COMMENTARY
ON
THE PSALMS
BY
E. W. HENGSTENBERG,
DR AND PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN
VOL.
III.
TRANSLATED BY THE
REV. JOHN THOMSON,
AND
REV. PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, SALTON.
T. &L T. CLARK,
SEELEY AND CO.; WARD AND CO.;
JACKSON AND WALFORD, &C,
MDCCCXLVIII,
1848
Digitized by Ted Hildebrandt,
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE present Volume of the FOREIGN
THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY
has
been enlarged considerably beyond the regular size, in order
to
comprize the whole of the remainder of HENGSTENBERG on
the
PSALMS. Of the portion contained in this volume, it may be
proper
to state that the translation, as far as the close of Psalm
cxxvi.,
is by Mr Thomson, the remainder by Mr Fairbairn. The
Treatises
at the close have a separate paging, from its having
been
found convenient to print that part of the translation before
the
rest could be got ready for the press. By some accident the
short
general introduction to the group of Psalms, cxxxv.—cxlvi.,
was
omitted at its proper place between Ps. cxxxiv. and cxxxv.;
and
it has been inserted at the close of the group, at p. 546.
The
translators have not thought it necessary to append any
notes
or explanations of their own, with the exception of a brief
statement
at the close of the Treatises, for which the translator
of
that portion is alone responsible.
ERRATA.
In Ps. cxx., p. 412; Ps. cxxi., p. 418; Ps.
cxxii., p. 426; Ps, cxxiii, p. 432, for
Pilgrims
read Pilgrimages.
THE
BOOK OF PSALMS.
PSALM
LXXIX.
THE
main division of the Psalm contains twelve verses. These
are
divided, as is frequently the case, into three strophes, each
consisting
of four verses. Ver. 1-4 contains the representation
of
the misery:—the land of the Lord has been taken possession
of
by the heathen, the temple
desecrated,
the
servants of God have been put to
death; the people of God
become
the objects of contempt to their neighbours. The second
and
third strophes contain the prayer.
The conclusion, ver. 13,
containing
the result of the whole, gives expression to confi-
dence.
The Psalm stands nearly related to
the lxxiv.; the situation
is
the same, and they come a good deal in contact as regards the
expression.
Both Psalms refer to the Chaldean invasion. The
Psalm
before us proceeds on the supposition that the seventy-
fourth
had been previously composed, and supplements
it. In
the
seventy-fourth Psalm the destruction of
the sanctuary is
pre-eminently
and almost exclusively brought forward; but in the
seventy-ninth
it is referred to very briefly, for the purpose of
indicating
the passages which connect the two Psalms, and
other
subjects are put in the foreground. There is no good
reason
for the assertion which has been made, that the Psalm
before
us must have been composed previously to the seventy-
fourth,
as the
2 THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
whereas
it is only its desecration that is
spoken of here. The
desecration
does not exclude its destruction; the destruction is
one
of the forms of its desecration. Had the Psalmist design-
ed,
in allusion to the seventy-fourth, to speak of the sanctuary
in
one single expression, he could not
possibly have found a
stronger
term than this: the most dreadful thing that can befal
the
sanctuary is that it be desecrated. In saying this every
thing
that can be affirmed of it is said.
Several expositors, both ancient and
modern, refer the Psalm
to
the time of the Maccabees. But there are quite decisive
grounds
against this view. First, from the close resemblance to
Ps.
lxxiv., the arguments which were there
adverted to are of
equal
force here. There are no traces here
of any reference to
the
special relations of the times of the Maccabees. And there
are
two circumstances which are not suitable to those times: the
laying of
and
kingdoms in ver. 6 (comp. 2 Kings
ixiv. 2), whereas in the
time
of the Maccabees Judah had to do only with a single king-
dom.a
There are also two weighty external reasons. Jeremiah
was
acquainted with the Psalm, and made use of it (comp. at
ver.
6), and in 1 Macc. vii. 16 and 17 it is quoted as forming at
that
time a portion of the sacred volume.b It is thus not neces-
sary
here to avail ourselves of the general reasons which may be
urged
against the existence of Maccabean Psalms.c
The title, "a Psalm of
Asaph," is confirmed by the fact that
the
Psalm stands closely related to a whole class of Psalms which
bear
in their titles the name of Asaph. Those critics who re-
a The remark of Venema
renders it evident that even verses 2 and 3 will not suit the
times
of the Maccabees: "that the expressions, they delivered the servants of God to
birds and wild beasts, and there was none to
bury them, are to be taken in a restricted
sense,
as used only of some, and in reference to the attempts and intentions of the
enemies."
b kata> to>n
lo<gon o{n e@graye: sa<rkaj o[si<wn k.t.l. The Syrian translation: " ac-
cording
to the word which the prophet has written." This is the usual way of
quoting
Scripture:
comp. Harless on Eph. iv. 8. Hitzig translates falsely: according to the
words
which a certain one wrote. The obscure productions of unknown authors are
never
quoted in this way. The fact that the author omits, in the passage from the
Psalm,
what does not suit his purpose, renders it evident that the Psalm was not com-
posed
for the occasion there referred to: comp. J. D. Michaelis.
c Amyrald.: besides it
cannot be doubted that there were prophets at the time of Ne-
buchad
who were able to compose such poems; whereas in the age of Antiochus there
were
none, at least none whose writings have reached posterity.
PSALM LXXIX. VER. 1-8. 3
ject
the titles are unable to explain this similarity admitted by
themselves,
which obtains among all the Asaphic Psalms, even
among
those which were composed at different eras. If we fol-
low
the title the reason of this is clear as day. The descendants
of
Asaph looked upon themselves as the instruments by which
the
Asaph of David's time, their illustrious ancestor, continued
to speak, and therefore they
very naturally followed as closely in
his
footsteps as possible: the later descendants, moreover, would
always
have the compositions of their more early, ancestors before
their
minds. The unity of the persons named in the titles is
connected
with the unity of character by which all these Psalms
are
pervaded. Any one who composed at his own hand, and did
not
look at his ancestor or the early or contemporaneous instru-
ments
of that ancestor, could not have adopted it.
Ver. 1-4.—Ver. 1. 0 God, the heathen have come into
thine inheritance, they
have polluted thy holy temple; they
have laid
the bodies of thy
servants for food to the fowls of heaven,
the flesh of thy saints
to the wild beasts of the earth. Ver.
3.
They have shed their blood like water
round about Jerusa-
lean, and the was no one
to bury.
Ver. 4. We have become
a reproach to our
neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that
are round about us.—On ver. 1, Calvin: The
Psalmist says,
the
order of nature is, as it were, inverted; the heathen have
come
into the inheritance of God." Berleb.: "Faith utters a
similar
complaint in its struggles: the heathen have made an
inroad
into my heart as thy inheritance."
The pollution of the
temple
by the heathen presupposes its previous pollution by the
Israelites: comp. Ex. v. 11, xxiii. 38. Ps. lxxiv. 7, is
parallel.
On
vtyH
in ver. 2, comp. at Ps. 1. 10. That the Crx is to be
understood
of the earth and not of the land is obvious from the
term
in contrast heaven.—The expression,
"and there was none
to
bury," points to a great and general desolation, such as did
not
exist at any other period except during the Chaldean inva-
sion.—Ver.
4 is from Ps. xliv. 13.
Ver. 5-8.—Ver. 5. How long, 0 Lord, wilt thou be angry
for ever? shall thy
jealousy burn like fire! Ver. 6. Pour out
thy floods of wrath upon
the heathen who know thee not, and up-
on the kingdoms which do
not call upon thy name. Ver. 7.
4 THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
For he devours Jacob,
and they lay waste his pasture. Ver. 8.
Remember not against us
the iniquities of our ancestors, make
haste to surprise us
with thy tender mercies, for we have become
very much reduced.—On "how long . .
. for ever," in ver. 5,
comp.
at Ps. lxxiv. 9; xiii. 1. On the second clause, Deut.
xxix.
19. Ex. xx. 5.a –In ver. 6, the heathen and the kingdoms
are
not at all the heathen nations generally, but those who had
risen
up against
constantly.
Judgment begins at the house of God, but it pro-
ceeds
thence to those whom God has employed as the instruments
of
his punishment: the storm of the wrath of God always re-
mains
to fall at last upon the world at,
enmity with his church;
comp. Deut. xxxii. Ez. xxxviii. 39.b—The
sing. lkx
in ver. 7
denotes
the one soul which animates the many
membered body of
the
enemies of the
doms
referred to in ver. 6 served the king of
better
to take hvn
in the sense of pasture than of habitation:
comp.
the tyfrm
in ver. 13: they eat up
and
lay waste his pasture, his land. Ver. 6 and 7 are repeated
almost
word for word in Jer. x. 25. It has been alleged in
favour
of Jeremiah being the original author, that the prophecy
was
uttered before the destruction. But
this reason is of no
weight.
The prophecy, which designedly bears no particular
date,
was, at least in its present form, written after the destruc-
tion;
it contains much moreover which represents the destruc-
tion
as an event which had already taken place, while other por-
tions
of it again refer to it as still future, (a peculiarity which
admits
of explanation from the circumstance that the prophet is
here
giving a summary view and the substance of what had been
spoken
at different times); ver. 25 itself takes for granted that
the
heathen had already devoured
turage.
On the other hand, and in favour of the priority
of the
Psalm
before us, it may be urged that in all such cases there is
a Ven.: The interrogative form
conveys an insinuation that God ought not to de-
stroy
utterly the whole people, as there remain among them so many pious, to be chas-
tised
and purified (Dan. xi. 35), but not to be destroyed.
b Arnd: "The difference is
this: God's wrath will burn for ever against unbelievers;
with
believers, however, when they deserve punishment his wrath burns fiercely
indeed,
but
not eternally,—he visits them with the rod and chastisement for a short while,
and
with
a view to their improvement."
PSALM LXXIX. VER.
5-8. 5
a
presumption in favour of Jeremiah borrowing--it being his
usual
manner to do so; that in this chapter there are manifestly
references
to other Psalms, the preceding verse being borrowed
from
Ps. vi. 1, (comp. Kuper p. 159); that in Jeremiah the
words
occur without any connection whatever, while in the Psalm
before
us the prayer that the Lord would
pour out the flood of
his
wrath upon the heathen, is appended without anything inter-
vening
to the complaint that his zeal is
burning like fire against
in
ver. 3, (
funde,
see Ps. lxix. 24),—comp. ver. 10; that the difficult singu-
lar
lkx
is changed into the plural; and finally, that the passage
is
expanded exactly in the style of Jeremiah in quoting passages,
who
can leave nothing short and round,--and
they have eaten him
and consumed him.—Mynwxr in ver. 8, where it
stands alone, sig-
nifies
nothing else than ancestors, not antiquity. The reference to
Lev.
xxvi. 45, which it is impossible not to observe, is altogether
against
the exposition, the former sins: "and I remember to
them
the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the
their
God,"—God does not remember the sins
of their ancestors,
but
according to his own promise, the covenant
which he made
with
them. Comp. also Lev. xxvi. 39, where instead of "ances-
tors"
we have "fathers:" they desired that they may not be
treated
according to this verse, but according to the 45th of this
chapter,
or rather, that after they had experienced the treatment
referred
to in the 39th verse, they might now also enjoy the 45th,
comp.
Lam. v. 7. The guilty fathers do not at all stand in op-
position
to the innocent children. It is the uniform doctrine of
scripture
that no one is punished unless he be personally guilty,
and
that it is only in the ungodly children that the sin of the
fathers
which is represented as increased in them that is punish-
ed:
comp. the Beitr. p. 544 ss. The mention of the sins of
the
fathers, so far from exculpating, indicates the depth and the
magnitude
of the guilt. Calvin: "They
acknowledge an obstin-
ancy
of long standing, in which they have hardened themselves
against
God. And this acknowledgment corresponds to the
prophetic
punishments. For sacred history testifies that the
punishment
of the captivity was postponed till God had experi-
6 THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
enced
that their wickedness was incurable:" comp. Is. lxv. 7.
On
Mdq to surprise, comp. at Ps. xxi. 4.
Ver. 9-12.—Ver. 9. Help us, 0 God, our Salvation, for thy
name's glory's sake; and
deliver us and pardon our sins for
thy name's sake. Ver. 10. Why should the heathen say, Where
is their God? May the
vengeance of the blood of thy servants
which they have shed
become known to the heathen before our
eyes. Ver. 11. May the sighing of those who are bound come
before thee. According
to the greatness of thine arm preserve
the dying. Ver 12. And recompense to our neighbours seven-
fold into their bosom
their reproach wherewith they have re-
proached thee, 0 Lord.—In the 9th verse the
church implores
the
Lord to redeem that pledge of similar future deeds, which she
got
in his early dealings. The name, and the honour of the name,
i.
e., his glory (comp. at Ps. xxix. 1, 2), are in reality the
same:—for
the sake of thy historically manifested glory (comp.
at
Ps. xxiii. 3), for the purpose of now verifying this in sight of
the
blaspheming enemies, and to their terror.—The first half of
the
10th verse is word for word from Jo. ii. 17, and this passage
again
rests on Ex. xxxii. 12. Num. xiv. 13 ss. Deut. ix. 28. On
comparing
these passages, especially the one last quoted, it be-
comes
obvious, that "Where is their God?" signifies, "Where is
his
far-famed love towards his people and where is his omnipo-
tence?"
The ground is not one of a mere external
character:--
the
heathen would have had good reason to
speak thus, and
therefore
God must not give them any occasion to do so; he must
make
known his omnipotence, and his love, in delivering his
people;
they cannot be for ever given over to
misery: comp. the
Christology
p. 657, &c. In the second clause,
the Myg is
written
without the Vau: comp. at Ps. lxxiv. 11. "Before our
eyes,"
is from Deut. vi. 22. "The vengeance of the blood of thy
servants"
points back to "He will avenge the blood of his ser-
vants,"
in the conclusion of the Song of Moses, in Deut. xxxii.
43.—In
ver. 11, the whole people appears under the emblem of a
prisoner.
At the first clause we ought to add: as
it once did in
every
trouble, of looking to the early deliverances as pledges of
those
yet to come; and hence they possess a sure ground of con-
fidence.
The world, when it prays, prays only as an experiment,
PSALM LXXX. 7
having
no connection whatever with history. On "according to
the
greatness of thine arm," comp. Num. xiv. 19. Deut. iii. 24.
Inward
greatness is meant, energy. The htvmt is a noun
formed
from the third fem. fut. (comp. in Balaam p. 120, &c.),
very
probably by the Psalmist himself. Hence it cannot mean
"death,"
but only "that which dies," "the dying." The sons
of
the dying are those who belong to him as a personified race,
and
thus the dying themselves, just like "the sons of the needy''
in
Ps. lxxii. 4.—On "in their lap," ver. 12, comp. Is. lxv. 6-7.
Jer.
xxxii. 18. Luke vi. 38. Their reproach,
inasmuch as they
say,
Where is their God? ver. 10.
Ver. 13. And we are thy people and sheep of thy pasture,
therefore we shall
praise thee for ever, recount thy praise through
all generations. The verse is expressive
of confidence: "we shall
praise
thee" being equivalent to "thou shalt give us occasion to
do
so;" comp. Ps. xliv. 8. In reference to "the sheep of thy
pasture,"
comp. at Ps. lxxiv. 1.
PSALM LXXX.
The Psalmist prays for help on
behalf of the oppressed church,
particularly
on behalf of Joseph and Benjamin, ver. 1-3, and
describes,
in mournful language, their oppression in ver. 4-7.
In
ver. 8-13,
which
at first is carefully attended to, and had spread forth luxu-
riantly,
but now had become altogether destroyed. In ver.
19,
the Psalmist prays that God would again take this vine tree
under
his gracious protection.
Ver. 1-7 are evidently to be
considered as an Introduction;
and
the individual character of the Psalm is to be found in the
figure
of the vine tree.
The formal arrangement is
obvious,—so obvious, that light is
thrown
from this Psalm upon others, where otherwise there would
have
been ground for uncertainty; and even from this Psalm alone,
the
significance of the numbers in the arrangement of the Psalms is
placed
beyond a doubt. The whole, inclusive of the significant
title,
contains twenty verses, two decades. The introduction con-
tains
seven, and the main division twelve,—the numbers of the
8 THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
covenant,
and of the covenant people. The seven is divided into
three
and four, the preliminary complaint and the preliminary
petition;
the twelve is divided into six and six, the expanded
complaint,
which comes in immediately after the preliminary one,
and
the expanded prayer, the first and the last verses of which
are
the same.
The fundamental tone of the whole
Psalm is given in the words:
"0
God, lead us back, and cause thy face to shine, and us to be
delivered."
These words occur three times, like the Mosaic bles-
sing
to which they allude, for the purpose of making a deeper
impression
upon the mind,a at the end of the first and of the se-
cond
part of the Introduction, ver. 3 and 7, and at the end of the
main
division and of the whole, ver. 19: the names of God in
these
same verses are arranged in an ascending series,—God,
ver.
3; God of Hosts, ver. 7; Jehovah, God of Hosts, ver. 19.
They
are wanting at the end of the first
part of the main division,
because
it is bound together by the unity of the figure of the vine
tree;
the twelve also is not so decidedly divided by the six, which
is
destitute of any meaning of its own, as is the seven by the three
and
the four. The beginning, moreover, of the second half of the
main
division is externally indicated by the address, "0 God of
Hosts,"
ver. 14, just as the beginning of the second part of the
Introduction
by the address, "Jehovah, God of Hosts," ver. 4,
indicating
the termination prescribed for the refrain, to which it
had
to advance by degrees.
The Psalm is a remarkable testimony
on behalf of the catholic
spirit
by which the true
—an
illustration of the apostolic saying, "when one member suf-
fers,
all the members suffer along with it." Like the seventy-
seventh
Psalm, to which it is closely allied, it gives adequate ex-
pression
to the painful feelings awakened in
captivity
of the ten tribes; comp. the three times repeated "lead
us back," ver. 3, 7, 19.
The Septuagint have already with ac-
curacy
written: u[pe>r tou? ]Assuri<ou. For it is incontrovertibly
evident,
from reasons which never would have been overlooked,
had
it not been for the perverse disposition to assign to the Psalms
a Calvin: God did not
design to dictate a vain repetition of words to his people; but
this
support is frequently held out to them, when oppressed with evils, in order
that
nevertheless
they may courageously arise.
PSALM LXXX. 9
the
latest possible date, that we cannot refer the Psalm with se-
veral
interpreters, to the Chaldean invasion, nor yet, with others,
to
the times of the Maccabees, nor indeed to any suffering which
befel
derable
extent, and even as deprived partly of its branches, but
still
it is standing in the holy land: the people of the Lord ap-
pear,
as is evident from the thrice-repeated prayer, lead us back,
partly
as led away; and yet they are also in possession of their
own
land, as is manifest from the title, "to the Chief Musician,"
which
is wanting in Ps. lxxiv. and lxxix., and which marks out
this
Psalm as designed for a public service in the temple. By
this
the reference to the Chaldean destruction is wholly excluded.
2.
In the very first verse, God is addressed by the title: he who
leads
Joseph like a flock. The idea is altogether untenable that
Joseph,
who appears always as the leader of the ten tribes, and
who
is spoken of, in Ps. lxxviii. 67, in opposition to
here
used for the whole of
the
time existed. Even in Obed. ver. 18, the house of Joseph
denotes
the ten tribes (comp. Caspari), and, in like manner, in
Amos
vi. 6, Joseph is used only of the ten tribes; comp. Ch. B.
Michaelis.
3. In ver. 2, the tribes on whose behalf the help of
God
is supplicated are Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Every
thing here depends upon determining whether, in the divi-
sion
of the state into two kingdoms, the Benjamites adhered to
(Comp.
for example Winer in his dic., Gesenius in his Thesau-
rus.)
It is, however, involved here in
inextricable difficulties; as
if
Benjamin belonged to the
refers
to the misery of the whole people, there can be no reason
assigned
why Benjamin is named here, and not
the
other hand, maintain that, with the exception of
which
lay close on the boundaries of Judah, by whom it was con-
quered,
and by whom, in common with Benjamin, it was inhabited
(comp.
Raumer, p. 334), and of that portion of its environs which
lay
on the side of Benjamin, the declivity, namely, slanting down,
from
the upper city, Benjamin adhered to Joseph. The presump-
tions
are all in favour of this view. Benjamin and Joseph were
bound
together by ties of an ancient character. They were both
the
darling sons of beloved Rachel (Gen. xliv. 27-29), and were
10 THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
united
to each other in the tenderest affection, Gen. xliii. 29-
30-34.
In travelling through the wilderness we find them as
here
united to each other; comp. Num. ii. 17, &c., x. 21-24. It
is
clear, from 2 Sam. xix. 21, that the bond of union between
Joseph
and Benjamin was very close even in David's time: in
this
passage Simei says that he comes first of the whole house of
Joseph.
Further, Benjamin is the very last tribe who can be
supposed
to have entertained any friendly feeling towards
inasmuch
as the honour and pre-eminence which belonged to it
during
the reign of Saul was transferred to
xxii.
7); and history affords evidence that, even in David's time,
there
existed a spirit of deep-rooted hostility. Shimei, on the
rebellion
of Absalom, gave utterance to the spirit of the tribe;
the
rebel
the
numbering of the people, with the exception of Levi, which,
from
the nature of the case, could not be included, the only tribe
which
was not numbered was Benjamin, undoubtedly because
Joab
did not choose to provoke its seditious spirit. If we turn
now
to the evidence in support of the opposite view, we find, as
wholly
favouring it, the passage 1 Kings xii. 21, according to
which
Rehoboam assembled the whole house of Judah and the
tribe of Benjamin. But a whole series of
other passages demon-
strates
that the author loosely, though, after all, with sufficient
accuracy,
as the real state of matters was universally known, em-
ployed
the tribe of Benjamin to denote that small portion of the
tribe
which was incorporated with
as
understood: so far as it remained faithful to
ing
to 1 Kings xi. 13, 32, 36, xii. 20, it was only the single
tribe
of
utterly
preposterous to suppose that in all these passages Benja-
min,
which always occupied a place of distinguished honour among
the
tribes, is passed over in silence, on account of its littleness.
In
1 Kings xii. 17, the only individuals not Jews who submitted
to
the government of Rehoboam are "the children of
dwelt
in the cities of
link
between xii. 21 and the passages above quoted, and gives to
the
former the necessary limitation. Further, if we join Benja-
min
to
for
Simeon, who is commonly reckoned among them, manifestly
PSALM LXXX. 11
cannot
be counted. That tribe, according to Gen. xlix. 7, ought
to
be found like Levi, broken up into pieces; according to Jos.
xix.
1, "its inheritance was in the midst of the tribe of
not
certainly any contiguous portion of the land, but separate,
single
cities, lying at a distance from each other: comp. Bachiene
i.
2, 408. The Simeonites belong, assuredly, to "the children
of
nally
were situated within the tribe of
in
the list of these cities, Bach. § 409. They must necessarily
have
held fast by
was
quite natural that they should amalgamate with
this
is sufficient to explain the fact that they are nowhere men-
tioned
as a part of the
two
kingdoms they became extinct as a tribe. This peculiar
state
of matters explains 1 Kings xi. 30, &c., according to which
the
whole number of the tribes was twelve, of which one remained
faithful
to the house of David, and ten took part with Jeroboam.
Now,
if we leave out Simeon, it becomes necessary to take in
Benjamin,
in order to complete the number ten.—It is, therefore,
evident
that the three passages above quoted represent
only
in a limited sense, whose leading tribes they name, in ac-
cordance
with original historical relations, and agreeably to later
usage;
and, therefore, the Psalm cannot be referred either to the
Babylonian
captivity or to the times of the Maccabees.a
Title: To the Chief Musician, on lilies, a testimony of Asaph,
a Psalm. This title is formed in
an original manner after those of
the
two Davidic Psalms, the sixtieth and the sixty-ninth. "To the
Chief
Musician" is important, because it skews that the Psalmist
is
here acting as the organ of the whole church. Instead of lx
pointing
out the object (comp. at title of Ps. vi.) we have lf in
the
two fundamental passages, The lilies
are an emblem of what is
lovely
(comp. at Ps. xlv.), here, as in Ps. lxix., of the lovely salva-
tion
of the Lord, his tvfvwy: comp. hfwvn with which the re-
frain
generally ends, the peculiarly prominent word of the Psalm,
and
the htfvwy,
in ver. 2. The tvdf, which, on account of the ac-
cusative,
cannot be connected with Mynww, signifies always law
a Calvin: It would have
been absurd to have passed over the tribe Judah, and the
sacred
city itself, and to have given the prominence to Joseph, Manasseh, Ephraim, and
Benjamin,
if the language had not been designed to apply specially to
12 THE BOOK OF PSALMS.
(comp.
at Ps. lx. title), and generally denotes the
divine law, as
given
in the Books of Moses; in this way also it is used in the
Asaphic
Psalms lxxviii. 5, lxxxi. 5. That it is used in the
same
sense here also, that the Psalmist designates his poem a
law, because he does not
prescribe a way of salvation at his own
hand,
but merely points to the one which had already been de-
scribed
in the law, and comes forward as its expounder, is evi-
dent
from the reference to the title of Ps. lx., where the original
itself
from which the Psalmist merely copies, is named tvdf,
and
from the fact that the Psalm really throughout depends
upon
the law, especially the refrain which gives its fundamental
tone.
The particular application of tvdf is to be got from the
word
immediately preceding, on the lilies:
"a law which treats
of
the way of obtaining deliverance."a The Jsxl tvdf, cor-
responds
to the Jsxl lykWm an instruction of Asaph in
Psalms
lxxiv. and lxxviii.; but it is a stronger and more em-
phatic
expression: comp. also, Hear, my people,
my law in Ps.
lxxviii.
1.
Ver. 1-3.--Ver. 1. 0 thou Shepherd of
leadest Joseph as the
sheep; thou who sittest enthroned upon the
cherubim, shine forth. Ver. 2. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin,
and Manasseh, stir up
thy strength and come for help to us.
Ver.
3. 0 God, lead us back, and cause thy
face to shine, and us
to be delivered.—The "thou
Shepherd of
at
Ps. xxiii. 1), refers to Gen. xlviii. 15; xlix. 24, where in
Joseph's
blessing God is named the Shepherd of Israel. The
expression,
"who leadest Joseph," &c., is the development of the
first
clause, and marks directly that part of
time
stood particularly in need of the shepherd care of God. In
the
second clause prominence is given to the omnipotence
of God