PRAYER FOR SPEEDY HELP "For thy name's sake, O Jehovah, revive me, bring me out of trouble; 12In thy lovingkindness cut off my foes, and destroy all mine opposers; For I am thy servant. § 143. Jehovah the Warrior's Stay, Ps. 1441-11 Ps. 144 'Blessed be Jehovah my Rock, "My kindness, my fortress, my stronghold, e Who subdueth peoples' under me. "Bow the heavens, O Jehovah, and come down, "Stretch forth thy hand from on high, Pluck me forth from the mighty waters, "Whose mouth doth speak deceit, Whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. 'A new song will I sing to thee, With a lyre of ten strings will I play to thee, 10Who giveth victory to kings, Who saveth his servants from the hurtful sword.< "Deliver me from the hand of foreigners, Whose mouth doth speak deceit, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. e 14311 Omitting in thy righteousness, which is not found in the Gk. and is not supported by the context. § 143 This ps., like the preceding, is a composite of lines taken from Pss. 8, 33, 104, and especially from 18. The metrical symmetry of the ps. and the close logical connection between the first and second stanzas are interrupted by the insertion of 85: What is man, that thou art mindful of him? The son of man, that thou considerest him? and another vs. taken from 394, 5. The warlike spirit that breathes through this ps. is clearly that of the Maccabean era. d1441 Supplying the connective required to complete the measure. 1442 So four Heb. MSS. Trad. Heb. adds to me. 11442 So certain Heb. MSS. Lat., Syr., and Targ. Heb., my people. 1445 So two Heb. MSS., Syr., and Targ. Heb., thy heavens. b144 A scribe, by mistake, has transferred this verb to the middle of the vs. 11449 Omitting God, which destroys the measure of the vs. and from its position is, without reasonable doubt, a later addition. i14410 A scribe has added David. 14410 A scribe, influenced by the reading in 7, has added here the verb pluck me forth. What he does for his people May he now deliver them Their tribute of praise Jeho- people in the past Jehovah, Israel's only salvation II PETITIONS FOR DELIVERANCE FROM HEATHEN OPPRESSORS § 144. Prayer for Deliverance from Powerful Foes, Ps. 44 a Ps. 44 1O Jehovah, with our ears have we heard, The work which thou didst do in their days, 2Nations thou didst dispossess and plant them, And with the light of thy face didst thou favor them. "It is thou who art my king, Commanding the salvation of Jacob. And my sword doth not deliver me. "But thou hast saved us from our adversaries, Petitions for Deliverance from Heathen Oppressors.-The pss, of this group are all national and the foes described are outside the Jewish community. Most of them come from the days of the Maccabean struggle. 5. § 144 This ps. is closely related to Ps. 22 and is full of echoes of II Is. Cf., e. g.,, We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. The woes recounted are very similar to those described in Lam. The note of faith and hope, however, is much stronger. The psalmist is clearly speaking in behalf of the community, for he frequently passes from the sing. to the plural, e. g., 5, 7-10, 13, 14. In 12 he speaks of thy people in the same way as he refers to us in the next vs. The abrupt transitions from the first sing. and plural and then to the third person is one of the peculiarities of the ps. It is a good example of a collective national ps. Its date is evidently the earlier half of the Persian period. Pathetic, indeed, in this setting is the impassioned cry in the concluding stanza, 3-, which presents a dramatic contrast to the recital of Jehovah's acts of deliverance for his people in the past. 441 Heb., God. The original reading Jehovah, which a later editor has changed throughout these pss. to God, has been restored in the above translation. 6441 This line is evidently corrupt. The present reading, Thou, thy hand, is unintelligible. A slight change in the Heb. letters, however, gives the above rendering, which is in harmony with the context. The initial word of 2 also belongs to the close of 1. 442 The reference in this vs. seems to be to the period of the Judges, when Jehovah dispossessed the older Canaanite peoples in order that the chosen people might inhabit the land. Cf. Am. 29. d442 Correcting the Heb. in accordance with the demands of the context. This interpretation of is strongly supported by . 44 Dividing the Heb. letters differently from the accepted text and as suggested by Gk.A Heb., God of the commandment. and Syr. 1446 Vss. 6-8 may be secondary, for they simply expand in the first person the thought of 3. DELIVERANCE FROM POWERFUL FOES 'But thou hast cast off and put us to shame, 10Thouh makest us turn back from our adversary, "Thou hast given us up as sheep to be devoured, And hast not enriched thyself by their sale. 15 My confusion is before me all the day long, And shame doth cover my face,j 16At the voice of him who reproacheth and revileth, Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger. 17Though all thisk hath come upon us, we have not forgotten thee, Neither have we falsely broken' thy covenant. 18Our heart hath not turned backward, And our steps have not turned aside from thy path, 19Though thou hast crushed us down in the place of jackals,TM And with deep darkness thou hast covered us over. 20 Had we ever forgotten the name of our God, 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? 24Why dost thou hide thy face Forgettest our affliction and our oppression? 25 For our life is bowed down to dust," And our body cleaveth to the ground. 26 Arise for our help," And redeem us for thy kindness' sake. 844 Certain Gk. MSS. and Syr. add the pronominal suffix us. b4410 Possibly, following certain MSS., God or Jehovah should here be added. 14412 Lit, for no wealth. The thought is that Jehovah had delivered the people into the hands of the foes without seeming reason or compensation. 14415 Lit., shame of my face doth cover me. 4417 I. e., the calamity and disgrace that has overtaken the community. 14417 Lit., dealt falsely with. 4419 I. e., the wilderness where jackals howl. 44 I. e., our life is one prolonged tragedy. 04425 I. e., hangs on the verge of the grave. P44 The peril and distress of the poet is effectively expressed by the two-beat measure. The words are an echo of the ancient war-cry uttered when the Hebrews took up the ark, Nu. 1035. Present calamities Israel faithful in the presence of calamity Let Jehovah speedily arise to deliver Arise, O Jehovah, deliver and punish The contrast be tween our foes and thee, O Jehovah Speedily con sume them § 145. Prayer for Deliverance from Pitiless Enemies, Ps. 59 Ps. 59 1Deliver me, O my God, from mine enemies, Set me on high from mine assailants. "For, lo, they lie in wait for my life, The mighty band together against me, Not because of my transgression or my sin, 40 Jehovah, it is not because of mine iniquity "Even thou, Jehovah, God of Israel,' Be not merciful to any treacherous troublers. "They snarl continually like a dog, They prowl about the city in the evening." For who, they think, is hearing? But thou, O Jehovah, laughest at them; 10 May my God, with his lovingkindness, come to meet me; Scatter them, hurl them down by thy power, 13 Consume them" in thy wrath, that they be no more, § 145 Vss. 5-11 strongly suggest that this ps. voices the woes of the Judean community, probably in the days before Nehemiah, and that the foes are the neighboring heathen nations that taunted and beset the defenceless Jews. A late editor associated it with the time when Saul sent men and they watched the house to kill David, I Sam. 198-17. Inasmuch as God of hosts is incorrectly 4594 These are military terms describing an armed attack. 596 Following Briggs (Pss., II, 52) in transferring the phrase in the evening to the second line, as the thought and metre require. So in 14. t597 Or reproaches. 599 Restoring the corrupt Heb. (which makes no sense) by the aid of the VSS. and the parallel in 17. 5911 Correcting the trad. Heb., which reads slay not, contradicting 13. 591 Supplying and Deliverer, required to complete the measure. 5912 Lit., the word of their lips. The meaning is not certain. The idea is, apparently, that their every word is their condemnation. 591 Following a probable reconstruction. Heb. repeats consume. DELIVERANCE FROM PITILESS ENEMIES And let men know that Jehovah ruleth,* 14They snarl continually like a dog, In the evening they prowl about the city. 15They range up and down for food, And tarry all night if they be not satisfied. 16 As for me, I will sing of thy strength; Every morning will I praise thy lovingkindness, And a refuge in the day of my distress. § 146. Prayer for Victory in the Presence of Defeat, Ps. 60 Ps. 60 'Jehovah, thou hast rejected us, thou hast broken us; "Thou hast made the land to tremble, thou hast rent it; "Thou hast made thy people see hardship, "Thou hast given a banner to those who fear thee, "God hath spoken in his sanctuary: 'I will exult, I will divide Shechem, And the valley of Succoth will I mete out. Ephraim also is the defence of my head, #5913 A scribe has added, contradicting the broad statement of the next line, in Jacob. a 5917 So . A scribe has added, destroying the measure, the unusual phrase God of my lovingkindness. § 146 The date of this ps. is not clear although it evidently describes a definite situation. This may have been the destruction of Jerusalem, but the implication is that it was simply a great defeat from which the people hoped to recover. The invincible, warlike spirit points either to the pre-exilic or Maccabean age. The reference in to Shechem implies that the Samaritan schism had taken place. Judah alone is Jehovah's chosen land. On the basis of the reference in 8a, a later editor has added an elaborate superscription connecting this ps. with David's victory over the Edomites recorded in II Sam. 813, 14. The editor had in mind a tradition akin to that in I Chr. 1812. 13, for he speaks of Joab as the conqueror. The literary points of contact between this ps. and 44 are close. Its warlike, dauntless ambition in the presence of defeat finds its best historical setting in the days of Judas Maccabeus. Vss. 5-12 are quoted in 1088-13 and combined with 605-12. The oracle in 6-9 may be older than the present ps. but the evidence is indecisive. b601 Or thou didst turn us back. 604 The meaning is not entirely clear, but probably the banner is the assurance that Jehovah will deliver his faithful one from the attacks (bow) of their foes. Vs. contains the natural demand that he now redeem his ancient promises. d605 So variant Heb. readings. Trad. Heb., me. 607 Lit., Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine. Fate Deliver as in the past Redeem thy prom 18e8 |