This Psalm consists of two divisions, separated by _Selah_. i. A prayer for help in imminent peril from godless enemies (Psalms 54:1-3). ii. A profession of unshaken confidence that God will defend and avenge the Psalmist, with a vow of thanksgiving for the deliverance which he is well assured is... [ Continue Reading ]
_by thy name_ God's name is the manifestation of His character, the sum of His revealed attributes. The Psalmist can appeal to it, for He has declared that it is His will to save those who put their trust in Him. Cp. Psalms 5:11. _judge me_ Do me justice. Confident in the goodness of his cause, he i... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is repeated almost verbatim in Psalms 86:14 (a mosaic constructed of fragments of other Psalms), with the change, accidental or intentional, of _strangers_into _proud_. The consonants of the Heb. words zârîm, _strangers_, and zçdîm, _proud_, are almost identical, and some Heb. MSS. and th... [ Continue Reading ]
_God_is _mine helper_ Taught by his past experience he can say not merely that God _will_help him, but that God _is_on his side, so that the issue cannot be doubtful. _the Lord_is _with them that uphold my soul_ R.V., is of them that uphold my soul: perhaps better, is the Upholder of my soul. The ex... [ Continue Reading ]
A confident expectation of deliverance and vow of thanksgiving.... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall requite the evil unto them that lie in wait for me: Destroy thou them in thy truth. God will cause the evil which they are plotting to recoil upon their own heads: or, according to the _K'thîbh_or written text (_Introd_. p. li), _The evil shall return_&c.: cp. Psalms 7:16. _Enemies_(A.V.)... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will freely sacrifice unto thee_ Or, With a free will I will sacrifice unto thee. So the LXX and Jer. R.V., with a freewill offering. But cp. Numbers 15:3, "a burnt offering or sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or of freewill, or in your set feasts." _I will praise thy name, O Lord_ R.V., I will g... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he hath delivered me_ Such a transition from the second person of Psalms 54:6 to the third person is quite possible: cp. the converse transition in Psalms 54:5: but the subject of the verb maybe -the Name of Jehovah." Cp. Leviticus 24:11; Isaiah 30:27. The perfect tense (-hath delivered" … -ha... [ Continue Reading ]