matt 28:18–20; Acts 28:31); it will find its consummation in Christ’s Parousia (Rev 19:11–22:15). So the hymn summons the Church to praise the Great King, the Lord Jesus Christ, who turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).

Summons and Reason: 1–2

Summons: All Peoples to Praise God: 1

The summons “All,” the first and last words in Hebrew text, frames the couplet and refers to the LORD’s universal rule. The summons to “all peoples” infers they are righteous (see 47:9; cf. 33:1). “Clap your hands” is part of the enthronement ritual (cf. 2Kgs 11:12; 98:8). They are to praise enthusiastically: “with loud songs of joy.”

Reason: The LORD Is the Great King: 2

“For the LORD Most High (see 46:5) is to be feared” and so obeyed (see 19:9). “A great king” (see 5:2; cf. Isa 36:4; cf. Matt 5:35).

Explanation: 3–4

The LORD Subdued Nations under Israel: 3

God “subdued peoples under us” (i.e., Israel) to establish a kingdom where people love God and one another (see 96:1; 97:1; 98:4; 100:1; 114:7). 

The LORD Elected Israel: 4

That “he chose our heritage (i.e., Canaan; see 33:12) for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved” (cf. Deut 4:37; Mal 1:2ff; Rom 9:6–18), divulges that Israel’s mediatorial role (Gen 12:1–3; Exod 19:4ff) is due to sovereign grace, not to her merit (Deut 32:8).

X. THE PREEMINENT MOMENT: GOD ASCENDS HIS THRONE: 5

The pivotal single line features the king’s ascension. “God has ascended” or ascends “amidst . . . the sound of a trumpet” (cf. 98:6; 1Kgs 1:34; 1Cor 15:52). This crucial verse repeats almost verbatim the historic account of the inauguration of God as king in Jerusalem (see 2Sam 6:15).²⁰⁸ The historic moment is presented as a present reality, even in Christmas carols such as “O Come All Ye Faithful,” which represents the birth of Christ as a present event . “All” nations (47:8), however, coincides with Old Testament prophecy (e.g., Isa 2:2–4; Mic 5:1–15; Dan 2:44), not with its history. Christ in his kingdom inaugurated this universal kingdom in his ascension (Acts 1–2) and fulfills the prophecy.

Summons and Reason: 6–7

Summons: All Peoples to Praise Israel’s King: 6

“Sing praises” frames both versets for a total of four times around the Hebrew words “to God” and “our King.” The singing is accompanied with clapping hands and shouts of joy (47:2).

Reason: God Is King of All the Earth: 7

“For God is king of all the earth” (see 47:2). To exuberance in praise is added excellence: “a well-written song” (NET; or “with understanding” or “skillfully”; cf. 33:3).

Explanation: God Sits Enthroned as Rulers Assemble as His People: 8–9

God Sits Enthroned: 8

Having ascended to his throne over the Ark of the Covenant (47:5)—a type of Christ’s ascension to the right hand of God in heaven (see Ps 110)—”God sits on his holy (see 2:6) throne.”

Rulers Assemble as His People: 9

“The princes (or “nobles”; i.e., the powerful and respected members of a king’s court) . . . assemble as the people of the God of Abraham” (cf. Gen 12:3; Rom 4:11; Gal 3:7–9, 29). “Shields” is a metonymy for kings. The hymn concludes with a powerful military term: “exalted.”

The content and structure of this song of Zion at a glance:

Superscript

I. Zion: Where the Whole World Praises the Great King: 1–3

II. Zion: Where God Destroyed Kings and Is Praised Forever: 4–11

A. Zion: Where God Destroyed Kings: 4–7

X. Israel’s Confession: God Makes Zion Secure Forever: 8

B. Zion: Where God Is Praised Universally for His Love and Righteousness: 9–11

III. Zion: Greatness and Its Shepherd King to Be Told to Generations: 12–14

Postscript: Psalm 49: superscript

“A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah” (see Ps 42: superscript).

The perspectives change from stanza to stanza in a chiastic pattern around the center line, the key verse and the message of the psalm (48:8):

A. Psalmist Addresses the Congregation: 1–3

B. Psalmist Addresses God: 4–7

X. Congregation Breaks Fourth Wall and Confesses Their Faith: 8

B.’ Congregation Addresses God: 9–11

A.’ Psalmist Addresses Congregation: 12–14

As Psalm 47 expanded 46:10, so Psalm 48 expands Psalm 47—both structured around a center line. Psalm 47 celebrated the universal enthronement of the Great King to inaugurate the new world order. Psalm 48 assumes God is the Great King (48:2) and envisions the endurance of his kingdom by a focus on Zion’s fortifications. In other words, whereas Psalm 46 focused on the God of Zion, Psalm 48 focuses on the Zion of God. God is Israel’s true fortress (48:3), and Zion manifests God’s greatness (48:1, 9–14).

The psalm may celebrate a historic divine deliverance of Zion, such as the destruction of Sennacherib’s army (701 BC; see 2Kgs 18:9–19:37), but if it so, the poet saw the historic deliverance as a pledge of Zion’s eternal security. More accurately, it is an eschatological song of Zion. It was interpreted eschatologically after Jerusalem fell (586 BC), for the confession “God makes her secure forever” (48:8) does not fit the historical reality when Gentiles toppled Zion. Rather, it fits the expectation of Israel’s prophets.²⁰⁹ Gunkel illustrates from Isaiah 12:4 (cf. Isa 12:1; 25:9; 26:1; 27:2) how an eschatological song is composed to give hope in the old dispensation:²¹⁰

In that day (i.e., the Messianic/Church age) you will say:
“Give praise to the LORD, call upon his name,
make known among the nations what he has done . . .
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Since its composition, Psalm 48 has been passed on from generation to generation (48:8a, 13b), giving each generation hope for a better future.

The psalmist’s hope for Zion’s eternal protection is fulfilled in Jesus Christ when he inaugurated the new age. He, who indwells his Church, promised, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt 16:18). The language of Psalm 48, drawn from its age of composition, becomes a metaphor in the new dispensation of the Church’s spiritual protection (cf. Eph 6:13–18).²¹¹ Christ’s inaugurated kingdom will be consummated in the new earth (Rev 21–22).

“Great” in rank and influence “is the LORD  . . . in the city (i.e., a fortified habitation) of our God (i.e., the earthly city he chose to inhabit), his holy mountain (see 2:5; cf. Matt 5:35), beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth” (cf. 50:2; Lam 2:15; Isa 60:15). “Like (not in Hebrew text) in the far north” or “the heights of Zaphon” (NIV) derives from Canaanite mythology. Mount Zaphon in north Syria—the far north to Israel—is the dwelling place of Canaanite gods (cf. Isa 14:13). The psalmist polemically displaces it with “Mount Zion, the city of the Great King” (see Ps 46:4; 47:2). “Within her citadels” (i.e., massively fortified places).

Where God Destroyed Kings: 4–7

“For behold . . . they took to flight” refers to a divine intervention, such as the slaughter of the Assyrian imperial army, whose commanders were all kings (Isa 10:8), in the days of Hezekiah (cf. Ps 46) and/or the destruction of the confederacy in the days of Jehoshaphat (2Chr 20). “By an east wind (i.e., a sirocco, a violent and scorching wind from the desert) you shattered the ships of Tarshish” (i.e., ocean-going cargo vessels) paints a vivid picture of total disaster. The language of this stanza alludes to the Song of the Sea (cf. Exod 15:15–17).

X. ISRAEL’S CONFESSION: GOD MAKES ZION SECURE FOREVER: 8

“As we (a prolepsis for the Church; see above) have heard” (see 48:6; cf. 44:1); so “we have seen” brings “have heard” to a climax (cf. Job 42:5)  “. . . God will establish (i.e., make secure) forever.”

Zion: Where God Is Praised Universally for His Love and Righteousness: 9–11

The marvelous deliverance prompts a deeper reflection on God’s love, righteousness, and judgments. “We (see 48:8) think” or meditate “on your steadfast love” (see 5:7). Consequently, “your praise reaches the ends of the earth.” “Your right hand (see 16:8) is filled” wholly “with righteousness” (5:8). “The daughters of Judah,” a personification of Judah’s other fortified cities, such as Lachish, “rejoice because of your judgments” to punish wrongdoers and deliver their victims.

Like 46:8–11, this song of Zion also ends with a command to look at God’s wonderful deeds (48:12–14). “Number” or “count” (spr) “her towers” that project from the line of the wall so that defenders can direct arrows at attackers along the base of the wall  “. . . that you may tell” or “recount” (spr) “to the next generation that this God,” who shows his strength in the battlements, is our God/He will guide alludes to the Great Shepherd King, who among other things protects his people (see Ps 23:4, 5)  “. . . forever.”

“For the chief musician.” Postscript to Psalm 48 .

“A Psalm”.²¹²

“Of the Sons of Korah” (see Ps 42: superscript).

The content and structure of this didactic-wisdom psalm  at a glance:

I. Introduction: Audience and Author: 1–4

A. Audience: All People: 1–2

B. Author: An Inspired Sage: 3–4

II. Body: The Proverb and Riddle: 5–20

A. Command and Reason: 5–12

1. Command: Do Not Fear When Idolaters Prosper: 5–6

2. Reason: All Die, Wise and Fools, and Lose Everything: 7–11

a. Wealth Cannot Redeem Anyone from Death: 7–9

b. Common Destiny of Wise and Fools in Death: 10–11

3. Proverb: Mankind Is Like the Beasts That Perish: 12

B. Contrasting Destinies of Idolaters and Wise: 13–15

1. Idolaters, Not the Upright, Destroyed in Sheol: 13–14

2. God Will Redeem the Wise from Sheol: 15

C. Command and Reason: 16–20

1. Command: Do Not Fear When the Rich Prosper: 16

2. Reason: The Rich Lose Their Wealth in Death: 17–19

3. Proverb: Fool is Like the Beasts That Perish: 20

The author, from the clan of Korahite priests (see superscript), is an inspired sage. He refers to his lecture as “wisdom,” “understanding” (49:3), and “a proverb” (49:4).

After the introduction (49:1–4), the psalm’s body is framed by the alternating structures of A (49:5–12) and C (49:16–20). Both end with a proverb that involves a pun: a play on bal yālîn (“not endure/remain”) and lō’ yābîn (“not understand”). bal yālîn refers to both the wise and fools; neither endure but perish like animals. lō’ yābîn refers only to fools; they, unlike the wise, perish forever like animals, as the pivot B (49:13–15) makes clear. God will save the wise psalmist from the power of Death (49:15), but not the foolish (49:14; cf.19). This is the message, and verse 15 is the key verse.

So the psalmist, setting himself as an example, teaches all (see 49:1–2) not to fear when worshipers of money and cheaters prosper. They die like animals, losing their fortunes in death. By contrast the wise, although they die, escape the grave. Death is the great equalizer, but not forever.

In his death and resurrection Christ validated the psalmist’s hope: “God will save me from the grave.”

Audience: All People: 1–2

“Hear . . . give ear” introduces a sage’s lecture (Prov 1:8; 2:1; passim). The sage addresses “all peoples” (cf. Prov 1:20–33), but their responses will differ: “the low” (lit. “common people”) will be encouraged; the “high” will be warned; “the rich” will be sobered; the “poor” will be consoled.

Author: An Inspired Sage: 3–4

“Wisdom” (i.e., the masterful skill of living) and “understanding” (i.e., competence to realize this goal) are metonymies for the substance of the lecture. “I will incline my ear,” matching “give ear” (49:1), implies his wisdom, the substance of his lecture, originates with God, not with the sage (cf. Job 28; Prov 2:5; 30:1–5). He packages his wisdom into a “proverb” (māšāl: “an exemplary truth by which to compare one’s life”). The proverb is verses 12 and 16: “is like” (nimšāl) is a verbal form of māšāl. “I will expound my riddle” (i.e., it has to be interpreted). “To the music of a lyre” (see 33:2) entails “with inspiration from a harp” (NLT; cf. 1Sam 10:5ff; 2Kgs 3:15).

Command and Reason: 5–12

Command: Do Not Fear When Idolaters Prosper: 5–6

“Why should I fear . . . when the iniquity (see 25:11) of those who cheat me surrounds me,” allowing the sage no escape from them (see also Ps 37, 73)? Cheaters are idolaters. A god is that in which one finds security and significance, and cheaters “trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches” (cf. 1Tim 6:17).

Reason: All Die, Wise and Fools, and Lose Everything: 7–11

Wealth Cannot Redeem Anyone from Death: 7–9

“Truly, no man can ransom (i.e., deliver by a compensatory payment) another or give to God the price of his life . . . and never see the pit.” No monetary payment is ever enough to satisfy God, who is sovereign over life and death, to preserve one’s life forever (cf. Exod 13:15; 31:30–33). A person’s riches may ransom his life when dealing with mankind, but not with God (cf. Exod 21:30; Prov 13:8; Matt 5:23–26).

Common Destiny of the Wise and Fools in Death: 10–11

In death, both the wise and fools “leave their wealth to others.” Moreover, “their (i.e., “the senseless”) tombs” (so LXX, Syriac), not their splendid houses before death, “are their houses forever,” even though they sought immortality by calling “lands”—even on the moon and planets—”by their own names,” like dogs on fire hydrants. They might just as well have written their names on water. In short, “after the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box” (Italian proverb).

Proverb: People, Like Beasts, Perish: 12

“Man (i.e., “a human being”) in his pomp (i.e., with their precious stuff) will not remain” (i.e., “endure”). “He is like (nimšal, see māšāl, “proverb” [49:4]) the beasts that perish.”

Contrasting Destinies of Foolish and the Wise: 13–15

Foolish, not the Upright, Destroyed Forever in Sheol: 13–14

Transition: 13

“This is the path (i.e., destiny²¹³) of those who have foolish confidence (see 49:5), yet after them people approve of their boasts.” “This” may look back to the certainty of “death” in verse 12 and/or ahead to a description of “death” in verse 14. “Selah” favors the first interpretation; the psalm’s structure favors the second.

The Destiny of Idolaters: Sheol: 14a

“Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol“(see 6:5). With bitter irony, personified “death shall be their shepherd” to and/or in the miserable grave (cf. Luke 16:24).

To Be Ruled by the Upright in the Morning: 14b

“And” then, after the fool’s appointment to Sheol, “the upright (see 7:10) will rule over (or tread upon) them in the” morning, “when the pulse of life reasserts itself”²¹⁴ (1Cor 15:25–26).

Sheol. The Place of the Destruction of Idolaters: 14c

“And their form will waste away in Sheol, far from their lofty abode” (CSB).

God Will Redeem the Wise from Sheol: 15

“But God will redeem (same root as “ransom” in 49:8) me” (see 49:5)—an example of the wise—”from Sheol.” God’s redemption of the wise entails that “he will receive (lit. “take”) me” to himself (cf. Gen 5:24; 2Kgs 2:11) “from the grip of Sheol” (translation mine; cf. Pss 17:15; 73:24; Prov 12:28; 14:32; 23:17, 18; 24:15ff; Acts 2:24; 2Tim 1:10).

Command and Reason: 16–20

Command: Do Not Fear When the Rich Prosper: 16

“Do not fear” (singular), my soul, “when a man makes himself rich”²¹⁵ (translation mine). The parallel structure of verses 5–6, reenforced by the catchword “rich,” shows that the rich in view are idolaters, who find their security and significance in their riches.

Reason: The Rich Lose Their Wealth in Death: 17–19

“For when he dies he will carry nothing away” (1Tim 6:7) matches verse 10. “For though while he lives, he counts himself blessed (cf. Deut 29:19; Luke 12:19)—and people will sing your praises when you do well for yourself (translation mine; cf. Ps 49:13b)—his soul (better, “he” [see 6:4]) will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light” (see 36:9).

Proverb: Fool Is Like the Beasts That Perish Forever: 20

“Man in his pomp (see 49:12) yet without understanding (i.e., the folly of idolatry) is like the” uncomprehending “beasts that perish” forever. The Lord Jesus Christ taught this truth in his famous parable of “The Rich Fool” (Luke 12:16–21).

The editors of the Psalter use the Hebrew verb bîn as a catch word to link Psalm 50 with Psalm 49. It means “to understand” (49:20) and “to mark” (50:22). Sinners do not understand wisdom (49:20), but they should understand their judgment (50:22). Also, they may have included it as a transition to the Davidic Elohistic Psalter (Pss 51–72), because Psalm 51 instantiates the grateful praise offering that God demands in Psalm 50.

The content and structure of this prophetic psalm at a glance:

Superscript

I. The Court Room Setting: 1–4

A. Asaph Introduces His Vision: 1–2

B. The Plaintiff and Judge; Witnesses; and Accused: 3–4

II. Charge against His Faithful People for Patronizing God: 5–15

A. Gather Faithful People before the Judge: 5–6

B. Charge: Offering Sacrifices That Dishonor God: 7–15

1. Introduction: The Plaintiff and the Accused: 7

2. Don’t Offer Dishonoring Sacrifices to Feed God: 8–13

3. Offer Grateful Praise Sacrifices and Glorify God: 14–15

III. Charge against the Wicked for Hypocrisy: 16–20

A. The Accused and Accusation: 16–17

B. Charge: Broke Their Covenant with God: 18–20

IV. Conclusion to the Trial and Verdict: 21–23

A. Conclusion to the Trial: 21

B. Verdict: A Warning of Death or Life: 22–23

1. Death for Impenitent Apostates: 22

2. Salvation for True Worshipers: 23

Postscript: Psalm 51: superscript

“A psalm” .

“Of Asaph.” A leading Levite appointed by David as director of temple worship (1Chr 16:4; Neh 12:46), a composer of twelve psalms (cf. superscripts of Pss 50; 73–83, all in the Elohistic Psalter), and a seer (2Chr 29:30). His psalms manifest the prophetic spirit of judgment .

“Asaph” speaks as a prophet in Psalm 50. He dramatically cloaks his doom oracle, modified to a warning (cf. 95:7a–11), in the form a legal suit by God against his Israel (50:7, 21b). (“Doom oracles” have the form of summons, accusation, and threat). The LORD appears as both Plaintiff and Judge who puts his people on trial (50:1–4). He accuses the faithful of patronizing him with sacrifices instead of honoring him with sacrifices of grateful praise (50:5–15). He accuses the wicked of hypocrisy by mouthing but disobeying the Ten Commandments (50:16–21). The warning to apostates to repent lest they be sentenced to death (50:21) and the promise of salvation to those who offer grateful praise sacrifices and do right (50:22) are the key verses and message.

Its twenty-two verses match the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Though a legal suit, the psalm praises God’s incommunicable attributes: he owns the whole world (50:9–10, 12b) and is omniscient and omnipresent (50:11a, b); and his communicable attributes: he wants to answer their prayers and satisfy their vows, implying his mercy, grace, and love (50:14–15), justly rebukes the people (50:3, 21), and patiently delays a death sentence, giving hypocrites a chance to repent (50:21–22).

Asaph Introduces His Vision: 1–2

The prophet connotes the seriousness of the trial and the authority of Plaintiff by God’s titles: “the Mighty One” (El, the high God), the transcendent “God” (Elōhîm), and “the LORD,” Israel’s covenant-keeping God. God “summons the” whole “earth” to hear the trial, for their own destiny depends on its outcome. The court room setting is “Zion, the perfection of beauty” (see 48:2), profiling the worshipers’ ugly imperfections. In more scenic symbolism, “God shines forth” dispelling the darkness, as he did of old when he came from Mount Paran to Mount Sinai (Deut 33:2).

The Plaintiff and Judge; Witnesses; and Accused: 3–4

Perhaps during the Festival of Tabernacles (Deut 31:10–13; cf. 2Kgs 23:1–3), “Asaph” proclaims his vision to the congregation. “Our (i.e., Israel’s) God comes,” the seer says, from his heavenly throne between the cherubim to its earthly counterpart on Zion (cf. 80:1; 99:1). God has been silent about Israel’s sin (50:21), but “he will not be silent” (NIV) any longer. In this vision, God comes to Zion in a storm cloud as he did when he gave Israel his Law at Sinai (Exod 19, 16, 18). “Before him is a devouring fire,” to purge the land of the guilty (see Ps 21:9; cf. Deut 4:24; 9:3; Isa 66:16; Heb 12:20), and “around him a mighty tempest” rages, a palpable expression of his anger (cf. Ps 18:7–15; 97:2ff). The God of Sinai is the God of Zion.

The Sovereign “calls to the heavens above and to the earth” as witnesses so “that he may judge” his people, both covenant keepers (50:5) and covenant breakers (50:16). The cosmic elements witnessed that Moses had duly warned the people of God’s curses for infidelity (Deut 30:19; 31:28; 32:1; cf. Isa 1:2; Mic 6:1).

Gather Faithful People before the Judge: 5–6

These personified elements—there is no other antecedent—are figuratively commanded: “Gather (plural) to me my faithful ones” (root, ḥāsîd [see 4:4]), because the abiding heavens witnessed when they “made a covenant with me” to obey my law  “. . . by sacrifice” (Deut 27:1–8; cf. Exod 24:3–8). Israel has the high calling to be a kingdom of priests, a mediatorial kingdom; and with the calling, as Kidner notes,²¹⁶ comes great responsibility (Amos 3:2; Luke 12:48).

As the original witnesses, “the heavens declare his righteousness” (see 5:8). It cannot be otherwise, “for God himself is the judge. Selah”

The Charge: Offering Sacrifices That Dishonor God: 7–15

Introduction: The Plaintiff and the Accused: 7

The Plaintiff begins the trial by addressing the accused: “Hear . . . I will testify against you.” He identifies himself as “I am God, your God.”

Don’t Offer Dishonoring Sacrifices to Feed God: 8–13

God does not charge them with not offering sacrifices (50:8–9). “Not for . . . rebuke” (’ôkîḥekā) frames the indictments or accusations (see 50:21). That he brings no charge against them “for your sacrifices” means that Israel did not fail to offer sufficient sacrifices: “your burnt offerings,” a merism with “sacrifices” for everything offered on the altar, “are continually before me” (cf. Lev 6:9, 12; Num 28:3–8). However, “I will not accept a bull from your house”—animals and people in ancient Israel lived under a common roof—”goats from your fold”—another merism to signify any animal. He rejects their sacrifices for they are patronizing him and so dishonoring him, thinking as the heathen did²¹⁷ that God’s existence depends on them to feed him. In truth, as Creator he owns all the animals: “For every beast of the forest is mine,” and in a merism to signify all animals, “the cattle on a thousand hills.” “I keep track of (lit. “I know”) every bird in the hills” (NET; cf. Matt 10:29) points to his omniscience; “and all that moves in the field (i.e., “creatures that ruin the fields”²¹⁸) are mine” (better, “keep company with me”) indicates his omnipresence. He underscores his universal ownership: “if . . . you.” To prevent his acerbic comment from being misunderstood, he adds, “Do I eat the flesh of bulls or,” in merism, “drink the blood of goats?” The obvious answer is, “Of course not.”

Offer Grateful Praise Sacrifices and Honor God: 14–15

Rather, God wants Israel to acknowledge their dependence on him by “sacrifice offerings of grateful praise” (translation mine) in fulfillment of their “vows to the Most High” (‘Elyôn, see 7:18; cf. Lev 7:12, 16). “And call upon me and glorify” or honor “me.”

The Accused and the Accusation: 16–17

“But to the wicked” (see 1:1) among the people, “who forget” (i.e., dismember themselves from) God, God says, “What right have you (singular) to recite my statutes (i.e., the particular stipulations of the covenant) and to take my covenant (i.e., the Ten Commandments [cf. Deut 9:9, 11]) upon your lips?” They are hypocrites. “You hate discipline (mûsār, better “instruction”²¹⁹) and cast my words (cf. Deut 4:13) behind you,” a metaphor for rejecting them.

Charge: Broke Their Covenant with God: 18–20

They break the seventh and eighth commandments by approving wrong-doers: befriending thieves and adulterers (50:18). As for stealing (Deut 5:19), “when you see a thief, you make friends with him” (CSB; cf. NRS). As for adultery (Deut 5:18), “you throw in your lot with adulterers” (NIV). These hypocrites break the ninth commandment by their false words (Ps 50:19–20): “you . . . harness your mouth to deceit” (NIV; i.e., give false testimony; Deut 5:20) and “you . . . slander (lit. “give a blemish to”) your own mother’s son.” In sum, they break the covenant by not upholding it and in fact violating it.

Conclusion to the Trial: 21

“When you (singular) did these things (see 50:7–20) and I kept silent (see 50:2, 7), you thought I really am like you” (translation mine) without moral standards. To disabuse them of confounding longsuffering with indifference (2Pet 3:9) and to save them, “I rebuke . . . you” (cf. Lev 19:17).

Verdict: A Warning of Death or Life: 22–23

Death for Impenitent Apostates: 22

“Mark (bîn, “understand”) this” (i.e., God’s rebuke and accusations) is a metonymy for “to repent.” It is a matter of life and death. “You who forget (see 9:17ff) God” (see 9:17ff). “Or I will tear you to pieces,” like a lion, “with no one to rescue you” (see 7:2; Hos 5:14). Goldingay comments, “the punishment fits the crime, for that is what the addressees are doing in their subtle way.”²²⁰

Salvation for True Worshipers: 23

God is looking for true worshipers from his people, both the faithful and the wicked. “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me (cf. 50:5–15); and the one who orders his way rightly (lit. “sets a way” that glorifies God [cf. Gen 30:36]) I will show him my salvation in the day of trouble” (50:15).

For the choirmaster (Ps 51: superscript).

The content and structure of this lament (penitential) psalm at a glance:

I. Invocation and Prefatory Petitions: 1–2

II. Confession: 3–6

A. Of Sins: 3–4

B. Of Moral Impotence: 5–6

III. Petitions: 7–12

A. For Cleansing and Forgiveness of Sins: 7–9

B. For Enablement of God’s Spirit: 10–12

IV. Vow of Praise: 13–17

A. Introduction: Purpose of Praise: 13

B. Words of Praise: 14–15

C. Sacrifice of Praise: 16–17

V. Epilogue: National Praise: 18–19

Postscript: Psalm 52: superscript

David exemplifies the proper response to a prophet’s rebuke (see Ps 50). He repents and in fact offers himself as the grateful praise offering.

²²¹“For the choirmaster.” Postscript of Psalm 50 . “A psalm” .

“Of David” . This begins the “Davidic Elohistic Psalter” (Pss 51–65). “When Nathan . . . after . . . Bathsheba” (see 2Sam 11:1–12:14).

Note the gravity of David’s sin:

1. “Utter contempt for the LORD” (2Sam 12:9; cf. Deut 5:7; 6:5).

2. Fractured the Ten Commandments (cf. Exod 20:13–17).

3. Adultery with Bathsheba, a sin of passion, and the murder of her husband, a premeditated crime, are both capital offences (Deut 22:23; Num 35:19ff).

4. Neither Bathsheba’s purity nor Uriah’s life can be restored.

Note also that God’s grace is greater than his sin (Rom 5:20):

1. Spared David from the death he deserves (2Sam 12:12).

2. Out of the adultery sprang the beloved Solomon (2Sam 12:24ff).

The narrative of David’s forgiveness (1Sam 12:13) is in the Primary History (Gen–2Kgs, not Ruth), which includes the Mosaic Law that demanded his death (cf. Deut 17:8–10; Num 35:16–19; 22:22). In other words, David’s forgiveness teaches that the Law must be interpreted in connection with God’s grace for the penitent (Prov 28:13).

Note also David’s humble confession of sin saved him:

1. In spite of the king’s political and military power to kill the prophet, he submitted himself to the prophet’s moral authority, unlike King Jeroboam I (1Kgs 13:4).

2. David threw himself headlong upon God’s mercy, risking his life not knowing if he would be forgiven (2Sam 12:13).

3. His confession is as public as his sin to teach others God’s grace and to give God praise (see Ps 50:15, 22).

This penitential psalm, a specie of lament psalms, contains the typical motifs of that genre  but intentionally omits a confession of confidence, for David will not presume upon God’s grace. The only single line, verse 13, is the key verse. The point of the psalm is to teach sinners the way of salvation (50:13). His psalm was handed over the choirmaster to be sung by all Israel (see postscript [Ps 51: superscript]).

“Cleanse me with hyssop,” a metonymy for blood (see 50:7), points to the sacrifice of Christ, who satisfied God’s wrath against sin. Jesus taught that true repentance justifies a sinner (see Luke 18:13–14). The petitions involving the spirit (50:10–12) point to the Holy Spirit of God, who convicts of sin, purifies the conscience, and empowers the holy life.

“O God” (see Ps 42: superscript). David’s petitions “blot out,” “wash,” and “cleanse” are chiastically repeated in 51:7–9.

For Forgiveness: 1

David defines his crimes against humanity as violations of God’s Law. Each term in the triad of “transgressions” (peša‘, “rebellion”), “niquity” (‘āwôn, see 25:11), “and sin” (ḥaṭṭâ, see 32:5) entails the breach of the Law that breathes God’s moral absolutes (see 32:1; cf. 2Sam 11:9). That triad is matched by a triad of God’s benevolences: “gracious” (JPS, ḥānan, 6:2), “abundant mercy” (raḥ^amîm, see 25:6), and “steadfast love” (ḥesed: 5:7), metonymies for figurative “blot out” (i.e., erase from God’s imagined book that records debts).

For Cleansing: 2

“Wash away” (i.e., to tread when washing laundry) my stained conscience. “Cleanse me” refers to ritual purification to enter the temple (see 51:7).

Of Sin: 3–4

“For (i.e., reason for petitions) I (emphatic in Hebrew) know my transgressions.” The penitent, unlike Adam and Eve (cf. Gen 3:8–14), takes full responsibility for his adultery. Scripture blanks Bathsheba’s accountability (2Sam 11:4; cf. Deut 22:22–24; 2Sam 13:9).

David emphasizes “against you, you only, have I sinned.” He explains why: “so you are right in your verdict.” The verdict of guilty or of forgiven depends on the Lawgiver, not on the victim. “And done what is evil is your sight”—a standard as unchanging as God.

Of Moral Impotence: 5–6

David probes deeper into his sin and finds a moral dilemma, a dilemma signaled by an initial “behold:” genetic human sinfulness (51:5) and moral knowledge (51:6; cf. Rom 7:25).

Of Sinful Nature: 5

“Sinful at birth (NIV) . . . my mother conceived me” refers to his gestation from conception to parturition. The doctrine of original sin pervades Scripture (cf. Jer 17:9; Rom 3:9–18; 5:12–21; 1Cor 15:21–22).

Of Moral Nature: 6

“Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb” (NIV). This spiritual sonar graph shows that the unborn is a spiritual being, having a conscience.

For Cleansing and Forgiveness of Sin: 7–9

Cleanse: 7

Ḥāṭṭā’ (cleanse) etymologically means “de-sin.” The Targum rightly paraphrases 51:7a to mean: sprinkle on me as the priest who sprinkles “with hyssop” the blood of the sacrifice on the leper (cf. Lev 14:49, 52) or the water of the ashes of the heifer on the defiled person (cf. Num 19:19). David recognizes the need of shedding blood to atone for sin, but not for grateful praise (51:16).

Forgive: 8–9

“Let me hear” has as its literal object, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die” (2Sam 12:7). The collocation, “joy and gladness,” a metonymy for those words, denotes enthusiastic celebration. “Let the bones”—a common reference to the psyche—you have crushed (NIV) signifies feelings of dehumanization and depersonalization. “Hide your face from my sins” is a multi-layered figure of speech that signifies “do not punish my sin.”

For Enablement of God’s Spirit: 10–12

The verbal absolution is insufficient to purge David’s stained conscience and to sustain him. He also needs the work of God’s Spirit. In the Hebrew text each “b” verset of 51:10–12 begins with “spirit” (power that effects change) and ends with “me.”

A Renewed Spirit: 10

“Create (i.e., a divine activity to bring something new into existence) a clean heart” (7:10) that no longer rehearses the crime and feels its guilt (cf. 2Cor 5:17). “Renew a steadfast spirit within me” (NIV; i.e., to restore the former psychic vitality that was firm in its commitment to do God’s will).

Retain God’s Empowering Spirit: 11

“Cast me not away from your presence” (i.e., the temple), the place of fellowship and blessing. Bullock notes the verbal allusion of šālaḥ min (“cast/banish from”) to Genesis 3:23ff.²²² “Holy Spirit” refers here to God’s empowerment of David to be king (1Sam 16:13). David was already regenerated by the Spirit, “a man after God’s own heart” (1Sam 15:28). Today, God gives his empowering Spirit to the whole church (Acts 2:14–21).

Sustain with a Willing Spirit: 12

“Restore (see 19:7) to me the joy (see 51:8) of your salvation” (see 3:2). “A willing spirit” volunteers to serve without compulsion.

In Israel’s liturgy the tôdâ (confession of praise) consists of verbal praise and a fellowship sacrifice.

Purpose of Praise to Teach: 13

“Then” implies the condition: “if you forgive.” Penitent knows salvation depends on God’s benevolence, not on his rights. “I will (volitional) teach transgressors your ways,” an allusion to Moses’s prayer, “show me your ways” (Exod 33:13; see Ps 103:7), in response to which God proclaimed the benevolent attributes that David recited in 51:1.

Words of Praise: 14–15

“Deliver (see 22:8) me from the guilt of bloodshed,” an a fortiori: if God forgives murder, how much lesser crimes? “My tongue will sing” or shout out loud “your righteousness:” the merciful God’s reestablishment and sustenance of his penitent subject and covenant partner. “Open my lips” is a metonymy of adjunct for words and a metonymy of effect for “deliver me.” David addresses God as “Lord of All” (my translation), a superscript signifying the Sovereign acts according to his pleasure.

Sacrifice of Praise: 16–17

In the context of a murdered husband’s family and his wife, a pregnant adulteress—not in every context (see 51:19)—David discerns “you will not delight in the” grateful praise “sacrifice” of animals to create the communion and fellowship between God, the delivered, and the congregation. Rather, “the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” That spirit creates communion in an offended congregation.

“May it please you (NIV) to . . . build the walls of Jerusalem” is a metonymy of effect—that is to say, its prosperity depends on the king, who is the nation’s breath, being restored to God’s favor. In that new context, the deficiency of animal sacrifices in his grateful praise will be more than compensated for by the whole nation offering sacrifices.

“For the choirmaster.” Psalm 52: superscript .

The content and structure of this song of grateful praise  at a glance:

Superscript

I. Report of Distress in the Accusation of a Doom Oracle: 1–4

A. Address and Accusation of Sacrilege and Slander: 1–2

B. Accusation of Loving Treachery: 3–4

II. The Verdict: Divine Sentence of Death: 5

III. A Song of Praise: 6–9

A. The Anticipated Praise of the Righteous: 6–7

B. David’s Song of Grateful Praise: 8–9

Postscript: Psalm 53: superscript

“To the choirmaster.” Postscript of Psalm 51 . 

“A Maskil of David” (see 32:1). “When Doeg the Edomite (a nation that hates God’s covenant people) . . . told Saul . . . to the house of Ahimelek” (cf. 1Sam 22:6–10). Ironically, Saul’s uncircumcised chief shepherd (1Sam 21:7) slaughtered God’s “flock” of priests at Nob (1Sam 22:18–19). Doeg’s deception caused the sacrilegious massacre (Ps 52:2–4; 1Sam 22:9ff). Taking advantage of Saul’s paranoia that everyone conspired against him, the Edomite insinuated that Ahimelek committed treason by provisioning David. His account, albeit factually true, was contextually deceitful, for he played into Saul’s paranoia that David was guilty of treason. The love of money motivated this treacherous man (52:7; 1Sam 22:7). Doeg is an archetype of a tyrant’s henchman (1Sam 22:18), like Hitler’s Himmler. The historical sources do not narrate Doeg’s end, but this psalm celebrates his destruction.

David employs his earlier doom oracle  addressed to “you” (i.e., Doeg) as his report distress in this song of grateful praise . A selah at the end of verse 5 divides the prophecy of doom from the praise. The psalm pivots on the death sentence motif of a doom oracle (52:5). Rhetorically, this center line sits between the two preceding couplets that accuse the henchman and lead up to the verdict, and two following couplets that praise the LORD and flow from it. Moreover, the single line is uniquely tricolon . The center line and verdict is the key verse. God will remove from the earth forever the proud and will reward with abundant life those who trust in his steadfast love (52:1, 8–9) to God’s glory (52:6–7).

Christ too was falsely accused, but by the high priest (Matt 26:59–62). Nevertheless, he prayed his malefactors be forgiven, but if they refused to repent, he prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem (Matt 24; cf. Acts 3:19).

As a doom oracle, the prophecy typically consists of address (52:1), accusation (52:1–4), and the verdict of a death sentence (52:5).

Address and Accusation of Sacrilege and Slander: 1–2

David addresses his subject sarcastically: “you mighty hero” (cf. 1Sam 22:17–18). This “champion” did not shrink from executing the king’s order to wipe out the whole priesthood. A rhetorical question accuses him of being sacrilegious and doing evil: “why (see 2:1) do you boast (i.e., confront God with arrogance and self-sufficiency [cf. 49:5; 73:3–12; Luke 12:16–21]) of” an “evil” deed (cf. Gen 4:23ff). Atypically, however, David inserts in the parallel “b” verset the motif of praise, typical of a song of praise: “the steadfast love (see 5:7) of God endures all day long.” At the same time, his praise implies the verdict: the bragger’s death is certain because God will fulfill his covenant partner’s hope for justice after his death (cf. Gen 50:24–25). David now explicates the “evil”: “your tongue,” a metonymy for the heart, “plots destructive violence” (hawwôt [plural, see 52:7]); translation mine).

Accusation of Loving Treachery: 3–4

The second couplet is linked together by the initial catchword “you love” and to the preceding couplet by the catchwords “evil” (52:1, 3) and “tongue” (52:2, 4). The inspired prophet discerns the heart of this son of the Devil (John 8:44): “you love evil rather than good, and lying” or “falsehood” (i.e., an aggressive breach of faith to harm the other) “rather than speaking what is right” (NIV). “You love every confounding and misleading word, you deceitful tongue!” (translation mine), a synecdoche to characterize the very nature of the accused.

“But God” himself “will break you down forever;” escalated to his family: “he will . . . tear you from your” shepherd “tent;” escalated to his posterity: “he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah”

The Anticipated Praise of the Righteous: 6–7

The prophet also foresaw, probably as part of the doom oracle, that the righteous will rejoice at this just verdict. His addendum is somewhat akin to Isaiah’s prophecy of hope as an addendum to his doom oracle against Shebna (cf. Isa 22:15–19, 20–25). “The righteous (see Ps 1:5) shall see” the prophecy fulfilled and so “will” both “fear” the LORD (19:9) and “laugh” in righteous “schadenfreude” (see 2:4) “at him” (i.e., the liar). They derive false trust in possessions rather than the living God: “He put his trust in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others” (hawwâ [singular] see 52: 3; NIV)!”

David’s Song of Grateful Praise: 8–9

David contrasts his circumstance with that of the doomed “hero’s” (52:5). “But I am like a green olive tree,” famous for its longevity, “flourishing in the” courtyard of “the house of God” (contrast 52:5; cf. 92:12–14). “I trust in the steadfast love of God (contrast 52:5; see 52:1) forever and ever” (contrast 52:5). “I will” give grateful “praise” to “you forever for what you have done” (NLT) in the past. “And” in the future, “I will wait (i.e., in eager expectation to fulfill my needs) in your name” (see 8:1).

“To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath.” 

The content and structure of this prophetic psalm at a glance:

Superscript

Prophecy of Doom against Besiegers: 1–7

A. Accusation: Universal Godlessness and Moral Corruption: 1–3

B. Judgment: Besiegers of Israel Destroyed and Righteous Protected: 4–6

C. Restoration of Israel: 7

Postscript: Psalm 54: superscript

“To the choirmaster. According to Mahalath (meaning uncertain). A Maskil” (see Ps 32: superscript). Postscript to Psalm 52. 

“Of David” (see Ps 14).

An editor, perhaps Asaph, adapted David’s prophecy of doom against evil-doers toward the righteous poor to a prophecy of doom against the besiegers of Jerusalem. This table²²³ compares the synoptic psalms:

The difference between “God” and “LORD” (53:2, 4, 7) is due to the editing of the Elohistic Psalter ( Ps 42: superscript). The difference between 53:5 and 14:6, however, changes their messages. In Psalm 14 the LORD protects “my people” (the righteous, the afflicted poor) from evildoers, presumably within Israel; but in Psalm 53 the LORD destroys foreign evildoers who afflict “my people” and “encamp against you.” The other small differences, probably intentional changes and not scribal errors, are insignificant.

“To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.” Postscript to Psalm 53. 

The content and chiastic structure of this complaint-lament psalm’s five motifs at a glance:

Superscript

A. Address and Introductory Petition to God: For Deliverance: 1–2

B. Lament to God: Ruthless People Seek to Kill the Psalmist: 3

X. Confidence: God Is the Psalmist’s Helper: 4

B. Petition to the LORD: Destroy the Oppressors: 5

A. Praise to the LORD: For Deliverance: 6–7

Postscript: Psalm 55: superscript

“To the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.” Postscript of Psalm 53 .

“A maskil of David” (see Ps 52: superscript).

“When the Ziphites . . . said, “Is not . . . David hiding among us?” Ruthless King Saul has the false strength of military might (54:3; 1Sam 23:6; 24:2), but David has the true strength of God’s Word and Spirit (Ps 16:12ff). Most Israelites sided with Saul. The opportunistic Ziphites, who lived in the desiccated scrublands of Judah, twice conspired with Saul to kill David (23:14–19; 26:1, 18). Others, however, such as Jonathan (23:15–17), Abigail (25:20), and the three mighty warriors (2Sam 23:8–17), sustain David’s life (Ps 54:4b).

“Your name” frames the psalm (54:1, 6). The outer couplets—a cry for salvation (54:1–2) and praise for deliverance (54:6–7)—and an inner couplet—a lamenting about attackers (54:3) and a petition to annihilate them (54:5)—surround the center line: a confession of trust (54:4). The three verses preceding are addressed to God (54:1–3), and the three following are addressed to “the LORD.” The center line breaks the fourth wall and speaks of “God” in 54:4a and “the Lord” in 54:4b. So the psalm’s rhetoric points to verse 4 as the psalm’s message: God is the elect’s helper against godless, ruthless attackers (cf. Matt 6:13).

David’s greater Antitype was also rejected by his own people. Those who rejected the LORD’s Anointed believed might makes right (John 11:45–53). Those loyal to God’s Anointed know the LORD does what is right. God’s triumph over tyranny through Christ is the meaning of history.

By delaying his petition that God hear his prayer until verse 2, the poet isolates his petition for deliverance as urgent: “O God, save” or “deliver” (see 3:7) “me” (cf. 1Sam 23:27). The title “O God” fits the Elohistic Psalter (Ps 42: superscript). “By your name” (see 5:11), to wit, “the LORD” (54:6). “Vindicate” (dîn) means to issue a just verdict and often, as here, in proof by battle. “By your might” (see “true strength” above). “Hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth” (see 17:1) refers to the judicial case the psalmist will now lay out (54:3–7).

“For” introduces the reason for his prayer: a prayer for justice, not revenge. “Strangers²²⁴ have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life (cf. 1Sam 23:15); they do not set God before themselves (i.e., they have no regard for God). Selah” (ESV).

In striking contrast, David confesses: “Look (NET, with a logical connotation), God is my helper; the Lord” of all “is with those who uphold” or sustain (3:5) “my life” (NKJ).

“He will return the evil to my enemies (better, “oppressors”); in your faithfulness” to your word (1Sam 16:12ff) “put an end to them.”

David’s song of grateful praise consists of a freewill offering of praise (54:6a; see 56:12ff; 66:12–15) and a testimony to God’s goodness (54:6b–7).

“To the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.” Postscript to Psalm 55.

The content and structure of this complaint-lament psalm  at a glance:

Superscript

I. Concerning the King: 1–19

A. Address to God, Introductory Petitions and Lament: 1–3

B. Lament: 4–14

1. For Himself: Fear of Death and Desire to Flee: 4–8

2. Accusation against Enemy for City’s Distress: 9–11

3. Accusation against Confidant for Treachery: 12–14

C. Petition for Death of Enemies: 15

D. Confession of Confidence: 16–19

1. King Will Be Delivered: 16–18

2. Enemy Will Be Humbled: 19

II. Concerning the Faithful: 20–23

A. Lament: Companion Betrayed Allies: 20–21

B. Admonition to Faithful to Petition the LORD: 22

C. King’s Confidence: 23

1. God Will Punish the Wicked: 23a

2. King Will Trust God: 23b

Postscript: Psalm 56: superscript

“To the choirmaster.  With stringed instruments.” Postscript to Psalm 54. 

“A Maskil of David” . In this collection of psalms with the same superscript (see 52:7) David’s enemies escalate from outside of Israel, to wit, Doeg the Edomite (Ps 52) and all humanity (Ps 53), to within Israel, to wit, the Ziphites of Judah (Ps 54), and David’s intimate and sacred companion (Ps 55).

David divides his lament into two sections: concern for himself (55:1–19) and for the covenant community (55:20–23). After the address and introductory petitions (55:1–3), each section has the other motifs of the lament genre: lament, petition, and trust . A contrasting inclusio of “I am distraught” (55:2) and “I will trust” (55:23) frames the psalm.

The psalm fits the scenario of Absalom’s rebellion and the war waged against David (55:18; 2Sam 15:15–18): the slander against the king (55:3; 2Sam 15:1–5); the confused counsel and turmoil in the city (55:9–11; 2Sam 15:13–14); the treachery of his confidant (55:12–14; 2Sam 15:12, 31; 16:20–23); and wish for his enemies’ premature death (55:15; 2Sam 17:23). The Targum introduces the name of Ahithophel in verse 15 as the treacherous confidant. If that scenario is valid, David composed this psalm in his flight from Absalom, after he learned of Ahithophel’s treachery (2Sam 15:31).

If the king could escape these horrors to a secure refuge, he would, but he cannot (55:6–8; cf. Luke 4:28–30; Acts 9:23–25). So he petitions with full assurance of faith that the LORD put the powerful, godless wrongdoers to death. The psalm’s message is that the LORD preserves his king while inflicting death on the king’s enemies. In that light the righteous are admonished to cast their cares on the LORD (55:22), the key verse.

David is a type of Jesus Christ: his attackers are bloodthirsty and deceitful (55:23; Matt 26:57–67), and the treacherous confidant is a type of Judas Iscariot (55:9–12, 20–21; Matt 26:47–50). The admonition to cast your cares on the Lord becomes an aphorism for the Church (55:22; 1Pet 5:7). Christ will consummately answer David’s prayer for justice (55:15) in his second, not his first, advent.

An inclusio of śî^aḥ (“loud, emotionally laden speech”) and hûm or hmh (“to be noisy/make a noise” in 55:2, 17) frame the first section. His lament for himself shifts perspectives from his person (55:1–8), to the city (55:9–11), to his confidant (55:12–14).

Address to God, Introductory Petitions and Lament: 1–3

“Give” ear: “In Egypt tablets depicting only ears were created to depict divine communication.”²²⁵ The address “O God” fits the Elohistic Psalter (see Ps 42: superscript). “Hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to me” or listen attentively “and answer me” (see 3:4). “I am restless in my complaint (śî^aḥ, “loud, emotionally laden speech”) and I am distraught” (NIV; Hebrew root hûm, “thrown into confusion” [cf. Deut 7:23]). “Because of what my enemy is saying “(NIV) refers to their chief weapon. “Because of the oppression” or “threats” or “hardships” (Hebrew word is unique) of the wicked (see 1:1); for they bring misery (’āwen, “wrongdoing, using lies and violence” [7:14]) “crashing down on me (JB) and in anger (see 2:5) bear a grudge against me.”

Lament: 4–14

After his lament for the enemies’ threat to his own life and his desire to flee, his lament takes the form of accusations against his enemies and the treacherous confidant in particular.

For Himself: Fear of Death and Desire to Flee: 4–8

“My heart is in anguish (lit. “writhes”) within me” (i.e., in the upper torso of the body). “The terrors of death” signify such terrors as death inspires. “Fear and trembling come upon me (lit. “enters into me”); horror has overwhelmed me” (lit. “shuddering covers me”). The merism of fear entering within and horror covering without signifies total fright. “And I said” (NIV) refers to the time before David’s flight from Jerusalem. “Oh, that I . . . would . . .  be at rest” (lit. “and settle/reside”) in a nest on some inaccessible precipice. “I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness (an uninhabited place; cf. 1Kgs 19). Selah (ESV); I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm” or heavy gales (NIV). In the coup by Absalom, David did flee the city. After David fled from Absalom, he still had no place of refuge from the trouble whirling around him.

Accusation against Enemy for City’s Distress: 9–11

David introduces his accusation with a malediction against them. “Lord [of All], confuse (Hebrew root III. bl‘) the wicked, confound their words” (NIV) so they cannot formulate a successful plan of attack against the king (cf. 2Sam 16:15–17:14). “For” introduces the reason why God should frustrate them. “I have seen violence (i.e., coldblooded infringement on the rights of others) and strife (or “disputes”) in the city” (NKJ; i.e., Jerusalem [cf. “house of God,” 55:14]). “Day and night (a merism for all the time), they (i.e., personified violence and strife) go around it on its walls, ironically as watchmen; iniquity (āwen, see 55:3) and trouble (or “harm”) are within it. Destructive forces (hawwôt, see 52:3, 7, usually evil speech) are at work in the city (lit. “are within it”); threats (tōk, oppression or misconduct in business) and lies never leave its streets” (NIV; i.e., the broad area that offered room for commercial trade and public meetings in contrast to the narrow streets of ancient cities). “Walls” and “streets” is a merism for everywhere.

Accusation against Confidant for Treachery: 12–14

In an apostrophe, David accuses his former confidant of treachery. “For it is not an enemy who taunts me—then I could bear it; it is not an adversary (lit. “a hater,” one who felt an extreme aversion and/or extreme hostility toward him) who deals insolently with me” (lit. “who magnifies himself against me”). In other words, the confidant’s treachery is unbearable and inescapable. “But it is you, a man like myself (i.e., estimated as of equal value; cf. 2Sam 16:23), my companion . . . in the throng.” In other words, their friendship was intimate and sacred.

Petition for Death of Enemies: 15

“Let death take my enemies by surprise” (NIV; lit. “come deceitfully upon them”²²⁶). His malediction is against all his enemies, including the confidant. “Let them go down alive (NIV; i.e., prematurely) to Sheol” (see 6:5), an echo to Korah’s fate (Num 16:30). “For evil (or “evil deeds”) makes its home among them” (NLT).

Confession of Confidence: 16–19

King Will Be Delivered: 16–18

“But I call to God (see 55:1–2a) . . . saves me” (see 3:7). “Evening and morning and noon” refers to stated hours of prayer (cf. Dan 6:10; Acts 10:9, 30). “I utter my complaint (śî^aḥ, see Ps 55:2) and distraught” (translation mine; hûm, see 55:2). “He redeems my soul (better, “me” [see 6:3]) unharmed (or intact) from the battle waged against me” (NIV).

Enemy Will Be Humbled: 19

“God will give ear (better, “hear,” see 55:3, 11, 12) and humble them.” Their hubris is intolerable, for it is against him “who is enthroned from of old” (i.e., from primordial time). Selah because they . . . do not fear God.”

Lament: Companion Betrayed Allies: 20–21

“My companion (lit. “he”) stretched out his hand against (i.e., attacks) his friends” or allies (lit. “people to whom a commitment has been made” [see 7:4]); “he violated his covenant” (i.e., his sworn commitment to loyalty). “His speech was smooth as butter (i.e., he says flattering things to deceive), yet war is in his heart;” reprised for emphasis: “his words . . . were drawn swords.” Dante placed traitors in the lowest level of hell.²²⁷

Admonition to Faithful to Petition the LORD: 22

Instead of the typical motif of petition to the LORD, in another apostrophe the psalmist addresses each member of the betrayed covenant people to petition God: “Cast your (singular) cares (so Greek merimna [1Pet 5:7], but Hebrew word is unique) on the LORD (cf. Pss 22:8; 37:5; Prov 16:3) and he (emphatic in Hebrew) will sustain you” as he did Israel in the wilderness (Neh 9:21); “he will never let the righteous (singular, see 5:8) be moved” or be shaken, or be toppled (cf. 1Cor 10:13; 2Cor 4:7–9).

Confidence: 23

God Will Punish the Wicked: 23a

David ends his psalm with his confession of trust addressed to God. “But you (see 3:3), God (see 55:1), will cast them (i.e., the wicked [cf. 55:3]) into the pit of destruction” or decay (see 16:10); “the bloodthirsty . . . shall not live out half their days” but will die prematurely (cf. 55:15).

King Will Trust God: 23b

“But I will trust in you.”

“To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths.” Superscript matches verses 5–6.

The content and chiastic structure of this lament psalm at a glance:

Superscript

A. Address, Introductory Petition and Lament: 1–2

B. Confession of Confidence in God’s Word: 3–4

C. Lament: Adversaries Scheme to Kill Anointed: 5–6

X. Petition: Cast Down Hostile People: 7

C’. Lament: Be Mindful of Psalmist’s Miseries: 8–9

B’. Confession of Confidence in God’s Word: 10–11

A’. Praise for Deliverance: 12–13

Postscript: Psalm 57: superscript

“To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths” (cf. 55:6). Postscript to Psalm 55. 

“Of David. A Miktam” (see 16:1).

“When the Philistines had seized him in Gath” (cf. 1Sam 21:10–14). In his flight from Saul, David sought asylum with Achish, the dimwitted Philistine king at Gath. But the king’s shrewd officials reminded Achish of David’s heroic status as a Philistine slayer, making David “sore afraid” (see Ps 34).

This psalm’s six couplets²²⁸ surround the single-line pivot (56:7), and each couplet is unified by a catchword (e.g., “trample,” “all day long,” “attack” [56:1–2]) and/or by semantics. The motif of “confidence” even contains chiastically structured catchwords: “in God whose word I praise” (56:4, 10), “trust” with “not be afraid,” (56:3, 11). Typical introductory petitions (56:1–2) and vows to praise (56:12–13) frame the psalm. The pivot, appealing to God’s moral indignation, asks God to turn the tables: “cast down”—a catchword with 55:25—the peoples (on “high,” 56:2). Rhetorically, the single-line pivot is the key verse, but it cannot be divorced from the other motifs to encapsulate the psalm’s message: saints can be confident that the merciful, yet indignant, God casts down wicked peoples or nations in response to the kind of faith of his anointed king that defies fear.

David’s lament, confidence, and praise typify those of Jesus Christ (cf. Luke 13:53ff). Christ’s prayer “your kingdom come” is the obverse side of the coin bearing on its reverse side “cast down the wicked.” Moreover, Christ will fulfill David’s petition at his Parousia.

The petition “be gracious (see 6:3) to me” is a metonymy for “deliver me” (see 56:13). “O God (see 16:1; Ps 42: superscript), for a man (’ĕnôš connotes “weakness”) . . . oppresses me,” probably a metonymy for Saul. David frames Saul’s war against him as between a mere man and God (see 56:4b, 11b). “My enemies . . . attack me proudly” (lit. “on high”). “All day long” means the enemy’s attack is unrelenting, and “proudly” signifies their hubris.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust (see 13:6) in you.” David supplements his biographer’s account of the only incident in David’s career that mentions he was afraid (1Sam 21:12). The faith of the anointed defies his fear.²²⁹ “In God—I boast in his promise (lit. “his word”)—in God I trust” (NET). The couplet, by pivoting on “word”—fear/trust/God/word/God/trust/fear—sharpens it.²³⁰ Trust in God cuts no ice in one’s thinking without a promise that God stands behind (cf. Ps 50:15; 1Sam 16:13ff; 25:28; Jer 9:23ff). David probably refers to the promises of the Law (e.g., Lev 26:10–12; Deut 6:2; 28:1–14)—God had not yet promised him an eternal dynasty. “What can flesh”—a figure that assesses mankind as “a mere mortal”—”do to me?” (cf. Rom 8:38ff) is a rhetorical question implying mortal flesh is impotent in battle against the eternal Spirit of God.

“All day long (see 56:1, 2) they cause me trouble” (NET) or “twist my words” (NIV; 1Sam 22:8–10; Ps 52:2). “They stir up strife” (meaning of Hebrew uncertain).

The rhetorical question: “for their crime (elsewhere “iniquity,” Hebrew ’āwen, see 7:14) will they escape” is inferentially answered by the petition: “in wrath (see 2:5) cast down (cf. “on high” [56:2]) the peoples” (including both Philistines and unfaithful Israel), who do iniquity (see parallel), “O God!”

“Record²³¹ my aimless wanderings”²³² (translation mine). “Put my tears in your bottle” (i.e., an animal skin stretched and sealed with pitch) to be mindful of each wrong done to him. These metaphors, albeit in the form of imperatives, are a lament and imply an appeal to God’s mercy (see 56:1). “Are they not (a strong affirmation) in your book (cf. Mal. 3:16)?” “Then”—that is to say, when I cry out to you and you answer me (Ps 4:3)—”my enemies will turn back,” routed from the battlefield (cf. 9:3; 35:4; 44:10). “This I know, that God is for me” (see 20:7; cf. 2Sam 5:12) segues into the motif of confidence.

The almost verbatim repetition of verses 3–4 underlines the confession of trust in God’s promises. The confession “I will not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” is quoted in Psalm 118:6 and Hebrews 13:6.

Proleptically, he fulfills his vow: “I must perform my vows” (i.e., promises made to God for answered prayer; cf. Lev 22:23). “O God.” His vow of grateful praise consists of a sacrifice: “I will fulfill them with an offering of grateful praise” (translation mine; cf. 7:11–21; 3:1–17), and a report of deliverance: “for you have delivered me from death . . . that I may walk before God,” committed to him,” in the light of life” (NIV; i.e., the joy of being alive; Job 33:28, 30; Isa 53:11). Jesus is the light that believers may not walk in darkness (John 8:12).

The content and structure of this lament psalm—strikingly similar to Psalm 56—at a glance:

Superscript

A. Introductory Petition and Lament: 1 (two lines)

B. Confession of Confidence in God’s Steadfast Love: 2–3 (three lines)

C. Lament: King in Midst of Beasts: 4 (four lines)

X. Petition: Be Exalted, O God: 5 (five line)

C.’ Lament: Enemies Seek to Kill King: 6 (six lines)

B.’ Confession of Confidence: King’s Heart Is Steadfast: 7 (three lines)

A.’ Praise of God’s Steadfast Love to Nations: 8–10 (two lines)

Coda: Petition Repeated: 11

Postscript: Psalm 58: superscript

“To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy.” Postscript to Psalm 56 .

“Of David. A Miktam” (see Ps 56: superscript). “When he had fled from Saul into the cave” of Ein Gedi (1Sam 24:1–15), where he is entrapped by the enemy (57:4), who himself will become entrapped (57:6).

As in Psalm 56, the key verse of this chiastic psalm is the pivot and, in the Hebrew text of BHS, the center line. “Be exalted, O God,” the obverse of “cast down the wicked” (see Ps 56). Seven—the number of divine perfection—chiastically constructed lines (i.e., 2, 3, 2) of the other motifs of a lament psalm surround it; and the confidence and lament motifs, apart from verse 4b, are separated by a selah (57:4a, 7). This key verse is repeated in the coda (57:11). Its repetition, however, nuances the two aspects of God’s glory: God’s assertion of his value and worth by rescuing his king (57:1–6), and humankind’s acknowledgment of God’s assertion (57:11; cf. 21:13).

Christ manifested his glory through miraculous signs (John 2:11; 5:36; 20:30–31), and his steadfast church exalts him among the nations (Jude 24ff). “I will praise you, Lord of all, among the nations” (57:9) befits a king.²³³ It adds an evangelistic motive to praise (cf. Rom 15:8ff).

“Be merciful to me, O God” repeats 56:1. Logical “for” implies God has obliged himself to protect his worshipers (see 56:4). “For . . . take refuge,” the mark of a true worshiper. “In the shadow of your wings (see 17:8) I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction (hawwôt, “an engulfing ruin”) pass by.”

“I cry out to God Most High (see 7:17) . . . He sends from heaven” as his emissaries “and saves me” (see 3:7); “he reproaches” or defies “him”—David commonly switches to the singular for the leader—”who tramples upon me” (NAS). “Selah.” The parallel line “he sends . . . faithfulness,” metonymies for salvation, supplies the previously gapped object of “send.”

“My soul is (better, “I am”) in the midst of lions. I must lie down²³⁴ among those who devour²³⁵ the children of man” (11:4; translation mine²³⁶). The zoomorphic figure signifies the enemy’s strength, bestial insensitivity, and instinct to kill. “Whose tongues are a sharp sword” adds to the figure their cruel, effective, and deadly speech (see 56:5, 6).

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!” Contextually, the petition asks God to assert his worthiness of social esteem by showing steadfast love in rescuing his king from the lions. “Above the heavens” signifies his superlative preeminence on the vertical axis, and “over all the earth” its universal extent on the horizontal axis.

“They set a net for my steps—my soul is bowed down (i.e., “I am weary from distress” [NLT]); they dug a pit—they will fall into it themselves (translation mine²³⁷). Selah.” Their fate segues into the confidence motif (57:7).

“My heart (see 7:10), O God, is steadfast” in worship (57:1ff). “I will (volitional) sing and make melody!” His resolve is a segue into the hymn, repeated in the mosaic of 108 (see 108:1–5).

The psalm ends with the motifs of a hymn : call and resolve to praise (57:8–9), cause for praise (57:10).

“Awake, my glory” (a metonymy for the tongue, see 30:12) signifies to rouse oneself to activity that requires extra effort. “I will (volitional) awake the dawn” personifies the dawn as having been asleep and signifies that David begins his day in extremis with praise. “For your steadfast love is great (above normal); your faithfulness (see 57:3) reaches to the clouds” (cf. Rom 5:7ff).

The petition “be exalted . . . over all the earth” asks for universal acknowledgement of God’s claim to worth (cf. 57:5).

The psalm’s content and chiastic structure—strikingly similar to 56 and 57—at a glance:

Superscript

A. Rulers Accused of Injustice to Humankind: 1–2

B. Reflection on Rulers’ Depravity: 3

C. Reflection on Rulers’ Injustice Using Snake Similes: 4–5

X. Pivot: God Petitioned to Smash Rulers: 6

C.’ Reflection on Petition Using Striking Similes: 7–8

B.’ Reflection on Certainty of Answer to Petition: 9

A.’ Humankind Praises God for Justice: 10–11

Postscript: Psalm 59: superscript

“To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy.” Postscript to Psalm 57. 

“Of David. A Miktam.” See Psalm 57: superscript.

Psalm 58 exhibits the motifs of a lament psalm : the lament in the form of prophetic accusation (58:1–5); the address and petition in the pivot (58:5) with reflections on the petition (58:6–8); confidence (58:9, not ESV), and praise (58:10–11). Catchwords (“judge”; “children of man”/“mankind”; “right”/“righteous”; “on earth”; ’ēlîm [“gods,” see note for 58:1]/’ĕlōhîm [“God”]) frame the psalm. It begins with an accusation against rulers for injustice and ends with praise to God for judging them.

The psalm’s chiastic structure—similar to that of 54, 56, and 57—pivots on its center line. As in 54:4, the poet uses the title “God” in the pivot’s A verset and “LORD” in its B verset. Uniquely within this psalm, the poet addresses God in the imperative mood. Also, in the Hebrew text he strikingly balances the pivot: God/break/mouth//jaw/smash/the LORD. Also, he balances around it two lines (58:1–2, 7–8), one line (58:3, 9), and two lines (58:4–5, 10–11). The pivotal petition to eliminate incorrigible wicked rulers brings King David’s indictment of them (58:1–5) to a climax, and from it flows the eschatological hope of a new world order (58:7–11). So the king’s petition (58:6), the key verse, turns a morally upside-down world (58:1–5) right-side up (58:7–11 [five verses]²³⁸; cf. Matt 6:9ff; Luke 18:8; Eph 6:12, 17) and brings the whole world to praise God. This is the psalm’s message.

God uses evil for good. He handed over control of the world to tyrants so that by destroying them all humankind will confess that “there is a God who judges on earth” (see 58:11b; cf. Rom 11:33–36). The grand reversal from the old rule to the new rule began with the pivotal career of Jesus Christ, who saw Satan fall from political ascendancy (Luke 10:18). It will be consummated at Christ’s Parousia (2Thes 2:5–9; Phil 2:9–11).

“Do you indeed decree (lit. “speak”) what is right, you rulers (NIV; cf. NET, NLT; lit. “gods”²³⁹)? No, in your hearts (see 7:10) you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.” The rulers are corrupt in word (“speaks”), thought (“heart”), and deed (“hands”). The early church applied the psalm to the trial of Jesus (Matt 26:57–68).

Their corruption is endemic, not sporadic. “The wicked (see 1:1) are estranged (from righteousness, see 58:2) from the womb” (cf. Pss 14; 53; 51:5–6).

And they are pernicious: “they have venom like the venom of a serpent. Like the deaf adder (or “the cobra”) that stops its ear” adds to their culpability their intractability; they even refuse to listen to the “cunning enchanter” (i.e., the most persuasive motivational speakers, 58:5b; cf. Matt 11:16–17). Not granted repentance (cf. Acts 11:18), the only solution is their destruction.

“O God, break the teeth in their mouths (see 3:7b); tear out the fangs of the young lions” (see 57:4) adds strength and ferocity to the cobra image (see 91:13).

Hebrew grammar allows translating verses 7–8 as a command: “let them vanish” (so most English versions); or as a future reality: “they will vanish” (so LXX). The first simile, “like water that runs away,” signifies their permanent elimination. The second, “their arrows fall short” (NIV), signifies thwarting their evil schemes. The third, “like a snail that dissolves into slime,” signifies their premature elimination and humiliation. The fourth, “like the stillborn child who never sees the sun,” adds their premature cessation from enjoying life (see 56:13).

The same ambiguous Hebrew grammar interpreted as a command (58:4–5) is better translated with most English as a future indicative (e.g., NIV, KJV, ASV, CSB, JPS, NET), contrary to ESV, which translates as a future reality (Hebrew poets commonly pun with ambiguous forms.) The simile “sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns . . . may he sweep them away” signifies their swift destruction.

“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance” (see 18:47; cf. Rev 14:19). “And” (untranslated in ESV), when the eschatological hope is realized, “mankind will say ‘Surely . . . there is a God who judges on earth.’”

The content and structure of this lament psalm  at a glance:

Superscript

I. First Primary Cycle of Motifs of Lament-Petition Psalms: 1–10

A. Secondary Cycle of Lament and Petition Motifs: 1–5 (five verses)

1. Address and Petition to Deliver the King: 1–2

2. Lament and King’s Innocence: 3–4a

3. Petition: Punish Hostile Nations: 4b–5

Selah

B. Secondary Cycle of Lament and Confidence Motifs: 6–10 (five verses)

1. Lament with Dog Metaphor: 6–7

2. Confidence: 8

3. Refrain: Confession of Trust: 9–10

II. Second Primary Cycle of Motifs: 11–17

A. Secondary Cycle of Petition Motif: 11–13

1. Punish Enemies as Warning Example to Israel: 11

2. Let Enemies’ Sin Recoil on Them: 12

3. Eliminate Enemies as Testimony to World: 13

Selah

B. Secondary Cycle of Lament and Praise Motifs: 14–17

1. Lament with Dog Metaphor: 14–15

2. Refrain: Praise for Steadfast Love: 16–17

Postscript: Psalm 60: superscript

“For . . . Do Not Destroy:” Postscript to Psalm 58. 

“By David. A Miktam” (see Ps 56: superscript). References to “nations” (59:5, 8), “ends of the earth” (59:13), and “my people” (59:11) are fitting in a king’s mouth.

“When Saul . . .” See 1 Samuel 19:11.

The psalm’s two primary cycles of three typical motifs of a lament psalm are demarcated by a refrain, involving a pun (59:9–10, 16–17), and by the repetition of a preceding dog metaphor refrain (59:6, 14). Apart from the motif of “address” (59:1), the secondary cycles of only one or two motifs are both demarcated by “selah” (59:5, 13). This manifold cycling of motifs matches the historical situation of enemies encircling the city to kill David (59:6, 14).

The refrain “I will watch for (šmr) you” (59:9) becomes “I will sing praises (zmr) to you” (59:17). This pun transforms the motif of trust to the motif of praise and points to the psalm’s message. The chosen king perseveres in extremis and prevails in prayer through his confidence in God, who is his strength and fortress (59:1, 9, 16, 17); and in his certainty that God shows him unfailing love (59:10, 16, 17). Verse 17 is the key verse.

The psalm’s scenic depiction shifts from the psalmist’s lament and danger with evening’s sunset to his shout of joy for salvation in the sunrise of the morning (59:16). David knows he has been anointed to rule the nations, and so he composes his psalm envisioning his present danger as part of the metanarrative of salvation history. He contrasts himself and “my people” (59:11; i.e., true and faithful Israel) with the enemy—Saul and those allied with him—and the nations (59:5, 8). In that metanarrative David is a type of Christ: both suffered tyrants’ gross injustice in the evening and were saved by the living God in the morning. Jesus Messiah, as son of David, looked to God to deliver him, and the Church looks to him to deliver her. So Christ is both the Church’s model of persevering faith and her Savior. However, Christ and his Church do not ask God to kill the enemy now but to save the nations. Nevertheless, they ask God to uphold justice at his Parousia.

Secondary Cycle: Address, Lament, Petition Motifs: 1–5

Address and Petition to Deliver the King: 1–2

“Deliver . . . protect (lit. set on an inaccessible height) . . . from those who work evil (see 14:4) and save (see 3:7) me.”

Lament and King’s Innocence: 3–4a

“For . . . fierce men stir up strife (meaning of Hebrew uncertain) against me.” The king’s cause is just: he is guilty of “no transgression” (see 5:10) against God and/or Saul. “For no fault of mine (cf. 1Sam 20:1; 24:11; 26:18) they run and are determined” [to kill me] (translations mine; cf. 1Sam 20:1).

Petition: Punish Hostile Nations: 4b–5

Understanding his affliction as part of true Israel’s struggle against the nations (see above), he addresses God as “LORD God of Heaven’s Armies (NLT), the God of Israel” (i.e., he has the obligation to save Israel), and asks, “rouse yourself (see 44:23; 57:8) to punish all nations . . . Selah.”

Secondary Cycle: Lament and Confidence Motifs: 6–10

Lament with Dog Metaphor: 6–7

“Each . . . dogs (see 22:16), and prowling about (lit. “go around”) the city . . . With swords in their lips (see 59:12; 57:4; cf. 1Sam 24:9; 26:19). “Who,” they think (clause supplied), “will hear us?” “They are aggressive because they feel the psalmist is vulnerable and has no one to help him.”²⁴⁰

Confidence: 8

“But you (see 3:3) . . . hold all the nations in derision “(see 2:4; 37:13). Schadenfreude is right and good when the LORD eliminates tyrants.

Refrain: Confession of Trust: 9–10

The metonymy “O my Strength” highlights God’s power (see 28:6, 7). “I will (volitional) watch for you” to save me, as Saul’s messengers “watched the house” to kill him (1Sam 19:11; cf. Prov 8:32). He explains: “for you, O God, are my fortress (lit. “my inaccessible height,” see 59:1), the God in his steadfast love (5:7) will meet me,” a metonymy for “to save me.”

Secondary Cycle: Petition Motif: 11–13

The framing petitions escalate from “make them totter” (59:11) to “consume them” (59:13), and the motivation escalates from “lest my people forget” to “that it may be known to the ends of the earth.” The center petition for poetic justice justifies these petitions (59:12).

Punish Enemies as Warning Example to Israel: 11

“Kill them not, lest my (i.e., the king’s) people (i.e., true Israel) forget” the LORD’s saving acts (cf. 78:11; 106:13). Rather (9:17), “make them totter by your power and bring them down” in an unhurried way as a warning example (cf. 2Sam 1–4; 21:1–14).

Let Enemies’ Sin Recoil on Them: 12

The enemies’ verbal sins pivot on their source, namely, their pride:

A. the sin of their mouths, 

B. words of their lips, 

X. . . . pride (i.e., a self-confident attitude that throws off God’s rule).

B’. curses (i.e., a legal aid for securing an oath), 

A’. and lies they utter. The enemy justifies his villainy with lies (cf. 1Sam 22:8).

Eliminate Enemy as Testimony to the World: 13

Though the enemy is preserved as a warning example, ultimately, they must be exterminated. “Consume them in wrath . . . they may know . . . ends of the earth (cf. 1Sam 17:46; cf. Pss 22:27ff; 67:7; 98:3). Selah.”

Secondary Cycle of Lament and Praise Motifs: 14–17

Lament with Dog Metaphor: 14–15

“Each evening . . . about the city” repeats verse 6. But whereas the poet first laments the lethal damage of their words (59:7), now he complains of the enemy’s persistence (59:15): “they wander about for food,” a metaphor for David’s blood.

Refrain: Praise for Steadfast Love: 16–17

“But I will sing . . . in the morning (see 5:3; 30:6) . . . of your unfailing love (see 5:7); for you are my fortress (lit. “inaccessible height”; translation mine). O my Strength . . . steadfast love” (see 59:9).

“To . . . to Shushan Eduth.”

The content and structure of this complaint-lament psalm  at a glance:

Superscript

I. Address, Lament, Petition for Restoration: 1–4

A. Address, Introductory Lament, and Petition:1

B. Lament: Metaphors of Earthquake and Intoxicants: 2–3

C. Confidence: Metaphor of Rallying Flag: 4

II. Oracle of God’s Triumphs over Enemies: 5–8

A. Petition for Salvation and an Answer: 5

B. Oracle of God’s Triumph over Enemies: 6–8

1. Introduction to the Oracle: 6a

2. The Sovereign Gives Israel Its Land: 6b

3. The Sovereign Fights and Rules through Israel: 7

4. The Sovereign Defeats Israel’s Enemies: 8

III. Petition for Help in Defeat and Confession of Trust: 9–12

A. Petition for Help in a Complaint of Defeat: 9–10

B. Petition for Help in a Confession of Trust: 11–12

“To . . . Shushan Eduth” (“Lily of the Covenant”; cf. Ps 45: superscript; Ps 80: superscript). Postscript to Psalm 59 .

“A Miktam of David (see Ps 56: superscript). For instruction” (cf. Deut 31:19, 21; 2Sam 1:18).

“When . . . Joab struck down twelve thousand²⁴¹ Edomites in the Valley of Salt” (see 60:8, 9; cf. 2Sam 8:13ff; 1Chr 18:12ff). The lament of 60:1–3 may refer to Edom’s successful break through Israel’s garrison’s defending her southern border while David was campaigning against the Arameans in the north. Through his petition David turned the Divine Warrior from fighting against his people to fighting for them. The circumstances of this psalm are similar to Psalm 44: God did “not go out with our army” (60:10; 44:9). In both of these communal complaints the perspective shifts between the king’s and the army’s (60:9).

The psalm’s three stanzas of four verses each are demarcated by changes of perspective: the nation’s (60:1–4), God’s (60:5–8), and the king’s and the nation’s (60:9–12). Selah separates verses 4 and 5, and verses 5–12 are repeated in 108:6–13.

The center stanza, the oracle of God, distinguishes this complaint-lament psalm. In brilliant poetry it proclaims the Divine Warrior’s sovereignty. He chooses Israel’s boundaries (60:6); wears Israel’s tribes as his warrior-garments (60:7); and humbles her enemies (60:8). Learning these three truths—God elects his people, fights through them, and will certainly triumph—fortifies God’s people to establish God’s rule. It is the story of the Bible. Verse 12 is the key verse.

Today, Jesus Messiah chooses his people (John 15:16; cf. Eph 1:4; 2Thes 2:13; 1Pet 2:9ff), arms them with spiritual armor (Eph 6:11–8), and brings nations under his spiritual rule (Matt 28:18–20).

Address, Introductory Lament, and Petition: 1

The address “O God” (see Ps 42: superscript) entails faith in God’s transcendence over human affairs, even in defeat. “You have broken our defenses” (lit. “have broken through”). “You have been angry” recognizes God’s sovereignty in the enemy’s victory and that the defeat is undeserved, for they identify themselves as God’s “beloved ones.” (60:5; cf. Psalm 44:17–22). A term of endearment is inappropriate for sinners (cf. 127:2; 2Sam 12:25; Jer 11:15). “Restore us,” to wit, to your favor and heal the breaches (see 60:2–3).

Lament: Metaphors of Earthquake and Intoxicants: 2–3

In hyperboles, the outward effect on “the land” is like that of an earthquake, and its inward effect on “your people” is compared to drinking “wine that makes us stagger.” Inferentially, they had to drink from the cup of God’s wrath. Restoration to God’s favor entails healing.

Confidence: Metaphor of Rallying Flag: 4

The metaphor “you have set up a banner” or flag “for those who fear you (see 2:11) that they may flee to it from the bow” signifies a rallying point for the fleeing garrison to regroup and defend themselves. The psalmist is so certain God will defend them that he represents it as a past event, a prolepsis.²⁴²

Petition for Salvation and an Answer: 5

“That your beloved ones” (see above) reveals their self-identification as God’s elect (see 3:4). “Give salvation (see 3:7) by your right hand” (see 16:8). “Answer us” (see 3:4) sets the stage for the reveal oracle (60:6–8). In Israel’s world, kings asked for a divine oracle before engaging in battle (cf. Judg 20:18, 23, 27; 1Sam 23:2–12;1Kgs 22).

Oracle of God’s Triumph over the Enemies: 6–8

Introduction to the Oracle: 6a

“God has spoken from his holiness” (i.e., his sanctuary), the place of his numinous presence and moral perfection (cf. 1Sam 15:29; Ps 2:6). The oracle may have been given by a prophet with the army (2Kgs 3:11–19) or a citation of an ancient oracle from the time of the Conquest.

The Sovereign Gives Israel Its Land: 6b

”With exultation I will divide up (i.e., parcel out) Shechem,” west of the Jordan, “and portion out” for distribution to the victors “the Valley of Sukkoth,” east of the Jordan (cf. Gen 33:17–20). The merism signifies the divine allocation of the Promised Land (cf. Gen 15:18; 34:17–19; Josh 13:15–32; 14; 17).

The historic victory and distribution of the land at Israel’s founding certifies God’s future victory over Edom.

The Sovereign Fights and Rules through Israel: 7

The merisms of the tribes in Transjordan and in Cis-Jordan, both in the north and in the south, represent all Israel as his army. In Transjordan: “Gilead” in the south, north of Moab,  “. . . and Manasseh,” which straddles the Jordan north of Gilead, “is mine” (Josh 13:29–32; 17:1–13). In Cis-Jordan: “Ephraim,” a Rachel tribe in the north “is my helmet” that protects them from attackers; “Judah,” a Leah tribe in its south, “is my scepter” (Ps 45:6; Gen 49:10) through whom he rules.

The Sovereign Defeats Israel’s Enemies: 8

“Moab is my washbasin” signifies both God’s ownership and contempt (cf. Gen 18:14; Exod 19:7). The Dead Sea below the Plains of Moab makes the metaphor memorable. “Upon Edom”—notorious for its mountains—”I cast my shoe” also signifies ownership (Ruth 4:7ff) and contempt (Deut 25:9). “Over Philistia I shout in triumph.” These three kingdoms were Israel’s perpetual enemies on Judah’s eastern and western borders (cf. Exod 15:14ff).

The king responds to the oracle in two couplets of petitions involving complaint and confidence.

Petition for Help in a Complaint of Defeat: 9–10

The petition and complaint are in the form of questions. “Who will lead me” (i.e., the king) in triumph “to the fortified city,” perhaps Bosrah, a synecdoche for “Edom” (Isa 34:6; cf. Gen 36:31–33; Jer 49:13; Rev 19:13). David’s petition shifts from defense (60:4) to offence: Thus far, “have you not rejected us?” (see 60:1), a rhetorical figure for strong affirmation.

Petition for Help in a Confession of Trust: 11–12

Nevertheless, the petition, “Oh, grant us help against the foe” (i.e., a spiritual, political, and military enemy). The explanation, “for vain (i.e., “worthless”) is the salvation of man,” entails a rejection of trust in mortals and their technology (cf. 127:1). “With God we shall do valiantly” (i.e., “conquer” [see Num 24:18; 1Sam 14:48; 108:13; 118:16]). “It is he who will tread down our foes,” as he promised Eve (Gen 3:15) and will accomplish through Christ and his Church (Rom 16:20).

The content and structure of this complaint-lament psalm  at a glance:

Superscript

I. King’s Petition for Restoration to Jerusalem: 1–4

A. Introductory Petition to Be Heard: 1

B. Lament, Petition, and Confidence: Lead Exiled Psalmist to Zion: 2–3

C. Petition: To Dwell in God’s Temple: 4

II. Petition for the King and His Confidence and Praise: 5–8

A. Confidence: God Hears King’s Vows: 5

B. Petition: Intercession for the King’s Longevity: 6–7

C. Praise: King Fulfills Vows: 8

Postscript: Psalm 62: superscript

“To . . . with stringed instruments.” Postscript to Psalm 60 .

“By David.”  The reference to “tent” is appropriate for David . Verse 6 explicitly mentions the king.

The psalm is similar to 42–43 and 121 in that all move from exile to the temple. In Psalm 61, the disconsolate king feels far removed from the temple (61:2a) and prays that God will lead him back (61:3) to the security of the temple (61:4, the key verse). After his confession of trust that God hears his prayer (61:5), an anonymous voice intercedes with a prayer that Messiah’s year will be unending generations (61:6) and that the king be enthroned forever (61:7), confirming the Davidic covenant (2Sam 7:16). Implicitly assured of God’s protection by this eschatological vision, the king ends his psalm vowing to praise the LORD forever. This scenario fits well with David’s flight from Absalom (2Sam 17:21–29).

The division in emphasis of the typical motifs into lament—although brief (61:2a)—and petition (61:1–4), and into assurance and praise (61:5–8), demarcate the stanzas. “Prayer” (61:1) and its accompanying “vows” (61:5) unites them. Selah (61:4) supports this analysis. A tone of confidence pervades the whole. His petition “let me dwell in your tent forever” (61:4) is escalated to the benediction: “may he be enthroned forever before God” (61:7, the key verse; see 2Sam 7:16).

The psalm is typically prophetic . The psalm prays and predicts that the king’s years may be (or will be) like endless generations (61:6). Only the Messiah’s years fit that measurement of time!

Christians don’t go to Jerusalem to worship (see John 4:24), but they have a constant need for this prayerful eight-step deliverance from enemies till they reach heavenly Zion.

Introductory Petition to Be Heard: 1

“Hear my cry (i.e., a shrill, piercing yell) . . . prayer” (see Ps 17: superscript). His prayer includes votive sacrifices (see 61:8).

Lament, Petition, and Confidence: Lead Exiled Psalmist to Zion: 2–3

He laments: “from the end of the earth” (“the most remote place” [NET]), a hyperbole for the way the poet feels. “I call out to you . . . as my heart grows faint” (NIV; “in my despair” [NET]). So he prays, “Lead me (cf. 23:3) to the rock that is too high for me” (translation mine²⁴³) to reach by one’s own efforts, perhaps a metonymy for Zion²⁴⁴ (cf. 27:5; Jer 21:12) and a symbol of inviolability due to God’s presence (see 18:2). Logical “for” explains why he cries out and expresses his confidence. The metaphor “for you have been my refuge, a strong (i.e., a fortified) tower” signifies God’s historic protection of his king, guaranteeing his future.

Petition: To Dwell in God’s Temple: 4

“Let me dwell (Hebrew verb gûr, “to reside as a newcomer without original or inherent rights” [see 39:12 note]) in your tent  forever!” “Your wings” refers to the cherubim’s within the tent (cf. 17:8). “Selah”

Confidence: God Hears King’s Vows: 5

Logical “for” signifies why the psalmist prays: “you hear my vows” (votive sacrifices that testify that God answers prayer [22:25]); “you grant me (NET²⁴⁵) the heritage (i.e., the Promised Land [see 37:9; cf. Deut 2:19],) of those who fear (see 2:7) your name” (see 20:1).

Petition: Intercession for the King’s Longevity: 6–7

An inspired prophet who perhaps accompanied the embattled king (cf. 1Sam 23:6; 2Kgs 3:11; Ps 20) intercedes for the king in terms appropriate only for the Messiah: “Prolong the life of the king” (lit. “may you add [or, “you will add”²⁴⁶] days upon days of the king”). “May his years be as (better, “like”) generation after generation” (lit. so NAB; cf. “as many generations” [KJV, ASV, NAS, JPS]; cf. “forever” [61:7]). The petition—possibly a promise—that the king live forever is more than courtly hyperbole like “Long live the king” (1Kgs 1:32; 2Sam 14:21) and not a prayer for dynastic succession. The king’s years are compared to endless generations (cf. Isa 53:10), not that his years ambiguously “endure to all generations” (ESV) or that “the years he yet lives equal in number the many generations,”²⁴⁷ a confusing hyperbole that overtaxes the imagination. The petition is fulfilled in Jesus Messiah²⁴⁸ (cf. Isa 53:10) and entails that God protected and preserved David. “May he . . . before God (2Sam 7:16). Appoint steadfast love (5:3) and faithfulness” (see 26:3; 58:3) personifies these divine attributes as angels sent “to watch over (i.e., “protect”) him.”

Praise: King Fulfills Vows: 8

The speaker shifts from the intercessor back to the psalmist. “So will I ever sing . . . day after day.” Assured by the Messianic promise (cf. Acts 2:30–31), David anticipates that upon his restoration to Zion he will pay the vows that he made while “at the ends of the earth.”

“To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun.” 

The content and structure of this psalm of trust at a glance:

Superscript

I. Confidence in God’s Protection: 1–4

A. Confession of Confidence: 1–2

B. Enemies Accused of Murder and Lies: 3–4

II. Exhortations to Trust in God: 5–8

A. To Self: 5–6

B. To People: 7–8

III. “Power Belongs to Just God”: 9–12

A. Not to Trust in Humankind and Riches: 9–10

B. An Inspired Saying: Power Belongs to Just God: 11–12

“For . . . Jeduthun” (see Ps 39: superscript). Postscript to Psalm 61 .

“A psalm by David” . The speaker (“I”) is the king .

Probably in a literary mimesis, the king hymns this song of trust in God in the worshiping congregation, while deceptive enemies seek to topple him from his eminence. He mostly addresses the worshipers but at the end directly addresses God (62:12). In apostrophes, however, the poet addresses the enemy (62:3) and himself (62:6).

The psalm consists of six couplets linked by catchwords or terms (“my salvation” [62:1ff, 5ff], “batter”/“thrust down” [62:3ff], “refuge” [62:7ff], “breath” [hebel, 62:9], “vain hopes” [verbal root hābal, 62:10]), and by a numerical saying (62:11ff). They are combined into three stanzas, each consisting of two couplets, and demarcated by selah (62:4, 8).

The stanzas build upon one another to communicate the message to trust in God alone. The king’s confession of confidence in God (62:1ff) fortifies his self-exhortation to rest hopefully in God (62:5ff); the accusation against the oppressors for lusting to topple him (62:3ff) explains why he asserts that his salvation and glory rest on God (62:7) and that they both must trust God to protect them (62:8). The final stanza gives the basis for their faith, namely, that God revealed the power to execute justice is his alone, and so, out of his steadfast love for his people, he rewards and punishes proportionately.

Powerful enemies also sought to topple David’s Antitype, Jesus Messiah. He too did not respond with human might but rested upon God to reward him for his fidelity and encouraged his disciples to follow his example (cf. Heb 12:23).S

Confession of Confidence: 1–2

“Truly (NIV), for God alone my soul (see 6:3) waits in silence (i.e., without murmuring) . . . salvation (see 3:7). Truly (NIV) he alone is, my rock (see 61:2, note) . . . my fortress” (see 59:1): the two metaphors are metonymies for “my salvation.”

Enemies Accused of Murder and Lies: 3–4

In an apostrophe, the poet addresses the enemies in this literary mimesis. He is patient with God but not with them. “How long (see 4:2) will all of you,” inferring his enemies are many, “attack” or assail “a man”—a generic reference to God’s anointed king—”to batter him.” The similes “like a leaning wall” made of mortar, escalated to “like a pushed-in stone wall” made without mortar (translation mine), signify that the king’s own defenses are insufficient to protect him.

Returning to address the congregation, the king explains that the oppressors aim to dethrone him: “truly they plot (translation mine) to thrust him down from his high position,” a metonymy for kingship. Their modus operandi is deception, for it is their very nature: “they take pleasure in falsehood . . . Selah.”

Exhortation to Self: 5–6

In apostrophe to himself he repeats verses 1–2 with two notable variations, as faith encourages faith. First, the mood changes from indicative to imperative: “Yes (NIV), for . . . silence.” And “my salvation” is changed to its metonymy: “my hope” (cf. 9:19).

Exhortation to People: 7–8

The poet-king turns again to address the worshipers. He first lays the foundation for faith in God and in himself as their king: “On God rests . . . my glory” (see 29:1). So he exhorts them: “Trust (see 13:6) . . . O people (i.e., the family God adopted who obey Moses and the prophets, such as Samuel): pour out your hearts (see 7:10) before him,” a metaphor of intense emotional prayer and emptying self of anxiety. They can do so, “for God is a refuge for us (i.e., those loyal to God and his king). Selah.”

Not to Trust in Humankind and Riches: 9–10

The merismus “those of low estate . . . of high estate” (i.e., both the weak and powerful) indicts all humanity. “Are a delusion” signifies that in spite of their appearance as being able to save, they have no more salvific value than a puff of air. “Put no trust in extortion” (cf. Prov 10:2); “if riches increase, do not set your heart on them” for salvation; they are unreliable (see Ps 49; Prov 23:4ff; 24:7ff; Luke 12:13–21; 2Tim 6:17). The metaphor: “in the balances . . . lighter than a breath” signifies they have no value.

An Inspired Saying: “Power Belongs to Just God”: 11–12

The poet grounds his message in God’s Word, either in a new or an old saying: “One thing God has spoken; two things”—the real number—”I have heard” (NIV). The escalation certifies the truth of the saying: “Power,” a metonymy for executing justice and so salvation (see 62:12b), “belongs to God.” The king signals his faith in the saying by reflecting on the saying in a direct address to God: “And that to you, O Lord of All (translation mine [see 16:2]), belongs steadfast love” (see 5:7). He explains why he says this: “For” out of steadfast love for his covenant partners, “you . . . work.”

The content and structure of this psalm of trust  at a glance:

Superscript

I. Setting: Longing for God in a Parched Land: 1–2

II. Praise of God for His Steadfast Love: 3–5

A. God’s Steadfast Love Cause of Praise: 3

B. Praise of God for Satisfying Longing: 4–5

III. King’s Remembrance of God on His Bed at Night: 6–8

A. Setting: On His Bed at Night: 6

B. Remembrance of God’s Help and Present Trust: 7–8

IV. King’s Enemies Destroyed and King Rejoices: 9–11

A. Enemies Destroyed: 9–10

B. King’s Praise: 11

“A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah” . The psalm’s inferred scenario—the psalmist’s separation from the sanctuary in a parched land (63:1–2) due to enemies intending to kill him (63:9–10ff) and his identification as king (63:11)—accords with David’s flight from Absalom.

The psalm begins like a lament psalm with the king seeking God, presumably for salvation from his enemies (63:1a); but the poet transforms a lament psalm into a song of trust by replacing the motifs of a lament psalm  with statements of trust and praise: 

1. The address to God and introductory petition to be heard with an address to God in a statement of trust (63:1a).

2. The lament with a remembrance of seeing God’s power and glory in the sanctuary (63:1b–2).

3. The confession of trust in God’s steadfast love into praise of his steadfast love (63:3–5).

4. The petition for salvation with a remembrance of God’s past salvation (63:6–8).

5. Imprecations against the enemy with future praise for destroying them (63:9–11).

Verse 6 is the key verse, the petition with remembrance, for as Gunkel observes, “the most significant part of the complaint song is the petition (italics his) . . . the heart of the genre.”²⁴⁹ Yet, though seeking God for salvation, instead of petitioning God he meditates on God’s past help.

Structurally, after the introductory stanza that sets the stage (63:1–2), the three stanzas, each of three verses, pivot on the “remembrance” stanza (63:6–8), and the central stanza (III) is pivotal.

Similarly to that of the psalmist, the Church’s faith is nurtured by the memorial sacrament of Christ’s body and blood that his apostles handed down to her: “The Lord Jesus, on the night (italics mine) when he was betrayed, took bread . . . and said: ‘Do this in remembrance (italics mine) of me . . .’” (1Cor 11:23–26; cf. Mark 14:22–24).

The movement from “my soul thirsts for you” (63:1) to “my soul will be satisfied as with the richest of food” (63:5) binds together the first two stanzas (63:1–2, 3–5).

“O God (see Ps 42: superscript), you are my God,” is a statement of trust, not a reason to be heard, as in a lament psalm. Nevertheless, “earnestly I seek you” implies the context of a lament psalm as well as the king’s situation “in . . . water.” The desiccated landscape of the Judean wilderness (see 2Sam 16:2; 17:29) depicts his spiritual state: “earnestly I seek you” for God’s protection in the sanctuary (cf. 2Sam 15:25). His memory of “I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory” (29:1)—metonymies for their symbolic representation in the furnishings of the temple such as the cherubim and the wealth of the conquered nations stored there (2Sam 8:11)—explains his desire to be back in the sanctuary.

Though deprived of being in the presence of God’s power and glory, “because your steadfast love” (see 5:7) is “better (i.e., more important) than life my lips will praise (Hebrew root šābaḥ) . . . bless you (see 16:7) . . . in your name (i.e., the means by which God is approached and known) I will lift up my hands,” a gesture of praise (134:2; contrast 28:2). God’s steadfast love is a metonymy for the effect: “I will be fully satisfied.” And so “my mouth will praise (Hebrew root hālal) you.” The king’s career is centered in God’s glory.

Setting: On His Bed at Night: 6

He spiritually prevails over the enemy on his bed! “When I remember (see 9:11) you . . . in the” three “watches of the night” (i.e., the whole night; see 90:4): see superscript above.

Remembrance of God’s Help and Present Trust 7–8

In explaining why he remembers, he gives substance to his memory. “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings” beneath the cherubim (see 61:4) “I would (contextually better than “will”) sing for joy” (translation mine²⁵⁰). Though the grammatical form remains unchanged, it probably shifts from the past to the present,²⁵¹ asserting his trust: “My soul clings to you, and your right hand (see 16:8) upheld me” (cf. Phil 3:8–14).

His expectation that his enemies will be destroyed also explains his spiritual thirst for the protective presence of the sanctuary. “Those who seek . . . destruction” will find the tables turned: they “shall go down . . . the earth” (i.e., the grave). Specifically, “they . . . the sword,” a figure of death on the battlefield. As for their carcasses, “they will become a portion” of food “for” scavenging “jackals,” a symbol of an ignominious death (cf. 1Sam 25:10–14; 2Kgs 9:10). “But the king (cf. 61:6ff) . . . and all” who “swear by him” (i.e., God)—a sign of religious identification (cf. Deut 6:13)—”will praise him.” This is so “because the mouth of liars will be stopped” in death. Whereas the first stanza ended with the psalmist’s mouth praising God (63:5b), the second ends with the mouth of his foes stopped (63:11b).

The content and structure of this petition-lament psalm  at a glance:

Superscript

I. The Conspiracy of the Evildoers: 1–6

A. Address and Introductory Petition: 1

B. Petition: 2a

C. Lament: 2b–6

1. Summary Statement about Conspirators: 2b

2. Their Machinations: 3–4

3. Their Hubris: 5–6

II. The Proleptic Poetic Justice of God: 7–10

A. Confession of Trust: God Destroys Evildoers: 7–8

B. Praise: The Human Response: 9–10

1. All People Fear: 9

2. The Righteous Praise: 10

Postscript: Psalm 65: superscript

“To the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 63 .

“A psalm of David.” .

The king laments a godless conspiracy that plots to depose and kill him (cf. Ps 62:4) and petitions God to preserve him.

The italics in the outline signifies the motifs of a lament psalm . The Hebrew text uniquely uses the past tense for the motif of confession of trust (64:7–8), not the expected future or present tense (“God will shoot/shoots them,” as in all the versions). Yet this prolepsis, a figure of speech that anachronistically represents the future as past or present, is an essential feature of the psalm’s message. The path for the righteous to move from the dread of the godless enemy (64:1–2) to joy (64:10) is to live in faith, the imagination and assurance of God’s fitting the punishment to the crime: “he turned their own tongues against them” (64:7). The poet reinforces this truth by counterpointing in the second stanza key words of the first stanza in reverse order: “doers” (Hebrew root pō’al, 64:2), “tongues” (64:3a), “arrow” (64:3b), “shoot . . . suddenly” (64:4), “shot . . . suddenly” (64:7), “arrow” (64:7), “tongues” (64:8), “what . . . brought about” (pō’al, 64:9). When people see this, they fear and ponder God’s work, and the righteous rejoice (64:9–10, the key verses).

The perspective is eschatological but became a historic reality when the Jewish leaders conspired to kill Jesus through Roman power. God’s punishment fit their crimes. After they had crucified Jesus Messiah, God rent in two the curtain of the temple, symbolically ending the privilege of the cunning and mocking high priest; and, when the Roman centurion and his soldiers saw the sun fail, he confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, not the Roman Emperor who worshiped Sol Invictus (“the Invincible Sun”; Matt 27:45, 41, 54; Mark 15:35–39; Luke 24:44–48; cf. Acts 12:11; 16:24–34). But ultimate justice remains the Christian’s hope (Rev 6:10).

Address and Introductory Petition: 1

“Hear (i.e., hear with the ear and consent in the heart) my voice, O God (see 42:1), as I voice my complaint” (better “troubled thoughts”²⁵²; see 55:2), voiced in verses 3–6. The second plea, “protect . . . from the threat (lit. “terrifying fear”) of the enemy.”

Petition: 2a

More specifically, “hide me from the secret plots (i.e., “conspiracy” [see 64:3–6]) . . . from the throng” or mob “of evildoers” (see 7:14).

Lament: The Conspirators: 2b–6

Their Machinations: 3–4

Their weapon is words (64:3): “who whet-sharpen their tongues . . .” Indeed, the most used weapon against the psalmist is the tongue, here a metonymy for the parallel “bitter” (i.e., “cruel” words (see Ps 12; cf. Jas 3:1–12)). If the enemy controls the flow of information and the judicial courts, the victim has no chance to defend himself. The psalmist depends on God’s courtroom to redress the wrong.

Their strategy, metaphorically (64:4): “shooting from ambush . . . shooting at him suddenly.” The enemy allows their discredited victim no defense or even an opportunity to prepare a defense (Prov 1:11ff). “Without fear” of exposure and retributive justice from people (and/or from God) anticipates the next couplet.

Their Hubris: 5–6

In their self-confidence (64:5–6), “they encourage each other (i.e., they find strength in consensus) in an evil plan (CSB). They talk . . . ‘who can see them?’ They plot injustice and say, ‘We have devised a perfect plan’ (NIV). For . . . deep” (āmôq, “always with the negative connotations of inaccessibility and/or foreboding danger”²⁵³). David paints these sinners as cunning, contemptuously self-confident, without fear of God—who detests human hubris (Prov 16:5)—to destroy them, as he had the tower-of-Babel builders (Gen 11:1–9; cf. Isa 29:15).

Confession of Trust: God Destroys the Evildoers: 7–8

“Then God shot . . . struck down suddenly . . . brought to ruin . . . turned against them . . . all (see 22:29). Wagged their heads” (translation of 64:7–9 mine)²⁵⁴ in scorn, anticipates the next verse.

Praise: The Human Response: 9–10

Verse 9 is linked to verses 7–8 grammatically by continuing the past tense and to verse 10 semantically by human responses to God’s poetic justice (64:7–8). By this janus the righteous also rejoice to the response of all peoples.

All People Fear: 9

“All mankind feared; proclaimed . . . and pondered . . .” (translation mine; see 22:27–30; 58:11).

The Righteous Praise: 10

The poet drops the figure of prolepsis to represent the factual future. “The righteous will rejoice²⁵⁵(see 63:10) . . . all the upright in heart (see 7:10) will glory” (NIV).

“To the choirmaster.” 

The content and structure of this communal song of grateful praise at a glance:

Superscript

I. Introduction to the Community’s Praise Song:1–4

A. Community Will Fulfill Vows: 1–2

B. Community Identifies Itself as Forgiven: 3

C. Summary Statement of Praise: 4

II. Universal Praise for God’s Saving Acts: 5–8

A. Marvelous Answered Prayers Cause Ends of Earth to Trust: 5

B. Prevailed in Creation and in Salvation History: 6–7

C. Fear and Praise Is Universal in Scope: 8

III. Praise for Abundant Harvest: 9–13

A. God Waters the Earth for an Abundant Harvest: 9–10

B. God Crowns the Year with Abundance: 11

C. Description of the Harvest: 12–13

Postscript: Psalm 66: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 64 .

“A psalm of David” . This ascription to David also probably applies to its twin, Ps 66 (see Ps 66: superscript).

A Song. This communal song of grateful praise , having three nearly equal stanzas, praises God at the Zion temple for answering the people’s prayers in providing life-sustaining rain and so abundant harvests. Verse 5 is the key verse. Possibly, the psalm was sung at the Fall Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when Israel celebrated its harvests (cf. Lev 23:39). The psalm is a fitting poem of praise for such times as Thanksgiving Day.

Today, the forgiven Church enters into the heavenly temple with praises to the Trinity: to thSe Father for their daily bread; to Christ for building his Church; and to the Spirit for his fruit.

Community Will Fulfill Vows: 1–2

“Praise (i.e., “the expression of sincere, deep approval and admiration”) is due to you (Hebrew “to you, silence is praise” [meaning uncertain]), O God (see Ps 42: superscript) in Zion (see 2:6); and to you shall vows (see 21:25) be performed” (lit. “fulfilled”) in answer to prayers. “O You who hear (see 64:1) prayer (see 17:1), to you shall all (i.e., every tribe of Israel and social rank according to the context of this stanza) flesh (a metonymy and synecdoche for the human body’s weakness and need) come.”

Community Identifies Itself as Forgiven: 3

Because the community is forgiven, they can dwell in Zion (see 65:4; cf. Ps 15). “When iniquities (‘āwen; see 25:11) prevailed against me (cf. Neh 1:6; Dan 9:20; Heb 5:3; 7:27), you (emphatic in Hebrew) atoned” (i.e., “covered over,” or “expiated”) for “our transgressions” (translation mine; peša‘; see 5:10), probably an allusion to the “Day of Atonement” on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev 23:26–32; see “superscript” above). Accepting God’s atonement for one’s sin entails repenting of them (cf. Lev 23:27).

Summary Statement of Praise: 4

The introduction to the song includes the typical summary of what God has done. The wording “blessed (see 1:1) is . . . courts” (i.e., the inner and outer courtyards of the temple [cf. 1Kgs 6:35; Ezek 10:5]) alludes to the nation as a kingdom of priests (cf. Num 16:5; Exod 19:6). “O let us be satisfied (cf. Ps 17:15; 22:26) with the goodness . . . of your holy palace” (translation mine; i.e., its spiritual refreshment of forgiveness of sin and fellowship of sacrificial meals, along with celebration of harvests). Enriched with these blessings of his house, God’s people need no more.

Key terms: “ends of the earth” and “awesome” (better, “fearful/fear”) frame this stanza and sound its theme.

Marvelous Answered Prayers Cause Ends of Earth to Trust: 5

“By awesome (better, “to be feared” [see 65:8; 66:5]) righteousness (see 5:8) . . . salvation.” The claim “all the ends of the earth trust in you (NET), even those who sail on distant seas” (NLT) is proleptic (see Ps 67; cf. Isa 33:13) and will become a reality in the eschaton.

Prevailed in Creation and in Salvation History: 6–7

The poet uses the garb of ancient Near Eastern battle myths, in which a god creates by defeating a chaos monster, to represent the historical act of God creating the earth by delivering it from its inexplicable primeval chaos (see 78:13); namely, “the one . . . mountains, being girded with might; who stilled the roaring seas” (NIV). The climatic addition “and the tumult of the peoples” extends God’s salvific rule over nature to his political rule over human chaos (cf. 46:2ff, 6; Isa 17:12ff).

Fear and Praise Is Universal in Scope: 8

The ends of the earth fear; the upright rejoice (cf. 64:9–10).

g; the upright praise “So that . . . awe (lit. “and so . . . were filled with fear” [wayyîr^e’û, proleptic narrative past tense to signify certainty, see 65:5]) at your signs,” which validate that divine power performed them (cf. 105:27). “Where morning dawns” in the east, “where evening fades” in the west—a merismus of universal time and space—”you (i.e., “by your signs”) call forth songs of joy” (NIV) by the upright in heart (64:10).

God Waters the Earth for an Abundant Harvest: 9–10

You visit (i.e., “care for”) the land . . . The river of God” from the heavenly sanctuary²⁵⁶ (cf. 46:5)  “. . . abundantly” in the early rain  “. . . growth.”

“God Crowns the Year with Abundance: 11

“You crown the year”—probably an allusion to the Fall Festival—”with your bounty” (lit. “goodness”). The figure “and your wagon tracks overflow” or drip “abundance” (lit. fatness) alludes to the tracks of God’s chariot as he rides the storm clouds in the “latter rain” (i.e., April showers raining violets; see Pss 18:11; 68:5, 34; cf. Job 28:25–27).

Description of the Harvest: 12–13

“The pastures . . .” The personifications “the hills gird themselves with joy” and “they shout and sing together for joy” express the peoples’ emotional and voiced responses, respectively.

The content and structure of this praise psalm at a glance:

Superscript

I. Introduction: The Hymn: 1–4

A. Summons to Praise: 1–2

B. Cause and Summary Statement of Praise: 3–4

II. A Communal Song of Grateful Praise: 5–12 (seven lines)

A. Testimony to What God Did at the Exodus: 5–7

1. Summary of Deliverance: 5

2. Report of Deliverance in the Exodus: 6–7a

3. Conclusion: A Warning to Rebellious against Hubris: 7b

B. A Hymn Praising God for Preserving Israel: 8–12

1. Summons of Peoples to Praise: 8

2. Cause for Praise: Israel’s Preservation in Distress: 9–12

III. Personal Song of Grateful Praise: 13–20 (seven lines)

A. Resolve to Offer Votive Sacrifices: 13–15

B. Testimony of What God Did: 16–20

1. Summons of God-Fearers to Hear: 16

2. Report of Deliverance: 17–19

3. Praise of God: 20

Postscript: Psalm 67: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 65 .

“A song” of grateful praise (see Ps 65). “A psalm.” The ascription of Psalm 65 to David probably also applies to its twin, Psalm 66, for two reasons. First, of the many psalms with a postscript, only Psalm 66 is an orphan (not ascribed to David). Second, the scenario of Psalm 66 fits David. The psalmist combines his personal song of grateful praise for his salvation (66:13–20) with the nation’s song that narrates Israel’s history up to the monarchy (66:5–12), and he sacrifices a cornucopia of animals, fitting the wealth of a king (66:13–15; cf. 1Kgs 8:22–24).

Whereas Psalm 65 summons Israel to praise God as Creator and Sustainer of the land, and in particular for a bountiful harvest in answer to their prayer, Psalm 66 summons all nations to join Israel’s in praise of her Redeemer, and in particular both for saving and preserving her and for delivering her king in answer to his prayer. The reports of what God has done span Israel’s salvation history from the exodus (66:5–7), through her preservation in wilderness and in the time of warlords, traditionally called “judges” (66:8–12), to the deliverance of presumably David (66:13–16). That history reveals God’s fearful power, causing his enemies to cringe before him (contrast Ps 67). The psalmist summons the nations to join Israel in singing praise to her God for his sovereign might displayed in her salvation history (66:3), and in this way he reshapes the political world into conformity to God’s moral rule (cf. 66:18). This is the psalm’s message, and verse 3 is the key verse.

Structurally, the psalm  consists of an introductory hymn (66:1–4) and of the two songs (66:5–12, 13–20), presumably sung by the Levites and the king. The catch term “awesome . . . deeds” links the introduction and songs (66:3, 5), and so do “praise,” “God,” and “earth,” a metonymy for the “peoples” (66:1–2, 8). A selah demarcates the introduction from the songs (66:4). A shift of pronouns from plural (“we”) to singular (“I”) demarcates the two songs. A direct address to God bridges them (66:10–12, 13–15), as Schaefer notes.²⁵⁷ The songs are developed in a chiastic pattern: the communal song begins with a testimony to what God has done: “Come and see” (66:5–7, three verses); followed by praise in the form of a hymn (66:8–12, five verses); and the personal song begins with a votive sacrifice of praise (66:13–15, three verses), followed by the testimony of what God did: “Come and hear” (66:16–20, five verses). A “selah” in both songs demarcates the praise from the report (66:7, 15). The hymn and four parts of the songs in various ways praise God, and so praise resounds throughout the psalm. Indeed, terms for praise (“shout,” “sing,” “blessed be”) frame the psalm (66:1, 20).

The psalm has an eschatological perspective, envisioning with the historic present all the earth worshiping God (66:4) and claiming he rules forever (66:7). The trajectory of salvation history finds fulfillment in Jesus Messiah’s resurrection²⁵⁸ and its consummation in his Parousia. Today, the entire globe—obviously, not yet exhaustively—celebrates Christ’s resurrection. In this new dispensation, however, the nations do not cringe in fear; rather, “we love him because he first loved us” (1Jn 4:19).

The hymn has the usual form of summons to praise (66:1–2) and reason for praise (66:3–4), two couplets. The catchwords “all the earth,” “sing praise,” and God’s “name” frame the hymn (66:1, 2, 4). There is a katabasis in decibels, and possibly a chronological sequence, from “shout,” to “sing praise,” to “bow down” in silent adoration (see 95:1–6).

Summons to Praise: 1–2

“Shout (see 47:1; cf. 1Sam 4:4; 2Sam 6:15) to God (see Ps 42: superscript), all the earth! Sing” with musical accompaniment “the glory (see 29:1) of his name” (see 5:7), who today wants to be known by the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Cause and Summary Statement of Praise: 3–4

“Say to God, ‘How awesome (better, “fearful” [see 65:5, 8]) are your deeds’” (Rev 15:3ff). “So . . . come cringing to you” in a show of submission to his moral will. “All the earth” responds and “worships him (i.e., prostrates itself before him). Selah.”

Testimony of What God Did in the Exodus: 5–7

As normally, the testimony consists of a summary statement of deliverance (66:5), the report of deliverance in the Exodus (66:6–7a), and a conclusion: a warning to the rebellious against hubris (66:7b).

Summary of Deliverance: 5

“Come and see” in their imagination “what God has done. He is awesome” (better, “to be feared”; see 65:5, 8).

Report of Deliverance in the Exodus: 6–7a

“He . . . river²⁵⁹ (or “ocean current”) on foot” (cf. Exod 14:21ff). There, pointing “to a spot in which a scene is localized vividly in the imagination,”²⁶⁰ did we rejoice in him. Faith is living in assured imagination informed by Scripture, so Israel calls upon the nations to embrace her faith by imagining they rejoiced with Israel at the Red Sea. Verse 7a gives the reason why they rejoiced there, probably an allusion to the Song of the Sea (Exod 15).

Conclusion: A Warning to Rebellious against Hubris: 7b

“Let not the rebellious exalt themselves.” The context implies the unstated reason: “otherwise you will feel the power of his might that destroyed mighty Egypt.” The imperative warning is a segue into the summons to praise Israel’s God.

A Hymn Praising God for Preserving Israel: 8–12

Abnormally, the grateful praise song’s motif of “resolve to praise” is transformed into a hymn: summons (66:8) and reason (66:7–12)

Summons of Peoples to Praise: 8

“Bless our God (see 34:2), O peoples” refers to all the earth (66:4).

Cause for Praise: Israel’s Preservation in Distress: 9–12

The shift from addressing the worshipers (66:9) to addressing God (66:10–12) is unexceptional. “Who . . . slip” probably refers to the time when warlords (traditionally, “judges”) ruled Israel (Judg 2:6; 1Sam 8). Per Gunkel, “all these allusions [to Israel’s history in praise psalms] only treat the very oldest history of Israel.”²⁶¹

“You, God, tested us (see 95:9); you refined us like silver” (NIV). Four escalating metaphors illuminate the severity of the refining distress: “the net . . . crushing burden on our backs . . . men ride” in chariots “over our heads . . . through fire and through water.” “You brought us out to a place of abundance,” a metonymy for peace and prosperity, probably a metonymy for David’s and Solomon’s reigns (cf. 2Sam 8; 1Kgs 4).

The song of individual praise consists of his resolve to offer votive sacrifices of praise in an address to God (66:13–15) and of his report of deliverance addressed to those who fear the LORD (66:16–20).

Resolve to Offer Votive Sacrifices: 13–15

“I will . . . perform my vows (see 65:1) . . . goats. Selah.” The super-abundance of animals offered on the altar—“nobody had to offer that much”²⁶²—infers both the psalmist’s wealth and the depth of gratitude he felt to God for delivering him from some very grave distress.

Testimony of What God Did: 16–20

His report of deliverance testimony consists of an unusual summons to God-fearers to hear (66:16), the normal report of deliverance (66:17–18), with instruction (66:19), and a conclusion that also ends the psalm: his praise of God (66:19)

Summons of God-Fearers to Hear: 16

Come fear God (see 19:9; 34:9, 11–22).

Report of Deliverance: 17–19

“I cried out to him . . .. His praise was on (i.e., ready to be delivered with the votive offering) my tongue.” The psalmist uses the occasion to insert a didactic comment: “If . . . listened” (cf. John 9:31).

Praise of God: 20

“Blessed (see 18:46) . . . steadfast love from me” (see 5:12).

“To . . . with stringed instruments”.

The content and chiastic structure of this communal song of grateful praise in the form of a benediction at a glance:

Superscript

A. Bless Israel That All Nations Will Know God’s Salvation: 1–2

B. Refrain: “Let the Peoples Praise You”: 3

X. Let All Peoples Rejoice in God’s Rule: 4

B’. Refrain: “Let All Peoples Praise You”: 5

A’. Bless Israel That All the Earth Will Fear God: 6–7

Postscript: Psalm 68: superscript

“For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.” Postscript to psalm 66 .

“A psalm. A song.” See Psalm 66: superscript.

Psalm 67 expresses Israel’s communal benediction on itself, inspired by a bountiful harvest (67:6a). Their opening benediction (67:1), marked off by selah, echoes the Aaronic Benediction (Num 6:23–26).

Structurally, two couplets, in which God is mostly referred to in third person (67:1, 6–7), surround a triplet (67:3–5), in which God is directly addressed (67:3–5).

The direct address in verse 2 segues into the triplet. The framing couplets pertain to God’s blessing Israel so that all nations will personally know their God’s salvation (67:1–2) and will fear him (67:6b–7). A refrain, a remarkable fourfold petition, “let all the peoples praise you” (67:3, 5), frames the psalm’s pivot (67:4). Highlighted by its exceptional length and selah, this key verse helps define God’s “saving power” (67:2). Through blessing Israel, all nations will know Israel’s God judges all peoples fairly and leads with care. In God’s common grace, people consider caring for others and fairness as virtues and harming others and cheating as vices (cf. Rom 2:1–11; 2Cor 4:2). Moreover, they desire a powerful authority that can enforce these virtues. Such is Israel’s God. Paradoxically, people’s fear of God is based on gratitude.

By blessing themselves, God’s priestly nation (Exod 19:6) aims to fulfill its mission to bless all peoples (Gen 12:3).

This benediction is being fulfilled in the Church (Rom 1:5) and made possible by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:11–14); it will be consummated in the eschaton (Phil 2:9–11; Rev 5:13).

“May God (see Ps 42: superscript) be gracious (see 6:2) . . . and bless (see 5:13) . . . face shine on us,” an idiom for a ruler’s beneficent favor (see 31:16). “Selah. That your way (see 51:13) may be known (see 1:6) on earth, your saving power (see 3:7) among all nations” (cf. 65:7–8).

“Let the peoples” (‘ammîm, “relatives”) by knowing your benediction on Israel “praise you” publicly with words and sacrifices of gratitude.

“Let nations (l^e’ummîm, “unified groups of people”) be glad (see 5:11; 66:6) . . . for you judge with equity” or fairness “and guide (i.e., “lead with care,” see 23:2; 68:4–10; cf. Exod 13:17, 21; 15:13) the nations (l^e’ummîm) . . . Selah.”

See verse 3.

“The land has yielded its harvest (NAB); May God, our God, bless us (NIV, NET, JPS²⁶³). Let all the ends of the earth fear him” (see 65:8–13).

The content and structure of this victory hymn  at a glance clear:²⁶⁴

Superscript

I. Prelude: A Cameo of God in Battle: 1–3

II. A Victory Hymn: 4–35a

A. Congregation to Rejoice for God’s Justice and Compassion: 4–6

B. Israel’s Salvation History from Sinai to the Eschaton: 7–31

1. From Sinai to Zion: 7–18

a. Downpour in the Wilderness; Showers in the Land: 7–10

b. Conquest of the Land and Victorious Warlords: 11–14

c. Plunder to Build Sanctuary in Zion: 15–18

2. Zion in the Present and Petition for Future Salvation: 19–31

a. Israel Saved; Nations Judged: 19–23

b. A Victory Parade of Israel’s Greatness: 24–27

c. Petition to Scatter Nations Who Delight in War: 28–31

C. Kingdoms of the Earth to Praise God’s Strength: 32–35a

1. Nations Summoned to Praise God’s Power: 32–33

2. God’s Power in Thunderstorm Applied to Israel: 34–35a

III. Postlude: 35b

Postscript: Psalm 69: superscript

“For the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 67 .

“Of David. A psalm. A song.” See Psalm 65: superscript.

The song’s scenarios fit David’s career: it was composed during the United Monarchy (cf. 68:27); Egypt and Ethiopia had not been humbled (68:30–31); and the ark of Sinai had been brought to Zion and wealth provided to furnish it (68:18; cf. 2Sam 6; 1Chr 29:1–5).

The psalm develops the theme of Psalm 67 of universal praise to God for his saving power to execute justice and extend care to all people (67:2, 4; 68:5, 6) in ten vignettes. After the first vignette, a cameo depiction of God in battle and a prelude to his eschatological victory (68:1–3), the inspired poet celebrates his power in the form of a victory hymn. It consists of six vignettes. As its frame, it opens with a summons to the righteous congregation to “sing . . . to God, to him who rides upon the clouds” (68:4–6, NIV) and ends with a summons to the kingdoms of the earth to “sing praise . . . to him who rides in the heavens” (68:32–35). Israel praises him for his justice and compassion, and the kingdoms praise him for the power he extends to his people (68:34–35). The hymn’s body validates those summonses by six vignettes, each of four verses, apart from 68:19–23. The first three vignettes sketch God’s march, symbolized by the ark, from Mount Sinai, where he gave the Law (68:7–10), to the conquest of the land (68:11–14), to his ascent to his sanctuary on Mount Zion (68:15–18). In that march he sustained his people with water and subdued rebellious nations. The subsequent three vignettes shift from the past to the future. First, the poet pauses to praise God and reprise his theme (68:19–23); then depicts a victory to the sanctuary (68:24–27); and finally looks to the future, praying that God will humble rebellious nations who delight in war (68:28–30).

The trajectory of this triumphant temple theology climaxes with the ascension of Christ to the heavenly temple where he reigns forever (Rev 4:13). The typological ascent of the victorious God of Sinai to his dwelling on high in his Zion sanctuary is the psalm’s message, and verse 18 (cf. Eph 4:7) is the key verse. The historical march also typifies the career of Christ, from his descent to earth, to his life, where he manifested his kingdom’s compassion and power, to his ascension and Parousia (cf. Eph 4:8–11). Today, Christ establishes his kingdom through the Spirit and Word that proclaim the gospel.

The Prelude dramatically describes God’s action in battle. “God (see Ps 42: superscript) arises” (CSB; see 3:7) echoes Moses’s war cry that began the march of the Ark, a symbol of God’s presence, from Mount Sinai to Mount Zion (Num 10:35; see stanza 3), and so sets the context for the victory hymn.I

As for God’s enemies: “his enemies,” who proudly defy his righteous rule, “scatter and . . . flee” (CSB; i.e., unable to regroup). “The wicked are destroyed before God” (NET; see 1:6), who is likened to fire in similes that signify their elimination: “as smoke is driven away,” not leaving a trace, and “as wax melts before the fire,” “for unresisting impotence.”²⁶⁵ As for Israel: “but the righteous (see 1:5; i.e., ideal Israel) . . . exult (cf. 119:14, 162) before God” in the temple liturgy.

Congregation to Rejoice for God’s Justice and Compassion: 4–6

The hymn’s summons is addressed to the righteous congregation (68:3, 26) “Sing to God.” The LORD is first proclaimed as the Potentate who rules the storm clouds: “who rides on the clouds” (NIV²⁶⁶), and as the ideal king who promotes justice: “father of the fatherless . . . is God in his holy (see 2:6) habitation” (i.e., a place of provision and protection), a metonymy for the tent-temple on Zion (cf. 68:16–18, 24). “God settles the solitary,” as Israel felt in Egypt (Exod 23:9),  “. . . leads out prisoners to prosperity,” as he had Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land; “but the rebellious (see 66:7) dwell in an” uninhabitable “parched land.”

Israel’s Salvation History from Sinai to the Eschaton: 7–31

From Sinai to Zion: 7–18

Downpour in the Wilderness; Showers in the Land: 7–10

The vignette is addressed to God, coloring the salvation history with praise. Its two couplets (68:7–8, 9–10) pertain to Israel’s history from the exodus to her settlement in the Promised Land, and are unified by the motif of rain: the downpour displaying God’s power (68:7–8); refreshing showers, his goodness (68:9–10).

“O God, when you went out,” a catchword with “leads out” (68:6), “before your people (cf. Exod 13:31ff) . . . the earth . . . rain,” an anachronistic echo of Deborah’s victory song at the time of the warlords (Judg 5:4ff). “Selah. You . . . restored (or “refreshed”) your inheritance (i.e., Canaan; see 2:8; cf. Exod 15:17) as it languished . . .” “You provided for the needy,” the way Israel understood itself in its dependence on God for provision and protection.

Conquest of the Land and Victorious Warlords:11–14

This vignette is the form of prophecy : introduction (68:11), a war oracle (68:12–13), followed by reflection (68:14). “The Lord of All (translation mine [see 16:2]) gives the word” that announces victory through a prophet before the battle (68:11a). “The women who announce the” good “news are a great throng” after the victory (see 68:24). The war oracle, in vivid images, shifts from the battlefield to women at home and pertains to the time from the death of Joshua (cf. Judg 2:7–9) to Samuel (cf. 1Sam 12). First, it proclaims battlefield victories: “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!” (cf. 68:22). Then, it proclaims the dividing of spoils at home: “the women at home,” who “divide the spoil” (or “plunder”; cf. Judg 5:24, 29–30).

The poet reflects upon the oracle in an apostrophe addressed to Israel, with exegetically challenging images. “Even while you (plural) sleep at the fireplaces.”²⁶⁷ “The wings of a dove are sheathed with silver . . . with shining (lit. “greenish”?) gold” (translation mine²⁶⁸). The dove could be a metaphor for Israel (cf. 74:19), but more probably is literal. In extra-biblical evidence, adorned birds—festooned doves in a Sumerian stele—were dispatched to bring news of significant occasions. “When the Almighty scattered kings in the land (lit. “in it”), it was like” flakes of “snow fallen (NIV; or “When the Almighty scattered kings there, snow fell,” NRS) on Mount Zalmon” (i.e., “Black Mountain”), a reference to the black basalt of Mount Hauran (gebel ed-druz) on the border of Bashan, not to Zalmon near Shechem (Judg 9:48). This concrete image makes a striking contrast to Israel’s women at home, distributing the wealth plundered from the kings, while basking in the warmth of fireplaces.

Plunder to Build Sanctuary in Zion: 15–18

The poet reflects upon the choice of Zion (cf. 2Sam 6). He accuses the personified “mighty mountain (CJB), mountain of Bashan” (i.e., Mount Hermon)—the region north of Gilead extending to Mount Hermon and known for its fertility and desirability—”hunchback (translation mine²⁶⁹) peak”—of envying Zion. “Why do you glance secretly. O hunchback mountain (translation mine²⁷⁰) . . . forever?” As God came to Sinai with “myriads of holy ones” (Deut 33:2; Acts 7:53), so also with the heavenly war “chariots of God” (cf. 2Kgs 2:10ff; 6:17; Heb 3:8, 15), which “number twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, the Lord of All has come²⁷¹ with them [from] Sinai (see 68:4ff) into his sanctuary” on Zion (translation mine).

Addressing God in praise, David brings God’s march to its climactic terminus ad quem: “You ascended on high (i.e., Mount Zion [cf. Jer 31:12], where heaven and earth are intertwined), leading . . . there.” The apostle Paul interprets the Hebrew of this verse for his own purpose, as was customary with citations in the Greco-Roman world,²⁷² to make it a type of Christ’s ascension: “When you (i.e., Christ) ascended on high (i.e., heaven), you took captives (i.e., sinful people) and brought (i.e., “take and give” [cf. Gen 15:8 and others] and so “gave” [with Aramaic Targum, and Syriac Peshitta]) gifts (i.e., gifted people) to mankind . . . so that the body of Christ might be built up” (Eph 4:8–12).

Zion in the Present and Petition for Future Salvation: 19–31

Israel Saved; Nations Judged: 19–23

A shift back to the hymnic form of a summons to praise and proclamation (see 68:1–3), the change of tense from past to present (cf. “day by day”), and selah (68:19) signal a major division in the victory hymn from the past to the present and future. The vignette reprises the psalm’s theme: God delivers Israel from death and hands over their wicked enemies to death.

Summons: “Blessed be (see 18:46) who day by day bears our burdens” (NIV), a metaphor for guilt (see 68:21). “Selah.”

Proclamation: ”Our God . . . deliverance from death. Surely God crushes the heads of his enemies (CSB), the hairy crowns,” is symbolic of their pride (Deut 32:42; 2Sam 14:25ff) and/or consecration,²⁷³ “of him who walks about bearing the burden of his guilt” (Hebrew ’ăšâm, “obligated to discharge guilt by giving something”; translation mine).

Verses 22 and 23 interpret verse 21. “The Lord of All says” (translation mine) echoes 68:11a, and the repetition, “I will bring them . . . I will bring them” (NIV) matches that vignette’s repetition “they flee, they will flee” (68:12). Accordingly, argues J. P. Fokkelman, the antecedent of “them” (elided in Hebrew) is the fleeing kings.²⁷⁴ “From Bashan” (see 68:15) and “from the depths of the sea” is a merismus for “from everywhere” (Amos 9:1–3). “That . . . the tongues . . . foe” symbolizes the ignominious death of the kings (cf. 1Kgs 21:23; 2Kgs 9:36). According to Kidner, “This is judgment, not imperialism; cf. Gen 16:16.”²⁷⁵

A Victory Parade of Israel’s Greatness: 24–27

With God enthroned in Zion, the victory parade can begin. David, standing as it were in the reviewing stand, depicts in first person the parade to the temple, segueing from the introductory hymn by continuing to address God. “Your procession (see 26:12), God, has come into view . . .” (NIV). As was the ancient custom, with singing, music, and young women playing timbrels, the people welcomed home from the battlefield the victorious army (cf. Exod 15:21; Judg 11:34; 1Sam 18:6ff). The singers in front, the musicians last both from the tribe of Levi; between them virgins playing the tambourines (better, “timbrels”).

In an apostrophe, David yells to the whole congregation, “Bless (see 26:23; 34:2) God . . . Israel’s fountain!” the source of Israel’s life, a reference to God (cf. Jer 2:13) or to the patriarchs (cf. Isa 48:1).

The spectator returns to the parade. “There is” the tribe of Benjamin, “the least of them” (cf. Judg 20; 1Sam 9:21)—and so inauspicious (cf. 1Sam 16:10ff)—”in the lead,” perhaps as a tribute to Saul as the first king (so Targum). In any case, the smallest tribe is most highly exalted. To signify all Israel, “Judah’s princes” from the south forms a merismus with the northern tribes: “the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali,” an echo to Deborah’s victory song (Judg 5:18).

Petition to Scatter Nations Who Delight in War: 28–31

David now looks to Zion’s future. He had subdued the land promised to Abraham, but he had not humbled all the nations, in particular Egypt and Ethiopia. In this unit’s first couplet (68:28ff) he petitions God to decree his necessary power (or strength)  “. . . by which you have worked for us” (see 68:7–18); and then the reason: “because of (or “for the sake of”) your temple at Jerusalem may” humbled “kings bring you gifts offered in homage” (translation mine). “Scatter . . . who delight in war.” The petitions entail that God’s rule continues to be challenged. Shishak, king of Egypt, showed his hostility to Solomon by providing asylum to Jeroboam, Solomon’s political enemy (1Kgs 11:40); and during the reign of Rehoboam, he attacked Jerusalem and plundered the temple (1Kgs 14:25–26). David’s prayer for the temple’s future will be answered in the Messianic age.

The unit’s second couplet (68:30ff) specifies Egypt and Ethiopia: “Rebuke (i.e., “make an angry protest of moral censure by making war”) the beasts (better, “the beast”) among the reeds (i.e., Egypt; cf. Isa 27:1; Ezek 32:2), the herd of bulls (i.e., “strong kings”) with the calves of the peoples (i.e., their armies). Humbled, may the beast bring bars (a unique Hebrew word) of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war. May they come with precious gifts (or “may envoys come”)²⁷⁶ from Egypt; may Ethiopia hurry to stretch out her hands with tribute to God” (paraphrase mine; cf. Acts 8:26–38; Rev 21:24). 

Kingdoms of the Earth to Praise God’s Strength: 32–35a

The prayer that the humbled nations pay tribute segues into a summons to all the kingdoms of the earth to praise God for his strength.

Nations Summoned to Praise God’s Power: 32–33

Summons: “Sing . . . the Lord of All (translation mine, see 68:11). Selah.” Proclamation: “to him who . . . thunders with mighty voice” (NIV). In praising Israel’s God, the heathen their immoral storm god.

God’s Power in Thunderstorm Applied to Israel: 34–35a

The proclamation is entailed in the summons: “Proclaim . . . sanctuary” (NIV; see 68:17), the psalm’s focus. “The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.”

Praise be to God (see 68:19).

“To the choirmaster:”

The content and structure of this lament-complaint psalm at a glance:

Superscript

I. Prayer: 1–29

A. Address and Introductory Plea for Salvation: 1a

B. Complaints: 1b–12

1. Personal Distress; God’s Silence; Enemies’ Power: 1b–5

2. Humiliated by Enemies for Zeal for the Temple: 6–12

C. Pleas: 13–28

1. Introductory Plea to Be Heard: 13

2. Pleas Matching Complaints and Humiliation: 14–21

3. Imprecations against the Enemies: 22–28

D. Concluding Petition for King’s Salvation: 29

II. Praise: 30–36

A. King’s Praise: To Glorify God and Hearten the Needy: 30–33

B. Universal Praise: God Rebuilds Zion: 34–36

Postscript: Psalm 70: superscript

“For the choirmaster. To the tune of ‘Lilies.’” Postscript to Psalm 68 .

“Of David.”  The anachronistic prayer for the restoration of Zion (69:34–35) is best explained as an editorial addition during the exile .

The psalm consists of two sections that are disproportionate in length, marked by the dramatic shift from prayer (69:1–29)—framed with petitions to be saved (69:1, 29)—to praise (69:30–36). The prayer consists of two stanzas: complaints (69:1–13), and pleas (69:14–29) in an essentially alternating pattern, aside from the imprecations (69:22–28).

As is often attested in this genre, the psalmist is at the point of death (69:1–2); God does not answer (69:3); and his enemies are too numerous, powerful, and unjust (69:4–5). In this psalm he develops the reason for their hatred: they oppose his zeal to reform the temple (69:6–12). The incident of their sacrilege, however, is not recorded in our historical sources (cf. 1Sam 2:12–15; Ezek 8; John 2:17). The king’s exemplary zeal for the temple God’s honor is the psalm’s message, and verse 9 is the key verse.

The zealot finds spiritual fortitude in God’s steadfast love and mercy (69:13, 16), and, to judge from his imprecatory prayers (69:22–28), in his justice. So certain is he of his salvation that he bursts into a song of grateful praise in advance of his deliverance (69:30–33).

David’s son, the Son of God, while dying on the cross, had this psalm in mind when he said, “I thirst.” Indeed, apart from Psalm 22, Psalm 69 is quoted in the New Testament more than any other psalm. The Lord Jesus fulfilled this typically prophetic psalm  in several ways:

1. Gratuitously hated by the Jewish leaders (69:4; John 15:25).

2. Zeal for his Father’s desecrated house (69:9a; John 2:17).

3. Rejected by the brothers of his mother (69:7; John 7:5, not quoted).

4. Foregoing pleasing himself for the sake of God (69:9b; Rom 15:3).

5. His thirst on the cross (69:21; John 19:28ff)

6. The curse on Judas Iscariot (69:25; Acts 1:20).

7. God’s rejection of apostate Israel (69:22ff; Rom 11:9ff).

David confession that he was not without guilt (69:5) does not fit Jesus Messiah’s being sinless (Heb 4:15), but that confession may typify Christ’s identifying with sinners at his baptism (Matt 3:15) and his being made “to be sin who knew no sin, that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor 5:21). Unlike his father, however, he prayed as his first of seven words on the cross for the forgiveness of his enemies (Luke 23:34). Christ validated David’s faith by his resurrection from the dead.

The king’s plea for salvation frames the prayer (69:1, 29).

Address and Introductory Plea for Salvation: 1a

Save me (see 3:7), O God (see Ps 42: superscript).

Complaints: 1b–12

Personal Distress; God’s Silence; Enemies’ Power: 1b–5

As commonly in the complaint motif, the psalmist experiences acute distress (69:1–2); God does not answer him (69:3); and the enemies are innumerable, powerful, and unjust (69:4). He infers his sufferings are punitive (69:5).

69:1b–2 “I sink . . . foothold,” a metaphor of the impending doom the enemies will inflict upon him (see 69:14) without God’s intervention. “The waters . . . neck,” a metaphor for imminent death. So he escalates the metaphor: “I . . . over me,” a metaphor of drowning in the chaos of a raging ocean (cf. 18:15ff; 32:6; 124:4ff; Lam 3:54).

69:3 “I am weary with my crying out (for help)” signifies that his physical stamina can no longer endure the prolonged strain of unanswered prayer, yet he continues to pray (69:13). “My eyes fail, looking in hope for my God” (NIV).

69:4 Paradoxically, his only Hope fails to intervene (see 22:1), but his malefactors are “more than the hairs of my head.” Moreover, they are unjust, for they “hate me without cause.” “I am forced to restore what I did not steal” (NIV) may be “a proverbial expression for the extreme of injured innocence”²⁷⁷ (Job 20:18). God is implicated in a grave injustice if he doesn’t intervene immediately.

69:5 “God, you know my folly” (’iwwelet, “moral corruption from the standpoint of its impact on judgment and reason”²⁷⁸). “The wrongs . . . not hidden from you,” and neither is his injured innocence (69:19). He notes his depravity to clarify that the reason for his humiliation is not his depravity; he just said it is without reason. Moreover, his very confession makes him acceptable to God (Prov 28:13).

Humiliated by Enemies for Zeal for the Temple: 6–12

The psalmist now gives reasons for his complaint. First, although in the form of petition, he argues that should his king not answer, all the faithful will be put to shame (69:6). Second, instead of suffering justly, he is being humiliated for his zeal for the temple and God’s honor (69:7–9), whereupon he proves his passion (69:10).

69:6 “Let . . . me. Lord of All, the LORD of Heavenly Armies” (translation mine) are titles signifying God’s sovereignty. “Let not . . . shame through (better, “because of”) me.” The faithful are inseparable from God’s chosen king. If he fails, they do too. The title “God of Israel” signifies that he adopted Israel as his family, and implicitly has an obligation to protect it.

69:7–9 “For . . . reproach” is explained in verse 9, and “dishonor has covered my face” (i.e., I blush) because those who should be subject to him insult him. “I am a foreigner (NIV; i.e., treated as belonging to a kin group other than Israel, and so hostile) . . . to my mother’s sons;” uterine brothers have the closest kinship. He becomes a pariah, “for zeal for your house has consumed me” (i.e., his whole being burns with passion). “Your house” is God’s beachhead into the world for establishing his rule under the Ten Commandments housed in the Holy of Holies. “And the reproaches . . . have fallen on me.” When he stood up to his countrymen who discredited the significance and worth of the temple, and thereby of its Owner, they heaped their insults on him.

69:10–12 “When I made sackcloth my clothing” is an act that signifies the sincerity and depth of his grief. Instead of the people repenting, “I became a proverbial example of a fool to them” (translation mine). “I am . . . who sit at the” city “gate” (i.e., the elders [Ruth 4:1ff; Jer 17:19]). Elders and “the drunkards” is a merism for the whole city; all mock him. Drunkards “make songs about me” for his public show of grief.

Pleas: 13–28

Introductory Plea to Be Heard: 13

“But . . . my prayer (see 17:1) is to you, LORD”. Since the MT connects “in the time of your favor” (NIV) with “pray,” not with “answer,” he probably refers to the morning (see Pss 3, 5) or the evening prayer times (see Pss 4, 6), not to the time of trouble. “In your great” (i.e., beyond that of mankind) steadfast “love (5:7), O God, answer me (see 3:4) with your sure salvation” (NIV; see 69:1).

Pleas Matching Complaint and Humiliation: 14–21

69:14–15 Regarding his personal distress, “deliver me . . . out of the deep water” reprises the lament (69:1–2), but as a plea. The new metaphor, “Let not . . . the pit close its mouth over me,” means to die prematurely.

69:16–18 Regarding God’s silence, the catchwords “answer” and “steadfast love” in “answer me . . . good” (see 14:1) links the introductory petition with his plea for an answer. “According to your abundant mercy” adds to his appeal to yet another of God’s benevolent attributes (51:1; cf. Exod 34:6). “Turn to me” (and so look at me) is the opposite of “hide not your face” (to avoid taking notice) and so taking responsibility for “your slave” (translation mine; see Ps 18: superscript). God must answer him “quickly (i.e., “right away”), for I am in distress” (see 69:1–2). In spite of the terseness of poetry, the psalmist piles up his appeals: “draw near to my soul” (better, “me”) with your all-powerful presence “and redeem me” (i.e., plays the role of the family protector) and “ransom me (see 25:22) because of my enemies,” who will enthrone evil over God’s kingdom.

69:19–21 Regarding humiliation by enemies, the catchwords “reproach . . . shame . . . dishonor” link his plea with his complaint (69:6–12). The terms “you know” and “all my foes are known to you” imply that God cannot avoid taking responsibility to deliver his chosen king. God’s impeccable justice, unfailing love, and great mercy guarantee that he will. David opens his heart to God in appeal to God’s mercy. “Insult has broken my heart past cure” (NJB). He suffers alone. “I looked for pity;” instead, “they put bitter poison into my food, and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink” (NET). David is probably using metaphors for his bitter, mocking treatment by his countrymen, but, in this typically prophetic psalm , he uses language that finds a literal fulfillment in the crucified Christ (Matt 27:34, 48; John 19:28–30).

Imprecations against the Enemies: 22–28

The king’s moral indignation bursts out in pleas for justice. In poetic justice for the poisonous food and bitter drink they gave him, “let their own table,” where they recline on cushions, “. . . snare (i.e., be a cause of their death); may it become retribution²⁷⁹ and a trap.” Many Mesopotamian kings describe battles as hunting scenes in which their armies successfully cast nets to entrap their enemies. “Let . . . cannot see” to protect themselves, “and . . . continuously. Pour out your fiery wrath on them (NIV). May . . . tents” (i.e., exterminate their families, a horrible fate in the old dispensation). Peter applies the language to the fate of Judas by changing plural pronouns to singular (Acts 1:20). “For they persecute (lit. “pursue,” as one hunts a partridge [1Sam 2:20]) . . . wounded”—suffering is part of God’s plan. “Add . . . punishment” (lit. “iniquity” [see 25:11]) instead of forgiving them: “may . . . from you. Let them be blotted out of the Book of Life” (NLT), a metaphor derived from registers of citizens, signifying their being cut off from the census of living citizens (87:4; Ezek 13:9) and extended in the New Testament to the Book of Eternal Life in heaven (Luke 10:20; Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5).

Concluding Petition for King’s Salvation: 29

“But” as for me, “I am afflicted . . . let your salvation,” an inclusio with verse 1,  “. . . set me on” high, metaphor for protection.

King’s Praise to Glorify God and Hearten the Needy: 30–33

“The psalmist is sure of being heard, so he pronounces the thanksgiving in advance.”²⁸⁰ “I will praise (publicly express admiration for) the name of God (see 5:7) . . . and glorify him (i.e., make him great in the eyes of others) with a proclamation of grateful praise” (translation mine). “This . . . a bull,” the most prized animal, “with its horns (i.e., a mature bull) and” cloven “hooves” (i.e., a clean animal; cf. Lev 11:3ff). God desires praise sacrifices (see 50:14), but public confession that he saves is better than the best animal sacrifice (see Ps 51; cf. 50:15–17; Heb 13:15). Perhaps the house of God is not accessible to David (see Ps 42–43)?

“When the humble (or “poor”; i.e., the afflicted righteous; see 12:5) will see it (i.e., the king as he celebrates his deliverance [see 22:26]), they will be glad” (see 5:12). In an apostrophe the poet turns to deliver his message—”you who seek God,” to have a relationship with him by covenant obedience and in worship, “let your hearts revive! For . . . prisoners” (see 68:6).

Universal Praise: God Rebuilds Zion: 34–36

The hymn consists, as typical of that genre , of a summons to praise (69:34) and a proclamation (69:35–37). “Let heaven and earth,” a merismus for the whole universe, “praise” (see 69:30), a catchword that functions to expand the king’s personal praise to universal praise. The ominous “sea and all that moves in it” intensifies the universal summons. “For God will save”—a key word of this psalm—“Zion” (see 2:6). The interpretation “and build up (or “rebuild”) the cities of Judah”—such as the heavily fortified cities of Lachish and Jerusalem—assumes they have been destroyed by the likes of the Babylonians. For an explanation of the anachronism with “of David” (superscript), see above. “And people . . . possess it” (i.e., Zion). “The offspring of his (the Sovereign’s) servants” or slaves “shall inherit (see 2:8) it” from generation to generation.

“For the choirmaster.”

The content and structure of this “petition” psalm at a glance:

Superscript

I. Petitions: 1–4

A. Address and Introductory Petitions: 1

B. Put Foes to Shame: 2–3

C. Give Joy and Praise to Saints: 4

II. Lament, Petition, Confidence: 5

“To the choirmaster.” Postscript to Psalm 69 .

“Of David. A petition” (lit. “for reminding”; see Ps 38: superscript). Psalm 70 essentially duplicates the petition motif of Psalm 40:13–17; indeed, its superscript “classifies it as a “petition psalm” . Nevertheless, the summary of the lament motifs in verse 5 points to its origin in a lament song (40:11–17).

The psalm is an urgent prayer to hasten and deliver the king (70:1, 5) and to humiliate those “who seek my life” and triumphantly say, “Aha, Aha!” (70:2–3) so that those “who seek you” (70:4a) will rejoice and say, “God [of Israel] is great!” (70:4b).

The petition finds fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead in three days, the briefest time necessary to assure that he “died for our sins” (1Cor 15:3), and who was then “exalted to the highest place . . . that every tongue acknowledge that Jesus is Lord” (Phil 3:9–11), a guarantee of the faithful’s ultimate salvation.

The differences between Psalm 70:1–4 and 40:13–16 are minor. Adding “and (omitted in ESV) say” instead of “say” (40:16) and switching to “be turned back” (70:4) instead of “be appalled” (40:15) are inconsequential. Other changes are a bit more consequential:

1. Changing “may the Lord think of me” (40:17) to “hasten to me” (70:5) creates three framing catchwords with verse 1: “make haste,” “help,” and “O, God,” and heightens the urgency.

2. Omitting from 70:1 “be pleased” (cf. 40:13), from 70:2 “altogether” and “to snatch away” (40:14), and from 70:3 “to me” (40:15) also heighten the urgency.

3. Changing the titles:

a. “LORD” (40:13a, 16b) to “God” in 70:1a, 4b.

b. “Lord of All” (40:17a) to “God” in 70:5a.

c. “My God” (40:17b) to “LORD” in 70:5a.

The first (a) may be due to the editing of the Elohistic Psalter (see Ps 42: superscript), but together with the second (b), they highlight the transcendence of Israel’s God. Nevertheless, as happens with the third (c), it does not diminish his personal, covenantal relationship with his king.

The difference between “my help” (‘ezrātî, feminine 40:17; and ‘ezrî) is obviously inconsequential, and so is the omission of a postscript.

Psalm 71 ends the Davidic collection of Book II, probably because David composed it in his old age (see Pss 9, 18). The superscript “of David” (Ps 70) seems to apply to Psalm 71 as well. The psalm’s internal evidence fits the career of David when Absalom revolted against his father (see below). The lack of a postscript to Psalm 70 and of a superscript to Psalm 71 facilitates reading these two lament psalms together. They share the identical petition: “make haste . . .” (70:1, 5; 71:12b), and whereas the hurried lines of Psalm 70 do not develop the motifs of lament (cf. 70:10), confession of trust, and praise in the indicative mood (cf. 70:5), Psalm 71 develops them .

The content and structure of this psalm at a glance:

I. Confessions of Confidence and Petitions: 1–13

A. Address, Petitions Not to Be Put to shame, Confidence: 1–4

1. Petition and Confidence: 1–2

2. Petitions and Confidence: 3–4

B. History of Confidence and Praise: 5–8

1. Past Confidence and Praise: 5–6

2. Present Confidence and Praise: 7–8

C. Petition: Not to Be Forsaken in Old Age: 9–13

1. Not to Be Cast Off in Old Age and Threat of Enemy: 9–11

2. Be Not Far Off and Imprecations against Enemy: 12–13

II. Janus: Psalmist’s Everlasting Confidence and His Increasing Praise: 14

III. Praise and Confidence in God’s Righteousness: 15–24

A. Praise of God’s Righteousness in Old Age: 15–18

B. History of God’s Righteousness: 19–21

C. Praise for Enemy Being Put to Shame: 22–24

This form-critical analysis is confirmed by the psalm’s rhetoric. “Put to shame” frames both the whole psalm (71:1, 24) and the first stanza (71:1, 13); “will tell/talk of your righteous acts/help” frames the second stanza (71:15, 24); and the catch words “who seek my hurt” link the last verses of each stanza (71:13, 24).

The stanza’s strophes have a chiastic pattern that pivots on the janus (71:14):²⁸¹

A. Introduction: Psalmist Not Be Put to Shame 1–4

B. History of Deliverance: 5–8

C. “Old Age”: 9–13

X. Janus: 14

C’. “Old Age”: 15–18

B’. History of Deliverance: 19–21

A’. Conclusion: Enemies Put to Shame: 22–24

Inferentially the aged psalmist is David. The psalmist is a musician (71:22) and a veteran of deliverances from troubles (71:20)—whether from within the kingdom or without is not stated—and has become a public sign of God’s righteous help (71:7). More vulnerable in old age, he urgently needs God to deliver him from the clutches of wicked accusers, who conspire to kill him and create a crisis of faith in God. In rebut to the enemies’ words, “there is none to deliver him” (71:11) match their words when David fled from Absalom (Ps 3: superscript, 71:2; cf. 2Sam 15–16). Israel’s battle-scarred king praises God for rescuing him in advance of his actual deliverance because of his lifelong experience of the Sovereign’s many and extraordinary righteous deeds.

The psalm challenges those who identify with God’s kingdom to trust continuously and forever God’s righteousness to set the world right by returning back on their unbelieving enemies the shame that their enemies intend for the righteous king. Verse 14, the pivot, is the key verse.

David typifies his son, the Son of God: falsely accused, dispatched to the depths of the grave, and risen back to life, thereby conferring honor on him and making him a sign of God’s faithfulness and righteousness. David’s resurrection “from the depths of the earth” is poetic hyperbole; Christ’s resurrection is historical reality. Furthermore, matching the virgin birth of Christ, only the biological mother is mentioned in 71:6 (cf. 22:9; 51:5; 139:13; cf. Gen 3:15; Isa 7:14; 49:5; Matt 1:22; Gal 4:4).

Address to God, Petitions Not to Be Put to Shame, Confidence: 1–4

Verses 1–3 are strikingly similar to 31:1–3. The strophe consists of two couplets, having the alternating elements of confidence and petition:

Petition and Confidence: 1–2

Initial “in you” (71:1) and “in your righteousness” (71:2; see 5:8) link the couplet. The address to the LORD is essential, for unless the psalmist gets God’s attention, his prayer is wasted. The atypical title “the LORD” in the Elohistic Psalter (see xxx) highlights God’s covenantal relationship with David. Also atypically, the introductory petitions “incline your ear to me, and save me” (see 3:7) are placed last, thereby highlighting his confidence, “do I take refuge” (see 11:4, 15); and his desire, “let me never be put to shame,” for risking his life in dependence on God’s righteousness (see 25:2; 70:3).

Petitions and Confidence: 3–4

The second couplet reinforces the petitions of the first by the metaphor: “be to me a rock of refuge.”²⁸² “To save me” is now attached to God’s sovereignty: “give the command” (NIV²⁸³; see 44:4; 68:28). The uncertainty of the imperative mood gives way to the certainty of the indicative: “for you (emphatic) are my rock.” He repeats the petition, adding the enemies: “rescue me from the hand (i.e., elbow to fingertips, signifying power and control) of the wicked” (see 1:1), colored more darkly by “from grasp (lit. “palm of the hand”) of the cruel man.”

History of Confidence and Praise: 5–8

“For” introduces the strophe stating David’s reason to petition God, to wit, his confidence in God, based on a lifetime of trusting and praising God from birth (71:5–6) to the present (71:7–8). A threefold emphatic “you” (71:5a, 6a, 7b) colors the confession of trust with praise and links the couplet, as does also “my praise of you” (71:6) and “my mouth is filled with your praise” (71:8).

Past Confidence and Praise: 5–6

“You are my hope” (cf. 1Tim 1:1), which will not put to shame (cf. Rom 5:5), as shown by its parallel, “my praise is continually of you . . . LORD, Sovereign of All” (translation mine²⁸⁴). “My trust” (see 9:10) is unpacked by “upon you . . . my mother’s womb” (22:9; cf. Luke 1:41–44).

Present Confidence and Praise: 7–8

“I have been a portent (i.e., my life has been so extraordinary as to communicate a divine message) to many” who have eyes to see and ears to hear. The parallel “you are my strong refuge” explains that he is a sign that God is worthy of one’s continual trust, further demonstrated by “my mouth . . . declaring your glory (see 29:1) all day long” (translation mine; see 71:15–18).

Petition: Not to Be Forsaken in Old Age: 9–13

Now, full of faith, in another alternating pattern—this time of petition and threat of enemies (71:9–12, 13–14)—he develops the motifs of petition and lament.

Not to Be Cast Off and Threat of Enemy: 9–11

“Do not cast me off . . . when my strength is spent.” David relied on God’s strength alone; in old age his own strength is no longer an option, making him more vulnerable. “For” introduces the reason for the petition: the threat of the enemy, represented by quoting their collaborative design to kill him and their collective denial of God’s or anyone’s ability and/or willingness to save him: “[They] say (cf. 3:2), ‘. . . there is none to deliver him’” (cf. 3:3). Their words challenge David’s confession of trust: “The tension hangs as the words of faith stand against the words of the enemies.”²⁸⁵

Do Not be Far Off and Imprecations against Enemy: 12–13

“O God, be not far . . . haste” (70:1, 5). “Do not remain far from me (NET; 22:1, 10, 17) . . . May my accusers . . . consumed; with scorn (see 69:7, 10) and disgrace” (see 70:2)—for risking their lives in opposition to God’s king and kingdom—”may they be covered who seek my hurt.”

At the psalm’s structural center, 71:14a looks back to the first stanza: “I will hope continually,” leaving to the Sovereign the timing of answering his previous petitions; and 71:14b looks ahead to the second stanza: “I will praise you yet more and more.”

Praise of God’s Righteousness in Old Age: 15–18

“My mouth will tell of (or, “will commemorate”) your righteousness,” escalated to  “. . . yours alone,” frames the first couplet (71:15a, 16b). The parallels within this frame show “your righteousness” (see 5:8) is a metonymy of cause for the effect of “your deeds of salvation” (see 71:2). He will do so “all day long” (NIV); but even uninterrupted praise is insufficient: “I know not how to relate them all” (NIV). To praise the “LORD, Lord of All” (see 71:5), he says, “I will come” to the temple.

The second couplet (71:17–18) is unified by the catchword “proclaim” and by the merismus of “from my youth (cf. 71:5) . . . to old age” (cf. 71:6)—as he now is—”I . . . deeds” (9:2). “Do not forsake me (71:9) until”—not that he intends to stop—”I proclaim your might (lit. “arm,” from shoulder to elbow, the symbol of controlled strength) . . . come” (see 22:30ff). His praise extends synchronically to the whole congregation and diachronically to succeeding generations (cf. Deut 6:5; 2Tim 2:2). By their faithful praise the elect fulfill their high calling to bless the earth.

History of God’s Righteousness: 19–21

He now explicates God’s righteousness. “Your righteousness . . . reaches the high heavens (lit. “to the height”; i.e., it is all encompassing; cf. 36:5; 57:10). You have done great things.” They are so above normal, that God is incomparable: “O God, who is like you?” No one (cf. Mic 7:18)! The acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty, “you who have made me see troubles,” matches his confidence  “. . . you will revive me again; from the depths (i.e., the subterranean abyss, signifying the extremity of peril) of the earth” (see 69:1ff).

Praise for Enemy Being Put to Shame: 22–24

He ends his psalm in a crescendo of public praise with “harp” (better, “lute”) and “lyre” in advance of his deliverance, declaring God’s “faithfulness” (71:22) and “righteous help” (71:24).

COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 72–150 FORTHCOMING

The content and structure of this royal psalm at a glance:

Superscript

I. Petition: Endow the King with Justice: 1

II. Benedictory Prayers for the King: 2–11

A. For the King’s Just and Prosperous Rule: 2–4

B. For the King’s Eternal and Prosperous Rule: 5–7

C. For the King’s Universal Rule: 8–11

III. Prophecy: The King Will Deliver the Needy: 12–14

IV. Benedictory Prayers for the King: 15–17

V. Doxology: 18–19

Postscript: 20

Between the framing introduction and doxology, whose perspectives are toward God, its three stanzas about the king are chiastically structured: benedictory prayers in the optative mood (“may he. . .” 72:2–11, 15–17) surround a prophecy in the indicative mood (“he will. . .” 72:12–15). The prophecy explains the reason for the petition in verse 1, the key verse, that are developed as benedictory petitions in 72:2–11, 15–17.

“Of Solomon.” The petition that the king be endowed with justice (72:1) and allusions to the land of Sheba and to tribute from all nations (72:8–11) harmonize with Solomon’s early reign (1Kgs 3:9; 8:31ff; 10:1–25).

Τhe “king” of verse 1a is “the royal son” of verse 1b. The psalm features the king’s duty to administer justice (72:1–2, 4, 12–14; cf. 1Kgs 3; 9; Isa 11:1–5; Jer 21:11–12) and so to mediate God’s covenant blessings (72:3, 6, 16; cf. Lev 26:1–13; Deut 28:1–14). The other bookend of an earlier collection of Davidic psalms, begun with Psalm 3, features the king’s duty as Warrior; but here that duty is only mentioned (72:9).

This ideal king rules eternally (72:5, 15, 17) and universally (72:8–11, 15, 17). No historical king of Israel satisfies these predications. So this magisterial royal psalm, like Psalm 2, is Messianic (cf. Isa 11:1–5; Zech 9:9ff). The psalm’s generic prayer for the king, “may his name endure forever” (72:17), is specified in the New Testament as “The Lord Jesus Christ.” He began to fulfill this eschatological psalm at his first advent (cf. Matt 2:11) and will consummate it at his second advent. Because of this “not-yet” dimension, the psalm continues to teach the Church to pray “thy kingdom come in its fullness.”

Verse 1 stands apart by its address to God, by a unique imperative, and by its overarching significance. “Everything said about or wished for the king depends ultimately on God.”²⁹² “Give (i.e., endow to know your Law, have the disposition to obey it, and the wisdom to apply it [cf. 1Kgs 3:5; Isa 11:3]) the king with your justice (or “judgments”/“case laws”; see 72:4), O God (see Ps 42: superscript), and your righteousness (see 5:8) the royal son with your righteousness.” The pronoun “your” entails that God is the source of the king’s just judgments and righteous acts (Deut 1:17).

The mood changes from the imperative to the optative, albeit both are volitional.

For the King’s Just and Prosperous Rule: 2–4

An inclusio for king to show justice to the needy and the catchword “people” in every verse unify this strophe. “May²⁹³ he judge (Hebrew root dîn, help to get one’s rights) . . . your poor” (‘^anāweykā, see 9:18). “Let the mountains,” a metonymy for pastures, trees, flocks and game, “bear prosperity” (šālôm, fullness of life’s potential). “May he defend . . . the needy (see 35:10; 40:17) . . . crush”—as they crushed their victims (see 94:5)—”the oppressor”: the stronger who takes from the weaker, directly or indirectly, the produce of their labor, giving nothing in return.

For the King’s Eternal and Prosperous Rule: 5–7

An inclusio of the catchword “moon” and the theme of endurance frame the strophe that also develops the theme of prosperity in its center verse. “May he endure²⁹⁴ with (i.e., spatial) the sun, in the presence of the moon (translation mine) . . . throughout all generations (temporal). May he be like rain . . . grass (cf. 2Sam 23:4) . . . water the earth.” Verse 7 interprets the figure: “In his days (i.e., the future Messianic age) may the righteous (of his people) flourish” (92:8; Prov 11:28).

For the King’s Universal Rule: 8–11

The theme now shifts to his universal rule. Introductory and concluding abstract summaries of his universal rule surround significant topoi. “May . . . the River” (Euphrates), in Israel’s remote east, “to the ends of the earth.” Solomon ruled from the River to Egypt to the Euphrates (1Kgs 4:21; cf. Gen 15:18). In the biblical world’s cosmology, the chaotic sea surrounds the earth-disk. “May desert tribes (i.e., “the hostile world”²⁹⁵) bow before him.” As “his enemies” bow with their noses on the ground, they appear to “lick the dust,” a symbol of abject humiliation (see 44:25). “May the kings of Tarshish,” probably southern Spain, in Israel’s remote west, “and of coastlands” (i.e., the distant islands of the Mediterranean) in Israel’s remote north, “render him tribute” as king of kings (1Kgs 4:21, 34). “May the kings of Sheba (in SW Arabia; noted for its wealth, 1Kgs 10:1–10) and Seba” (straddling the Red Sea from South Arabia to Africa) in Israel’s remote south “bring gifts” (cf. Judg 3:17). “May . . . all nations serve him” and so become integrated with Israel into God’s merciful and just kingdom (Gen 12:3; Zech 9:9ff; Rom 4:16). “All” (Ps 72:11) commonly ends a poetic unit.²⁹⁶

Catch terms for “deliver” and “needy” and indicative mood unite the triplet (72:12–14). For introduces the reason for Messiah’s universal homage, namely, the justice and mercifulness of his rule (cf. Isa 16:4, 5). “He delivers the needy (see 72:4) who cry out” for help (22:24, NIV). “He has pity,” a metonymy for “to spare,” “on the weak” (i.e., the “destitute” through no fault of their own). “From oppression . . . he redeems” as family protector (see 19:14; 69:18) “their lives.”

The mood shifts back to the optative. In response to the prophecy, the psalmist reprises and elaborates the themes of the preceding benedictory prayers (72:1–11). The themes of his everlasting and universal rule (72:15, 17) frame the stanza that once again surrounds a center line about the theme of prosperity (cf. 72:3, 6). “All” (72:17b) again brings closure (see 72:11).

“Long may he live!” An echo of the acclamation that recognizes someone as king (cf. 1Sam 10:24: 1Kgs 1:25, 34ff; Dan 6:21). “May gold of Sheba (see 72:10b) be given to him,” perhaps borne by the nations mentioned in verse 10. “May . . . blessings [be] invoked for him” (i.e., God’s full potential for life through prayer; cf. Gen 12:3aα). Nations serve him willingly, not grudgingly. “May there be abundance . . . may it wave. May its crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field (NIV²⁹⁷). May his fame continue . . . (cf. Gen 12:2; 2Sam 7:9; NIV). May . . . as long as the sun. May they use his name when they formulate their blessings” (NET).²⁹⁸ God’s king exemplifies being blessed by God.

“Blessed be (see 5:13) the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone (i.e., without any other help) does wondrous things (see 86:10). may the whole earth be filled with his glory” (see 19:1), a metonymy for all of God’s benefits, which give him social significance and honor. God’s glory encompasses Messiah’s glorious name. The people respond (cf. 106:48): “Amen and Amen,” a speech act of trust that confirms the hope.

“The prayers of David . . . are ended.” Since Book IV in the LXX and Book V in both the MT and the LXX contain more psalms by David, this postscript pertains to Books I and II.

196. Jesus probably cited these words in the Garden of Gethsemane (cf. LXX of Ps 41:6 with Matt 26:38).

197. For a more comprehensive commentary, see PACL, 182–209.

198. Nic. H. Ridderbos, “The Psalms: Style, Figure and Structure,” in Oudetestamentische Studien, vol. 13 (Leiden: Brill, 1963), 50.

199. R. W. L. Moberly, “Lament,” NIDOTTE, 4.879.; cf. Moberly, Old Testament Theology: Reading the Hebrew Bible as Christian Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 231, 240.

200. The difference between qtl and yqtl pertains to aspect, not tense (cf. IBHS, 31.3e, 506).

201. Kirkpatrick, Book of Psalms, 246.

202. Gunkel, Introduction, 117.

203. Waltke and Yu, AOTT, 144

204. Jon Levenson, Sinai and Zion: An Entry into the Jewish Bible (New York: HarperCollins, 1985), 128–37.

205. See the relief in Waltke and Houston, Psalms as Christian Praise, 117.

206. Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 51-100, 441.

207. AOTT, 368ff.

208. The Law and historical books do not mention an annual enthronement festival .

209. E.g., Isa 2:2–4; 4:2ff; 49:14ff; 52:l–12; 54; 60; 61; 62; Zeph 3:14; Zech 2:5ff; 8:lff; etc.

210. Gunkel, Introduction, 55.

211. See Geerhardus Vos, “Eschatology of the Psalter,” The Princeton Theological Journal 18 (1920): 1–43.

212. For a more comprehensive commentary, see Bruce K. Waltke, “Responding to an Unethical Society: A Meditation on Psalm 49,” in Waltke, Dance Between God and Humanity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 428–40.

213. Interpreting the mem of darkām in Hebrew text as an enclitic mem (IBHS, P. 9.8; pp. 158ff).

214. Dictionary of Bible Imagery, 566.

215. Yarăšïr is an internal Hiphil (IBHS, P. 27.2f, pp. 439ff).

216. Kidner, Psalms, 186.

217. In the Gilgamesh Epic, when the gods smelled the sweet savor of the sacrifice of the Flood survivor, they “crowded like flies about the sacrifice” (ANET, 95, line 161).

218. HALOT, 268, s.v. I. zîz.

219. Mûsār is best translated “discipline” with corporal punishment, and “instruction” with verbal correction, as here (cf. Waltke, Proverbs 1–15, 175–76).

220. Goldingay, Psalms: Volume 1: Psalms 1–44, 119.

221. For a more comprehensive commentary, see PACW, 464–83.

222. C. Hassel Bullock, Psalms: Volume 1:1–72 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2015), 391.

223. Translations mine.

224. Some English versions (e.g., NIV, NRS, NJB) have “arrogant” or “insolent men,” reading zëdîm. This reading is attested in many Hebrew manuscripts, Targum, and especially 86:14, a mosaic of fragments from other psalms. However, the bulk of medieval Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, and Vulgate read zārîm “strangers.” In Hebrew /d/ and /r/ differ by a tittle. “Strangers” occurs as a parallel to “ruthless” in Isaiah 29:5, but there it refers to foreign nations, unlike this psalm. If “strangers” is correct, David considers those within nominal Israel who attack him as outsiders of the Lord’s true Israel.

225. ZIBBC, 371.

226. Reading Qere. Kethibh reads “let desolations be upon them.”

227. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: Inferno, cantos xxxii–xxxiv.

228. A couplet is two verses related in similar ways to two halves of a verse.

229. So Kidner, Psalms, 203.

230. So McCann, Psalms, 902.

231. Precative perfect (IBHS, P. 30.5.4c).

232. BDB, 627 s.v. I. nōd.

233. Gunkel, Introduction, 104.

234. The cohortative is anomalous.

235. HALOT, 521, s.v. lhṭ.

236. Translation based on changes of MT’s accents (so also CSB, NAB, NJB, NLT).

237. Literally, “they have fallen into it” is probably prolepsis (see 109:17, note).

238. ESV, by translating the ambiguous Hebrew form in 58:9 as a command, lacks the motif of confidence, changing the message somewhat.

239. MT’s ’ēlem (“silence” is contextually unsuitable). By a slight change to ’ēlîem, it means “gods” (ESV), probably to be equated with human “rulers” (see Ps 82; cf. 22:6, 7 [Heb 22:8, 9]; 45:6; cf. Isa 24:21); or to “mighty rulers” (CSB).

240. NET, 874, note X.

241. For uncertain reasons, the Books of Samuel and Chronicle number the slain Edomites as 18,000, and the three sources credit the victory differently: to David or to his commanders, Joab or Abishai.

242. See 57:6, note.

243. A comparison of capability (IBHS, 266, P. 14.4ff).

244. Possibly “rock” is a metonymy for God (cf. 18:2; 62:2, 6–7; 71:3; 94:2) and that God led him to trust him as such.

245. Interpreting the ambiguous grammatical form as gnomic (see IBHS, p. 488, P. 305.1c), not past, because he anticipates fulfilling his vows in the future (61:8).

246. The Hebrew grammatical form is ambiguous.

247. Cohen, The Psalms, 193.

248. “You will add days to the age to come, the days of the King Messiah; his years are like the generations of this age and the generations of the age to come” (Targum).

249. Gunkel, Introduction, 157–58.

250. IBHS, 502–3, P. 31.2.a, b.

251. A gnomic perfective (IBHS, p. 488, P. 305.1c).

252. Kidner, Psalms 1–72, 227.

253. Waltke, Proverbs 15–31, 71.

254. The Hebrew verbs of 64:7–9 are narrative and/or past tense, and the poet is using prolepsis. The English versions remove the figure (see 57:6; 60:4 and notes), but I have retained it here to capture the psalmist’s faith. Indeed, faith is being sure of what we hope for (Heb 11:1).

255. “Let the righteous rejoice” (ESV) is grammatically possible but unique to NRS, the basis of ESV.

256. See PACP, 116ff.

257. Konrad Schaefer, Psalms, 160.

258. A Christian addition to the superscript of LXX reads, “A psalm of resurrection.”

259. The Jordan River is never called “a river” (cf. 114:3; Job 40:23). In Ugaritic texts “sea” and “river” have the same referent.

260. BDB, 1027, s.v. šām.

261. Gunkel, Introduction, 54, italics his.

262. Schaefer, Psalms 161.

263. The ambiguous Hebrew grammar can also mean “God shall bless us” (ESV) or “God blesses us” (CSB).

264. Derived independently from a similar outline by Kirkpatrick, Psalms, 378ff. The analysis, originally drawn from the psalm’s form and rhetoric, was subsequently validated by observing that the first line introducing the major sections end with selah (68:7, 19, 32).

265. Kirkpatrick, Psalms, 379.

266. HALOT, 879, s.v. II. arābâ; see also stanza 3.

267. CDHC, 477, s.v. šephattāyim.

268. Christopher Begg, “The Messenger Dove in Ps 68:12–14,” EphThL, 63/1 (1987), 117ff.

269. CDHC, 61, s.v. gabbnōn.

270. CDHC, 429, s.v. rṣd.

271. Hebrew poetry commonly elides the verb of motion with a preposition (IBHS, 224, P. 11.4d).

272. Christopher Stanley, Paul and the Language of Scripture: Citation Technique in Paul and Contemporary Literature, SNTSMS 74 (Cambridge University Press, 1992).

273. Kirkpatrick, Psalms, 390.

274. J. P. Fokkelman, “The Structure of Psalm LXVIII,” OTS 26 (1990), 76ff.

275. Kidner, Psalms 73–150, 243.

276. ḥašmannîm is a hapax legomenon. Its Ugaritic cognate ḥušmanu means, “cloth, weaving,” perhaps symbolizing wealth.

277. Kirkpatrick, Psalms, 399.

278. Fox, Proverbs 1–9, 40.

279. With LXX (cf. Rom 11:9), reading wešillûmîm instead of welišlômîm (“and at peace”).

280. Gunkel, Introduction, 52.

281. Cf. TNIVSB, 912.

282. Reading with some Hebrew manuscripts, LXX, Symmachus, Targum, and 31:2 mā‘ôz not mā‘ôn (“dwelling-place”) of most medieval manuscripts.

283. Interpreting the grammatical form as a precative perfect (IBHS, P. 30.5.4c).

284. See 16:2, note.

285. Beth Tanner, Psalms, NICOT, 570.

292. McCann, Psalms, 963.

293. GKC, 107n

294. Reading with LXX wəya’ărîk, not MT yîrā’ûkā, “may they fear you.”

295. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 2, 203

296. B. Smith, Poetic Closure (1978) 182–86.

297. Probable reading of the original Hebrew text. MT reads, “May its fruit [trees] sway like Lebanon. And may people blossom in cities like the grass of the field.”

298. Hebrew verbal form could be passive (“be blessed”), matching Genesis 12:3; 18:18, but is clearly reflexive in Deuteronomy 29:18 and Jeremiah 4:2 and never clearly passive.

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