This Psalm to some extent follows the pattern of Psalms 25. There also a prayer of confidence and certainty (Psalms 25:3), was followed by an urgent plea for help (Psalms 25:16). It is often thus with the people of God in the place of prayer. As their eyes are turned upwards towards God and His ways... [ Continue Reading ]
‘YHWH is my light and my salvation, Whom shall I fear? YHWH is the strength of my life, Of whom shall I be afraid? The Psalm opens with a declaration of the Psalmists confidence in God, and his recognition of His attributes. He has taken his mind off his own troubles as he considers the wonder o... [ Continue Reading ]
When evil-doers came upon me, To eat up my flesh, Even my adversaries and my foes, They stumbled and fell. He casts his mind back to the past, and remembers how his enemies had tried to destroy him But no matter who they had been, whether internal enemies or external, they had all stumbled and f... [ Continue Reading ]
Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident. In the light of YHWH's presence with him nothing could stand against him. Whether it be an enemy encamped against him, and he had seen many of those, or whether it be... [ Continue Reading ]
One thing have I asked of YHWH, That will I seek after, That I may dwell in the house of YHWH, All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of YHWH, And to enquire in his temple. For he has only one goal, and that is to enter more fully into His light and salvation by ‘dwelling in the house of... [ Continue Reading ]
For in the day of trouble he will keep me, Secretly in his pavilion. In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me, He will lift me up on a rock. That the Psalmist is already conscious of the troubles that will take up the second part of the Psalm comes out here. But he recognises that his tru... [ Continue Reading ]
And now shall my head be lifted up, Above my enemies round about me. And I will offer in his tabernacle, Sacrifices of joy. His confidence in YHWH's protection gives him the further confidence of triumph. He knows that because God is on his side his enemies will stand no chance against him, for G... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear, O YHWH, when I cry with my voice, Have mercy also on me, and answer me. In this second part of the Psalm it appears as though his family have cast him off, with the result that he is concerned lest YHWH too cast him off. It is necessary here to remember the closeness of family ties in Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
To (or ‘towards') you my heart said, “Seek you my face”, It is tempting here to see these words as the words of YHWH interspersed with the Psalmist's own words, or put into the Psalmist's mouth, so that it is the heart of YHWH speaking to his heart, and saying ‘Seek My face'. And that fits best wi... [ Continue Reading ]
When my father and my mother forsake me, Then YHWH will take me up. But in the end he is confident that even though his father and his mother forsake him, and he is cast off by his family and tribe, YHWH will take him up. We are reminded of Jesus' words to His disciples about the fact that some of... [ Continue Reading ]
Teach me your way, O YHWH, And lead me in a plain path, Because of my enemies, The crisis moment past he now prays that YHWH will show him the way ahead. He wants Him to teach him His way, and lead him in a level path in which he will not stumble, a real necessity in view of the behaviour of his... [ Continue Reading ]
Deliver me not over to the will of my adversaries, For false witnesses are risen up against me, And such as breathe out cruelty. So with his confidence somewhat restored he asks that his life might not be subjected to what his opponents want for him, for they have risen up against him and maligne... [ Continue Reading ]
Unless I had believed to see, The goodness of YHWH in the land of the living. And finally he brings out the fact that he had almost been in despair. Had it not been that he had believed to see the goodness of YHWH in the land of the living, he could not have endured, such was the anguish resulting... [ Continue Reading ]
Wait for YHWH, be strong, And let you heart take courage. Yes, wait you for YHWH. Like the first section, the second section ends with a repetition, but this time it is a repetition of the need to wait for YHWH, addressed by the Psalmist to himself, and to every individual in the congregation. So... [ Continue Reading ]