Psalm Eighty-One

(This section contains Psalms 81-100)



Vs. 1: Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! The exhortation to sing or ranan occurs frequently in the Psalter (cf. Ps 5.11) as one would expect and is often associated with joy. The reason for such gladness is God as strength, hoz. The second exhortation is similar, shout for joy or ruah as in Ps 20.5; this verb occurs mostly in the Psalter with the exception of Job 38.7 and Jdt 16.11. Mention of the "God of Jacob" can be seen in light of Jacob's dream when he exclaimed, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it" [Gen 28.16].



Vs. 2: Raise a song, sound the timbrel, the sweet lyre with the harp. Zimrah or song derives from the often mentioned verbal root zamar, to prune, to pluck. Note that the psalmist turns his attention to musicians both here and in the next verse. "Take away from me the noise of your songs" [Am 5.23]. As for timbrel (toph), cf. Ps 68.25 where is cited Ex 15.20: "Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing." The last two instruments are stringed and are mentioned as one: lyre (kinor) as in Ps 57.8: "Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!" Such a lyre is sweet (naham) or better, pleasant. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace" [Prov 3.17]. Nevel (harp is also used in Ps 57.8 just cited.



Vs. 3: Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. This verse could refer to the Feast of Booths, Dt 16.13-15. The trumpet (shophar) is a horn used to summon the people either as an alarm or for a liturgical function. Note that shophar is used with reference to God's revelation on Mt. Sinai: "On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lighnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled" [Ex 19.16].



In the verse at hand, new moon (chodesh) is the only use of this term in the Psalter. "On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai" [Ex 19.1]. Full moon (kese') is the only use of this word in the Bible and is associated with a feast day, chag, and can imply a sacrifice: "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread" [Ex 23.18].



Vs. 4: For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. Here as well as in the next verse the psalmist situates his earlier exhortations in a historical light, the Exodus. The source for this liturgical gathering comes from a statute (choq) and ordinance (misphat); the former can refer to an appointed time whereas the latter to judgment as the verbal root suggests.



Vs. 5: He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known. Refer to Ex 13.19: "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for Joseph had solemnly sworn the people of Israel (cf. Gen 50.25-6)." Note that this decree or heduth (also used with reference to the decalogue, Ex 25.21) was made "in (b-) Joseph, not just to him. Also note that God "went out over (hal-)" Egypt which can refer to not only to the Exodus but to the ten plagues. "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth my hand upon (hal) Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them" [Ex 7.5].



The second sentence uses the first person singular as speaker which could refer either to the psalmist or to the officiating priest speaking in God's name. The voice (saphah) suggests lips, an active speaking as opposed to voice as sound. This saphah is not known (yadah), reminiscent of Moses' ignorance of God until he revealed himself (cf. Ex 3).



Vs. 6: "I have relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. God now speaks from this verse to the conclusion of the psalm. The Hebrew text reads "his" instead of "your." The burden or sevel can refer to the slavery Israel endured in Egypt: "So they made the people of Israel serve with rigor" [Ex 1.13]. For another use of sevel, cf. 1 Kg 11.28: "He (King Solomon) gave him (Jeroboam) charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph." Basket or dod is from the same verbal root as the proper name David and can refer to the forced labor just noted. "And when she could hide him (Moses) no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river's edge" [Ex 2.3].



Vs. 7: In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah. The first part of this verse calls to mind Ex 3.7-8: "I have seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt...and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land." The verb chalats is used for to deliver. "Deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love" [Ps 6.4].



The "secret place of thunder" (seter) as in "The secret places of the stairs" [Sg 2.14]. In the verse at hand, seter alludes to Mt. Sinai: "And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder" [Ex 19.19].



The third part of vs. 7 refers to Ex 17.7, temporally prior to the "secret place of thunder:" "And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the fault finding of the children of Israel and because they put the Lord to the proof."



Clearly such dramatic incidents as these requires time or a pause (selah) to consider their implications.



Vs. 8: Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! The first sentence suggests that the people are not paying attention to God while he is admonishing (hod) them; the same verb means to testify, bear witness. God attempts to get their attention by addressing them by their common national title, Israel. Note that shamah is used for both hear and listen.



Vs. 9: There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. One such reference to idolatry within the "Exodus context" of Ps 81: "Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him" [Ex 32.1]. Here the golden calf is not a foreign (zar) god as the second part of vs. 9 mentions. Thus two types of gods may be posited, native and foreign.



Vs. 10: I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. A familiar refrain as in Jdg 2.1: "I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land which I swore to give to your fathers." The opening of the audience's collective mouth is more accurately a broadening, the basic meaning of rachav. The audience is intended to ingest divine words as nourishment.



Vs. 11: But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would have none of me. A distinction between people and Israel; the form refuses to listen and the latter's is guilt is greater because it is unwilling. Here voice (qol) as the intended food is rejected: "have none of me" or 'avah; this verb means to desire. "If you show yourselves willing and obey" [Prov 1.10].



Vs. 12: So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Two manifestations of refusing to listen to God: stubborn, derived from the verbal root sharar, to twist, implying that the human heart "twists" all types of perceptions. Note the plural form of this adjective: "Behold, his (behemoth) strength is in his loins and his power in the muscles of his belly" [Job 40.16]. This allusion to behemoth shows that a stubborn heart makes one like this primeval sea monster.



The second manifestation is the following of one's own counsels (mohetsah, singular) was depicted in Ps 5.10: "Let them fall by their own counsels."



Vs. 13: O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! Another distinction as in vs. 11 between people and Israel. This verse is more poignant in that God is longing for his people to follow him, that is, to obey the classical injunction "Hear (shamah), O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" [Dt 6.4]. Such hearing immediately results in action, walking (halak) not in the physical but divine sense, "my ways," (derek, singular). Note the plural form implying multiple means of relating to God from a singular hearing.



Vs. 14: I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Note the word soon or mehat which would yield positive results from the "singular" hearing and "multiple" ways with regard to assailants.



Vs. 15: Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. Cringe or kachash can mean to deny: "But Sarah denied, saying, 'I did not laugh'" [Gen 18.15]. In the verse at hand, note the preposition l-; the verb kachash is in the direction towards God. It continues by saying that such cringing is a type of fate (heth, also time which can imply time as kairos) last forever or forever in this "towards" cringing with regard to God.



Vs. 16: I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." The end of God as speaker which began with vs. 6. The Hebrew has "him" instead of "you." This verse is reminiscent of God feeding Israel in the Sinai desert, cf. Ex 16.13-36. Finest or chelev basically means fatness or the best part of anything: "The fat of the land, the best of its fruits" [Gen 45.18]. Devesh or honey: "A land flowing with milk and honey" [Ex 13.5]. Note that there is no reference to honey coming from a rock but it can allude to the rewards of inheriting this promised land. Also, the verbs in vss. 12-18 have in English "would" implying that the possibility of fulfillment but they suggest that it did not come about.



+



Psalm Eighty-Two



Vs. 1: God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment. Council or hedah here refers to the pagan belief that the world is governed by an assembly of gods (cf. Ps 89.7). The superiority of Israel's God is implied by qerev, in the midst of, that is, in the center as principle spokesperson or judge.



Vs. 2: "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. The first of two occasions when God speaks (to vs. 4 and again, vss. 6-7). Here the gods may be the object of question with regards to unjust judgment or an audience on his behalf. The second part of this verse may read in Hebrew, "and accept the persons of the wicked." These opening harsh words intended to strike fear and respect are emphasized by selah.



Vs. 3: Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. This verse and the next contain four exhortations or commands:



1) justice = weak (dal) and fatherless (yatom)

2) right = afflicted (hany) and destitute (rash)

3) vs. 4: rescue = weak (dal) and needy ('evyon)



Vs. 5: They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. The two requisites for proper judgment are lacking, knowledge (yadah) and understanding (byn); the Hebrew uses verbs in these instances which implies an active lack of them signified by absence of clarity with regard to their walking in darkness, choshek, a symbol of misery. Also choshek as used in Gen 1.2 ("and darkness was upon the face of the earth") can apply here in that lack of knowing and understanding (again, verbal use) resembles being in this primordial chaotic state. This makes better sense when vs. 5 speaks of earth's foundations being shaken; it is as though Genesis' choshek applied to unjust judges infiltrated earth's very core.



Vs. 6: I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. The second time God speaks in Ps 81, through the next verse. Here God reminds those lacking yadah and byn of the previous verse of their sonship with him. "Will you still say, 'I am a god,' in the presence of those who slay you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who wound you" [Esk 28.9].



Vs. 7: Nevertheless, you shall die like men and fall like any prince." This verse is reminiscent of Gen 3.19: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust and to dust you shall return." The second part of vs. 7 reads in Hebrew, "fall as one man, O princes."



Vs. 8: Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to you belong all the nations! A refrain or acclaim for God as judge when he "has taken his place in the divine council" (vs. 1). Here the psalmist wishes God to arise, qum, as if to get above the fray and confusion of the divine council. The Hebrew reads, "for you will inherit all nations."



+



Psalm Eighty-Three



Vs. 1: O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! The psalmist's wish for God not to remain silent, damah, suggests that he works more through speaking than by doing. For an alternate use of this verbal root, cf. Ps 4.4: "Commune with your own hearts on your beds and be silent." As noted there, damah can mean to be like; the other meaning is to perish which is more in line with the verse at hand. "Alas for me, for I perish" [Is 6.5]!



Associated with damah are two other reasons why the psalmist wishes God to speak: not to hold peace or charash, an alternate meaning being to devise. "David knew that Saul was plotting evil against him" [1 Sam 23.9]. The third and final wish is for God to be in motion or not keep still, shaqat. "Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your hearts be faint" [Is 7.4]. Note that vs. 1 which begins with God ('Elohym) ends with God ('El).



Vs. 2: For lo, your enemies are in tumult; those who hate you have raised their heads. To be in tumult or hamah "Surely for nought are they in turmoil" [Ps 39.6]. This verb connotes plotting as well as being disturbed. The Hebrew text has singular " head" as if to show the single-mindedness of the enemies' plotting; they raise it as one after having taken consultation together.



Vs. 3: They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your protected ones. The verb haram for to be crafty implies being naked; an alternate meaning is to be high. "At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap" [Ex 15.8]. The protected ones comes from the verbal root tsaphan "For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble" [Ps 27.5].



Vs. 4: They say, "Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!" Such is the manifestation of that haram of the last verse. The Hebrew is more drastic, "Let us cut them off from a nation," that is, for the existence of Israel to cease. Even if that came about, Israel's name would still exist at least in memory; her enemies wish that also to be blotted out.



Vs. 5: Yes, they conspire with one accord; against you they make a covenant. The Hebrew reads, "with one heart" which demonstrates the intensity of hatred towards Israel. If this were not enough, a covenant (beryth) is forged in imitation-rather, in opposition-to the divine covenant with God. Such a covenant includes the following nations traditionally allied against Israel and as depicted in vss. 6-8:



-tents of Edom

-tents of Ishmaelites

-Moab

-the Hagrites

-Gebel

-Ammon

-Amalek

-Philistia

-inhabitants of Tyre

-Assyria who are Lot's children



Verse 8 concludes with selah, giving a chance for the Psalmist's audience to consider their foes and to take appropriate action either through prayer, military action or both.



Vs. 9: Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon. Refer to chapters 6-8 for Gideon's victory which was effected by a small army. "With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand" [Jud 7.7].



As for Sisera and Jabin, cf. Judges 4-5, a victory wrought by Deborah, a prophetess. Note that her victories occurred prior to Gideon's yet are mentioned after them in the psalm verse at hand. Also refer to Jud 4.1, "And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died." This verse gives the reason for Israel's afflictions. The word "again" suggests familiarity with this problem of recurring evil by the chosen nation.



As for Oreb and Zeeb (vs. 11), cf. Jud 7.25; Zebah and Zalmunna (vs. 11), cf. Jud 8.21.



All these hostile nations sought the "pastures of God" (vs. 12), na'ah, whose verbal root means to be seemly. "I am very dark but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem" [Sg 1.5].



Vs. 13: O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind. After the enemies have spoken in the last verse, the psalmist resumes again with his earnest requests from God as follows:



-whirling dust (Hebrew, tumbleweed)

-chaff

-forest on fire

-flames on mountains

-pursue enemies with tempest

-terrify enemies with a hurricane

-fill faces with shame

-make them dismayed. Note that these words (vs. 16) are done for a noble purpose, that Israel's enemies may seek (baqash) God's shem or name.

-be put to shame

-be dismayed forever

-perish in disgrace



Despite these wishes for vengeance, the psalmist concludes in vs. 18 with the desire for them all to know (yadah) that God is "over (hal) all the earth." I.e., knowledge of this pervasive shem is alone sufficient; it can the place of their destruction.



+



Psalm Eighty-Four



Vs. 1: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! Lovely or yadyd can also mean beloved: "Let me sing for my beloved a love song concerning his vineyard" [Is 5.1]. Note that the Song's bridegroom is called (1.13) the beloved, from the same verbal root. Dwelling place is in the plural, mishkan (singular), and connotes a tent. "And pasture your kids beside the shepherds' tent" [Sg 1.8]. This plural form reveals that God has more than one dwelling, reminiscent of "In my Father's house are many rooms" [Jn 14.2]. Such plurality is accentuated by hosts, tseva'oth.



Vs. 2: My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. The object of the psalmist's soul or nephesh is God's courts, chatser (singular), again in the plural. This term refers to the exterior part of the temple: "You shall make the court of the tabernacle" [Ex 27.9], and the psalmist wishes to gain a foothold in it even though it is not within the temple proper.



The courts are the objects of:



1) longing or kasaph which means to be pale, presumably from intense desire. The noun keseph, silver, is a derivative.

2) The psalmist's soul also faints or kalah which as noted regarding Ps 31.10 involves a sense of completion. I.e., such fainting is in itself a type of fulfillment even though not achieved.



The second part of vs. 2 brings in two other aspects of the psalmist's constitution, heart (lev) and flesh (basar), which are more corporeal by nature and which are equally affected by this intense longing for God's courts. Both sing or ranan to the "living God" who is identified with these courts.



Vs. 3: Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts. Sparrow or tsiphor applies to any small bird and is reminiscent of Lk 12.7: "Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." A swallow or deror also means freedom: "To proclaim liberty to the captives" [Is 61.1], perhaps alluding to the freedom of flight enjoyed by this bird.



The sparrow obtains a home (byth, human dwelling), whereas the swallow obtains a nest, qen, a more proper dwelling for a bird. The latter is located closer to the altars, mizbeach (singular), or places where sacrifices are offered. Placing her young there, 'ephroach, can connote offering them as sacrifice.



Vs. 4: Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah. A statement which can be viewed in light of the sparrow and swallow of vs. 3; here reference is to those who dwell or yashav in God's byth, house (like the sparrow). Such a person is 'ashry as in Ps.1.1, that is, constantly striving forward. Ever or hod also means again implying repetition with regard to halal, praise, but a repetition which is ever evolving and not the same. The selah here can serve to make a connection between the sparrow and dweller vis-a-vis God's house.



Vs. 5: Blessed are the men whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Another instance of 'ashry, this time specified with regard to the Hebrew text's singular man, 'adam. Here 'ashry is located with regard to God's hoz or strength which is appropriated by the process of advancement contained within 'ashar, the verbal root to blessed.



In the Hebrew text the second part of vs. 5 lacks Zion; hearts (lev, singular) are equated with highways or mesilah (singular), again citing the theme of 'ashry. "And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way" [Is 35.8].



Vs. 6: As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. Baca is not known (verbal root means to weep) but may be paralleled with "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" of Ps 23.4. In this psalm verse valley is gaye' whereas vs. 6 has hemeq; the latter suggests a broad plain as opposed to the former. Note that people go or havar (better, pass through or over) the hemeq as opposed to halak or a simple walking with regard to a gaye'. Havar connotes more a passage but a passage which produces springs or in the Hebrew text, a singular mahyan.



The second part of vs. 6 speaks of early rain or moreh derives from the verbal root yarah, to sprinkle, to cast (as arrows), so with this in mind, moreh can suggest heavy downpours. An alternate noun is archer. Such moreh produces pools or berekah (singular); from the same verbal root is derived blessing. "Your eyes are pools in Heshbon" [Sg 7.4]. Note that the moreh covers the valley of Baca, the place of weeping, thereby exchanging sorrow with blessing.



Vs. 7: They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion. Such going (halak) is an intensification of that going (havar) through the valley of Baca (weeping) just noted. This is noted by the steps or stages of strength, chayl, reminiscent of 2 Cor 3.18: "We are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another." Chayl signifies might in the military sense, so the passage through this valley can represent an army on the move resolutely determined to make the trip.



The Hebrew text reads for the second part of vs. 7, "(each one) in Zion appears before God." This can signify attainment of the (military) passage already noted or Zion's appearance from a distance which strengthens (chyl) the soldiers as they move on.



Vs. 8: O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah. Two requests to two different titles concerning God: hear (shamah) with regard to prayer and give ear ('azan). This two-fold petition can be put on one of the "soldiers" in the valley of Baca. The selah can represent the waiting of a response from God.



Vs. 9: Behold our shield, O God; look upon the face of your anointed! Here the shield (magen) and anointed (mashyach) can be seen as one as an object upon which God is petitioned to turn his attention. Note that behold (ra'ah) is in reference to the shield and look upon (navat) is in reference to the anointed's face. Cf. Ps 10.14 for the distinction between these two verbs. The anointed can refer to King David or King Solomon at the head of the army making its passage through Baca.



Vs. 10: For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. A continuation of words which may be put in the mouths of those "soldiers" in the valley of Baca under the anointed's leadership. Here a day (yom) can be an indefinite time, more like a kairos, an insight reenforced by a "thousand elsewhere" which consists of the other form of time, chronos. This yom is specified as being in the Jerusalem temple's courts or chatser (singular) which was noted in vs. 2. The former may be said to be before the passage through Baca when the psalmist got a glimpse of his destination; the latter may be within Baca itself but within sight of his destination.



The Hebrew reads a verb for doorkeeper, saphaph, the only occurrence in the Bible.



Vs. 11: For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. God is identified as both sun and shield (magen, cf. vs. 9) as though the two were one and the same, that is, a radiating protection. "He is a shield to those who walk in integrity" [Prov 2.7], and if this is so, it is the sun whose radiance shines about this person. The radiance takes the form of favor (chen) and honor (kavod, better, glory).



The continued theme of walking (halak) now assumes a moral stance, uprightly or manym, a word connoting perfection or completion even though this walking continues through the valley of Baca. If divine help were to be withheld (manah), it could assume the withdrawal of the sun-as-shield.



Vs. 12: O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you! The psalm concludes with 'ashry, blessed, as noted in vs. 5. Mention of hosts or tseva'oth refers to those heavenly beings in God's company which give strength to the psalmist-as-soldier in the valley of Baca. This verse may be paralleled with Christ in the Garden of Gethsemani: "And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him" [Lk 22.43].



+



Psalm Eighty-Five



Vs. 1: Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. The first three verses of this psalm are intended as a reminder to God for past blessings and may be outlined as follows:



1) favorable or ratsah as noted re. Ps 5.12 in conjunction with Is 42.1: "My chosen, in whom my soul delights."

2) restored or shuv with respect to Jacob's fortunes or in Hebrew, "captivity" (shevyth).

3) vs. 2: forgive or nasa' the people's iniquity (hawon) which implies guilt or the continued memory of this iniquity.

4) pardon or kasah in the sense of covering but not necessarily removing sin.

5) vs. 3: draw out or 'asaph in the sense of continuing something past into the future with respect to divine anger (charon). "That the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel" [Num 25.4].



Vs. 4: Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Shuv as in vs. 1, this time directed to God-as-salvation or yeshah, "Jesus." After appealing to "Jesus" the psalmist may confidently ask God's indignation (kahas) to be put away or parar, a term which intimates making void. "Who frustrates the omens of liars" [Is 44.25].



Vs. 5: Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? The first question shows the extend of divine anger, literally, "in (b-) us." This presence-in of God's wrath perhaps leads to the psalmist's second question. Note that prolonging (mashak) indicates extension in time whereas forever (leholam) connotes eternity; this is intensified by mentioning generations (dor, singular). The verb mashak means to draw, to protract. "Her days shall not be prolonged" [Is 13.2].



Vs. 6: Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Compare revive with restore, vs. 4; this latter verb means a bringing back to life for the purpose of shamak, rejoice; not just this but "in (b-) you;" contrast with "in (b-) us" of vs. 5 with respect to God's anger.



Vs. 7: Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Chesed and yeshah ("Jesus") are presented as one and the same reality. The first is clearly visible (show) whereas the second is not necessarily so.



Vs. 8: Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. The Hebrew reads "I will hear" indicating willful listening to God speaking (davar) which is shalom and has two objects: 1) people or ham and 2) saints or those characterized by chesed. The Hebrew text for the part of this verse reads "but let them not turn back (shuv; a negative sense compared to vs. 4) to folly," kesel. For a discussion of this word, cf. Ps 78.7.



Vs. 9: Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him that glory may dwell in our land. Salvation or yeshah ("Jesus") which is depicted as being near, qerev (better, in the midst of) with respect to fear but with the ultimate reason of glory (kavod) being present in Israel. Note the lack of definite article, as though kavod were a living entity which will give life to "our land."



Vs. 10: Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Chesed here is united with 'emeth; the verb is pegesh which connotes an attack or assault. "At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to kill him" [Ex 5.24]. The second pair is tsedeq and shalom; the verb is nashaq which connotes a setting in order as well as arming oneself. For an alternate use: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" [Sg 1.2].



Vs. 11: Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. 'Emeth as associated with earth and tsedeq with sky (shamym, heaven), two opposite vertical poles or the dwellings of humans and God respectively. This 'emeth can be associated with the human sphere and tsedeq with the divine.



The first pair springs up, tsamaq: "Let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth" [Is 45.8]. The second divine characteristic (i.e., not a pair) looks down, shaqaph: "The Lord looks down from heaven" [Ps 14.2].



Vs. 12: Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. The good (tov) is not specified; the divine characteristics delineated in the last few verses may form this good or be associated with it, but the text is not clear. Nevertheless, the end result is found on the land ('erets) and its increase (yevul). "Then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase" [Lev 26.4].



Vs. 13: Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way. Righteousness (tsedeq again, cf. vs. 11 and its association with the sky) is here seen as preceding God; this going can be a vertical descent, not necessarily a horizontal movement. Tsedeq's function is to make a derek for God's footsteps, paham (singular). Cf. Ps 77.19: "Your way (derek) was through the great waters; yet your footprints (haqev, the heel proper or back part of the prints) were unseen." The Ps 77 verse refers to the Exodus through the Red Sea, and vs. 13 may be associated with it but it can also imply that vertical descent from heaven.



Note that vss. 10-13 have all action occurring in the future; i.e., it is not yet realized but desired.



+



Psalm Eighty-Six



Vs. 1: Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Note the connection between answer (hanah) and the psalmist as poor (hany), both from the same verbal root. They also stand in close relationship with another verb of hearing, more specifically, the request for God to natah (i.e., literally, to stretch) his ear. It is as though he identified himself as being in a condition ready to answer. The other word he uses is 'evyon as in Ps 72.4: "Give deliverance to the needy and crush the oppressor."



Vs. 2: Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. Shamar for preserve connotes guarding and is in relation to the psalmist's nephesh, soul. He is confident is asking for this shamar because he claims to be godly, chasyd (related to chesed, used regarding divine favor).



The psalmist's second request is for God to save or yashah, to "Jesus" him. The concluding statement about God being his makes better sense in light of this request for yashah.



Vs. 3: Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. This verse follows more or less with the last sentence of the previous one. Chanan for gracious is proper response to a chasyd who cries to God all day, that is, as opposed to all night, and can be located in the Jerusalem temple.



Vs. 4: Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. The second part of this verse may be considered first, namely, the psalmist's lifting up of his nephesh (cf. vs. 2, life). Such lifting or nasa' is a focusing of attention which is articulated in "up" as opposed to "down" terms. By so doing, he expects God to gladden (samach) his nephesh, almost as an automatic response to nasa'.



Vs. 5: For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Forgiving or salach connotes gentleness. "And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven" [Lev 4.20]. Steadfast love is chesed with rav (connotes excess), showing the extravagant favor of God.



Vs. 6: Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; hearken to my cry of supplication. Another instance of 'azan, related to the inclining of God's ear ('ozen) of vs. 1. Note that the preposition to ('el-) is lacking before "prayer;" it is as though the text read, "Give ear, O Lord, my prayer."



The second petition has the preposition b- (to) prefixed to the noun cry or qol, as though wanting God to be present-in this cry which, in turn, is subordinate to supplication (tachanun, from chanan, vs. 3 above).



Vs. 7: In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you answer me. Day or yom can be taken in the sense of a kairos event, here associated with trouble or tsarah which can also mean a female adversary. "And her (Hannah) rival (Peninnah) used to provoke her sorely" [1 Sam 1.6]. Note that in this verse there is a definite response by God, hanah (to answer) as compared with the request for such hanah in vs. 1.



Vs. 8: There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. A distinction between YHWH and gods, 'elohym; this difference is heightened by works, for example, the prophet Elijah's contest with the prophets of Ba'al on Mount Carmel, 1 Kg 18.20-46.



Vs. 9: All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. Such nations or goym are foreign to Israel; perhaps this coming and bowing (shatach) can be seen as the antidote to the scattering of peoples at the construction of the tower of Babel, Gen 11.1-9.



The second half of this verse contains a familiar association between kavod (glory) and shem (name), the two being almost synonymous.



Vs. 10: For you are great and do wondrous things, you alone are God. Note the present tense of do, hasah; action is continuous which automatically leads to recognition that God is solely responsible, levad (alone).



Vs. 11: Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. After acknowledging God's sovereign power in the last verses, the psalmist wishes to know how they are done, as it were. Hence the request to be taught (yarah), the verbal root for Torah which is always the focal point for any teaching with regard to God. The way or derek and truth ('emeth) are identical and interchangeable.



Yachad for to unite can be seen in light of the numeral one as used with regard to the first day of creation: "And there was evening and there was morning, one day" [Gen 1.5]. The Hebrew expresses it better by saying "day one." In the verse at hand, yachad and fear (yare') have the same function of gripping the psalmist's whole attention which is centered upon the divine shem.



Vs. 12: I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. An identity between giving thanks (yadah) and giving glory (kavod), here with the psalmist's entire (kol) heart.



Vs. 13: For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. The reason for thanks and glorification mentioned in vs. 12, that is, because of divine chesed toward, better, on (hal-) the psalmist. Natsal is used for deliver in the sense of snatching-away as though the psalmist's nephesh were in a storm tossed sea. Depths or tachat stresses this downward reach of God.



Vs. 14: O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seek my life, and they do not set you before them. Two types of foes: 1) insolent or zed (singular): "All the insolent men said to Jeremiah, 'You are telling a lie'" [Jer 43.2]. 2) ruthless or haryts (singular), from a verbal root connoting trembling: "Do not be in dread or afraid of them" [Dt 1.29]. The act of setting (sum) implies stability and constancy of presence which is negated by the act of rising up and seeking the psalmist's nephesh.



Vs. 15: But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Five divine qualities, all of which have been mentioned earlier:



1) merciful or rachum, from racham

2) gracious or chanun, from chanan

3) "slow to anger" or 'erek, from 'arak, to be long

4) steadfast love or chesed

5) faithfulness or 'emeth



Vs. 16: Turn to me and take pity on me; give your strength to your servant and save the son of your handmaid. Implied in the request for God to turn (panah, from which is derived face) are the five qualities outlined just above. For the psalmist, pity or chanan which was among the five, is the most important and from which the other four flow...from God's "face," so to speak.



Note how the psalmist distinguishes between himself as servant (haved) "son of your handmaid," 'amah, to which is related mother; the term can also mean female slave. "O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant (Hannah) and remember me" [1 Sam 1.11]. In the psalm verse under consideration, hoz or strength is connected to servant whereas save or yashah ("Jesus") is connected to handmaid.



Vs. 17: Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me. A verse reminiscent of Is 7.14 and uses the same term 'oth or sign (of favor, tov, the common good): "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign."



The 'oth consists of a seeing (ra'ah) and being shamed (yavash) with respect to enemies as a result of two divine actions towards the psalmist: help (hazar) and comfort (nacham).



+



Psalm Eighty-Seven



Vs. 1: On the holy mount stands the city he founded. The Hebrew text has the plural, mountains (harar, singular), and implies a high elevation as opposed to a mount; applied to Zion (next verse), the harar signifies preeminence of places (keep in mind the plural) of worship. "So Abraham called the name of that place 'The Lord will see (Hebrew, see);' as it is said to this day, 'On the mount of the Lord it shall be seen (Hebrew)'" [Gen 22.14]. For a reference to found, yasad: "At the cost of his first-born shall he lay its foundation" [Jos 6.26]. The foundation of vs. 1 sets the stage for the human building of Zion.



Vs. 2: The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. A quick transition, as it were, from the founding of Zion to its establishment. Gates (shakar, singular) as an object of love implies those people who go in and out of Zion. "Its gates shall never be shut by day" [Rev 21.25]. God prefers them over Jacob's dwelling places (mishkan, singular) of Jacob, insinuating that Jacob had dwelt in tents and that at last Israel had a permanent home and place to worship God. "According to all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it" [Ex 25.9].



Vs. 3: Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah. Kavod is the noun for glorious, as though the speaking of them had radiated outwards from Zion to all Israel. The selah gives pause to consider the praises sung of this city. For a New Testament fulfillment of this earthly city, cf. Rev 22.5: "And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light."



Vs. 4: Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia-"This one was born there," they say. A mention of Israel's traditional enemies (Rahab: poetical name for Egypt). In this verse either God or Zion can be the speaker; the psalmist most likely wishes to show their close affiliation. Those who know Zion, yadah, are the Israelites themselves; note the connection between them and Israel's five enemies: God/Zion will mention them, zakar, more properly, remember in the sense of beget them (cf. Ps 6.5 for this). Such begetting is further stressed by their being born in Zion, yalad, or to share in Zion's inheritance of worshiping the living God.



Vs. 5: And of Zion it shall be said, "This one and that one were born in her;" for the Most High himself will establish her. Another reference to the universal preeminence of the true God who resides in Zion; "this one" and "that one" can refer to a broader inclusion not only of Israel's traditional enemies as noted in vs. 4 but all peoples throughout the world.



Note that vs. 1 had God founding (yasad) the city; in vs. 5 we have the Most High (Helyon, to show God's supreme being over other gods) establishing Zion, kun. "But establish the righteous" [Ps 7.9] which alludes to a more substantial foundation in that it involves persons who constitute the city.



Vs. 6: The Lord records as he registers the peoples, "This one was born there." Selah. The person uttering the quote can be either the Lord or someone helping him to pick out the peoples already mentioned. God both records (saphar) and registers (katav), two verbs denoting the act of writing. The former suggests numbering and the latter a writing down of this number. "They (Eldad and Medad) were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp" [Num 11.26].



Vs. 7: Singers and dancers alike say, "All my springs are in you." Two groups who form a liturgical event commemorating the divine origins of Zion and who sum up the sentiment of both Israelites and foreigners. The springs (mahyan, singular) can refer to the sources of primeval waters upon which the world is established as well as nourished. "On that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth" [Gen 7.11]. This original mahyan is now transferred to the spiritual source of creation, Mount Zion.



+



Psalm Eighty-Eight



Vs. 1: O Lord, my God, I call for help by day; I cry out in the night before you. Despite the desperate situation depicted in this psalm, the author nevertheless refers his plight to God as opposed to doubting his existence. The Hebrew reads, "O Lord God of my salvation, yeshuah or "Jesus," an apt manner to begin a psalm full of desperate entreaties. The psalmist distinguishes between day and night, both occasions (in the sense of a kairos) of calling, tsahaq, as in Ps 77.1: "I cry aloud to God," this verb clearly meaning a piercing cry. Note that the last part of vs. 1 reads, "in night before you," this time being a better one for such "before-ness."



Vs.2: Let my prayer come before you, incline your ear to my cry! This prayer or tephilah the psalmist wishes to come before (lipany) God; compare lipany with the other before (neged) of vs. 1, the former word implying the divine face, the both being derived from the same verb. Thus lipany is supposed to lead God to natah or extend his ear.



Vs. 3: For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. Often the two words nephesh (soul) and chayym (life) are one and the same; the former is immaterial and the latter corporeal. Note that chayym or the physical dimension draws near (nagah) to Sheol as if to show the psalmist's desperate plight that this could happen. "At a time of distress, in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him" [Ps 32.6]. The reason for this possibility is that the immaterial aspect proper of the psalmist (nephesh) is "full of troubles" and thereby spills over into the physical dimension.



Vs. 4: I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit; I am a man who has no strength. The Pit or bor is another name for Sheol and more specifically refers to a cistern. "I will set your captives free from the waterless pit" [Zech 9.11]. It seems the psalmist is not alone but has company, intimating that a corporate identity for better or worse. He also describes himself as lacking strength, 'eyal, the only occurrence of this form.



For similar sentiments as well as with regard to the rest of Ps 88, cf. Job 2.



Vs. 5: Like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more. A continuation of the previous verse; the Hebrew text has only one like (k-) pertaining to the slain. The first part of vs. 5 is unclear; forsaken is from the verbal root chaphash, to search, and in this context can refer to a place of lying down; the psalmist is lying down "with (b-, literally, in) the dead.



Those who are slain or chalal literally are those who have been pierced; they are not remembered (zakar) in the sense of the noun male which is derived from this verb; they are not able to continue propagation to future generations.



Vs. 6: You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. Another reference to the Pit or bor, more specifically, its depths or very bottom. This gives the psalmist reason to call the Pit dark (machshak, singular) and deep (tsolah); the former is plural signifying a multitude. For reference to the latter, cf. Is 44.27: "Who says to the deep, 'Be dry, I will dry up your rivers.'"



Vs. 7: Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah. Such divine wrath (chemah) presses down the psalmist, samak; note the alternate meaning of this verb: "And stay themselves on the God of Israel" [Is 48.2]. Also, God's waves overwhelm the psalmist, hanah, a verb with multiple meanings as noted elsewhere.



This verse contains the first of two selahs, the second being after vs. 10.



Vs. 8: You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape. The Hebrew text for "to shun" reads to put far away, rachaq; the term for such companions or meyudahay derives from the verb yadah, to know.



A horror is tohevah or more specifically an abomination, a word referring to that which is impure in a juridical sense as well as anything associated with idols. "You shall not eat any abominable thing" [Dt 14.3]. Being condemned as such, the psalmist is hemmed in without escape, possibly in reference to the Pit already noted.



Vs. 9: My eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. Note the play on words, eyes (heny) and sorrow (hony), from the same verbal root, hanah. Da'av for to be sorrowful implies a melting away. "For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish" [Jer 31.25].



The daily calling upon God may apply to the psalmist being in the temple where he spreads out (shatach) his hands in supplication. "He enlarges nations and leads them away" [Job 12.23].



Vs. 10: Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah. Pele' for wonder refers to a miracle. "Terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders" [Ex 15.11]. In the verse at hand, the dead are equivalent to shades or repha'ym: "The earth shall cast out the dead" [Is 26.19]. Vs. 10 calls to mind the sorceress summoning up the spirit of Samuel from the dead, cf. 1 Sam 28.8-19. Selah is the second of two instances in this psalm, as if to give a pause amid all these questions put to God.



Vs. 11: Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Chesed and 'emunath are two features most characteristic of God and are juxtaposed with their opposites, grave and Abaddon, the latter being derived from 'avad, to perish. Note the impersonal proclamation with regard to the two qualities.



Vs. 12: Are your wonders known in the darkness or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? Another mention of pele' (wonder), here associated with darkness or cheshek. Although this is darkness in the negative sense, many divine interventions took place in the dark, the Exodus, for example. Instead of "saving help" the Hebrew reads righteousness, tsedaqah, whose opposite is forgetfulness or nashyah, from the verbal root nashah whose alternate meaning is to lend. "Every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor" [Dt 15.2].



Vs. 13: But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. A verse of confidence after a series of questions doubting God's intentions towards the psalmist. Here the verb to cry is shuah: "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried" [Jon 2.2]. The morning suggests that the psalmist has been in the temple all night without receiving divine help, but this time of day gives him hope. Note morning in conjunction with qadam, to come before, from which is derived the preposition before.



Vs. 14: O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? The Hebrew has for "me" nephesh, soul, the psalmist's very source of life which God has cast off (zanach). "For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off" [Ps 43.2]?



The second question is related, perhaps a refinement of this zanach: the hiding or satar of God's face is not Moses' experience as recounted in Exodus 33 when God forbids him to behold it. "Behold, I will set my face against you for evil" [Jer 44.11].



Vs. 15: Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. Four distressful conditions:



1) afflicted, from hanah, with its alternate meaning of to sing, to answer.

2) close to death or gawah: "For I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh" [Gen 6.17].

3) suffer terrors or 'eymah (singular): "Terror and dread fall upon them" [Ex 15.16].

4) helpless or 'aphunah, an uncertain word perhaps related to wheel, 'ophan.



Vs. 16: Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me. Charon for wrath which implies burning heat: "That the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel" [Num 25.4]. The verb associated with this fiery trial, havar, suggests the breaking of a wave.



The dread assaults or bihutym (from bahath, to frighten) similarly crash over the psalmist, this time as against a fortified city. The verb samath for to destroy implies a bringing to silence or total extinction.



Vs. 17: They surround me like a flood all the day long; they close in upon me together. A further description of the destructive power from divine wrath and dread assaults of the previous verse. As noted in vs. 13, this verse is reminiscent of Jonah after he had been tossed overboard into the deep. Note the time reference, "all the day long" as opposed to night. Also, God's wrath closes in upon the psalmist, naqaph, which suggests the besieging of a city. "Walk about Zion and go round her" [Ps 48.13].



Vs. 18: You have caused lover and friend to shun me; my companions are in darkness. Lover ('ohev, from 'ahav) and friend (reah) suggest intimate relationships. For a reference to the latter, cf. Sg 5.16: "This is my beloved and this is my friend." The Hebrew has for "to shun" the verb rachaq, to be far away.



The psalmist contrasts the two close types of relationships with companions or meyudahay, from the verb yadah, to know. Compare the use of darkness (choshek) with the positive note of Ps 139.13: "Even the darkness is not dark for you." The same term is used with regard to primordial state of being before God's intervention: "And darkness was upon the face of the deep" [Gen 1.2].



+



Psalm Eighty-Nine



This psalm may be divided into two sections, vss. 1-38, which extols God's blessings, and vss. 39-52, which laments the rejection of the king in battle as well as the divine covenant.

Because of this two-fold division, Ps 89 may be outlined accordingly:



1) sing of divine steadfast love or chesed.

2) proclaim divine faithfulness or 'emunah to future generations.

3) vs. 2: this chesed is established is (according to the Hebrew text) built up, banah, much like a building.

4) 'emunah is firm or kun like the heavens or firmament.

5) vs. 3: God speaks through the next verse with regard to his covenant (beryth) with his king or more specifically, David; note the similar sounding words beryth, karath (literally, to cut) and chosen one (bachyr).

6) calls King David his servant.

7) vs. 4: God establishes David's descendants or zerah, literally, seed.

8) builds David's throne or kise', implying a canopy; from the same verbal root as the noun moon, kese'.

9) vs. 5: The psalmist resumes speaking. The heavens praise God's wonders or pele'.

10) The heavens also praise his 'emunah which here is situated in the assembly (qahal) not just of everyone but of holy ones.

11) vs. 6: skies or shachaq, cloud or dust where the psalmist alludes to heavenly beings dwelling and who cannot be compared or harak to God, that is, be in the same order as him.

12) another comparison between "sons of gods" (Hebrew text) and YHWH; the verb here is damah, to compare which also means to be like.

13) vs. 7: God is depicted as in the council of holy ones, qedoshym; compare with vs. 5 with the same group of people.

14) "greatly terrible" in Hebrew and above (hal-, also, on) those around him which can also refer to his council.

15) vs. 8: God addressed as being in relationship with his hosts (tseva'oth) who may be seen as similarly above the council.

16) The Lord being surrounded with faithfulness or 'emunah, perhaps something like an inner council or all created beings who are apart from his transcendent being.

17) vs. 9: God rules sea's raging or ge'uth which suggests both splendor and pride. "They sing with joy of the majesty of the Lord" [Job 37.4].

18) God stills the rising of waves, shavach; the same word can apply to happiness: "And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive" [Eccl 4.1].

19) vs. 10: God crushed Rahab, a poetical name for Egypt; cf. Ps 74.12-17. Rahab is also the name of the harlot who gave refuge to Joshua, cf. Gen 2.

20) God scattered his enemies, pazar. Compare another meaning, Ps 112.9: "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor."

21) vs. 11: God possesses heavens, earth and the world because he has founded them, yasad. "For he founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers" [Ps 24.2].

22) vs. 12: God created north and south; Tabor and Hermon are both north of Israel, so apparently this direction is favored over the south.

23) vs. 13: God has a mighty arm, strong hand and high right hand, rum, in the sense of being lifted up.

24) vs. 14: righteousness (tsedeq) and justice (mishpat, in the sense of judgment) form the foundation of God's throne, kise', as in vs. 4 with respect to David.

25) steadfast love (chesed) and faithfulness ('emeth, also truth) precede God.



Vss. 15-18 are an interlude, so to speak, after recounting God's graciousness towards his people through the king and before God speaking in vss. 19-37. Their outline of eight elements is as follows:



1) vs. 15: people are blessed or 'ashry (cf. Ps 1.1) who know the teruhah or shout often associated with the offering of a sacrifice. "You shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation" [Lev 23.24].

2) Such persons walk in the light of God's countenance which is reminiscent of Moses: "The people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone; and Moses would put the veil upon his face until he went in to speak with him" [Ex 34.35].

3) vs. 16: They exult in God's name, gyl. "My heart shall rejoice in your salvation" [Ps 13.5], this verb implying a round dance.

4) They (according to the Hebrew text) "are exalted in" God's righteousness, another example of rum (cf. vs. 13).

5) vs. 17: God is the glory or tiph'arah of the people's strength, this word applying to an ornament. "Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments" [Is 52.1].

6) God's favor or retson exalts (rum, cf. vss. 13 & 16) the horn of the people, qeren. "The horn of my salvation" [Ps 18.2].

7) vs. 18: an identity between YHWH and shield (magen) as in Ps 84.11: "For the Lord God is a sun and shield." Note that vs. 18 has this magen belonging (l-, towards, to) to the Lord.

8) The same type of belonging applied to the king (l-).



From vs. 19 through vs. 37 God is speaking with regard to his protection of the king. It is prefaced by the psalmist saying that God spoke "of old in a vision" which can refer to the prophet Samuel (cf. 1 Sam 16) and can be outlined as follows:



1) vs. 19: God set a "crown" or according to the Hebrew text, help, hezer.

2) vs. 20: God found David through the medium of the prophet Samuel and anointed him, mashach. "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you" [Ps 45.7].

3) vs. 21: God's hand abides with David, kun, which connotes direction. "When he sets himself to destroy" [Is 51.13].

4) God's arm will strengthen David, 'amats. "Be strong, let your heart take courage" [Ps 27.14].

5) vs. 22: enemy will not outwit David.

6) wicked will not humble David.

7) vs. 23: God will crush David's foes.

8) God will strike down those who hate David.

9) vs. 24: Divine faithfulness ('emunah) and steadfast love (chesed) will be with David.

10) David's horn (qeren, cf. vs. 17) will be exalted (rum, cf. vs. 17) in God's name.

11) vs. 25: God will set David's hand on the sea which is towards the west.

12) God will set David's right hand on the rivers which are towards the east. Note the preposition b- (on) which can also mean in.

13) vs. 26: David will call God "my Father."

14) David will call God "my God."

15) David will call God "Rock of my Salvation," yeshuah or "Jesus."

16) vs. 27: God will make David first-born. "That he might be the first-born among many brethren" [Rom 8.29].

17) God will make David highest among kings, helyon; note that this term can refer to God as Most High, cf. Ps 87.5.

18) vs. 28: God will keep his chesed for David.

19) God will make firm his covenant with David.

20) vs. 29: God will establish David's line or seed zerah; cf. vs. 4.

21) God will make David's throne as the "days of heaven," i.e., as the kairoi of heaven.

22) vs. 30: reference to David's children; can refer more immediately to Solomon of the people of Israel in conjunction with forsaking God's Torah and ordinances (misphat, also, judgment).

23) vs. 31: David's children, that is, if they violate God's statutes.

24) David's children, that is, if they fail to keep God's commandments.

25) vs. 32: If David's children fail in their responsibility to God, he will punish their transgression.

26) God will punish them with scourges.

27) vs. 33: However, God will not remove his chesed nor his 'emunah.

28) vs. 34: God will note violate his covenant, chalal; slain is derived from this same verbal root.

29) God will not alter the word he has spoken.

30) vs. 35: God has sworn by his holiness, qedesh.

31) God will not lie to David.

32) vs. 36: David's line or zerah will endure as the sun, cf. vs. 29.

33) David's throne will last as long as the sun.

34) vs. 37: David's line will be established (kun, cf. vs. 21) forever.

35) David's line (according to the Hebrew text) "as a faithful witness in heaven."



Selah or pause is appropriate here before moving on to the next and final section of Ps 89 which depicts God's forsaking of the covenant. From vs. 38 to the end or vs. 52 the psalmist depicts this abandonment according to the following outline:



1) vs. 38: God has cast off.

2) God has rejected.

3) Go is full of wrath.

4) vs. 39: God has renounced his covenant.

5) God has defiled his crown.

6) vs. 40: God has breached his walls.

7) God has ruined his strongholds.

8) vs. 41: Passers-by despoil him.

9) Scorn of neighbors.

10) vs. 42: God has exalted his foes.

11) God has made his enemies rejoice.

12) vs. 43: God has turned back David's sword.

13) God did not support him in battle.

14) vs. 44: God (according to the Hebrew text) "removed (David's) cleanness" or tahar which can refer to ritual purification: "But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing" [Lev 13.35].

15) God cast David's throne to the ground.

16) vs. 45: God cut short David's youth.

17) God covered David with shame.



A selah occurs at the end of vs. 45 to give pause for considering this rejection and before moving on to the next three verses questioning God's actions:



1) vs. 46: How long?

2) Will you hide yourself?

3) vs. 47: (God) Remember life's measure.

4) God created men for vanity, shawe', as in Ps 24.4: "I do not sit with false men."

5) vs. 48: What man can never see death?

6) Who can deliver his soul from Sheol?



Another selah occurs at the end of vs. 48 to consider the implications of these questions and before Ps 89 concludes with the last four verses begging God to remember David:



1) vs. 49: Where is God's chesed?

2) vs. 50: The psalmist begs God to see how his servant (David) is scorned and bears the people's insults.

3) David's enemies taunt him with such insults.

4) David's enemies mock his footsteps, i.e., the places where he goes.



Ps 89 concludes with vs. 52 blessing (barak) God despite the distress just recounted, hoping for a return of his favor. The double amen is a way of expressing such confidence.



+



Psalm Ninety



The inscription to this psalm is interesting, "A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God." Note the title given to Moses in Hebrew, 'ysh-ha'elohym. The hyphen conveys the notion of Moses being "Man-God," not in the sense of partaking in his divinity as understood in the Christian tradition; rather it juxtaposes man with God.



Vs. 1: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Another reading of dwelling is refuge, mahon, signifying a fortified place. "The way of God is the defense of the upright" [Prov 10.29]. The Hebrew is more graphic, "dwelling place to (l-) us" in the sense of in-the-direction-towards. Similarly, the Hebrew reads "in generation and generation" as though this towards-ness were transferable not only into the past but into the future.



Vs. 2: Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. After speaking of the generations in vs. 1, it may be said that the psalmist wishes to identify or assure the continuity of Israel's existence by associating it with divine eternity. Hence mention of mountains and formation of the earth ('erets, physical planet) and world (tevel, the inhabited earth), three created elements associated with eternity.



Vs. 3: You turn man back to the dust and say "Turn back, O children of men!" While vs. 1 expressed trust in God, the verse at hand speaks of human mortality. Dust or daka' derives from a verbal root meaning to break (into small pieces) with violence implied in the process. Compare daka' with Gen 3.19: "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." Here the word is haphar which can refer to clay or loam and connotes the origin of man. "And he shall take other plaster and plaster the house" [Lev 14.42].



God's command to turn back or shuv means a return to human origins which here is daka'. Note the singular man and plural sons.



Vs. 4: For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past or as a watch in the night. The thousand years can symbolize indefinite time on the human scale which does not seem as yesterday prior to it having past. Note this lengthy period of time more or less identified with a night watch, 'ashmurah (verbal root, shamar). "In the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians" [Ex 14.24].



Vs. 5: You sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning. The verb zaram for sweep away connotes a flood. For a noun from this verbal root: "As an desolation of an inundation" [Is 1.7].



For "dream" the Hebrew text reads "they are asleep." Despite the renewal of grass (chastyr: "While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant," Job 8.12) each morning, the sun dries it up. Implied here is an indefinite cycle of the same process reminiscent of Ecclesiastes. Cf. vs. 5 (as well as the next verse) in light of Mt 13.6: "But when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away."



Vs. 6: In the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. A further description of the grass of the previous verse, again reminiscent of Mt 13.6: flourishes or tsuts which implies a shining and hence a glance: "Gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice" [Sg 2.9]. Renewed or chalaph which can also mean a sprouting forth: "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength" [Is 40.31]. Both activities take place in the morning.



The two changes which take place in the evening are fading or malal; an alternate meaning is to speak: "And she said, 'Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children'" [Gen 21.7]? Withering or yavash which can also mean shame: "As a thief is shamed when caught, so the house of Israel shall be shamed" [Jer 2.26].



Vs. 7: For we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed. The human application of that grass of the last two verses: consumed or kalah: "And did not turn back until they were consumed" Ps 18.37]. Overwhelmed or bahal which can also mean to hasten: "An inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning will in the end not be blessed" [Prov 20.21].



With regard to kalah, it is divine anger or 'aph; with regard to bahal, it is divine wrath or chemah which implies a burning.



Vs. 8: You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. Iniquities or hawon (singular), from the verb hanah often mentioned in the Psalter. "Secret sins," the latter which is lacking in the Hebrew text; from the verb halam, to conceal. While the latter are manifest in light ('or) of God's countenance, the former are before (neged) God.



Vs. 9: For all our days pass away under your wrath, our years come to an end like a sigh. Compare human days with divine years in vs. 4, two types of time: chronos and kairos respectively. Note that such days pass away or better, turn (panah) in (b-) God's wrath. Such days refer to the more detailed aspects of human existence whereas human years are longer units of time; these are compared to a sigh or hegeh: "And when they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter'" [Is 8.19]. Such a hegeh ends, another instance of kalah, vs. 7 above. The Hebrew text of the second half of this verse reads, "We bring our years to an end."



Vs. 10: The years of our life are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Two estimates of human existence, seventy and eighty years respectively, quite long for ancient times.



The second part of vs. 10 reads in Hebrew, "Yet (is) their strength, labor and sorrow:" 1) rohav, which can imply insolence: "By his power he stilled the sea" [Job 26.12]. 2) hamal, which connotes evil: "He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob" [Num 23.21]. 3) 'awen, an alternate meaning which is vanity: "For the teraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies" [Zech 10.2].



Such human strength is "gone" or in Hebrew, cut away (gazaz) as the shearing of a flock: "Laban had gone to shear his sheep" [Gen 31.19]. Once such strength is shorn, as it were, it flies away or huph: "He rode on a cherub and flew" [Ps 18.10].



Vs. 11: Who considers the power of your anger, and the wrath according to the fear of you? Yadah is the verb with respect to anger as in vs. 7, 'aph. Hevarah, from the verbal root havar (to cross) suggests that such wrath is "crossed over" with respect to divine fear.



Vs. 12: So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. The vert to teach here is yadah as in vs. 12, in the sense of having intimate knowledge. Such yadah is in relationship with human days or that chronos type of time; when considered (as implied here) in light of divine kairos time, yadah has the ability to impart wisdom, chakmah, but a wisdom with respect to one's heart, lev; note the plural "we" which may apply to the nation of Israel. In brief, yadah = chakmah.



Vs. 13: Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Three brief exclamations indicating the psalmist's intense desire as well as desperation:



1) Return or shuv; that is, a restoration with respect to Israel's original relationship with God forged at the Exodus and at Mount Sinai. This shuv can be considered with respect to the frequent mention in Ps 90 of human time.



2) How long or had-maty; usually the act of turning is instantaneous, both humanly and divinely speaking but can be done in degrees in both spheres.



3) The supplication for pity or nacham as in Ps 23.4: "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."



Vs. 14: Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Here the psalmist stresses the importance of morning or sunrise, boqer: "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" [Ps 30.5]; cf. notes with respect to that verse. In the verse at hand, satisfaction is sought, savah. "In your presence there is fulness of joy" [Ps 16.11]. It is associated with chesed.



The psalmist has a twofold purpose connected with this satisfaction, 1) rejoice or ranan and 2) being glad or samach, two words considered earlier in these Notes. I.e., satisfaction granted by God in the morning is to last "all our days" or through the various chairoi of human existence.



Vs. 15: Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil. Note the use of samach as in the previous verse, again related to "all our days." Here samach is to equate the times of affliction, hanah being the verbal root, to balance them out, as it were. Not only does the psalmist seek this balance between affliction and gladness but wishes to extend it to "many years." Note the play on words: ra'ynu (we have seen) and rahah (evil).



Vs. 16: Let your work be manifest to your servants and your glorious power to their children. Pohal for work is a poetic term; cf. Ps 28.4 regarding two other related terms. Pohal can also refer to an evil deed: "Then he declares to them their work and their transgression" [Job 36.9]. In the verse at hand, pohal is connected with God's servants whereas glorious power or hadah is connected with his children. This term can refer to an ornament: "And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor which I had bestowed upon you" [Ezk 16.14].



Vs. 17: Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us, yes, the work of our hands establish. The Hebrew text has instead of "favor" noham or beauty which connotes pleasantness as well as brightness. "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord'" [Ex 33.19]. It is as though the psalmist wishes the same divine glory which appeared to Moses not just appear to the people but be on (hal-) them.



Once this noham is on the people, their work will be established, kun (cf. Ps 89.21). I.e., there will be a direct correlation between God's presence and human activity.



+



Psalm Ninety-One



Vs. 1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty. Two types of residing with respect to God and two titles to the divinity: 1) shelter or seter as in Ps 18.11: "His canopy thick clouds dark with water." This with respect to the Most High, Halyon. 2) Shadow or tsel: "I sat down under his shadow" [Sg 2.3]. This with respect to the Almighty, Shaday.



Compare dwelling or yashav (implies sitting down) with abiding or lun which connotes passing the night. "Turn aside, I pray you (the two angels to Abraham), to your servant's house and spend the night" [Gen 19.2].



Vs. 2 Will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust." A continuation of vs. 1 and which implies the person uttering this sentence to be one who is both dwelling and abiding. Here shelter and shadow are shifted to 1) a refuge or machseh (from chasah). "A shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat" [Is 25.4]. 2) A fortress or matsurah which comes from the same verbal root as distress. It can also mean a mound cast up by besiegers: "I will raise siegeworks against you" [Is 29.3].



The Hebrew reads for "my God in whom I trust" "my God I will trust in him," b- intimating taking harbor in him.



Vs. 3: For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. Divine natsal or deliver has two objects: 1) fowler's snare or pach. "Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth when there is no trap for it" [Am 3.5]? 2) Pestilence or dever, from the root davar, to speak; such an affliction is deadly, huah, from the same verbal root (hawah) meaning to desire. "Their throat is a open (or deadly) grave" [Ps 5.9].



Vs. 4: He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. God's act of covering or sakak suggests a weaving: "You did knit me together in my mother's womb" [Ps 139.13]. And, "You clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews" [Job 10.11]. In the verse under consideration such "knitting" is done by God's pinions, 'ever (singular). "Spreading (an eagle) out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions" [Dt 32.11]. Note the distinction between these two parts, wings and pinions.



While God effects sakak, the person to whom Ps 91 is addressed takes active refuge or chasah as noted in vs. 2; in vs. 4 this is effected with respect to God's wings, kanaph (singular). "You have seen...how I bore you on eagles' wings" [Ex 19.4]. Since both pinions and wings often refer to an eagle, we might equate this bird as symbolic of God.



Faithfulness ('emeth): 1) shield or tsinah, a larger type covering the whole soldier. 2) buckler or socherah, the only use of this word in the Bible; from sachar, to travel about.



Vs. 5: You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day. Terror or pachad as in Ex 15.16: "Terror and dread fall upon them (Egyptians) because of the greatness of your arm, they are as still as a stone." Such pachad befell the Egyptians as they pursued the Israelites at night. The arrow is singular, chets, as in Hab 3.11: "At the light of your arrows as they sped" [Hab 3.11], another reference to the Exodus.



Vs. 6: Nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. The pestilence (dever) as in vs. 3, which here is active in darkness or 'ophel and can refer to a place of ambush: "That night-let thick darkness seize it" [Job 3.6]! A reference to destruction (qetev): "O Sheol, where is your destruction" [Hos 13.14]? Such qetev is active at noon or in full light and visible to all.



Vs. 7: A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. The singular "it" is not specifically identified but can refer to either the pestilence or destruction in vs. 6. For another reference to nagash (to come near), cf. Gen 19.9: "Then they pressed hard against the man Lot."



Vs. 8: You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Two types of viewing: 1) look or navat which connotes a beholding and the more common seeing or ra'ah. Recompense or shilumath derives from the same verbal root as shalom.



Vs. 9: Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation. The verb to make or shawah connotes equality: "To whom then will you compare me" [Is 40.25]? This verb thus alludes to the fact that the psalmist claims a "likeness" between 1) the Lord (YHWH) as refuge and the person involved, machseh (cf. vs. 2) and 2) Most High (Helyon) as habitation, mehon, as in Ps 26.8: "O Lord, I love the habitation of your house."



Vs. 10: No evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. The previous verse called God a refuge and habitation which here may be situated within a human tent or 'ohel, a temporary dwelling and applicable to God's welling in the wilderness. "On the first day of the month you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting" [Ex 40.2]. Scourge or negeh derives from a verbal root meaning to draw near. Qarav for to come near implies not just an approach but getting right into the midst of this tent.



Vs. 11: For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. A verse quoted in Mt 4.6 with regard to the temptation of Christ in the desert; a parallel can be drawn between the temporary dwelling of a tent in vs. 10 with Christ in the wilderness. The function of angels is to guard, shamar, notably with respect to action signified by (multiple) ways (derek, singular).



Vs. 12: On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Note that the ways in vs. 11 are not of the physical variety but are born up or raised on the hands of angels. This raising or nasa' is for the purpose of preventing injury.



Vs. 13: You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. Note the act of physical walking or being on the ground as opposed to being raised up in vs. 12. Lion and adder are the objects of treading, darak. Young lion and serpent are the objects of trampling, ramas. Another meaning of this verb pertains to anything lofty: "And the cherubim mounted up" [Ezk 10.15]. The first verb is a simple walking-over; the second verb is a deliberate act of stomping.



Vs. 14: Because he cleaves to me in love I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name. Chashaq for to cleave connotes a choosing: "It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love upon you" [Dt 7.7]. The first part of vs. 14 lacks "love" in the Hebrew; the verb for to deliver is palat, from which flows divine protection, the verb being sagav. "The name of the God of Jacob protect you" [Ps 20.1]. As in this verse just quoted, note the relationship of sagav with name, shem.



Vs. 15: When he calls to me I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him. Four manifestations of divine assistance as a result of the psalmist's calling, qara': 1) answer or hanah, 2) being present in trouble or tsarah (cf. Ps 86.7), 3) rescue or chalats (cf. Ps 6.4) and 4) honor or kavad, the same verbal root for glory or kavod.



Vs. 16: With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation. Literally, "length of days" with which God will show satisfaction, savah (cf. Ps 90.14). Also God will reveal his salvation, yeshuah, or "Jesus." Thus the former is a kind of filling and the latter, a kind of vision.



+



Psalm Ninety-Two



Vs. 1: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High. Verse one and two give four reasons to praise God:



1) thanks or yadah = Lord

2) sing praises or zamar = Most High

3) declare or nagad steadfast love (chesed) = morning

4) declare faithfulness or 'emunah = night