Jeho vah's power to deliver The atti tude of expec tancy For thou hast taken me up, and cast me away. 24Take me not away in the midst of my days; "They will perish, but thou wilt endure; All of them will wear out like a garment, As a vesture wilt thou change them, and they will be changed; 27 But thou, Jehovah," art the same, Thy years have no end. § 164. An Expectant Prayer for Divine Help, Ps. 123 Ps. 123 'I lift up mine eyes to thee who art enthroned in the heavens. 2Behold, as the eyes of servants look to their master's hand, As the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, So are our eyes to Jehovah, our God, until he is gracious to us. "Be gracious to us, O Jehovah, be gracious to us, for we aret filled with contempt. "Our soul is exceedingly filled" with the contempt of the proud. Jehovah's judg ment V PRAYERS FOR JEHOVAH'S FORGIVENESS AND FAVOR § 165. Cry to Jehovah for Deliverance from Disease and Disgrace, Ps. 38 Ps. 38 1O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath, Neither chasten me in thy hot anger; 2For thine arrows have pierced me home, And thy hand resteth heavily upon me." "There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation, There is no health in my bones because of my sins.b "For mine iniquities have mounted over my head, My burden is too heavy for me to bear. 10211 I. e., as a symbol of the declining day. 10227 Supplying the Jehovah demanded by the parallelism. 164 This little ps. clearly comes from the latter part of the Gk, or the earlier days of the Maccabean period. The proud in are probably the apostate high priests and their supporters. 123 Heb. adds exceedingly, probably under the influence of the next line. 1234 A scribe has expanded this line by adding with the scorn of those without care. 165 This has all the marks of an individual ps. It is closely parallel in thought to many of the other pss. that come from the earlier part of the Persian period. 382 Possibly the text should be emended so as to read, thy hand is heavy upon me. Jehovah his Thou wilt answer, O my God, 16Lesti mine enemies rejoice over me. When my foot slippeth, they do great things against me; 17For I indeed am ready to halt, And my sorrow is continually before me. 19 For those who hate me without cause are strong; And those who hate me wrongfully are many. 20They who render evil for good are mine adversaries, 21 Forsake me not, O Jehovah, O my God, be not far from me, 22 Make haste to help me,' O my salvation. only hope 38 Slightly revising the Heb. text. d3810 So the Gk. and the demands of the context. 3811 Reconstructing the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk. and the context. 13812 Possibly this line is secondary. #3813 A scribe has added a repetitious couplet: And I am as a man who doth not hear, h3815 A scribe has added, in the Heb., Lord. for I said. Through a scribal corruption the Heb. reads, 13817 The following liturgical note has been added, although it is not in harmony with the context, for I make known my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. 3820 Possibly this line is corrupt. Certain Gk. MSS. have a widely different reading. 1382 The Heb. adds Lord. Plea for com plete forgive ness Confession of sin Prayer for moral cleansing § 166. Plea for Complete Forgiveness and Restoration to Divine Favor, Ps. 51 Ps. 51 'Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah," according to thy lovingkindness, 2Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, "For I myself acknowledge" my transgressions, [I confess], 'Against thee alone have I sinned,P That thou mayest be justified in thy sentence, a And in sin did my mother conceive me. "Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts," And in the hidden part thou wouldst make me know wisdom. § 166 The title, A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba, has confirmed in the minds of many readers the Davidic authorship of this ps. There is little, however, in II Sam. or the ps. itself to support this conjecture of a later editor. If David's repentance had been as profound as that of the psalmist, Israel's history would have been very different. The ps., on the other hand, represents not the crude beginnings but the maturity of Israel's religion. The great ideas of both I and II Is. pervade it. Cf., e. g., 2. 3. 7 and Is. 118, vs. and Is. 5912, vs. and Is. 513. 11, vs. 12 and Is. 6310, 11, vss. 13-15 and Is. 4327, 541-8. The language and the theology are those of the middle of the Persian period. Its deep sense of sin is characteristic of the exilic and post-exilic literature. It has much in common with Nehemiah's prayer in Neh. 1. Whether, as seems probable, 18, 19 represent a later appendix or not, the original ps. antedates 445 B.C., when the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. A date between 500 and 445 B.C. fully satisfies the implications contained in the ps. 511 Restoring the original Jehovah, which has been changed to Elohim throughout the group in which this ps. is found. 511 Gk., my transgression. The Heb. word refers to deliberate sins. 0513 The Heb. verb describes a continued state of feeling. P51 The ordinary rendering of this vs. expresses just the opposite of what the psalmist clearly meant. His frank and full confession of his sins was in order that Jehovah might be justified in forgiving him. 451 Gk., Syr., and Lat., in thy words. 515 If the ps. is individual the psalmist evidently here refers not to any specific sin of his immediate ancestor but to the fact that he was born a member of the sinful human race. If the ps. is national the reference evidently is to the sinful origin of the nation as developed, for example, in Ezek. 16. 516 This line is overfull and the meaning of the phrase translated, in the inward parts, is doubtful. Possibly the word which follows is but a scribal interpretation of the preceding. The current translation, however, which has been followed, is supported by the Targums and is in keeping with the spiritual content of the ps. Emending the text, Briggs translates this: Behold in faithfulness thou dost delight, The confidence of wisdom thou makest me know. (Pss., II, 3). Duhm revises more radically and translates the vs.: Behold, thou lovest truth more than concealment, 517 Hyssop was used in the ceremonial cleansing of a leper, according to the law of Lev. 144, 6, 49, and in cleansing one who had come in contact with the dead, Nu. 196. 18. u51 So Syr. and correcting one letter in the Heb. The current rendering, Let me hear, is not supported by the context. And should I givea a whole burnt-offering, thou wouldst not ac- able cept it. accept sacri fice 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A crushed heart, O Jehovah, thou wilt not despise. 18Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion; Mayest thou rebuild the walls of Jerusalem; Prayer for the restora 19Then thou wilt delight in peace-offerings and whole burnt-offerings, tion of Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. Jeru salem § 167. Jehovah's Gracious Care for His People, Ps. 85 In the past Ps. 85 'Jehovah, thou wast favorable to thy land, Thou broughtest back the captivity of Jacob. "Thou forgivest the iniquity of thy people, 51 I. e., overlook and pardon. 5110 Cf., for the origin of this figure, Ezek. 1119, 36. 51 One of the early O.T. examples of the use of the term holy spirit, i. e., the spirit of God, the Holy One. Cf. Is. 6310, 11 for the only other O.T. passages in which the term occurs. y 5114 I. e., mortal sins. #5114 Heb., God. This is followed by a scribal addition, God of my salvation, a phrase which is clearly out of harmony with the metrical structure of the ps. a5116 Transposing this last clause to the last line as is demanded by the metrical structure of the vs. and by the context. b5117 A scribe has repeated a synonym of the word crushed or broken, but the metrical structure of the vs. clearly reveals its secondary character. 5119 This line has evidently been expanded by a later scribe. In its present Heb. form it reads, then thou shalt be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, burnt-offering, and whole-burnt offering. Possibly burnt-offering and whole-burnt offering is secondary. Vss. 18, 19 contradict the thought in 16 and are in all probability a Maccabean addition. 167 The poet who wrote this exquisite ps. looked back upon the restoration from exile as ancient history. The return of prosperity in the days of Nehemiah was the evidence of the forgiveness of Israel's sins, 2, 3. Dark clouds again lower on the horizon, 4. 5. These suggest the closing years of the Persian or else the Gk. period. 4851 Or restored the prosperity of. All their sins thou didst cover. "Thou didst take away all thy wrath, Thou didst turn away the heat of thine anger. "Turn to us, O God of our salvation, And cause thy displeasure against us to cease. Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? That thy people may rejoice in thee? I would hear what God' will speak; Verily he will speak peace to his people, To his pious ones and those who turn their hearts to him." That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Kindness and truth are met together, And righteousness looketh down from heaven. § 168. Uncertainty and Brevity of Human Life, Ps. 39 Ps. 39 1I said, I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue, • 854 Lit., cause to break off, render ineffectual. 1858 Heb. adds Jehovah, but this destroys the measure. 8858 So Gk. and Lat., which suggest the original order of the disarranged Heb. letters. b8513 Emending the Heb. as the context suggests. § 168 This ps. is a noble elegy written in the emotional five-beat measure. It deals with the ever-insistent problem of the suffering of the innocent. The poem contributes to its solution the thought that man's problems, after all, are insignificant compared with God's eternity. The problem is not merely abstract but was evidently presented concretely to the mind of the poet as the result of his own pain and affliction. It may have been written before the days of Nehemiah but probably in the Gk. period. 1391 Slightly correcting what appears to have been a scribal error. 1392 The Heb. adds I held my peace. But this appears to be a repetition of the preceding vs. and destroys the metrical structure. *39: Lit., from good. 1394 Possibly this verb is a scribal addition. In the above translation the reading of certain MSS., which add the conjunction, is followed. |