Longing for a vision of God The contrast between the past and present Refrain Faith triumphant over present doubt III THE ASSURANCE OF JEHOVAH'S PROTECTION Pss. 42, 43, 63, 271-6, 46, 3, 4, 11, 56, 16, 10212-22, 24-28, 23, 401-12, 62, 121, 130, 131, Hab. 3 § 102. The Longing That God Alone Can Satisfy, Pss. 42, 43 Ps. 42 1As the hart panteth after the water brooks, a So my soul longeth for thee, O Jehovah,b "My soul thirsteth for Jehovah, for the living God. While they continually say to me, 'Where is thy God?' 4These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me; How I passed on with the multitude and led them slowly to Jehovah's house, With joyful sound and praise, a multitude in festal march. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for Jehovah, for I shall yet praise him, Who is the salvation of my countenance and my God. My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember thee, §102 Pss. 42 and 43 were originally one hymn, for, unlike the pss. which precede and follow, it has no superscription, and the same refrain, found in 425, 11 and in 435, binds the whole together. This hymn was evidently written by an exile who had been banished from Jerusalem and apparently had found refuge in the upper Jordan near the foot of Mount Hermon. As king or high priest or Levite, he had participated prominently in the temple service, 424. Exiled among the heathen, he was compelled daily to face the taunts of his enemies, 10. His chief lament, however, was that he was unable to share in the worship of the temple; but his faith enabled him to rise above his sorrows and to cherish the unwavering hope that he would yet be restored to Jerusalem, 421. Certain modern commentators, e. g., Duhm, identify the poet with the high priest Onias III, who was driven from Jerusalem by Scopas, commander of Ptolemy Epiphanes. The man of deceit in 431 is identified with Simon or the traitorous Jason. While this identification is possible, it is probable, in view of the close parallelism between this ps. and 63, that the author was a high priest or Levite banished from Jerusalem at the time when Jehoiachin (597 B.C.) was a421 I. e., the Eastern wadies, in which the water disappears in the late spring and runs underground, only occasionally emerging to slake the thirst of man and beast. 6421 So Syr. and Targ. A later editor has systematically changed the original Jehovah to Elohim (God) throughout this and the following group of pss. In the translation which follows the original has been restored. 422 Or, God of my life. d422 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Syr. and Targ. 423 So Syr. and certain other MSS. and the parallel in 10. The Heb. has lost the pronominal suffix. 1424 This and the following line has possibly suffered in transmission. The Gk. and Syr. have a somewhat different rendering, but the reference is clearly to the solemn march on the great festal days. 8425 So Gk., Syr., Sym., and the similar refrain in 11 and 435. h425 Again restoring the corrupt Heb. with the aid of the Gk., Syr., and subsequent parallels. 1426 The psalmist had evidently found refuge in the upper Jordan valley near Mount Hermon. Mizar, which means little, was probably the designation of one of the lesser peaks near Mount Hermon. LONGING THAT GOD ALONE CAN SATISFY "Deep calleth unto deep at the sound of thy cataracts;i Thy breakers and thy billows have all passed over me.k 'I say to God, my Rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning under the oppression of mine enemy? 10 While there is a shattering in my bones, my adversaries deride me? While they say to me all the day long, 'Where is thy God?' Why art thou cast down, O my soul, And why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for Jehovah, for I shall yet praise him, Who is the salvation of my countenance and my God. 43 1Judge me, and plead my cause against an unkind people; From the man of deceit and wickedness do thou deliver me, O Jehovah;' 2For thou, O God of my refuge, why dost thou reject me? Why must I go about mourning under the oppression of mine enemy? 3Oh send forth thy light and thy truth; they, indeed, will lead me.m Let them bring me to the mount of thy holiness, to the place where thou dwellest; 4And I will come unto the altar of Jehovah, to the God of my rejoicing;" I will exult and praise thee with the lyre, O Jehovah my God. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, And why art thou disquieted within me? Refrain Refrain § 103. An Exile's Longing and Confidence in God, Ps. 63 Ps. 63 10 Jehovah, thou art my God; earnestly I seek thee;" carried into captivity. The ps. pulsates with deep emotion. It was written by a lover of God and of his worship and abounds in original and powerful ideas and figures of speech. The measure, under the stress of feeling, rises at times from the prevailing three-beat to the four and, in the concluding section, to the five-beat measure. 1427 A reference to the rushing streams which break out from the rock on the southern side of Mount Hermon. k427 A scribe has added the following lines, which introduce a thought entirely alien to the context and lacking the regular metrical form that characterizes the ps.: By day Jehovah commandeth his lovingkindness, 1431 Transferring the word Jehovah, Heb., God, from the first line, where it destroys the metre, to the second line, where it completes it. m433 Possibly certain MSS., which read, comfort me, have retained the original. n434 Following one MS., which is strongly supported by the context, and reading the following verb as the first pers. sing. rather than the imperfect. The Heb. text has evidently been corrupted at this point. § 103 In point of view this ps. is closely related to 42, 43. The author has participated in the joyous worship of the temple and now yearns passionately for a renewal of the same privilege. His faith in God, however, is undaunted by his enforced exile or by the foes who seek his life. He feels the divine presence guarding him and upholding him wherever he may be. The intro631 The first line of this ps., as frequently in three-beat pss., begins with an impressive four-beat line. Long- sanc tuary Praise of Jehovah's good ness God's abiding presence Fate of the pursuers Trust in Jehovah in the hour of peril For thee my flesh longeth, As a parched land fainteth for water," Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, 4So will I bless thee while I live, I will lift up my hands in thy name. "I shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness," "Verily I remember thee upon my couch, And in the shadow of thy wings I rejoice. "And those who seek to destroy my life 10 They shall be delivered to the power of the sword, § 104. Confidence in Jehovah's Protection, Ps. 271-6 Ps. 27 1Jehovah is my life and my salvation; whom shall I fear? duction of the king in the last vs. presents a difficult problem. Is the entire ps. the prayer of a royal exile like Jehoiachin? Possibly, but it seems more probable that it was uttered by a contemporary and a loyal supporter of the exiled king and that it comes from the early part of the Bab. period. Vss. 9-11 have been regarded by certain scholars as a later addition, but the reference is clearly to a Heb. king, and it ill fits either of the Mac. rulers who assumed that title. These vss. have the same measured beat and the regular six-line structure that characterize the preceding strophes of this poem. They also constitute a natural ending to this impassioned hymn of adoration and trust. P631 The present Heb. reads, In a dry and weary land where no water is. This makes little sense and is not in accord with the hopeful spirit of the ps. Evidently the line has suffered in transmission. The above rendering is based on a conservative revision of the text. Briggs translates, as a dry land it faints for thee; Duhm, as a dry, waterless land. 4632 Recalling the joy that he had in beholding the public worship in the temple and, like Isaiah (Is. 6), perceiving the divine reality symbolized by that worship. 1635 Lit., my soul. 635 Possibly fatness, which destroys the metrical symmetry of this line, is secondary. +635 Mouth is not found in the Gk. and may be an addition. u 656 Or, when. v638 Lit., cleaveth after thee. W639 Heb., to destroy it. 6311 A scribe has apparently added the explanatory gloss, For the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped. § 104 Commentators are generally agreed that Ps. 27 contains two independent poems. The first has the five-beat measure and is uttered either by the community or by its leader. The other, 7-14, cf. § 158, is in the three-beat measure and was written by a private person. The invincible faith which this ps. expresses is timeless. Its thought is related on the one side to 42, 43, CONFIDENCE IN DIVINE PROTECTION 2Whenever evil-doers come upon me to devour my flesh, "One thing I ask from Jehovah, that will I seek: Protection That I may have a vision of the beauty of Jehovah, and that I may inquire and in his temple. "Verily he will hide me in his covert, in the day of trouble; He will conceal me in the secret of his tent, he will set me upon a rock. I will sing, yea, praises I will sing to Jehovah! § 105. Jehovah the Refuge of His People, Ps. 46 Ps. 46 1Jehovahb is ours, a refuge and a stronghold; and 65, in its passionate longing for the service of the temple, and on the other to 46, in its atmosphere of turmoil and its dauntless confidence in Jehovah's power to deliver. It may be one of the few hymns that have come down from the pre-exilic temple, but more probably it was written during the early part of the Persian period. 274 A marginal note based on 5 and 236 has been introduced by scribes to explain this vs. It is impossible to construe it syntactically and it is inconsistent with the context. It reads, I dwelt in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life. 275 Following certain versions and the demands of the context. a 276 So Gk., Syr., and Lat. Heb., my head shall be lifted up. § 105 This is one of the great pss. of the Psalter. It is immortalized in Luther's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. It is unsurpassed in the majesty of its diction and the breadth of its outlook. At the same time its thought is as simple as the faith which it expresses is strong. Its structure is exceedingly artistic and well balanced. It consists of three stanzas of six lines, each concluding with the stirring refrain: Jehovah of hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our refuge. Probably through a scribal error it has been omitted after 3. The figure in the opening stanza is that of earthquake and flood. In 3 there is possibly a reminiscence of the overwhelming flood in the days of Noah. The second stanza develops the thought that in the midst of this wave of ruin and chaos Jerusalem, the dwelling place of the Most High, stands unmoved, because Jehovah, who rules over all nature, has taken up his abode within her. The third stanza presents a glorious picture of the period when war should cease and Jehovah's rule should be established throughout all the world. The breadth of outlook suggests the teachings of the II Is. Cf. especially 40-48. The description of the destruction of the instruments of war and the establishment of universal peace recall such late exilic passages as Is. 94 and 111-10. The expectation that Jehovah's rule would be established throughout all the world allies it with the post-exilic predictions found in Zech. 3, 8, Mic. 41-4, and Pss. 96-100. The immediate background of this ps. is evidently a period of great world changes. Not one nation, but many nations, figure in the drama of history to which it alludes. It is also a period when a new sense of confidence and security has come to Jehovah's people. Certain scholars in the past have identified the political situation with the overthrow of Sennacherib in the days of Hezekiah, about 690 B.C. The psalmist may have had in mind this incident in Israel's early history, but not one but many hostile nations figure on the broad horizon which he contemplated. Briggs (Pss., I, 393-4) identifies it with the days of the Scythian invasion early in the reign of Josiah. But the missionary ideals and the broad outlook of the psalmist point, beyond reasonable doubt, to an exilic or post-exilic period. Two periods in Israel's history fully satisfy the implications and literary relationships of this ps. One is that which began in 545 with the conquest of southwestern Asia by Cyrus and ended with the firm establishment of the rule of Darius about 518 B.C. It was pre-eminently a period when nations raged and kingdoms tottered. From the contemporary writings of Haggai and Zechariah we know that the hopes that Jehovah would speedily establish his universal kingdom rose high in the hearts of the Jews. This b461 Heb. God, due to the revision of a later scribe. 461 Lit., found exceedingly. d462 Slightly revising the Heb. text, which is obviously corrupt. glad service in his temple Jehovah's care for his people Refrain His provisions for the needs of his holy city Refrain His overthrow of hostile nations Refrain And though the mountains totter into the heart of the sea; Though mountains do shake with the swelling of its 'flood,' Jehovah of hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our refuge." His streams make glad the city of Jehovah, 5Jehovah is in the midst of her, she cannot totter; When he uttered his voice the earth melted. "Jehovah of hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, contemplate the works of Jehovah.i "He is about to make wars to cease unto the end of the earth. The bow he breaketh, and the spear he shattereth; Yea, he burneth the chariots with fire.j 10 Be still, and know that it is I, Jehovah, Exalted among the nations, exalted in the earth. 11 Jehovah of hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our refuge. majestic song may have been sung by one who joined with the temple builders in response to the stirring call of Haggai in 520 B.C. If so, he was in thorough sympathy with the hopes expressed in Zech. 1-3. The position of the ps. in the Psalter well accords with this date. The other possible period is the earlier part of the days immediately following the conquest of Alexander the Great. Again nations were raging and kingdoms were tottering. Through this troublesome period Israel's faith in Jehovah and its consciousness of keeping his law alone preserved it. There is, however, in this ps. a universal note which makes the question of its exact date comparatively unimportant. The faith which it expresses is timeless. Grounded on the experiences of the past it fearlessly contemplated the terrors of the present and the future. It voices the unshakable conviction of Israel's prophets that, in keeping with Jehovah's gracious purpose, the best is yet to be. It also presents that ideal of perfect peace for which the persecuted and oppressed sighed through all the ages. 462 Supplying the word waves, implied and absolutely demanded by the context. It was probably omitted by a scribe who regarded it as a mere repetition of sea. 1464 Following the suggestion of Briggs in connecting the word flood with the preceding vs. The reference is apparently to the waters under the earth, from whence the ancient Semites believed came the perennial supply of water which gushed out through the many springs and fountains. This great deep under the earth was probably conceived of by the psalmist as the source from which came the brooks mentioned in 4." 846 Supplying the refrain that is found at the end of 6, 10, h465 I. e., at the critical moment of her greatest weakness. 1468 The line, What desolations he hath made in the earth, is secondary, for, as Duhm notes, it is prosaic, superfluous, and destroys the sequence of thought and the symmetry of the stanza. 1469 Possibly this line is also secondary. |