Call to praise Jehovah because of his justice and good

ness

His work as creator of the uni

verse

And ruler of nations

His preservation of his people from strong foes

§ 59. Jehovah's Justice and Goodness to His People, Ps. 33

Ps. 33 'Rejoice in Jehovah and exult, O ye righteous;i
And shout for joy all ye upright in heart,
Praise is becoming to the upright.

2Praise Jehovah with the lyre,

Sing unto him with a harp of ten strings,
Sing unto him a new song,k

Play skilfully with a loud shout.

4For the word of Jehovah is right,
And all his work is with faithfulness.
"He loveth righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the goodness of Jehovah.1

"By Jehovah's command the heavens were made,
And by the breath of his mouth all their host.
"He gathereth in a heapm the waters of the sea,
Layeth up in treasuries the great deep.
Let all the earth be in fear of Jehovah,
Let every dweller on earth stand in awe of him;
"For he it was who spake and it came to pass,
He, it is, who commanded and it stood forth.

10 Hen undoeth the counsels of nations,
He frustrateth the plans of peoples.
11Jehovah's counsel standeth forever,
The plans of his mind from all generations.

12 Happy the nation whose God is Jehovah,

The people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance. 13 Jehovah looketh from the heavens,

He seeth all the sons of mankind,

14 From the place where he sitteth he looketh forth

At all the inhabitants of the earth.

15It is he who formed their mind altogether,

§ 59 This is an orphan ps. Only in the Gk. does it have the superscription, To David, which characterizes the earlier collection of hymns. The contents of this ps. confirm the implication of the lacking superscription that it is a late insertion into the early Davidic Psalter. Vs. 7 echoes Job. 3822, vs., Gen. 13, 15, Zech. 121. Vs. 16 finds its best historical illustration in I Mac. 319. Vss. 16, 17, 19-21 also point to a Maccabean background. Signal victories over well-equipped foes are still fresh in the poet's mind. The consciousness of constant peril has left an indelible stamp upon the ps. Its logic, however, is clear and its faith unwavering. It was well calculated to appeal both to the reason and the feeling of the valiant but sorely beset Jews who rallied about Judas Maccabeus.

1331 This ps. apparently began with the last vs. of the preceding ps. The first line of 33 in the Heb., shout aloud ye righteous in Jehovah, is apparently due to a mistake of the scribe, who repeated elements from the two preceding lines.

k333 Cf. Is. 4210.

1335 Possibly the original read, simply, his goodness. But cf. 11.

m337 Heb., as a heap. Certain versions read, as a bottle. Possibly the original read, in a bottle. The reference here and in the following vss. is clearly to the account of the creation given in Gen. 1.

n3310 Heb. adds Jehovah.

JEHOVAH'S JUSTICE AND GOODNESS

He it is who perceiveth all their deeds.

16The king doth not gain victory by his great army,
A mighty man is not delivered by his great strength,
17The cavalry is a vain thing for safety,

And by the multitude of his army he is not delivered."

18 Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon his worshippers,
Upon those who hope for his mercy,

19To deliver their life from death,

And to preserve their life from famine. 20Our life hangeth upon Jehovah,P

Our help and shield is he,

21 For in him our heart is glad,

For in his holy name we trust.

22 Let thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, be upon us,
According as we hope in thee.

§ 60. Thanksgiving for Jehovah's Justice and Love, Ps. 138

Ps. 138 1I will give thanks, O Jehovah,a with my whole heart,
Before the gods will I make melody to thee.

2I will worship toward thy holy temple,

And give thanks to thy name for thy lovingkindness,
For thou hast magnified thy name above all."
In the day that I called thou didst answer me,
Thou didst make thy strength great in my soul.

4All the kings of the earth give thanks,

For they have heard the words of thy mouth.
"And they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah,
For great is the glory of Jehovah.

His

con

tinued

care

for

those

who

trust

him

Jehovah's fidelity

Recognized even by heathen

kings

"Though he is high, yet he regardeth the lowly,

But the haughty he knoweth afar off.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me,

Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against mine enemies,

3317 Following the Gk. and Targ. P3320 Lit., our life waits for Jehovah.

$60 The background of this ps. is either a great personal or national deliverance. Inasmuch as all the kings of the earth,, are impressed by it, the occasion would seem to be some great victory such as the overthrow of the Syrian armies by Judas and his followers. The consciousness of the need of Jehovah's continued protection against encircling foes, that is reflected so clearly in the last stanza, also points to the first half of the Maccabean era as the date of the ps. a1381 The VSS. insert Jehovah, which is lacking in the Heb.

1382 Faithfulness is probably a later insertion, for it destroys the regular metre and is not supported by the parallelism in 8.

1382 The meaning of this line is obscure. Heb., lit., For thou hast magnified thy word above all my name. The above consonant reading is suggested by Duhm (Psalmen, 285). Thy word is lacking in Gk.

t1383 Again following the superior Gk.

u 1384, 6 Heb. adds Jehovah.

1386 Or, following a revised text, he striketh down.

w 1387 Probably Heb., wrath, is due to a scribal error.

Assur

ance
that
he will
con-
tinue
to care

for his
people

And thy right hand will save me.

Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me.
May thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, be forever;
Forsake not the works of thy hands.

Call

to the descen

dants of Abraham to

praise Jehovah

His

cove

nant with

their forefathers

II

THANKSGIVING FOR JEHOVAH'S GUIDANCE AND CARE IN
ISRAEL'S PAST

Pss. 105, 114, 111, 117

§61. Jehovah's Unceasing Care of Israel, Ps. 105

Ps. 105 1Oh give thanks to Jehovah, proclaim his name;
Make known his deeds among the peoples.

2Sing to him, make for him melody;
Rehearse all his marvellous works.

Glory in his holy name;

Let the heart of them rejoice who seek Jehovah.
4Seek ye Jehovah and his strength,

Seek ye his face evermore.

5Commemorate the wonders that he hath done,

His marvels, and the judgments of his mouth,
"O ye seed of Abraham his servant,

Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

"He, Jehovah, is our God;

His judgments go forth over all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant forever,

The word he commanded to a thousand generations,
"The covenante which he made with Abraham,

And his oath which he swore to Isaac,

10 And confirmed to Jacob as a statute,f

To Israel as an everlasting covenant."

§ 61 Briggs regards Pss. 105 and 106 as originally one ps., for in 1069 ff. he finds the immediate sequel to 1051-37. To combine them, however, he is compelled to delete 10538, 47 and 1061-8. Both pss. deal with the same theme, but in 106 the sins of the forefathers are heightened, indicating that the two pss. are written from distinct points of view and with different aims. Ps. 105, like 78, develops the historic theme of Is. 511, 2. In both Israel's history is reviewed with a didactic aim, but here the liturgical motif is in the ascendancy. Vss. 1-15 are quoted in I Chr. 168-22 and attributed, together with a long quotation from 96, to David and connected with the transfer of the ark to Jerusalem. Possibly the quotation was introduced into Chrs. by a later interpolator, but it is probable that the ps. was written during the first half of the Gk. period. The author

a 1051 Or call upon, but cf. Ex. 345, 6, where the same idiom clearly means proclaim.

b 1052 For this unusual verb, which means, lit., hum, cf. Judg. 511.

1056 The parallel in I Chr. 1613 has Israel. This may be original.

d1057 Supplying the implied verb.

1059 Covenant is not expressed but implied by the Heb. idiom. Cf. Gen. 2216,

110510 Cf. Gen. 263 and 2813.

810510 A scribe, recalling Gen. 127, has added the prose vs., saying, to thee will I give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance.

JEHOVAH'S CARE FOR ISRAEL

12 When they were but few men in number,
Very few, and sojourners in the land;h
13When they went about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people,
14He suffered no man to oppressi them,

And he reproved kings for their sakes,
15[Saying], 'Touch not mine anointed ones,
And do my prophets no harm.'

16And he called a famine on the land,

He broke the whole staff of bread.

17 He sent a man before them;
Joseph was sold as a slave.

18They hurt his feet with fetters,

Into chains of iron he entered,

19Until the time that his word came to pass,

The word of Jehovah tested him.

2oA king sent and loosed him,

Even the ruler of the peoples, and set him free.

21 He made him lord of his household,

And ruler of all his possessions,

22To instruct' his princes at his pleasure,

For his protection during the patriarchal period

For his deliverance and exaltation of Joseph

And teach his elders wisdom.m

23Then Israel came to Egypt,

And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

24He increased his people greatly,

And made them stronger than their adversaries,

25Their heart turned to hate his people,

To deal very subtly with his servants.

26 He sent them Moses, his servant,
Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27 He put his wonders in Egypt,

And marvels in the land of Ham.

28 He sent darkness, so that it was dark,
But they rebelled against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood,

knew the Hexateuch in its present form. He is also a faithful supporter of the law, cf. 45, but apparently knows nothing of the Maccabean struggle. The ps. was well calculated to inspire the patriotic and religious zeal of the Jewish race. It also has close literary affinities with the later Jewish midrashim or didactic stories.

h 10512 Heb., in it, referring to the land.

i 10514 Or, even more lit., exploit them.

10518 The Heb. text must be restored at this point to make sense.

k10519 The word of Jehovah is here hypostasized, as in later Jewish literature.

110522 So Gk., Lat., and Syr. Heb., through a scribal error, bind.

m 10522 So VSS.

n 10527 So VSS. Heb., they put.

• 10527 Reconstructing the Heb.

P10528 So Gk., Syr. Heb. adds not.

And the exodus

For his

care in the wilderness

For possession of Canaan

Proofs of his power

at the Red

Sea

and

Jordan

And put to death their fish.

30Their land also swarmed with frogs,

They were in the chambers of the king."

31He spoke, and a swarm of flies came,

And gnats in all their territory.

32He gave them hail for rain,

Flaming fire in their land.

33He smote their vines and their fig-trees,
And broke the trees of their border.

34He spoke, and the locust came,

And the young locusts came without number,
35 And ate up all the herbage in their land,
And ate up the fruit of their ground.

36 And he smote all the first-born in their land,
The first-fruits of all their strength.

37 And he brought them forth with silver and gold,
And there was not one that stumbled among his tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,

For the fear of them had fallen upon them.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.

40They asked, and he brought them quails,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41He opened the rock, and waters gushed out,
They ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For he kept in remembrance his holy word,
And his promiset to Abraham, his servant;
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with shouts of joy.

44And he gave them the lands of the nations,
And they took possession of the labor of the peoples;
45That they might keep his statutes,

And observe his laws."

§ 62. God's Deliverance of Israel from Egypt, Ps. 114

Ps. 114 1When Israel went forth out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a foreign people,
2Judah became his sanctuary,

a10530 Slightly revising the Heb.

10531 Or lice.

10540 So VSS.

10542 Supplying the word implied by the context.

u 10545 The concluding Hallelujah or praise ye Jehovah is evidently the superscription to 106. § 62 This ps. is based on the composite narrative of Ex. It is the record of the feelings which the reading of these ancient but stirring annals made upon a pious poet who probably lived during the Gk. period.