PSALM—NOTE ON 42–43. While each of these psalms can be taken separately, Psalms 42–43 go well together as a song with three stanzas: they share a refrain (42:5, 11; 43:5); 43:2 is almost the same as 42:9; and they both express the longing to return to God’s presence in the sanctuary (42:2; 43:3–4). In these psalms the singer laments his circumstances (connected with enemies who despise God and oppress his faithful servants), which keep him from attending worship at the central sanctuary. Singing this in corporate worship would especially foster a sense of yearning and expectation in the faithful, so that they would learn to attend worship looking for God’s presence, to mourn any circumstances that prevent them from attendance, and to count their attendance at worship as a great gift from God (certainly not a burdensome duty!). Other psalms that express yearning for God include Psalms 63 and 84.
PSALM—NOTE ON 42:1–5 My Soul Pants for God. The song begins with a poignant expression of longing for God himself, using the image of thirst: As a deer pants for flowing streams. For the pious, the answer to this longing comes in public worship; this is clear from the phrase appear before God (i.e., at the sanctuary; cf. Ex. 23:17), and from Ps. 42:4, which recollects the former participation in sanctuary worship. The singer represents himself as separated from this worship and subject to taunts from those who despise his faith. The singer closes the stanza by encouraging himself that God will return him to worship. (Observe that the first words of v. 6, “and my God,” belong with the refrain.)
PSALM—NOTE ON 42:6–11 Has God Forgotten Me? The second stanza sharpens the description of the singer’s situation. He is in the land of Jordan and of Hermon, and near the otherwise unknown Mount Mizar; this would probably locate him north of the Sea of Galilee (at the source of the Jordan River)—but at any rate he is far from Jerusalem, where the sanctuary is. He knows that God is not literally absent (v. 6), but he also feels that the sanctuary is where he meets God most fully; hence his separation has left his soul cast down within him (v. 6), because he wonders why God has forgotten him (v. 9). This stanza ends, like the first, with self-encouragement.
PSALM—NOTE ON 42:7 This verse uses two images of unruly water, perhaps to contrast with the “flowing streams” of v. 1: the first portrays two waterfalls plunging into a valley, calling to one another with a roar, while the second portrays the raging sea, in which one might drown (Jonah 2:3).
PSALM—NOTE ON 43:1–5 Vindicate Me So That I Can Come Back to the Temple. In the third stanza of Psalms 42–43, the singer focuses on the ungodly people and the deceitful and unjust man who torment him with their taunts (42:3), asking God to vindicate him against them (43:1; see note on 26:1–3). He personifies God’s light and truth as if they were guides sent to lead him back to the sanctuary at God’s holy hill (43:3). The stanza closes, like the others, with encouragement.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 44. This is a hymn for when the people of God as a whole have suffered some great calamity at the hands of their enemies and are seeking God’s help. The calamity is particularly painful, since God has chosen his people, given them a special place, and favored them over their enemies in the past. The corporate focus is not impersonal, however; each member of the congregation identifies with the whole people, using the singular “I” (vv. 4, 6, 15). When the worshiping congregation sings this, they do more than simply present the request to God; they remind themselves of their privileged standing with God, of the obligation to faith and holiness that is laid upon them, and of God’s unfailing loyalty to his purpose for his people. Similar psalms include Psalms 74; 77; 79; 80; and 83. In some cases, the cause for the calamity is mysterious (as here); in others, it is acknowledged as due to the people’s unfaithfulness (e.g., 79:8).
PSALM—NOTE ON 44:1–8 We Have Heard What You Did for Us in the Past. The song opens by recounting the ways God has favored his people over the Gentiles in the past: he drove out the nations from Canaan and planted his own people there (v. 2); and after that he saved them from their foes (v. 7). The people recognize that God’s special provision, not their own abilities, was responsible for their well-being (vv. 3, 6), and that they should boast in God and give thanks to his name forever (v. 8).
PSALM—NOTE ON 44:9–16 But Now You Have Rejected Us. In light of this past (vv. 1–8), the current situation is unintelligible. God has apparently rejected and disgraced his people (v. 9), no longer giving them success against their foes; he has given them over to be slaughtered and allowed the unbelieving nations to taunt them (v. 13).
PSALM—NOTE ON 44:17–22 But We Have Not Forsaken You. The pain of the situation is especially sharp because the community cannot discover what unfaithfulness of theirs could have brought on the calamity. They claim not to have forgotten God, or to have been false to his covenant (v. 17); they acknowledge that if they had done so, God would know it and would be right to discipline them. The community is not claiming absolute sinlessness. The OT recognizes that the pious commit sins, even grievous ones, and it makes provision for them without calling such people “wicked” (cf. 32:6). But it tends to reserve terms like “unfaithfulness” or “wickedness” for the actual turning of the heart’s fundamental loyalty away from God, as in idolatry (44:20) or in persecution of the godly.
PSALM—NOTE ON 44:19 The place of jackals would be a place of ruins (cf. Isa. 34:13; Jer. 9:11).
PSALM—NOTE ON 44:22 This verse describes God’s people suffering death at the hands of those who oppose God; in Rom. 8:36, Paul uses this verse to remind believers that God’s people have always had to face such situations, yet they must not conclude that they are thereby separated from the love of Christ.
PSALM—NOTE ON 44:23–26 Therefore Come Now to Help Us. To remember God’s history with his people emboldens the community to pray for his aid in the present. The language of vv. 23–24 uses bold imagery, as if God were asleep (cf. 35:23) or forgetful; even though the faithful know that this is imagery, they also have canonical warrant for boldly appealing to God to keep his word. The last word is a request for God to redeem (see note on 25:22), for the sake of his steadfast love—a request that God is sure to honor.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 45. This is a hymn celebrating a royal wedding; as the title says, it is a “love song.” It is impossible to be sure for which king in David’s line the song was first composed, but it does not matter; after 2 Sam. 7:11–16, the line of David was the appointed channel through which God would bless his people and carry out his mission to the whole world. The psalm has sometimes been taken as directly messianic, because Heb. 1:8–9 cites Ps. 45:6–7, applying the verses to Christ. The notes below will make clear how the book of Hebrews uses these verses.
PSALM—NOTE ON 45:1 A Song for a King. Whether these words are to be sung by the congregation or by a choir, they are addressed to the king. As a psalm, used in Jerusalem, this would refer to a king in David’s line. A ready scribe was probably one who wrote quickly and neatly.
PSALM—NOTE ON 45:2–9 You Are a King of Beauty, Majesty, and Justice. These words speak to the king, praising him for his appearance and gracious speech (v. 2), military power (v. 3), and commitment to promoting justice for his subjects (vv. 4–7a). These words focus the attention of a young king on the ideals he should hold for his reign and character. These are what lead to God’s blessing for his people’s king, and to the king’s own respected position in the world (vv. 7b–9).
PSALM—NOTE ON 45:6–7 Your throne, O God. Many have supposed that these words must address the Davidic king, either as foretelling Christ or as a type that Christ would eventually fulfill. Although the OT does foretell a divine Messiah (e.g., Isa. 9:6), this kind of interpretation does not easily fit this context. It seems better to think that the song speaks to God about his throne (“your throne, O God”), namely, the one that the heir of David occupies, and then goes on to describe the divine ideals for a king’s reign (scepter of uprightness). Hebrews 1:8–9 cites these verses in Greek from the Septuagint as part of the author’s argument that the “Son” is superior to the angels. Hebrews 1 applies the term “Son” to Jesus, probably in his role as the heir of David. Thus Heb. 1:5 puts Ps. 2:7 with 2 Sam. 7:14, where “Son of God” is a title for the Davidic king (see note on Ps. 2:7). This also accounts for the use of the messianic 110:1 in Heb. 1:3, 13. (Hebrews does go on, like the rest of the NT, to apply to Jesus an OT passage about Yahweh; see note on Ps. 102:25–27.)
PSALM—NOTE ON 45:10–12 O Bride, Honor This King. Now the song turns to the bride (O daughter); her loyalty now is to her husband (the king), no longer to her father’s house. The reference to her people need not mean that she is from a foreign people; the word can simply mean the people of her hometown (e.g., 1 Sam. 9:12–13). In her new position, she will receive honor from the king’s subjects.
PSALM—NOTE ON 45:13–15 The Bride’s Procession. Now the song describes the splendid attire of the bride (the princess) as she leaves her chamber and is led to the king, accompanied by a procession of virgin companions.
PSALM—NOTE ON 45:16–17 O King, Your Line Will Continue in Your Sons. The song turns back to the king and speaks of his enduring line. The marriage of a Davidic king is not a private matter; it is crucial for the fulfilling of God’s promises, not simply to Israel but to the nations.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 46. The psalm is a hymn celebrating Zion as the special city, to which God has pledged himself and through which he will bless the world. Other psalms like this include Psalms 48; 76; 87; and 122. The psalm has two stanzas, marked by a refrain (46:7, 11).
PSALM—NOTE ON 46:1–7 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The people of God are secure, even in times of tumult and upheaval, because God is their refuge and strength (v. 1). God is present in his city (an emblem of his people as a whole) to protect it in all circumstances. Verses 2–3 use earthquakes, landslides, and the raging sea as images of raging nations and tottering kingdoms (v. 6). There is also a contrast: though the mountains be moved (v. 2), Zion shall not be moved (v. 5). The reason is that God has chosen Zion to be his holy habitation, i.e., the place of his sanctuary, where his people meet him in worship (v. 4). a river. In contrast to the roaring seas (vv. 2–3), the streams of this river (perhaps an image of the grace found in worshiping the true God; cf. Ezek. 47:1–12) make glad the city of God.
PSALM—NOTE ON 46:8–11 God Will Be Exalted Among All Nations. God’s goal for his choosing of Zion is that out of it the word might go forth to the peoples of the whole world, bringing them all to live in godly peace with one another (Isa. 2:1–5). This will be the means by which he makes wars cease (Ps. 46:9). Since the address in v. 10, be still, and know, is plural, readers should imagine God speaking these words to the nations, among whom he will eventually be exalted. This is the meaning of the LORD of hosts being with his people (v. 11; cf. Matt. 28:20): he will indeed see to it that the mission of Gen. 12:1–3 is accomplished.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 47. This psalm celebrates God’s kingship, i.e., his rule over all the earth (see note on 5:2). The promises to Abraham (47:9), that all peoples will be blessed in him (Gen. 12:3), are founded on the fact that there is only one true God, to whom all mankind owes love and loyalty. Other psalms like this are Psalms 93; 96–99.
PSALM—NOTE ON 47:1–4 The Lord Is to Be Feared by All. The Lord loves Israel and gave them their heritage; but this is in order that all peoples might come to fear and love him. Thus God’s subduing of the Canaanites is not his final word for the Gentiles. To clap the hands is here an expression of exultation (cf. Nah. 3:19).
PSALM—NOTE ON 47:5–7 Sing Praises to Our King. This probably looks back to the ark going to reside in Jerusalem; 2 Sam. 6:15 tells of how the ark was made to go up with a shout (cf. Psalm 24). The Lord is Israel’s acknowledged king and the rightful King of all the earth, to whom all ought to sing praises.
PSALM—NOTE ON 47:8–9 God Reigns over All Nations. God’s throne is his sanctuary in Jerusalem, from which he will extend his rule over the nations; the psalm looks forward to the time when the Gentile princes of the peoples gather for worship as the people of the God of Abraham, i.e., the people to whom the blessing of Abraham has finally come.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 48. Like Psalm 46, Psalm 48 is a hymn celebrating Zion as God’s special city, which he defends for the sake of the world. It commemorates some great event, in which Gentile powers had besieged Jerusalem but came away dismayed; it recognizes that though material fortresses may have their place, it is crucial that God himself be the defense of his people.
PSALM—NOTE ON 48:1–3 The Lord, the King, Resides in Zion. The mention of his holy mountain (v. 1) and the temple (v. 9) shows that God resides in his sacred city through the sanctuary, in which his people come most fully into his presence. In the far north (v. 2) is apparently an idiom for where God has his throne (cf. Isa. 14:13), and thus the physical location of Mount Zion is not itself the focus here. It is the joy of all the earth, not yet in fact but in God’s own plan (cf. Ps. 48:10). Jesus gets a name for Jerusalem, the city of the great King, from v. 2 (cf. Matt. 5:35); the sacredness of the city to God is why one should not take oaths by it.
PSALM—NOTE ON 48:4–8 The Kings of the Earth Thwarted from Attacking Her. These verses recount an event in which Gentile kings assembled to assault Jerusalem but were foiled by the magnificence that God gave the city, together with an east wind that destroyed their fleet. The lesson is that God will establish his city forever.
PSALM—NOTE ON 48:7 Ships of Tarshish were capable of long voyages in the Mediterranean, Tarshish probably being at the western end of the sea, in modern Spain.
PSALM—NOTE ON 48:9–11 The Lord’s Presence Brings Joy to His People. The people assembled for worship reflect on how God has displayed his steadfast love, not simply in personal deliverance and forgiveness but in preserving them as his people, whom he called so that his praise might reach to the ends of the earth, i.e., so that the Gentiles would come to know him. Such reflections on God’s judgments, which display his righteousness (i.e., covenant faithfulness), should lead the daughters (i.e., towns and villages) of Judah to rejoice.
PSALM—NOTE ON 48:12–14 Zion Endures to Tell the Next Generation. The singing congregation addresses one another, inviting them to review the strength of Zion; as vv. 1–3 made clear, this is not purely the city’s material defenses. The worshipers know that the people of God are secure, and are commissioned to tell the next generation of their security and their mission (v. 13).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 49. This is a wisdom psalm, i.e., a hymn that reflects on topics typically covered in the Bible’s Wisdom Literature. In particular, it addresses the perplexity that the pious often feel when they encounter trouble, while unfaithful people seem to get along so well. Is not God expected to show his favor for the pious in how he treats them? The answer is that God will distinguish between the faithful and the unfaithful in what happens to them when they die. The psalm follows a very simple argument: it calls everyone to pay attention (vv. 1–4); then it reminds the singers that everyone has a common outcome, namely, all will die (vv. 5–12); and it finishes by stressing the contrasting destinations for the faithful and the unfaithful (vv. 13–20). Verses 12 and 20 are very similar, the key difference being in the words translated “remain” and “understanding,” which sound almost the same in Hebrew (yalin and yabin). The element of understanding makes the difference, as the notes will show. Those who sing this will want to continue living faithfully, and will be strengthened against the temptation either to despair or to give up and join the unfaithful. Other psalms that address the same topic include Psalms 37 and 73.
PSALM—NOTE ON 49:1–4 Call to Pay Attention. This section indicates that the message is for all sorts of peoples, low and high, throughout the world. The terms wisdom and understanding are used in the Wisdom Books for genuine spiritual perception, the ability to approach life from God’s perspective; they are features marking those who have true faith. The song will expound a proverb and solve a riddle, i.e., the puzzle presented in vv. 5–6.
PSALM—NOTE ON 49:5–12 Common Outcome: We All Die. After presenting the puzzle, the song reminds all its singers that every single person has the same end (death). From vv. 5–6 the puzzle is clear: the pious (the I in this psalm) face times of trouble (v. 5), finding themselves surrounded by the iniquity of those who cheat me (v. 5), which is the same group as those who trust in their wealth (v. 6). It is likely that in this psalm the pious and the unfaithful are alike members of the covenant people of God; not all of the people lay hold of the blessings of the covenant. The point about all dying is made in two ways: in vv. 7–9, no one can bribe death, either to ransom another or to give to God the price of his own life (v. 7); in vv. 10–12, all kinds of people die, whether one is wise (embracing God’s covenant) or a fool (stupidly rejecting God’s covenant). Thus even the wealthy must die, and their wealth cannot prevent it.
PSALM—NOTE ON 49:13–20 Contrasting Destinations: We Go to God, Not Sheol. There are two groups of people here, they (the unfaithful, those who have foolish confidence) and “I” (the faithful, who sing this); and God treats them differently when they die. The unfaithful are like sheep … appointed for Sheol, while God will ransom the faithful person’s soul from the power of Sheol (vv. 14–15). Since the impious go to Sheol, and the pious do not, here it represents the grim place of destruction for the wicked, and not simply the grave (see note on 6:5). A genuine grasp of this will enable a person to resist being afraid when a man becomes rich (49:16)—the fear that might lead the faithful to despair of God’s justice and goodness, or to give up piety in order to join the wicked and to get praise when they do well for themselves (v. 18).
PSALM—NOTE ON 49:15 Quite often in the Bible, “soul” describes the life principle that animates the body, or the person’s inner self, and can simply be another way of saying “the self.” At other times, however, it can describe that inner self as something that survives the death of the body, as it does here, where my soul is parallel to me, the self that after death will not go to Sheol. In the larger picture of the Bible, the separation of body and soul is unnatural, a product of sin (Gen. 3:19), and will be healed with their reunion at the resurrection (Dan. 12:2–3; cf. 2 Cor. 5:1–4).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 50. It is probably best to describe this psalm as an “oracular hymn,” i.e., with it the worshipers sing God’s pronouncement about how they should live as part of his covenant people. The God who speaks and summons the earth (v. 1) especially plans to judge his own people (v. 4), particularly to warn any of them who presume on the privileges of the sacrificial system, thinking that it is a way to buy God off, apart from a living relationship with him.
PSALM—NOTE ON 50:1–6 God Summons the Earth to Assemble before Him. The LORD, the God of Israel, is the Mighty One, who made and rules heaven and earth; when he speaks and summons the earth, he has the right to expect all mankind to pay attention; he especially expects it from Israel, whose very calling was to be the first installment of renewed mankind. When the song goes on to say that God shines forth from Zion, it focuses the reader’s attention on God’s particular people, Israel, and their privileged position (cf. Ex. 19:4–6): they are his faithful ones, who made a covenant with him by sacrifice (Ps. 50:5; cf. Ex. 24:8). Great privilege brings with it great responsibility, and thus God will judge his people (Ps. 50:4)—i.e., exercise his righteous rule over them, not necessarily punish them.
PSALM—NOTE ON 50:7–15 He Speaks to His People: Worship Him from the Heart. God’s act of judgment is an oracle, explaining what it really means to be his people. He speaks to their use of sacrifices (v. 8); in the light of vv. 10–13, as well as v. 16, he is addressing people tempted to think that God somehow needs the sacrifices, and that they can be used almost as a bribe to satisfy him. God’s reply (an obvious one for those who think clearly about the creation account) is that he owns the entire created order and does not depend on it in any way. The oracle then turns to the right use of sacrifices (cf. note on 40:6–8), focusing on the sacrifice of thanksgiving and vows (50:14). These were both kinds of peace offerings (Lev. 7:11–12, 16), which was the only kind of sacrifice in which the worshiper ate some of the sacrificial animal; its primary function was to eat a meal, in company with the sacrificer’s family and the needy, with God as the host. (First Corinthians 10:16–18 shows that this is the basic meaning of the Christian Lord’s Supper.) Membership in God’s people is about being welcome in his presence (Ps. 50:14), depending on him (v. 15), and dealing justly with others (vv. 19–20, 23); thus it engages the heart.
PSALM—NOTE ON 50:16–22 He Speaks to the “Wicked”: He Rebukes Them. It is clear that the wicked here are members of the covenant people who despise the privileges of the covenant: in v. 16 they take his covenant on their lips, but they lack the right to do so; in v. 17 they hate the fatherly discipline that God gives his children (Prov. 3:11–12); and in Ps. 50:22 they forget God (implying that they knew something of him to begin with). The covenant should have knit them together with all of God’s people in the great project of showing forth true humanity for the sake of the world, but instead they prefer the thief and adulterers, and use their tongues for destructive purposes (vv. 18–20). They misinterpreted God’s silence; they thought he was as greedy as they are; but God in his mercy now issues his rebuke (v. 21) and invites them to change their ways.
PSALM—NOTE ON 50:21 The esv footnote explains that it is possible to translate, you thought that [the] I [AM] was one like yourself; cf. Ex. 3:14. This sharpens the rebuke, as God’s name is especially connected with his promises of faithfulness and kindness to his people (Ex. 3:12; 6:6–8), and the wicked are abusing this.
PSALM—NOTE ON 50:23 He Sums It Up: Worship Him with the Heart. The final thought sums up the psalm, with its interest in what membership in God’s favored people should mean: joyfully to delight in God’s presence (thanksgiving as his sacrifice), and a just and kind life in fellowship with God’s people (orders his way rightly).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 51. This is probably the best known of the “Penitential Psalms” (Psalms 6; 25; 32; 38; 51; 130; 143). According to the title, David composed this psalm as a result of Nathan the prophet convicting him of his sins, both in his committing adultery with Bathsheba and in his arranging for the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. 12:1–14). At the same time, this is more than David’s personal prayer: its instructional elements (e.g., Ps. 51:16–19) show that, though the situation that led to the psalm was intensely personal, the psalm in its current form is well-suited to be a hymn by which the members of the worshiping congregation confess their own sins. As is the case with Psalms 25 and 32, the psalm enables its singers to appeal to God’s own gracious character as the grounds for their cry for forgiveness, echoing Ex. 34:6–7 (see note on Ps. 51:1–2). The psalm also reinforces the view, found in the Levitical system itself, that the sacrifices bestow their benefits only on those who use them in humble and penitent faith.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:1–2 Have Mercy on Me. The psalm opens with an appeal to God for forgiveness. The terms mercy and steadfast love, as well as transgressions, iniquity, and sin, all evoke God’s proclamation of his own name (Ex. 34:6–7), with its focus on his grace and kindness. The plea for mercy here is a humble one, based entirely on God’s mercy, frankly recognizing that the worshiper does not deserve it. The terms wash (cf. Ex. 19:10) and cleanse (cf. Num. 19:19) come from the ceremonial system, where they refer to rites that allow a person to come safely into God’s presence. Here the psalm focuses on the inner condition that the ceremony points to.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:3–5 I Own Up to My Sin. The next section builds on the humility expressed in the opening section, freely acknowledging that the sin is the worshiper’s own and that God is free from all blame. Indeed, God would be fully justified in refusing the request for mercy and bringing judgment instead.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned. Of course, in doing wrong he has hurt others; the point here is that God is the ultimate judge for all sin (thus harming others is given not less weight but more). Cf. David’s response to Nathan, 2 Sam. 12:13. so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. The psalmist acknowledges his guilt before God “so that” God’s justice in all he does will be clear. In Rom. 3:4 Paul cites this part of the verse from the Septuagint in support of his argument that God is just and is entitled to judge.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:5 I was brought forth (that is, from the womb) in iniquity. David thinks of himself as a sinful person from the time of his birth. in sin did my mother conceive me. The idea is not that the act of conception was itself sinful, but (as the parallel first line shows) that each worshiper learns to trace his sinful tendencies to the very beginning of his existence—not only from birth but even from before that, to conception. (This certainly attributes moral accountability, the most important aspect of “personhood,” to the developing baby in the womb. This is why many see this passage as implying that an unborn child should be thought of as a human person from the point of conception in his mother’s womb.) See The Beginning of Life and Abortion.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:6–13 I Seek Restoration and Renewal. The proper posture of the penitent is to crave a fresh sense of God’s presence (vv. 8–9, 11), a deeper purification of the moral life (vv. 6, 10, 12), and a credible witness to the unfaithful (v. 13). The focus is on the inmost self, from which obedient actions flow: inward being, secret heart (v. 6); clean heart, right spirit (v. 10). The goal of this confession is not self-abasement but a renewal of the joy and gladness (v. 8) that the faithful have in God’s presence.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:7 hyssop. A plant with hairy leaves and branches; bunches of the branches are good for sprinkling. For its use in a cleansing ceremony, cf. Lev. 14:6; Num. 19:6. As with Ps. 51:2 (see note on vv. 1–2), the psalm highlights the inner condition to which the ceremonies point.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:8 bones. The feeling of God’s displeasure, and of his favor, penetrates into the whole person; cf. 32:3.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:9 Usually when God is said to hide his face from someone, it means that he will no longer look upon that person with favor (cf. 13:1; 22:24; 27:9; 88:14; 102:2; 143:7; Deut. 31:17; 32:20; Isa. 8:17; 54:8; 59:2; 64:7). Here the singer asks God no longer to look upon his sins. To blot out (cf. Ps. 51:1) is to remove completely from the record book; cf. Ex. 32:32.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:11 take not your Holy Spirit from me. Some have taken this to imply that the Holy Spirit can be taken from someone, at least in the OT; others have suggested that the Holy Spirit is viewed here in his role of empowering David for his kingly duties, and that this is a prayer that God not take the kingship and the divine anointing for kingship from David as he did from Saul (see note on 1 Sam. 16:14; cf. 1 Sam. 16:13). To evaluate these views, one should observe that the OT rarely discusses the Holy Spirit’s role in cleansing the inner life (besides here, Ezek. 36:27 is the main OT text on the subject), and certainly does not enter into technical questions of the Spirit’s permanent indwelling. Further, the fact that this is a psalm for the whole congregation argues against the idea that this is David’s personal prayer about his kingship. The whole tenor of this psalm is that, if strict justice were God’s only consideration, he would have the right to bring dire judgment on those who sin (which includes all of his own people), and that the only possible appeal is to his mercy. The function of the psalm, as a song sung by the entire congregation, is to shape their hearts so that they feel this at the deepest level, lest they ever presume upon God’s grace.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:13 As usual in the Psalms, the transgressors and sinners are members of the covenant people who do not faithfully embrace the provisions of God’s covenant; the faithful call them to embrace God’s grace, from the perspective of those who themselves deserve to be cast out.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:14–17 Then I Will Worship Truly. The terms in this section, such as sing aloud (v. 14), declare (v. 15), and sacrifice (vv. 16–17), all point to activities of public worship. The person who has used this psalm to confess his sins and to receive God’s assurance of pardon is the one who can genuinely worship the gracious God of the covenant.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:14 bloodguiltiness. Probably a reference to the slaying of Uriah (cf. 2 Sam. 12:9). The faithful may not have committed this particular sin, but should instead take heart: if God can forgive David this evil, he can certainly forgive all else!
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:16–17 These verses seem to make sacrifice and burnt offering relatively unimportant for the faithful, even replacing them with the inner disposition (a broken and contrite heart). However, since v. 19 goes on to speak of offering physical sacrifices, it is better to take these verses as implying that the animal sacrifices look to the worshiper offering himself to God (cf. notes on vv. 1–2 and v. 7) as “a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1), and without this they forfeit significance.
PSALM—NOTE ON 51:18–19 Do Good to Zion. The psalm closes by enabling worshipers to see the relationship between their own spiritual health and the well-being of the whole body of God’s people (Zion). That is, each member is linked to all the others in a web of relationships, and together they share in the life of God as it pulses through the whole body. Thus each member contributes to (or else detracts from) the health of the whole. The ideal Israel is a community of forgiven penitents, faithfully embracing God’s covenant and worshiping him according to the rites he appointed; this is the community that can bring light to the whole world.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 52. This psalm enables the faithful to develop confidence in God’s care and protection, particularly when surrounded by ruthless enemies. The title sets the psalm during David’s flight from Saul (1 Sam. 21:1–7), which led to the slaughter at Nob of the priests who had helped David (1 Sam. 22:9–19). Doeg’s report put the priests’ hospitality to David in the worst light (see note on 1 Sam. 22:10); when none of Saul’s Israelite men would strike the priests down, Doeg willingly did so. He is thus an example of the enemies that the faithful might face.
PSALM—NOTE ON 52:1–4 The Gloating Evildoer. This section has the speech of the enemy in view, as can be seen from boast (v. 1), tongue (vv. 2, 4), lying (v. 3), and words (v. 4). But the speech of this enemy is not only false in itself, it is using falsehood to plot the destruction of the faithful. The most important answer to such evil is the confidence that the steadfast love of God endures all the day (v. 1; cf. v. 8).
PSALM—NOTE ON 52:5–7 But God Will Deal with You in the Sight of All. The faithful person (righteous, v. 6) who will trust in God (unlike the enemy, v. 7) is confident that he is always safe. On the other hand, the enemy is clearly presented as an enemy of both God’s covenant and his faithful people (v. 7)—and this is the reason he plots such evil; it is only a matter of time until this enemy falls into disaster at God’s own hands.
PSALM—NOTE ON 52:8–9 I Am Safe in Your Keeping, O God. This section develops more fully the confidence that v. 1 hinted at. In contrast to the wicked who are “uprooted” (v. 5), the faithful (the godly, v. 9) will be a green olive tree (an image of vitality and fruitfulness, cf. Jer. 11:16; Hos. 14:6; cf. Ps. 92:12–14 for a palm tree in God’s courts). For the house of God as an image of God’s hospitality, cf. 23:6; 27:4. In contrast to the enemy who trusts in the abundance of his riches (52:7), the faithful trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever (52:8). The prospect that God will bring judgment upon the enemies enables the faithful to wait for God’s name, i.e., for God to vindicate his name by protecting those who trust in him. Thus they need not be consumed with thoughts of vengeance.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 53. This psalm is almost identical to Psalm 14, and the two psalms were probably alternate versions of the same hymn before they were included in the Psalter. The two hymns serve the same function, namely, to mourn the fact that mankind does not seek after God and thus treats God’s people cruelly. (See notes on Psalm 14 for exposition.) The chief difference between the two psalms is that 53:5 is as long as 14:5–6 together (and thus 53:6 = 14:7). In 53:5 the psalmist describes in greater detail the terror that will befall the wicked instead of emphasizing God’s care for the poor (14:5–6). Also, Psalm 53 uses “God” throughout to refer to the deity, while Psalm 14 uses “the LORD” in several of these places.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 54. This is an individual lament, asking (as many laments do) for God’s help against those who threaten the lives of the faithful. The title connects the song to the events of 1 Sam. 23:19, where the Ziphites, among whom David was hiding, informed Saul of where David was, promising to hand David over to him. The psalm directs its singers to God’s protection and is therefore well-suited for the pious to use when they are under threat of deadly persecution; for those who do not face such persecution, this psalm is appropriate to sing on behalf of their brethren in danger.
PSALM—NOTE ON 54:1–3 O God, Save Me from the Ruthless. The psalm opens by describing the circumstances: ruthless men, who have no respect for God (they do not set God before themselves) seek my life (v. 3). In such a case the proper appeal is to God’s name (vv. 1, 6; God’s name can be an image for his personal presence, cf. Lev. 19:12; Deut. 6:13; or else as the sum of his revealed character; cf. Ex. 34:6). There is also an appeal to God’s might (which is always greater than any might of the enemies).
PSALM—NOTE ON 54:3 The term strangers can refer to people from outside Israel (e.g., “foreigners,” Isa. 1:7; Obad. 11). In context the Ziphites, who belong to Judah, are acting like Gentiles in opposing God’s faithful. As the esv footnote explains, some Hebrew manuscripts read “insolent men” (Hb. זדים, zdym, in place of זרים, zrym, a change of only one letter to another with similar appearance), which is the term found in the very similar Ps. 86:14. This word is also well-suited to the situation, where Israelites are acting unfaithfully (cf. 119:21, 51, 69, 78, 85, 122; the same word is rendered “arrogant” in Prov. 21:24; Mal. 3:15; 4:1).
PSALM—NOTE ON 54:4–5 God Is My Helper. The prayer directed to God in vv. 1–3 is a wise one, because God has promised to be the helper and upholder of … life for each of his faithful. Thus each believer can trust that God will return the evil to my enemies (i.e., the evil they intend to carry out, cf. 5:10; 7:15), and thus can leave the timing of that to God (it may or may not be in the particular worshiper’s lifetime).
PSALM—NOTE ON 54:6–7 I Will Bring a Freewill Offering. The worshiper looks forward to continued enjoyment of God’s presence and favor. The freewill offering is a kind of peace offering (Lev. 7:16), which means that its purpose is to celebrate God’s goodness with a meal in his presence. The schemes of the ruthless cannot keep the faithful away from God forever.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 55. Like many other individual laments, this psalm prays for God’s help against dangerous enemies who hate the faithful. There is a unique twist here, though: the danger comes from betrayal by a close friend (vv. 13–14, 20–21) who had seemed a fellow pilgrim on the path of life. Some deny that David could be the author of this psalm, because there is no clear instance of such betrayal in the recorded life of David. But that misses the point: the psalms are hymns, not merely autobiography. David has provided this psalm for God’s people to sing under this kind of duress. In addition, David was betrayed by his son Absalom (2 Sam. 15:1–12; 16:15–23) and by his counselor Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:12; 16:15–23).
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:1–3 Hear My Prayer. The prayer is earnest (plea for mercy, restless in my complaint), and its occasion is the noise of the enemy and the oppression of the wicked, namely, they drop trouble upon me (i.e., as if they were dropping stones) because they bear a grudge against me. As usual in the psalms, these are not simply people who dislike the singer; they are enemies of true piety, who will even take violent measures to ruin the godly and stamp out true faith (vv. 3, 9–11, 21, 23).
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:4–8 I Am Desperate. This section describes more fully the earnestness of the singer: in anguish, terrors of death, fear, trembling, and horror. If he could fly (the dove is probably a symbol of both innocence and swiftness), he would take refuge in the wilderness (away from the raging in the city).
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:9–11 Destroy Those Who Bring Such Ruin. In such a situation the singer prays for deliverance, which ordinarily means the thwarting of the wicked schemes of the enemies. It cannot be compassionate to remain indifferent to the suffering that these enemies bring to the innocent (violence, strife, iniquity and trouble, ruin, oppression and fraud). In such hymns, the singer would prefer that the enemies repent of their evil; but here the singer seems to expect that they will not (cf. v. 19). For more on such prayers, see notes on 5:10 and 35:4–8.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:9 divide their tongues. “Divide” (Hb. palag) probably evokes the name Peleg, “in [whose] days the earth was divided” (Gen. 10:25), which in turn is probably a reference to the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9, where God confused the language of the human schemers). The prayer is thus for the enemies to be prevented from working together to carry out their evil.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:12–15 I Am Betrayed by My Own Friend! Now the pain sharpens: it is not a nameless enemy or adversary who is seeking to harm the pious singer, but my companion, my familiar friend. Cf. 41:9.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:15 Let death. See note on vv. 9–11. Sheol. See note on 6:5.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:16–19 I Call to God and Trust He Will Hear Me. This section is similar to vv. 1–3, except it is talking about praying, with God in the third person (he, v. 17) and not second person (e.g., yourself, v. 1). The psalmist describes both desperation (v. 17) and confidence (vv. 18–19).
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:18 redeems. See note on 25:22.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:20–21 My Treacherous Friend. This section returns to describing a painful betrayal. This is not simply a friend who has let another down; he has planned destruction of those who had trusted him, all the while disguising his evil intent. covenant. He had sealed his friendship with a solemn obligation; see 1 Sam. 18:3.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:22–23 Cast Your Burden on the LORD. The singer addresses each of his fellow singers (your, v. 22), and then God (you, O God, v. 23). The reason the faithful can cast their burden on the LORD is that he can be trusted to bring judgment upon the evildoers. The psalms do not say when God will cast them down; the faithful will wait for God’s own good timing.
PSALM—NOTE ON 55:22 Cast your burden. The Septuagint renders this “cast your anxieties,” and 1 Pet. 5:7 urges Christians to a similar faith in the face of persecution. moved. See note on Ps. 10:6.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 56. Many take this to be an individual lament, but it could also be a psalm of (anticipated) thanksgiving: the description of troubles and prayer is taken up into gratitude that God has heard and will act (as he has acted in the past). The specific troubles arise from people who aim to hurt the pious singer, as is common with lament psalms. The title links the psalm with the events of 1 Sam. 21:10–15 (similar to Psalm 34).
PSALM—NOTE ON 56:1–4 Man Tramples on Me. The singer describes his circumstances and sets his mind on the right response. The situation can be seen in the repetition of trample and attack (vv. 1, 2); the response is seen in the repetition of trust (vv. 3, 4). This enables those who sing the psalm to set their own hearts on the right response: when they are afraid, this is the antidote.
PSALM—NOTE ON 56:5–7 They Have Waited for My Life. The psalm goes on to give more detail on the enemies’ schemes. It is clear, as is usually true with the psalms, that the enemies are not simply personal opponents of the singer but opponents of all that is good. In David’s experience, they would be the Philistines who thought he should be put to death (cf. peoples, v. 7; i.e., Gentiles).
PSALM—NOTE ON 56:8–11 God Is for Me. These verses fill out the picture of trust: God keeps account of the tears of his faithful ones; he does not ignore their concerns. He is for those who trust in him. Verses 10–11 repeat v. 4 with slight variations. The pious singer expects that his enemies will turn back, because God is trustworthy.
PSALM—NOTE ON 56:12–13 You Have Delivered My Soul from Death. The singer expresses his confidence that, if “God is for him” (v. 9), it is as good as done: God has delivered his soul from death. The vows and thank offerings are varieties of the peace offerings that celebrate God’s answer to prayer (cf. 54:6; Lev. 7:15–16).
PSALM—NOTE ON 56:13 Walk before God in the light of life probably describes enjoying God’s presence in “life,” i.e., in true faithfulness; cf. 89:15 (walking in the light of God’s face) and Isa. 2:5 (walking in God’s light).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 57. This is another individual lament, based on an event in David’s life (probably 1 Sam. 22:1, but possibly 1 Sam. 24:3; Psalm 142 is likewise from one of these passages). Like Psalms 34; 52; 54; 56; 59; 63; and 142, Psalm 57 arose from Saul’s persecution of David. The psalm has two sections, each ended by the refrain (vv. 5, 11), and each mentioning God’s “steadfast love and faithfulness” (vv. 3, 10, drawing on Ex. 34:6). In the first section (Ps. 57:1–5), the dominant strain is cheerful confidence amid danger, while in the second (vv. 6–11), the accent is on the expectation of victory, and thus of God’s vindication. The faithful who sing this hymn can identify with David’s confidence in the presence of serious dangers, and can look through those dangers to seek God’s honor. Psalm 108:1–5, also by David, uses 57:7–11. “Do not destroy” in the title (Psalms 57–59; 75) may be some kind of tune or chant pattern, perhaps influenced by the phrase in Deut. 9:26 and 1 Sam. 26:9.
PSALM—NOTE ON 57:1–5 Confident Request for Mercy. The circumstances are dire (storms of destruction, v. 1; tramples on me, v. 3; lions and fiery beasts, v. 4), and yet the faithful person will cry out to God in confidence that he hears and that he fulfills his purpose for his children (v. 2).
PSALM—NOTE ON 57:1 Be merciful is a humble request for God to show kindness and grant relief, recognizing that God cannot be compelled to do this (cf. 30:10; 51:1; 123:3); the word can also be rendered “be gracious” (e.g., 4:1; 6:2; 56:1).
PSALM—NOTE ON 57:3 save. See note on 3:2. His steadfast love and his faithfulness (see also 57:10) alludes to Ex. 34:6.
PSALM—NOTE ON 57:5 Since God is already “high” or exalted (cf. 113:4; 138:6), this is a prayer that people would acknowledge his greatness. For his glory to be over all the earth is for people to honor God for his splendor and high position.
PSALM—NOTE ON 57:6–11 Confident Expectation of Victory. This section mentions the danger (net and pit, v. 6), only to exult in its reversal (they have fallen into it themselves, v. 6). The singer moves on to urge himself to praise, and to look forward to bringing testimony of God’s goodness beyond the present people of Israel to the whole world (peoples and nations, v. 9; cf. Gen. 12:1–3; Ex. 19:5–6).
PSALM—NOTE ON 57:8 my glory. A term for the whole person, probably focusing on its most noble faculties (cf. 30:12; Gen. 49:6; and esv footnotes on Ps. 16:9; 108:1); here the singer’s “glory” gives the right response to God’s “glory” (57:5, 11).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 58. God’s people should sing this song when they are confronted with injustice among their own rulers (it is thus a community lament). In the time of David, of course, the focus was on those who ruled Israel, a theocracy (which was thus, at least in name, supposed to be governed by the principles of the Pentateuch); and yet Christians may pray this way since the rulers of God’s people, indeed all people, everywhere and at all times, ought to embody the highest human ideals of justice (see notes on Prov. 31:1–9). Singing this in worship helps the faithful to pray more earnestly for godly leadership, and forms in the leaders of the community a true moral compass for their own leadership. It also celebrates the prospect that—one day, sooner or later—God will vindicate his justice in the world, and those who trust him will rejoice exceedingly.
PSALM—NOTE ON 58:1–2 The Challenge to the Tyrants. The song opens by addressing the tyrants directly: v. 1 asks questions about whether there is justice in their rule, and v. 2 answers the questions with a clear No. In context, the wrongs and violence are the kind a ruler too often condones—especially the exploitation of the weaker members of society.
PSALM—NOTE ON 58:1 you gods. As the esv footnote explains, this translation is obtained by a change in vowels from the received Hebrew text (which may have been mistakenly altered through a copyist’s error). The received vowels (Hb. ’elem) yield “in silence,” which does not make much sense, while a slight adjustment of the vowels yields “gods” or “mighty lords” (Hb. ’elim), which can refer to human rulers who wield their might by God’s appointment (cf. Ex. 15:15, “leaders”; Job 41:25, “mighty”; Ezek. 17:13; 32:21, “chiefs”; possibly also Ps. 82:6, see note). This fits well as a word for those who should decree what is right and judge the children of man uprightly.
PSALM—NOTE ON 58:3–5 The Charge against the Tyrants. Now the song describes these unjust rulers, calling them wicked; this term, when applied to an Israelite, denotes someone who does not honor God, i.e., does not fear him. They are Israelites who do not embrace the covenantal grace from their hearts; and thus, rather than devote themselves to serving the well-being of the community, they instead use their position to squeeze the life out of their fellow Israelites (employing lies, v. 3, as well as “violence,” v. 2). In so doing they destroy the community, every bit as much as the venom of a dangerous serpent (such as the deaf adder; perhaps a kind of cobra, if the reference to the charmers in v. 5 is any indication) destroys the one it bites.
PSALM—NOTE ON 58:6–9 The Curse upon the Tyrants. The congregation prays that such rulers may fail in their vicious purposes. The teeth in their mouths (v. 6) looks back to the serpents’ teeth of v. 4, as well as to the fangs of the young lions in v. 6. The verse is a prayer that these evildoers may no longer have their present power to do harm. Verses 7–9 continue this prayer, that they should vanish (v. 7) and dissolve (v. 8), that God will sweep them away as with a whirlwind (v. 9). As is generally the case with such prayers (see note on 5:10), this prayer assumes that the wicked will not repent and seek justice (which would be better by far).
PSALM—NOTE ON 58:10–11 The Celebration When God Judges the Tyrants. The faithful remember who their God is: the Creator who loves to see his creation functioning properly (which is why he loves justice). Believers (the righteous) may suffer here and now, but they can know that one day God will vindicate his justice in the world. The reward for the righteous is the enjoyment of God and of a renewed community and world that God promises they will receive (cf. Gal. 6:9).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 59. This is another individual lament, seeking God’s protection from enemies who threaten the pious person’s life. The title connects the psalm to 1 Sam. 19:11, where David escaped from Saul’s men through a window. The psalm is geared for the particular case in which the enmity is “for no fault of mine” (v. 4). The song has two sections (vv. 1–10, 11–17). Verses 6–7 (description of howling dogs) correspond to vv. 14–15; and vv. 9–10 (“O my strength … steadfast love”) correspond to v. 17. The first section is a cry for help in the face of fierce and bloodthirsty enemies, and the second section voices confidence that God will protect the singer and make an example of the persecutors.
PSALM—NOTE ON 59:1–10 Deliver Me from My Enemies, O God. The enemies are described as those who work evil and bloodthirsty men who lie in wait for my life (vv. 2–3). They are fierce men, they stir up strife against me—and for no fault of mine (v. 4). That is, this psalm is for situations in which the pious may profess innocence; they face hostility even though they have done no injury to the enemies. The enemies are howling like dogs, prowling about the city (v. 6) like a pack of scavengers. (Although dogs were apparently used in Israel as watchdogs [Isa. 56:10] and as herd dogs [Job 30:1], in a city the dogs roamed as semi-wild packs, feeding on carrion, trash, and anything they could kill [cf. Ps. 22:16]. Thus they posed a danger to any human who might venture out alone in the evening.) But the faithful should not despair at such threats: God is greater than the enemies and is well able to thwart their schemes (59:8–10).
PSALM—NOTE ON 59:5 When used in the plural, as here, nations (cf. v. 8) usually refers to Gentiles. The title, however, sets the psalm in a situation in which the enemies are Israelites. Perhaps the simplest way to interpret this term, then, is to see the psalm as describing these Israelites who sought to kill David as acting like Gentiles (cf. note on 54:3).
PSALM—NOTE ON 59:11–17 Stop Them, that They May Know that You Rule. The basic request in this section is that God will bring judgment on these people in such a way that all people, both in Israel (my people, v. 11) and elsewhere (to the ends of the earth, v. 13), may know that a just, loving, and mighty God rules over Jacob and protects his faithful. The “curse” is that the enemies would fail in their purpose, trapped in their pride; this is not angry vengefulness (which would be out of place in the Psalms) but a cry for God to teach people a lesson. The song closes with confidence that the worshiper will survive these threats in order to sing aloud of your steadfast love, i.e., with the congregation of the faithful. (In the morning, v. 16, corresponds to each evening, v. 14.)
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 60. This is a lament for the whole community, at a time when Israel’s continued life in the land is under threat from Gentile neighbors. The title says it is “for instruction”; perhaps this means that it is to instruct the people how to pray when their troops must fight. The original setting is Israel, which by God’s appointment dwelt in the land and was to be the source of blessing to the rest of the world (which often came, at least in Israel’s better days, by making the other nations their subjects). Christians, who are not limited to one theocratic nation, recognize that God’s process of conquering the Gentiles is through the witness of faithful believers (cf. Matt. 28:18–20); but they may still use this psalm to pray for God’s blessing on this endeavor. The title seems to link the psalm with the events of 2 Sam. 8:1–14; but 2 Sam. 8:13 reports the number of Edomites killed as 18,000 instead of the “twelve thousand” here. If these are the same events, then probably the different numbers represent different ways of computing the casualties (e.g., 12,000 could be the number in an earlier report, while 18,000 could be the adjusted tally, after some time had passed). The campaign resulted in a great victory for David and brought several Gentile kingdoms under David’s rule. This psalm, with its air of lament, would thus represent the prayers of the people before the campaign had been completed. Verses 5–12 of Psalm 60 are taken up again in Ps. 108:6–13.
PSALM—NOTE ON 60:1–5 O God, You Have Rejected Us. The song opens by laying out the heart of the matter: the community counts itself as if God has rejected them, i.e., treated them as if they were not his own people. In this psalm, us refers to the people of God as a whole, who are to view themselves as God’s treasured possession, called for his own purposes (your people, v. 3; that they may flee, v. 4; your beloved ones, v. 5). That is why the complaint is so touching, and why they may confidently pray for restoration and repair. The salvation that they pray for (v. 5) is specifically success in their military endeavors, with a view toward Israel fulfilling its calling in the world.
PSALM—NOTE ON 60:6–8 God Has Spoken: “These Lands Are Mine!” These verses seem to recall an oracle (God has spoken) that gives God’s plan for Israel’s place in the world. The places mentioned in vv. 6–7 (Shechem, Succoth, Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah) are all parts of the land that God promised to Israel; the places in v. 8 (Moab, Edom, Philistia) are neighboring lands, which also belong to the Lord (cf. Ex. 19:5). Israel exists to bring blessing to the Gentiles; in the time of David this normally happened as these nations came under Israelite sovereignty (cf. note on Psalm 2). Thus the military campaign is put in the context of Israel’s mission; mere territorial expansion, as such, was not a part of Israel’s calling.
PSALM—NOTE ON 60:9–12 Grant Us Help, for Vain Is the Salvation of Man! To come to Edom is the culmination of the military campaign of the title. If it is to do God’s work, the army of Israel must seek God’s help. To rely merely on their human capacities would not only be fruitless (vain is the salvation of man), it would mean they were rejecting God’s calling.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 61. This is an individual lament of sorts: it serves as a general request for God’s help in times of trouble for particular members of God’s people. At the same time it is certainly not individualistic: in praying for the (Davidic) king, vv. 6–7 tie royal well-being to the well-being of the whole people; and v. 8 looks forward to acts of public worship as the proper result of the help for which the psalm prays.
PSALM—NOTE ON 61:1–3 Hear My Prayer, for You Have Been My Refuge. As the congregation sings this, they imagine themselves in all manner of places (the end of the earth) and circumstances (when my heart is faint) in which they feel needy and exposed; in such cases they should lift their cry to God, who is a reliable refuge and strong tower. The rock that is higher than I is an image of safety (cf. 27:5). For “rock” and “refuge” together, cf. 18:2.
PSALM—NOTE ON 61:4–5 Let Me Dwell in Your Tent, for You Have Heard My Vows. To dwell in God’s tent is to be a welcome guest in God’s presence in worship (cf. 15:1; 23:6; 27:4). In this context the vows are promises of special peace offerings, which the worshiper will celebrate in due course (see note on 56:12–13). For shelter of your wings, see note on 17:8.
PSALM—NOTE ON 61:6–7 Prolong the Life of the King. If God will prolong the life of the king, and appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him (cf. Prov. 20:28), then the community of God’s people may rest secure in God’s blessing. Such a king would be faithful to God and committed to the well-being of the people (contrast the unjust rulers of Psalm 58).
PSALM—NOTE ON 61:8 I Will Always Sing Praises to You. In the biblical worldview, one finds the fullness of God’s presence in public worship, and the right response to God’s goodness is to sing praises and perform one’s vows in the company of God’s people.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 62. God’s people sing this psalm to foster confidence in his care, especially as they are faced with people who use power and wealth to oppress them. The strong temptation in such a case is either to despair or else to seek security in power and wealth rather than in God. The simplest way to follow the flow of thought in the psalm is to observe how the addressees shift: from a description of “my soul” and God (vv. 1–2), to speaking directly to and about the attackers (vv. 3–4), then back to “my soul” and God (vv. 5–7), on to exhorting the whole of the worshiping congregation (vv. 8–10), and finally back to a description of God’s trustworthiness (vv. 11–12).
PSALM—NOTE ON 62:1–2 My Soul Waits for God Alone. On its surface, this section is descriptive of my soul as relying on God alone in silence, and of God, who is a rock and fortress. God alone. … He alone lays stress on God as the only reliable hope, though it does not exclude all human activity: the psalm makes a contrast between God’s salvation (which is received through faith and faithfulness) and the kind that comes through unjust means (cf. v. 10, “put no trust in extortion”). The description of a trusting soul is there to set an ideal for God’s people: each one should aspire to this kind of quiet faith. On salvation, see note on 3:2. On shaken (62:2), see note on 16:8.
PSALM—NOTE ON 62:3–4 To the Attackers: We Know What You Want. The next section speaks to those who attack a man, particularly using lies and injustice. As indicated in the note on 13:1–2, the expression how long is not asking for information but is expressing the sense that the behavior has gone on far too long already. The purpose of singing this is to remind the godly that such attacks have only (Hb. ’ak, cf. 63:1–2) one plan, and only one pleasure. There is thus only one safe recourse: trust in God (preparing for the next section).
PSALM—NOTE ON 62:5–7 O My Soul, Wait for God Alone. The first two verses here are quite close to vv. 1–2; the main difference is that the descriptive “waits in silence” (which sets an ideal) is now explicitly an imperative, wait in silence. Verse 7 develops the thought of God’s reliability from v. 6.
PSALM—NOTE ON 62:8–10 To the Faithful: Evil Men Are but a Breath. From addressing his own soul in vv. 5–7, the singer turns to address the whole congregation (O people) with whom he is singing this hymn. He urges them all to trust in God and to find in him a refuge (v. 8), as he had described (v. 7). They express their trust by prayer (pour out your heart, v. 8, describes earnest prayer; cf. 1 Sam. 1:15; Ps. 42:4; Lam. 2:19) and by refusing to have any part in the methods of the attackers (put no trust in extortion, Ps. 62:10). Humans cannot outweigh God (they are together lighter than a breath, v. 9); so any human effort that does not arise from true faith will fail to achieve lasting good.
PSALM—NOTE ON 62:11–12 God’s Word Is Certain. To say once … twice is to indicate that the idea is sure, namely, that to God belong both power (by which he can carry out his will; contrast v. 9) and steadfast love (in which he has pledged himself to the faithful, and for which they may safely trust him). God will render to a man according to his work; i.e., a person’s “work” shows whether his faith is real or counterfeit (the attackers are probably Israelites), and God will sort out who is who. This is therefore a ground of confidence for the believer and a warning to the unfaithful.
PSALM—NOTE ON 62:12 render to a man according to his work. The Greek translation of this phrase is almost identical to the Greek of Prov. 24:12 (the Hb. is different, but conveys the same idea), and Paul uses it in Rom. 2:6. If Paul is speaking specifically to a Jew who passes judgment in Rom. 2:1 (which seems likely), then he is reminding such a person that mere Jewishness does not guarantee eternal life; one must embrace the covenant and prove the genuineness of one’s faith by one’s deeds (i.e., along the lines of the original intent of both Ps. 62:12 and Prov. 24:12). If, however, Paul is speaking to moralizers without respect to their place in the covenant, then he is using Ps. 62:12 as an instance of the more general principle of God’s just judgment. The idea that the final judgment will use believers’ deeds to vindicate the reality of their faith appears in Matt. 12:33–37; 16:27; John 5:28–29; James 1:12; Rev. 20:13; and possibly (though debatably) in Rom. 2:13; 2 Cor. 5:10; and Gal. 6:7–8.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 63. This psalm opens as if it were a lament, seeking God in a time of trouble; and yet the overall flow of the song is one of confident expectation. Hence it is best to see the psalm as enabling each of God’s people to develop confidence during their times of trouble. In particular, the psalm inculcates the confidence that the worshiper will indeed be able to return to the sanctuary to worship God. Biblically, the highest privilege a mortal can enjoy is to be a welcome member of the worshiping congregation; and the psalm, in instilling such confidence, also enables its singers to treasure this worship as the gift that it is. The several references to “my soul” (vv. 1, 5, 8) point to the intensely personal devotion to God that infuses the whole song. The title links the psalm to David’s days as a refugee, but it is not immediately clear whether the reference is to fleeing from Saul (1 Sam. 23:14–15; 24:1) or from Absalom (2 Sam. 15:23, 28). The latter may seem more likely, since the author calls himself a king (Ps. 63:11); cf. also 2 Sam. 16:14 for the term “weary” found in Ps. 63:1. On the other hand, the land through which David fled is not normally counted as part of the wilderness of Judah, and David could have thought of himself as a king even when he was fleeing Saul, since Samuel had already anointed him.
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:1–2 Remembering Past Worship. The song opens with passionate expressions of longing for God: earnestly I seek, my soul thirsts, my flesh faints. (No doubt the arid conditions of the wilderness of Judah provided the image of a dry and weary land where there is no water.) Clearly the singer misses God; but in particular, he misses his experience of God in public worship: the sanctuary is the place of corporate worship, and God’s glory is his special presence with his people, which is given and enjoyed in the sanctuary (see note on 26:4–8). People are said to see (or look upon or behold) this glory (e.g., Ex. 16:7; 33:18; Num. 14:10; Deut. 5:24).
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:3–4 Confidence for Future Worship. The past tense recollection of v. 2 becomes a future expectation: my lips will praise you, I will bless you, I will lift up my hands. This activity of praising, blessing, and lifting up hands (cf. 28:2; 134:2) takes place in the sanctuary. Lifting up hands is a sign of directing one’s prayers and praise toward God, and helps the worshiper to focus his thoughts on God. The ground of this expectation is 63:3: because your steadfast love is better than life.
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:5–8 My Soul Clings to You. The delight in God is not limited to the sanctuary, of course; the memory of God’s presence and promises mediated in public worship, and of God’s help in times past, produces joy and praise; even in the watches of the night (time normally devoted to sleep) people deal with sleeplessness by meditating on God.
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:7 shadow of your wings. See note on 17:8.
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:8 clings. Or “holds fast” (Hb. dabaq); cf. Deut. 4:4; 10:20; 11:22; 30:20; 1 Cor. 6:16–17 (see esv footnote).
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:9–11 Those Who Seek My Life Will Fail, but I Will Rejoice. Now the song explains where the troubles came from: those who seek to destroy my life. In David’s experience (as in the title), these were Israelites who rebelled against God’s choice of David as king. In order to apply this psalm, the ordinary believer should observe the analogy: these are people hostile to God’s purposes, especially hostile to the house of David (and Christians follow David’s heir, Jesus). The confidence is that these people will fail in their goal of destroying God’s faithful. (If the setting is Absalom’s revolt, then the power of the sword was fulfilled literally [2 Sam. 18:6–8]; again, ordinary believers should use analogy to apply this.) The king (i.e., David), and those who adhere to him, will not fall prey to these enemies but shall rejoice in God, because when the mouths of liars are stopped, God’s love and faithfulness are clearly on display.
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:10 portion for jackals. Because jackals often scavenge, this image is a grim description of dead bodies, lying unburied after a battle.
PSALM—NOTE ON 63:11 swear by him. This could be “swear by the king,” or it could be “swear by God.” The second is more likely (cf. Deut. 6:13; 10:20, where swearing by the Lord’s name displays loyalty to God). Thus the psalmist (King David) invites all the covenantally pious to join him in his confidence.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 64. This psalm shares many themes with Psalm 63, namely, confidence in God’s victory over those who bring troubles on the righteous. However, since the psalm begins with a request, it is best to see it as an individual lament. The psalm has two parts: a request for help against deadly schemes (vv. 1–6), and confident expectation that God will fight on behalf of his faithful (vv. 7–10). The psalm presents God’s purpose for his victory as instruction for mankind (v. 9) and the bringing of joy to the godly (v. 10).
PSALM—NOTE ON 64:1–6 Hide Me from the Secret Plans of the Wicked. This psalm lays out the danger to the devoted believer with three requests (hear my voice, preserve my life, hide me) and an extensive description of the enemies and their malevolent schemes. As usual in these psalms of lament, the enemy is made up of wicked people (v. 2) who have an evil purpose (v. 5) to carry out injustice (v. 6) against the faithful (the blameless, v. 4). The particular strategy is to use bitter words (vv. 3–4), which form snares secretly (v. 5); these terms are vague enough to range from lies that sow discord or despair to slander that destroys reputations. (This breadth of possibilities is probably intentional, allowing the psalm to be relevant to a variety of situations.)
PSALM—NOTE ON 64:7–10 God Makes an Example of the Wicked. Those who would shoot their bitter words like arrows aimed at the innocent (vv. 3–4) will find that God shoots his arrow at them (v. 7). This is keeping the imagery of the first section; it refers to God bringing them down as they deserve, with their own tongues turned against them, which is also a phrase vague enough to cover a wide range of possibilities (because the focus is more on confidence in their failure, whatever their schemes may have been). By their lies, the evildoers are brought to ruin (of an unnamed sort). Whatever their ruin may be, its effect brings a benefit: all who see them will wag their heads (v. 8), an expression of astonishment (perhaps even of compassion), cf. Jer. 18:16 and 48:27; all mankind fears (Ps. 64:9), and they ponder what God has done, taking instruction from God’s vindication (cf. 58:11). In view of this, let the righteous (i.e., the faithful covenant member) rejoice in the LORD (64:10).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 65. This is a thanksgiving; the specific occasion is a fruitful harvest (vv. 9–13). Perhaps this good harvest has come after a drought, which was seen as a sign of divine displeasure (see vv. 3, 9–10; cf. Deut. 28:23–24); or perhaps the psalm is celebrating the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost). The harvest is set in the context of God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises (Ps. 65:1–8). The Sinai covenant ties together God’s grace, the believing response of the people, and the fruitfulness of the land. Singing this song should develop a deep spirit of gratitude in the hearts of the worshipers.
PSALM—NOTE ON 65:1–4 Praise for God in Zion. Zion is the name of the city that David captured and made his capital (2 Sam. 5:7), and which became the site of the tabernacle, and later of the temple. These verses describe acts of public worship at the central sanctuary: praise, vows, prayer, shall all flesh come, atone, courts, house, temple. The passage celebrates the unlimited kindness and mercy of God to his people: God atones for his people’s transgressions through the sacrifices, which is what allows them to draw near in worship, to dwell in his courts (see note on Ps. 23:5–6). The holiness of God’s temple is to such people a matter of delight, and not of terror.
PSALM—NOTE ON 65:5–8 You Have Shown Us Awesome Deeds. This section recounts some of the awesome deeds God has done for his people; the special focus is the work of creation (which is suited to the occasion: the Creator is the one who has blessed the harvest). The point that the OT often makes is that the Creator of heaven and earth and of all mankind is the hope of all the ends of the earth, i.e., the one true God whom all mankind should worship as their only hope. The marvel is that this universal Creator has chosen a particular people to receive his blessing and care (which itself should bring benefit to the rest of mankind: “to you all flesh shall come” in due course, v. 2).
PSALM—NOTE ON 65:9–13 You Have Made the Land Produce Abundantly. This section enables God’s people to delight in his bountiful supply for his land by enabling them to imagine what the ground itself would feel under God’s blessing: the abundance of water in an arid land, softening it with showers so that the farmers can work it and the plants can grow; the fields clothing themselves with grass, grazing animals, and grain; and the overflowing wagon tracks. These images convey the thought of a land producing abundantly for man and beast. In the personification, the very pastures, hills, meadows, and valleys … shout and sing together for joy. The faithful people can see their song as joining the celebration of the fruitful land.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 66. This is a thanksgiving for God’s answer to the prayer of a particular member of God’s people. Perhaps it was especially suited to the occasion on which a worshiper brought various sacrifices to express his thanks and consecration (cf. vv. 13–15). The marvel of this psalm is the way in which the first half (vv. 1–12)—with its references to “us” (i.e., to the people of God as a whole) and to “all the earth,” and its recounting of God’s “awesome deeds” for Israel (v. 6 describes the exodus and the crossing of the Jordan)—sets God’s deeds for the particular person into the context of his commitment to the people as a whole (indeed, to mankind as a whole, for whose sake the people exist). The biblical worldview does not require a choice between “corporate” and “particular”: rather, the particular person experiences God’s love as a member of his people. Psalms 66–67 represent a break in the pattern of Davidic authorship that began in Psalm 51; Psalms 68–70 resume the pattern. At the same time, there are connections between Psalms 65 and 66, such as the mention of vows and sacrifices (65:1–4; 66:13–15).
PSALM—NOTE ON 66:1–4 Let All the Earth Worship God! The psalm opens with a universal call (Shout for joy to God, all the earth), and this section closes by declaring how all the earth worships the true God (v. 4). The biblical story line has the one true God creating all that there is; every human can genuinely express his or her humanness only by loving and worshiping this one God. Even now the nonhuman creation honors its Creator (cf. 19:1–6), and the OT nurtures the hope that one day all mankind will do so as well (e.g., 117:1, cited in Rom. 15:11 as part of Paul’s rationale for his efforts among the Gentiles).
PSALM—NOTE ON 66:5–7 Come and See How God Brought Israel out of Egypt! From all the earth the focus narrows down to one people, Israel, as the reference to the exodus (turned the sea into dry land) and the crossing of the Jordan River (passed through the river on foot) in v. 6 makes plain. At the same time, Israel exists for the very purpose of bringing God’s light to the world (Ex. 19:5–6); hence what God has done for Israel he has done for all peoples—he is awesome in his deeds (a reference to what he does for Israel) toward the children of man (i.e., for all mankind, not just Israel).
PSALM—NOTE ON 66:8–12 Let All Peoples Bless the God Who Has Preserved Us! The song moves on to the ways in which God has preserved Israel (us) through all manner of trials, without dwelling on whether those trials were brought on by Israel’s own unfaithfulness (as in Judges) or by God’s mysterious purposes (as in Ps. 44:17–22). Strikingly, God has brought Israel through all these, to a place of abundance, and the call goes out to the Gentiles, Bless our God, O peoples! God has chosen his people to be the vehicle by which light comes to the whole world, and thus the preserving of Israel is crucial to all mankind. Gentile Christians can see themselves as part of the fruition of all that God has done for Israel.
PSALM—NOTE ON 66:13–15 I Will Come to His House with Offerings. Here is where the focus shifts from Israel as a whole to the particular worshiper (I). A person in Israel (including sojourners), in a time of need, could make a vow to the Lord, which he could fulfill with burnt offerings or vow offerings (perform my vows); cf. Lev. 22:18 and Num. 15:3. As Ps. 50:7–15 makes clear, under no circumstances should these ever be treated as bribes for God; they are responses of personal consecration (a function of the burnt offering) and gratitude (a function of the vow offering, a kind of peace offering) to God for his freely given kindness. The psalm presents them as a joyful occasion.
PSALM—NOTE ON 66:16–20 Let Me Tell You How God Has Heard My Prayer. The reason for this thanksgiving is that God has attended to the voice of my prayer (v. 19). The OT insists that each member of the people must own the covenant for himself; thus each one would have some report of what God has done for his soul (and not just for the people as a whole). The wording here is quite general, allowing the song to be used in a wide variety of situations. The one requirement is that the worshiper has not cherished (lit., “looked forward to,” “aimed for”) iniquity in his heart (v. 18). The term “iniquity” here (Hb. ’awen) refers to what is vile and abhorrent to God. To “cherish iniquity” is to aim at it; in context it refers to praying for God’s help in order to be able to commit some form of sin—a practice the truly pious reject. Therefore it would be a misinterpretation to read this as implying that absolute sinlessness is a condition for answered prayer; rather, it reminds the faithful to pray for God’s help in order to give him thanks and to serve him better (cf. James 4:3).
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 67. This psalm, like Psalm 65, seems to be a thanksgiving for a fruitful harvest. Unlike Psalm 65, it is not really a thanksgiving hymn; it is rather a prayer that God will bless his people Israel so that the rest of the world may come to know the true God. Verses 3 and 5 of Psalm 67 are the same, marking the ends of their stanzas; they summarize the desire of this psalm, “Let all the peoples praise you!” Singing this helps Israel to keep its own calling in view: their blessing is not simply for themselves but for the Gentiles too (cf. Gen. 12:2–3). Each Israelite is a player in a grand story that stretches far beyond the boundaries of his own life, or even of his own land.
PSALM—NOTE ON 67:1–3 May God Bless Us, So that All Nations May Know Him. Verse 1 adapts the priestly blessing (Num. 6:24–26: may God be gracious, bless, make his face to shine), and Ps. 67:2 follows it with a purpose clause: the goal for which the congregation prays for God’s blessing is that God’s way may be known on earth—specifically, that his saving power might be known among all nations. God called Abram both to bless him and his descendants and to make them a vehicle of blessing to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:2–3). These words turn that calling into a song.
PSALM—NOTE ON 67:4–5 May All Nations Be Glad in His Rule. In addition to their knowing God’s saving power, the psalmist prays that the nations be glad and sing for joy because he rules over (you judge) them with equity. This could be a prayer that these Gentiles come to appreciate the author of that general and kind providence they have experienced, and then to worship him (cf. Acts 14:17); but, since the term “judge” seems to indicate a more direct rule than simply oversight (cf. also the term guide, or “lead”; see Ps. 73:24; 77:20), it is more likely that this is praying for the day when God’s acknowledged rule is extended to include the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 2:4; 11:3–4, both using the same word, “judge,” applied to the Gentiles). (In the OT, the first duty of the judge was to protect the innocent; he was a kind of savior.) The OT very decidedly looks to a future era in which the Gentiles receive God’s light, and this song fosters this hope in each ordinary believer. (See also the note on Ps. 67:6–7, “the ends of the earth.”) The Christian message includes the announcement that this era has arrived, due to Jesus’ resurrection, which installs him on the throne of David (Rom. 1:1–5).
PSALM—NOTE ON 67:6–7 God Will Bless Us, So that All Nations May Fear Him. The final stanza repeats the idea of blessing from the first, and indicates one particular kind of blessing for which the people should give thanks: the earth has yielded its increase. To fear God means to hold him and his word in reverence, a disposition of true faith (e.g., 5:7; 15:4; 25:12). For the ends of the earth turning to the Lord (esp. in the messianic age), cf. 2:8; 22:27; 72:8 (Zech. 9:10); Isa. 45:22; 52:10; Jer. 16:19.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 68. This is a hymn by which God’s people celebrate his continued care and protection for Israel, remembering how God led them through the wilderness into their inheritance, and daily bears his people up (v. 19). The celebration does not stop with Israel, however: it recognizes that defeating Gentile kingdoms “who delight in war” is for the sake of all the Gentiles coming to worship the true God. It is possible that David composed this psalm to commemorate the moving of the ark into the tabernacle (2 Sam. 6:12–15): Ps. 68:1 echoes Num. 10:35 (Moses’ words when the ark set out); Ps. 68:16 mentions the mountain of God’s abode; vv. 24–25 describe God’s procession; and vv. 17, 35 speak of the sanctuary. In any event the overall theme of the psalm is God’s residence in Zion and his care for his people.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:1–3 Gladness When God Arises. Verse 1 adapts the words of Num. 10:35 (“Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you”), thus recalling the movement of the ark in the wilderness; from the perspective of the psalm, the ark was headed to its destination on Zion. For the ark to take up residence in Zion is for God to be among his people where they now live (cf. Ps. 68:17, “Sinai is now in the sanctuary”; the ark is a portable Sinai, where God made himself present with his people). This brings the happy promise that the wicked (those who reject God’s covenant) shall perish before God, while the righteous (those who embrace the covenant) shall be glad, because God is carrying out his purpose of reversing the effects of sin in the world.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:4–6 Exhortation to Sing to God. The faithful are to sing to God because he has shown himself kind, especially to helpless people (fatherless, or “orphans”; widows, cf. 146:9; Deut. 10:18; James 1:27; solitary; prisoners). The rebellious (i.e., those against God’s gracious covenant), however, he exiles to a parched land: they may not dwell among his people.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:7–10 God’s March from Sinai. These verses recall the way God led his people through the wilderness (v. 7), from Sinai to his inheritance (i.e., Canaan, now the land of Israel), where God’s flock (i.e., his people) found a dwelling. Not only did God give Israel a place to live, he made it fruitful: Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad. Verse 8 echoes Judg. 5:4–5, which also describes God’s progress to the land with his people.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:11–14 Victory over Gentile Kings. This section describes what happens when the Almighty scatters Gentile kings on behalf of his people. Even when the able-bodied of Israel were not all faithful to fight in the wars (v. 13, some men would even lie among the sheepfolds instead of endure the hardships of battle; cf. Judg. 5:16), the Lord brought about great victories—so that the women at home divide the spoil that their men have brought. The women who announce the news are probably groups like those in Ex. 15:20–21 and 1 Sam. 18:6–7, who declare from village to village the exciting news of the victory of Israel’s army. The wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold is a fanciful image of enjoying wealth and beauty under God’s care.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:14 Zalmon. Judges 9:48 mentions a mountain with this name, but it is not certain that this is the intended reference. It is likely a mountain in any case, in view of the snow.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:15–18 The Mountain of God’s Abode. The ark’s destination is the “sanctuary” on Mount Zion, the mountain of God. The previous section ended by referring to a mountain, and now this section compares God’s mountain to the larger mountain of Bashan (to the north). Observe how the Lord dwells in the place where his ark does; God is especially present by way of his ark (cf. Josh. 3:11, esv footnote). Sinai is now in the sanctuary. The ark is a portable Sinai, conveying God’s presence to his people.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:18 Ephesians 4:8–11 uses this verse to describe how the exalted Christ (who ascended after he descended in the incarnation) distributed gifts to his people, i.e., assigned to each of the members different ways of serving the body. That Paul can apply this to Christ shows that he considered Jesus divine. The quotation in Eph. 4:8 does not quite match the Septuagint (which follows the Hb.); Paul says that “he gave gifts to men” rather than receiving gifts among men. The difference is only superficial, however: the verb “receive” (Hb. laqakh) can have the idea of “receive in order to give,” or “to fetch” (e.g., Gen. 18:4–5, where it is “bring”). Further, after a conquest, the spoils were distributed among the leader’s men. Thus the psalm focuses on the conqueror who acquired the spoils from the defeated, while Paul’s adaptation of the truth of the psalm focuses on how that conqueror distributed the spoils to his own.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:19–23 God Protects His People from His (and Their) Enemies. This section celebrates how God daily bears us (Israel) up and is salvation for his people (cf. 14:7; see note on 20:1–5). The particular kind of salvation here is protection from enemies, which means military victories over them (strike the heads, strike your feet in their blood).
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:23 the tongues of your dogs. As they scavenge among the corpses and lick up the blood (cf. 1 Kings 21:19; 22:38).
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:24–27 The Procession. These verses describe a procession of Israelites, which consists of singers, followed by virgins playing tambourines, with the musicians last, as they enter into the sanctuary in a worship setting. Included in the procession are princes from the various tribes (Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali probably represent the whole of Israel). Verse 26 is apparently a summary of their song. The mention of these tribes indicates that the psalm dates from before the kingdom was divided, when Benjamin and Judah became the southern kingdom, while Zebulun and Naphtali became part of the northern kingdom.
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:28–31 The Gentiles Will Come to the True God. The defeat of the Gentile enemies (here described as fierce wild animals, an image of those who lust after tribute and who delight in war, v. 30) is a good thing, both because their designs are greedy and bloody, and because as a result they and others will come to worship the true God (vv. 29, 31). kings shall bear gifts to you. These are Gentile kings; cf. Isa. 60:7; Hag. 2:7; Zech. 6:15. For the expectation that people from Egypt and Cush (Nubia, the region south of Egypt, called “Ethiopia” by ancient writers) will come to know God, cf. Isa. 45:14. God’s presence in his temple at Jerusalem (Ps. 68:29) will draw Gentiles to the light (cf. 1 Kings 8:41–43). The oracle of Isa. 2:1–5 foretells the Gentiles coming to worship at God’s temple “in the last days”; the NT explains that this is taking place in the time after Christ’s resurrection (see notes on Ps. 67:4–5; Isa. 2:1–5).
PSALM—NOTE ON 68:32–35 Closing Call to Praise. After all the recollections in the psalm, the call goes out to all the Gentile kingdoms of the earth, urging them to sing to God now (why wait for the messianic era?). Their praise should ascribe power to God and recognize that his majesty is over Israel. That is, they should recognize Israel’s unique role as God’s own people, among whom God has set his sanctuary and to whom he gives power and strength. As Israelites sing this, they should be overwhelmed with gratitude at the astonishing privilege of being God’s vehicle of blessing to the world. Today, believers from all nations can sing this with gratitude that God was faithful to his promises to bring the light to the world; they too can share in grateful awe at their privilege of being God’s vehicle for bringing the world further blessing.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 69. This is an individual lament, geared especially to a situation in which a faithful Israelite is suffering for wrongs he has done (v. 5) but also finds attackers piling on, taking advantage of his suffering and making it worse (v. 26). The NT cites several passages from this psalm, applying them to the life of Christ. Some have argued that NT use shows that the right way to read the psalm is as David’s personal prayer, which believers sing in order to identify with him. A better approach comes from remembering that David was the representative for the people of God, and in that role he wrote this as a prayer that is well-suited to each of God’s people in analogous situations, providing the ideal response to such trials (see note on Psalm 3, where the issues are similar); the notes will show how this sheds light on the NT writers’ portrait of Jesus.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:1–4 I Am in Deep Trouble from Treacherous Enemies. The singer lays the situation before God, first with colorful imagery (like drowning, or quicksand, vv. 1–2; cf. vv. 14–15), then with his own sad state (v. 3), and finally, with the actual case: those who hate me without cause. Since the psalm will go on to acknowledge that the singer is not perfect, this cannot be a claim of total innocence; rather, it is a claim that the singer has not done harm to the particular people who attack him with lies.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:4 hate me without cause. In John 15:25 Jesus uses these words to describe himself, and to lead his followers to expect the same. In John’s presentation of Jesus, he is the perfect embodiment of a faithful Israelite, who may expect the impious to hate him.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:5–8 Let Not My Folly Bring Shame on Those Who Love You. The singer admits that he is not perfect, which God knows full well (the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you); he agrees that his wrongs could put others of the faithful (those who hope in you) to shame (i.e., could subject them to scorn), and prays that this will not happen. In singing this the pious acknowledge that they do commit sins, and that these sins can cause trouble for themselves and for others, and even damage the reputation of God and his faithful people. Such acknowledgment should help them to be more honest about their weaknesses, and more careful about their deeds.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:9–12 I Bear Your Reproach. The idea of reproach, introduced in v. 7, dominates this section. Here the song is speaking of the current condition: the reproaches that fall on the singer are not really the proper response of other godly people to his wrongs; they are instead the weapons of those who reproach God, scorning God himself, his covenant, and his faithful people. They even turn the signs of devout mourning and repentance (fasting, sackcloth) into an occasion to mock and humiliate the pious person. (Even though the singer is a penitent, he is still consumed with zeal for God’s house, i.e., is loyal to the covenant and its ordinances.)
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:9 zeal for your house has consumed me. In John 2:17, Jesus’ disciples remember this text after Jesus has driven the livestock merchants and money-changers out of the temple. Jesus embodies the ideal pious member of God’s people, which is the calling of the Davidic king (though unlike all the heirs of David before him, Jesus does not have “folly” and “wrongs” [Ps. 69:5] to repent of; cf. John 8:46). The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. In Rom. 15:3, Paul applies this text to Jesus, because he saw Jesus as the ideal covenant member who was willing to suffer reproach for the sake of God’s truth. In this he is an example to the Roman Christians, for whom the issue of the weak and the strong probably included elements of shame in Roman society: Romans are known to have looked down upon those with Jewish scruples about food (the weak). The faithful Christian should be willing to suffer the scorn that some people might heap on him if he has close fellowship with the socially “unworthy”; nothing, not even social reproach, should be allowed to prevent these Christians from worshiping together.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:13–18 My Prayer Is Directed to You. The next section of the psalm expresses the singer’s reliance on God: my prayer is to you, answer me, hide not your face, draw near. His case is desperate, and he urgently needs God’s help. The prayer appeals to what God has revealed about himself: the abundance of your steadfast love and faithfulness (v. 13) and steadfast love and mercy (v. 16) echo Ex. 34:6, God’s revelation of his character (“merciful and gracious, … abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”). It is clear in this case that for God to answer (Ps. 69:16–17) means for him to do something to relieve the situation (“no” does not qualify as an answer here!). Regarding “hide not your face,” see note on 51:9. redeem. See note on 25:22.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:19–21 You Know My Reproach and Shame. Here the psalm describes the sense of shame, dishonor, despair, and abandonment the singer must feel; and though these are emotions of the heart and not necessarily visible to man, nevertheless he can say to God, “you know,” for God searches all hearts at all times.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:21 for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Sour wine would have been very unpleasant to someone suffering from severe thirst. John 19:28–29 uses these words in connection with one of Jesus’ last words on the cross (cf. also Matt. 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36; Luke 23:36). The sour wine would have been the cheap beverage that the soldiers used to satisfy their thirst; but Jesus felt God-forsaken (Mark 15:34), and the thirst to which he was testifying must have been far more severe and deep-seated than anything this drink was meant for. When Jesus received it, he briefly prolonged his life (and his agony), and perhaps moistened his lips enough finally to cry out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). In Luke 23:34, Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Since Luke alluded to this psalm (as above), he might well have intended a contrast: the psalm will go on to call down curses on the enemies, while Jesus did not, but instead prayed for mercy. Nevertheless, the judgment requested by the curses is only delayed, and will be set loose when Christ returns as Judge of all. (This does not exhaust the Christian view of these curses, since other NT texts use them; see notes on Ps. 69:22–23 and 69:25.)
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:22–28 May They Suffer the Punishment They Deserve. The next section asks God to vindicate his faithful one by bringing on the enemies the troubles they deserve (and that they would bring on the faithful if they could). The description in vv. 22–25 uses imagery to convey the idea of a life devastated and sad in various ways: in home life (v. 22), in personal health (v. 23), and in its posterity (vv. 24–25). It is clear from v. 26 that these people are grievous sinners; they are Israelites who do not embrace the covenant and who can wield influence to harm the faithful. As with these curses in general, the unstated assumption is that they will not repent, which of course would be preferable (see notes on 5:10; 35:4–8).
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:22–23 In Rom. 11:9–10, Paul cites this curse to explain why his fellow Jews who reject the message of Christ have been hardened. Nevertheless, in the rest of Romans 11, he also explains why the curse is not irrevocable: it is a “partial hardening,” which will be relieved if and when they repent (Rom. 11:23–25).
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:25 In Acts 1:20, this text is applied to Judas, who had taken part in destroying Jesus, the perfect embodiment of this psalm. If it is part of Peter’s speech, then he is combining it with Ps. 109:8 to show why the disciples should give up on Judas and replace him with another.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:27–28 no acquittal … blotted out … not be enrolled. These prospects go beyond temporal punishments to include an eternal one. Again, the assumption is that the people in question will not repent. These words could prove to be a mercy to the evildoers, should any of them be present at worship when the congregation sings them, and they heed the warning.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:29–33 Deliver Me for the Sake of the Humble. The argument of this section is that if God’s salvation should set the pious singer on high, he will magnify God with public thanksgiving, presumably in a worship service (cf. the mention of potential sacrifice in v. 31; see note on 66:13–15). This will enable the humble (another term for the genuinely faithful) to see it and be glad; they will know that the LORD hears the needy who seek him in faith.
PSALM—NOTE ON 69:34–36 Let Everything Praise the God Who Dwells in Zion. The psalm moves on to sing of all creation praising God, and of God’s enduring commitment to populate Zion with the faithful offspring of his (faithful) servants. Behind this section lies the recognition that God intends the whole world to be able to praise him, and he intends for Zion to flourish as the paradigm of true piety. This cannot happen when the kind of evildoers described in this psalm have a free rein to oppress the faithful and to corrupt the corporate life of God’s people.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 70. This short psalm is an individual lament, an urgent prayer for rescue from gloating enemies. The whole psalm is very close to 40:14–16. The title specifies the psalm as “for the memorial offering” (cf. note on Psalm 38).
PSALM—NOTE ON 70:1–3 Deliver Me from Those Who Seek My Life. The first stanza sounds the note of desperation and danger. The threat comes from those who seek my life, who delight in my hurt, and who say, “Aha, Aha!” These are people who are eager to hurt and gloat over the faithful. The enemies could be powerful Israelites, unfaithful to the covenant and therefore hostile to true piety, or they could be foreigners who seek to impose other gods upon God’s people. The song prays urgently that God would make haste … to deliver and help me; the specific kind of help is the thwarting of the enemies’ schemes, i.e., that they would be put to shame and confusion, and that they would be turned back and brought to dishonor.
PSALM—NOTE ON 70:4–5 May Those Who Seek You Rejoice at My Deliverance. This stanza echoes the first stanza in several ways. First, who seek you (v. 4) contrasts with “who seek my life” (v. 2): clearly these are two contrasting groups of people. Then hasten (v. 5) echoes “make haste” (v. 1), while help and deliverer (v. 5) look back to “deliver” and “help” (v. 1), in reverse order (the Hb. uses two synonyms for deliver). In this stanza each person in the singing congregation identifies himself with the faithful in Israel (i.e., those who seek God and love his salvation) and prays that the whole company of the faithful might rejoice … in God when they see the rescue of the person in trouble. The person in trouble is poor and needy, and thus socially powerless; therefore his deliverance will be striking evidence that God keeps his promises.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 71. This is another individual lament, suited to a faithful person in danger from enemies who would cause hurt by taking advantage of any weakness or distress (vv. 9–11). These enemies could be foreign, and they could be Israelite; the wording is general enough to apply to either. There is no title for the psalm; it would appear that its author composed it using material from earlier psalms (esp. Davidic ones), albeit with variations (e.g., 71:1–3 echoes 31:1–3; the cross-references give other examples). The exposition here discerns the stanza structure of the psalm by following the vocatives, “O God” or “O LORD.”
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:1–3 Be My Refuge Always. The song opens with a sturdy profession of faith, taking assurance from God’s covenant promises: God’s righteousness is his faithfulness to keep his promises, and this is the ground of hope (cf. vv. 15, 16, 19, 24).
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:4–11 Rescue Me from the Wicked Who Want to Hurt Me. The next section identifies the specific occasion for the prayer: the wicked, namely, unjust and cruel men who look for any opening to do harm to the faithful (vv. 4, 10–11). As usual in the Psalms, the term “wicked” refers to those who oppose true faith in God. The singer professes not to be in this category, but among the faithful from my youth, and prays that God will not cast him off in the time of old age. This is to remind Israel that the benefits of the covenant are not automatic but are for those who are faithful to its provisions. Hence the congregation will come to love piety, and each will yearn to have his mouth … filled with God’s praise.
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:5–6 from my youth … from before my birth … from my mother’s womb. The Israelites singing this came into the world as members of Abraham’s family, the recipients of God’s promises. These believers learn here to trace God’s work in their lives back to the very beginning of their personal existence, before they were even born. Indeed, they even consider the faith that they articulate now to have begun then, before they could speak it. Cf. 22:9–10; 139:13–16; Luke 1:41–44.
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:12–16 Do Not Be Far from Me. The next appeal to God is be not far from me and make haste to help me. Under threat from such people as are described as accusers and those who seek my hurt (v. 13; see also vv. 4, 10–11), the pious singer looks to God for help. He promises to hope continually, leaving to God the timing of the answer to these prayers. He also looks forward to sharing his story of God’s righteous acts with his fellow worshipers: praise, tell, and remind them (i.e., “remind my fellow believers”) describe activities among the congregation. Come is “come to worship.”
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:17–21 Care for Me from Youth through Old Age. This stanza returns to the topic of the second stanza: since from my youth you have taught me (i.e., to trust in you, cf. vv. 5–6), so even to old age and gray hairs … do not forsake me (cf. v. 9). The song goes on to foster an ideal for a pious person’s life, asking God to make it long enough so that the singer might proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come; the life of faith is meant to be passed on to one’s descendants. The book of Psalms readily confesses that the believer’s life is full of many troubles and calamities and acknowledges that these are under God’s control (you who have made me see); and since God governs these troubles, he can also relieve them (hence the confidence of vv. 20–21).
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:22–24 I Will Praise You for Your Deliverance. The psalm closes by bringing to conclusion the previous parts of the psalm, especially the confidence (vv. 20–21), and the anticipation of giving testimony in worship (vv. 14–16). Not only does the singer look forward to joyful songs in worship, he expects to talk of God’s righteous help all the day long (i.e., even outside of the gathered congregation).
PSALM—NOTE ON 71:22 Holy One of Israel. This is the common name for God in Isaiah (25 times), and is rare outside of that book, appearing only in 2 Kings 19:22 (= Isa. 37:23); Ps. 71:22; 78:41; 89:18; Jer. 50:29; 51:5. See Introduction to Isaiah: Date.
PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 72. The last psalm of Book 2 (see note on 41:13) is a royal psalm, praying that the heirs of David’s line (beginning with Solomon) might have success in the task that God has assigned the king (namely, ruling God’s people well, protecting the poor and needy, and bringing blessing to all nations of the earth). Like Psalm 2, this song looks forward to a worldwide rule that embraces in full what the Messiah will accomplish: the OT anticipates the ultimate heir of David, who will take the throne and bring the light of God to all nations (cf. Isa. 2:1–5; 11:1–10), and the NT is careful to explain that Jesus, by virtue of his resurrection, has begun to fulfill this task through the Christian mission (cf. Matt. 28:18–20; Rom. 1:1–6). Therefore Christian hymns based on this psalm, such as “Jesus Shall Reign” and “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,” have used the song according to its proper meaning. (This also explains why Christian witness, when it is true to the messianic picture of the Bible, goes beyond basic gospel proclamation and also fosters social justice and the moral transformation of whole societies.) The title, “of Solomon,” can mean that Solomon was the author (just as “of David” normally means that David wrote the psalm). On the other hand, it could mean that someone (perhaps David) spoke these words of (i.e., about) Solomon, setting out the goal for his reign (and for the reigns of his heirs). The reference in Ps. 72:20 to the prayers of David may favor this view, although David did not author all the songs of Book 2 (cf. Psalms 42–50; 66–67; 71), and thus this reference is not decisive.
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:1–4 Let the King Judge Your People Justly. The ideal for the Davidic king is that he promote the well-being of the whole people of God by embodying true piety and by governing in such a way that justice prevails at all times (usually this means protecting the weaker members from the oppressive schemes of the stronger ones). Under such conditions, godliness should thrive among all the people, and thus they would experience the covenant blessings (Lev. 26:3–13; Deut. 28:1–14), where the land looks like a renewed Eden and the Gentiles are drawn to worship the true God. The psalm begins, then, with a prayer for the character and rule of the Davidic king, knowing that the people depend upon God to give him righteousness and justice by which to rule (judge).
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:5–7 May People Fear You Because of His Reign. The next section prays for a blessed reign while the sun endures and till the moon be no more (i.e., always). This extension of time suggests that this psalm ultimately refers to the Messiah. May they fear you. “They” may be God’s people (vv. 1–4), or people in general (vv. 8–11); in either case, the heir of David serves as God’s representative to the people, and is to be “feared,” i.e., honored and obeyed. Of course this should help David’s heirs to love being honorable, the kind of person who is an unmitigated blessing and refreshment to God’s people (just like rain and showers were in ancient Israel).
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:8–11 May All the Kings of the Earth Serve Him. The blessing is to go beyond the borders of Israel: by submitting to the Davidic king, the Gentile kings bring themselves and their peoples under God’s own rule (see note on 2:10–12). Verses 8–10 of Psalm 72 give examples of places in the world as the ancient Israelites knew it, as parts of the world standing for the whole world. From sea to sea is as far as the land extends (cf. Amos 8:12). The River is the Euphrates (see esv footnote). Desert tribes … Sheba and Seba refer to inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa.
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:8 This verse is almost identical to the second part of Zech. 9:10, which is messianic.
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:12–14 He Brings Justice and Relief to the Poor and Needy. Proverbs 31:1–9 portrays the ideal human ruler, and the biblical desire is that the Davidic king embody that ideal. These verses lay stress on the needy, the poor, and the weak (cf. Ps. 72:2–4): these are the people most easily subjected to oppression and violence on the part of powerful nobles or regional lords. redeems. That is, rescues so that they may live faithfully for God. precious is their blood in his sight. Such a king will not allow the powerful to shed that blood.
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:15–17 May All Peoples Be Blessed in Him. With such a king, Israel would see its crops and people flourish, and the rest of the world would indeed come to know the true God. Long may he live, and may his name endure forever, indeed!
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:17 be blessed in him, all nations. The wording of this closely follows Gen. 22:18, “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,” speaking of a particular offspring (the Messiah; cf. note on Gen. 22:15–18).
PSALM—NOTE ON 72:18–20 Blessed Be the LORD (Doxology Concluding Book 2). This does not seem to be part of the psalm itself (see note on 41:13), and yet the prayer may the whole earth be filled with his glory is appropriate to the theme. “To be filled with God’s glory” is to be a holy site of worship, where God makes his presence known (cf. Ex. 40:34–35; 1 Kings 8:10–11), and this prayer is that the whole earth be such a sanctuary (cf. note on Isa. 6:3). The prayers of David … are ended. This could refer to the psalm itself, but more likely refers to a stage in the collection of the Psalter (since there are Davidic psalms yet to come in Books 3–5).