This psalm consists of
both thanksgiving and instructions.[1]
(Hebrew numbers)
V1-7: The psalmist announces praise, invites the community to join in,[2] and reports the psalmist’s personal encounter with Yahweh[3] in a situation of crisis where Yahweh listened and acted.[4],[5]
(Hebrew numbers)
V1-7: The psalmist announces praise, invites the community to join in,[2] and reports the psalmist’s personal encounter with Yahweh[3] in a situation of crisis where Yahweh listened and acted.[4],[5]
V7: “this poor one
called, and Yahweh heard.”
V10: “Fear of the
Lord” is the psalm’s most profound insight, where one simultaneous trembles in dread
and joy due to the paradoxical awareness of one’s fragility, mortality and sinfulness
as opposed to God’s almightiness, immortality and graciousness.[6]
V11: Lions is a metaphor
for those who do not fear or seek the Lord.[7]
V12 is followed by a
series of imperatives that speaks of living a life which embodies the “fear of
the Lord.”[8]
V16-20 becomes descriptive,
with statements about the Lord using anthropomorphic metaphors regarding eyes, ears
and face of Yahweh in V16-18, followed by the description of God’s elected but suffering
people, who has shattered hearts and crushed spirits, from V19-20.[9]
V21-23 concludes with
God’s promise that those who hate the righteous will be held guilty, and those who
seek refuge in him will not be held guilty.[10]
This is not so much a psalm on moral statements as it is a relational one. Yahweh is good in relation to us. When we are in need, Yahweh is near, listening to prayer and acting in response to the prayer. The answer involves rescue, deliverance, protection and redemption. Yahweh often seems far away and inactive, but those experiences must not be allowed to overwhelm.[11]
[1] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 329.
[2] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 321.
[3] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 325.
[4] Goldingay,
Psalms Volume 1: Psalms 1-41, 477.
[5]
Craigie, Psalms 1-50, 279.
[6] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 325.
[7] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 326.
[8]
Craigie, Psalms 1-50, 280.
[9] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 328.
[10] DeClaisse-Walford,
Jacobson, and LaNeel Tanner. The Book of
Psalms, 328.
[11] Goldingay,
Psalms Volume 1: Psalms 1-41, 486.
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