Numbering Fleeting Days While Hoping in the Lord

Psa 39:4-6 (Hebrew_Bible_39:5-7) He prays God to set the transitoriness of earthly life clearly before his eyes (cf. Psa 90:12); for if life is only a few spans long, then even his suffering and the prosperity of the ungodly will last only a short time. Oh that God would then grant him to know his end (Job 6:11), i. e. , the end of his life, which is at the same time the end of his affliction, and the measure of his days, how it is with this (מה, interrog.

extenuantis , as in Psa 8:5), in order that he may become fully conscious of his own frailty! Hupfeld corrects the text to אני מה־חלד, after the analogy of Psa 89:48, because חדל cannot signify “frail. ” But חדל signifies that which leaves off and ceases, and consequently in this connection, finite and transitory or frail. מה, quam , in connection with an adjective, as in Psa 8:2; Psa 31:20; Psa 36:8; Psa 66:3; Psa 133:1.

By הן (the customary form of introducing the propositio minor , Lev 10:18; Lev 25:20) the preceding petition is supported. God has, indeed, made the days, i. e. , the lifetime, of a man טפחות, handbreadths, i. e. , He has allotted to it only the short extension of a few handbreadths (cf. ימים, a few days, e. g. , Isa 65:20), of which nine make a yard (cf. πήχυιος χρόνος in Mimnermus, and 1Sa 20:3); the duration of human life (on חלד vid.

, Psa 17:14) is as a vanishing nothing before God the eternal One. The particle אך is originally affirmative, and starting from that sense becomes restrictive; just as רק is originally restrictive and then affirmative. Sometimes also, as is commonly the case with אכן, the affirmative signification passes over into the adversative (cf. verum, verum enim vero ).

In our passage, agreeably to the restrictive sense, it is to be explained thus: nothing but mere nothingness (cf. Psa 45:14; Jam 1:2) is every man נצּב, standing firmly, i. e. , though he stand never so firmly, though he be never so stedfast (Zec 11:16). Here the music rises to tones of bitter lament, and the song continues in Psa 39:7 with the same theme. צלם, belonging to the same root as צל, signifies a shadow-outline, an image; the בּ is, as in Psa 35:2, Beth essentiae : he walks about consisting only of an unsubstantial shadow.

Only הבל, breath-like, or after the manner of breath (Psa 144:4), from empty, vain motives and with vain results, do they make a disturbance (pausal fut. energicum , as in Psa 36:8); and he who restlessly and noisily exerts himself knows not who will suddenly snatch together, i. e. , take altogether greedily to himself, the many things that he heaps up (צבר, as in Job 27:16); cf.

Isa 33:4, and on - ām = αὐτά, Lev 15:10 (in connection with which אלה הדברים, cf. Isa 42:16, is in the mind of the speaker).

Psa 39:7-11 (Hebrew_Bible_39:8-12) It is customary to begin a distinct turning-point of a discourse with ועתּה: and now, i. e. , in connection with this nothingness of vanity of a life which is so full of suffering and unrest, what am I to hope, quid sperem (concerning the perfect, vid. , on Psa 11:3)? The answer to this question which he himself throws out is, that Jahve is the goal of his waiting or hoping.

It might appear strange that the poet is willing to make the brevity of human life a reason for being calm, and a ground of comfort. But here we have the explanation. Although not expressly assured of a future life of blessedness, his faith, even in the midst of death, lays hold on Jahve as the Living One and as the God of the living. It is just this which is so heroic in the Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the riddles of the present, and in the face of the future which is lost in dismal night, it casts itself unreservedly into the arms of God.

While, however, sin is the root of all evil, the poet prays in Psa 39:9 before all else, that God would remove from him all the transgressions by which he has fully incurred his affliction; and while, given over to the consequences of his sin, he would become, not only to his own dishonour but also to the dishonour of God, a derision to the unbelieving, he prays in Psa 39:9 that God would not permit it to come to this. כּל, Psa 39:9 , has Mercha , and is consequently, as in Psa 35:10, to be read with å (not ŏ ), since an accent can never be placed by Kametz chatûph .

Concerning נבל, Psa 39:9 , see on Psa 14:1. As to the rest he is silent and calm; for God is the author, viz. , of his affliction (עשׂה, used just as absolutely as in Ps 22:32; Psa 37:5; 52:11, Lam 1:21). Without ceasing still to regard intently the prosperity of the ungodly, he recognises the hand of God in his affliction, and knows that he has not merited anything better.

But it is permitted to him to pray that God would suffer mercy to take the place of right. נגעך is the name he gives to his affliction, as in Psa 38:12, as being a stroke (blow) of divine wrath; תּגרת ידך, as a quarrel into which God’s hand has fallen with him; and by אני, with the almighty (punishing) hand of God, he contrasts himself the feeble one, to whom, if the present state of things continues, ruin is certain.

In Psa 39:12 he puts his own personal experience into the form of a general maxim: when with rebukes (תּוכחות from תּוכחת, collateral form with תּוכחה, תּוכחות) Thou chastenest a man on account of iniquity ( perf. conditionale ), Thou makest his pleasantness (Isa 53:3), i. e. , his bodily beauty (Job 33:21), to melt away, moulder away (ותּמס, fut. apoc . from המסה to cause to melt, Psa 6:7), like the moth (Hos 5:12), so that it falls away, as a moth-eaten garment falls into rags.

Thus do all men become mere nothing. They are sinful and perishing. The thought expressed in Psa 39:6 is here repeated as a refrain. The music again strikes in here, as there.

Psa 39:7-11 (Hebrew_Bible_39:8-12) It is customary to begin a distinct turning-point of a discourse with ועתּה: and now, i. e. , in connection with this nothingness of vanity of a life which is so full of suffering and unrest, what am I to hope, quid sperem (concerning the perfect, vid. , on Psa 11:3)? The answer to this question which he himself throws out is, that Jahve is the goal of his waiting or hoping.

It might appear strange that the poet is willing to make the brevity of human life a reason for being calm, and a ground of comfort. But here we have the explanation. Although not expressly assured of a future life of blessedness, his faith, even in the midst of death, lays hold on Jahve as the Living One and as the God of the living. It is just this which is so heroic in the Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the riddles of the present, and in the face of the future which is lost in dismal night, it casts itself unreservedly into the arms of God.

While, however, sin is the root of all evil, the poet prays in Psa 39:9 before all else, that God would remove from him all the transgressions by which he has fully incurred his affliction; and while, given over to the consequences of his sin, he would become, not only to his own dishonour but also to the dishonour of God, a derision to the unbelieving, he prays in Psa 39:9 that God would not permit it to come to this. כּל, Psa 39:9 , has Mercha , and is consequently, as in Psa 35:10, to be read with å (not ŏ ), since an accent can never be placed by Kametz chatûph .

Concerning נבל, Psa 39:9 , see on Psa 14:1. As to the rest he is silent and calm; for God is the author, viz. , of his affliction (עשׂה, used just as absolutely as in Ps 22:32; Psa 37:5; 52:11, Lam 1:21). Without ceasing still to regard intently the prosperity of the ungodly, he recognises the hand of God in his affliction, and knows that he has not merited anything better.

But it is permitted to him to pray that God would suffer mercy to take the place of right. נגעך is the name he gives to his affliction, as in Psa 38:12, as being a stroke (blow) of divine wrath; תּגרת ידך, as a quarrel into which God’s hand has fallen with him; and by אני, with the almighty (punishing) hand of God, he contrasts himself the feeble one, to whom, if the present state of things continues, ruin is certain.

In Psa 39:12 he puts his own personal experience into the form of a general maxim: when with rebukes (תּוכחות from תּוכחת, collateral form with תּוכחה, תּוכחות) Thou chastenest a man on account of iniquity ( perf. conditionale ), Thou makest his pleasantness (Isa 53:3), i. e. , his bodily beauty (Job 33:21), to melt away, moulder away (ותּמס, fut. apoc . from המסה to cause to melt, Psa 6:7), like the moth (Hos 5:12), so that it falls away, as a moth-eaten garment falls into rags.

Thus do all men become mere nothing. They are sinful and perishing. The thought expressed in Psa 39:6 is here repeated as a refrain. The music again strikes in here, as there.

Psa 39:7-11 (Hebrew_Bible_39:8-12) It is customary to begin a distinct turning-point of a discourse with ועתּה: and now, i. e. , in connection with this nothingness of vanity of a life which is so full of suffering and unrest, what am I to hope, quid sperem (concerning the perfect, vid. , on Psa 11:3)? The answer to this question which he himself throws out is, that Jahve is the goal of his waiting or hoping.

It might appear strange that the poet is willing to make the brevity of human life a reason for being calm, and a ground of comfort. But here we have the explanation. Although not expressly assured of a future life of blessedness, his faith, even in the midst of death, lays hold on Jahve as the Living One and as the God of the living. It is just this which is so heroic in the Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the riddles of the present, and in the face of the future which is lost in dismal night, it casts itself unreservedly into the arms of God.

While, however, sin is the root of all evil, the poet prays in Psa 39:9 before all else, that God would remove from him all the transgressions by which he has fully incurred his affliction; and while, given over to the consequences of his sin, he would become, not only to his own dishonour but also to the dishonour of God, a derision to the unbelieving, he prays in Psa 39:9 that God would not permit it to come to this. כּל, Psa 39:9 , has Mercha , and is consequently, as in Psa 35:10, to be read with å (not ŏ ), since an accent can never be placed by Kametz chatûph .

Concerning נבל, Psa 39:9 , see on Psa 14:1. As to the rest he is silent and calm; for God is the author, viz. , of his affliction (עשׂה, used just as absolutely as in Ps 22:32; Psa 37:5; 52:11, Lam 1:21). Without ceasing still to regard intently the prosperity of the ungodly, he recognises the hand of God in his affliction, and knows that he has not merited anything better.

But it is permitted to him to pray that God would suffer mercy to take the place of right. נגעך is the name he gives to his affliction, as in Psa 38:12, as being a stroke (blow) of divine wrath; תּגרת ידך, as a quarrel into which God’s hand has fallen with him; and by אני, with the almighty (punishing) hand of God, he contrasts himself the feeble one, to whom, if the present state of things continues, ruin is certain.

In Psa 39:12 he puts his own personal experience into the form of a general maxim: when with rebukes (תּוכחות from תּוכחת, collateral form with תּוכחה, תּוכחות) Thou chastenest a man on account of iniquity ( perf. conditionale ), Thou makest his pleasantness (Isa 53:3), i. e. , his bodily beauty (Job 33:21), to melt away, moulder away (ותּמס, fut. apoc . from המסה to cause to melt, Psa 6:7), like the moth (Hos 5:12), so that it falls away, as a moth-eaten garment falls into rags.

Thus do all men become mere nothing. They are sinful and perishing. The thought expressed in Psa 39:6 is here repeated as a refrain. The music again strikes in here, as there.

Psa 39:7-11 (Hebrew_Bible_39:8-12) It is customary to begin a distinct turning-point of a discourse with ועתּה: and now, i. e. , in connection with this nothingness of vanity of a life which is so full of suffering and unrest, what am I to hope, quid sperem (concerning the perfect, vid. , on Psa 11:3)? The answer to this question which he himself throws out is, that Jahve is the goal of his waiting or hoping.

It might appear strange that the poet is willing to make the brevity of human life a reason for being calm, and a ground of comfort. But here we have the explanation. Although not expressly assured of a future life of blessedness, his faith, even in the midst of death, lays hold on Jahve as the Living One and as the God of the living. It is just this which is so heroic in the Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the riddles of the present, and in the face of the future which is lost in dismal night, it casts itself unreservedly into the arms of God.

While, however, sin is the root of all evil, the poet prays in Psa 39:9 before all else, that God would remove from him all the transgressions by which he has fully incurred his affliction; and while, given over to the consequences of his sin, he would become, not only to his own dishonour but also to the dishonour of God, a derision to the unbelieving, he prays in Psa 39:9 that God would not permit it to come to this. כּל, Psa 39:9 , has Mercha , and is consequently, as in Psa 35:10, to be read with å (not ŏ ), since an accent can never be placed by Kametz chatûph .

Concerning נבל, Psa 39:9 , see on Psa 14:1. As to the rest he is silent and calm; for God is the author, viz. , of his affliction (עשׂה, used just as absolutely as in Ps 22:32; Psa 37:5; 52:11, Lam 1:21). Without ceasing still to regard intently the prosperity of the ungodly, he recognises the hand of God in his affliction, and knows that he has not merited anything better.

But it is permitted to him to pray that God would suffer mercy to take the place of right. נגעך is the name he gives to his affliction, as in Psa 38:12, as being a stroke (blow) of divine wrath; תּגרת ידך, as a quarrel into which God’s hand has fallen with him; and by אני, with the almighty (punishing) hand of God, he contrasts himself the feeble one, to whom, if the present state of things continues, ruin is certain.

In Psa 39:12 he puts his own personal experience into the form of a general maxim: when with rebukes (תּוכחות from תּוכחת, collateral form with תּוכחה, תּוכחות) Thou chastenest a man on account of iniquity ( perf. conditionale ), Thou makest his pleasantness (Isa 53:3), i. e. , his bodily beauty (Job 33:21), to melt away, moulder away (ותּמס, fut. apoc . from המסה to cause to melt, Psa 6:7), like the moth (Hos 5:12), so that it falls away, as a moth-eaten garment falls into rags.

Thus do all men become mere nothing. They are sinful and perishing. The thought expressed in Psa 39:6 is here repeated as a refrain. The music again strikes in here, as there.

Psa 39:7-11 (Hebrew_Bible_39:8-12) It is customary to begin a distinct turning-point of a discourse with ועתּה: and now, i. e. , in connection with this nothingness of vanity of a life which is so full of suffering and unrest, what am I to hope, quid sperem (concerning the perfect, vid. , on Psa 11:3)? The answer to this question which he himself throws out is, that Jahve is the goal of his waiting or hoping.

It might appear strange that the poet is willing to make the brevity of human life a reason for being calm, and a ground of comfort. But here we have the explanation. Although not expressly assured of a future life of blessedness, his faith, even in the midst of death, lays hold on Jahve as the Living One and as the God of the living. It is just this which is so heroic in the Old Testament faith, that in the midst of the riddles of the present, and in the face of the future which is lost in dismal night, it casts itself unreservedly into the arms of God.

While, however, sin is the root of all evil, the poet prays in Psa 39:9 before all else, that God would remove from him all the transgressions by which he has fully incurred his affliction; and while, given over to the consequences of his sin, he would become, not only to his own dishonour but also to the dishonour of God, a derision to the unbelieving, he prays in Psa 39:9 that God would not permit it to come to this. כּל, Psa 39:9 , has Mercha , and is consequently, as in Psa 35:10, to be read with å (not ŏ ), since an accent can never be placed by Kametz chatûph .

Concerning נבל, Psa 39:9 , see on Psa 14:1. As to the rest he is silent and calm; for God is the author, viz. , of his affliction (עשׂה, used just as absolutely as in Ps 22:32; Psa 37:5; 52:11, Lam 1:21). Without ceasing still to regard intently the prosperity of the ungodly, he recognises the hand of God in his affliction, and knows that he has not merited anything better.

But it is permitted to him to pray that God would suffer mercy to take the place of right. נגעך is the name he gives to his affliction, as in Psa 38:12, as being a stroke (blow) of divine wrath; תּגרת ידך, as a quarrel into which God’s hand has fallen with him; and by אני, with the almighty (punishing) hand of God, he contrasts himself the feeble one, to whom, if the present state of things continues, ruin is certain.

In Psa 39:12 he puts his own personal experience into the form of a general maxim: when with rebukes (תּוכחות from תּוכחת, collateral form with תּוכחה, תּוכחות) Thou chastenest a man on account of iniquity ( perf. conditionale ), Thou makest his pleasantness (Isa 53:3), i. e. , his bodily beauty (Job 33:21), to melt away, moulder away (ותּמס, fut. apoc . from המסה to cause to melt, Psa 6:7), like the moth (Hos 5:12), so that it falls away, as a moth-eaten garment falls into rags.

Thus do all men become mere nothing. They are sinful and perishing. The thought expressed in Psa 39:6 is here repeated as a refrain. The music again strikes in here, as there.

Psa 39:12-13 (Hebrew_Bible_39:13-14) Finally, the poet renews the prayer for an alleviation of his sufferings, basing it upon the shortness of the earthly pilgrimage. The urgent שׁמעה is here fuller toned, being שׁמעה. Side by side with the language of prayer, tears even appear here as prayer that is intelligible to God; for when the gates of prayer seem to be closed, the gates of tears still remain unclosed (שׁערי דמעות לא ננעלו), B.

Berachoth 32b . As a reason for his being heard, David appeals to the instability and finite character of this earthly life in language which we also hear from his own lips in 1Ch 29:15. גּר is the stranger who travels about and sojourns as a guest in a country that is not his native land; תּושׁב is a sojourner, or one enjoying the protection of the laws, who, without possessing any hereditary title, has settled down there, and to whom a settlement is allotted by sufferance.

The earth is God's; that which may be said of the Holy Land (Lev 25:23) may be said of the whole earth; man has no right upon it, he only remains there so long as God permits him. כּכל־אבותי glances back even to the patriarchs (Gen 47:9, cf. Psa 23:4). Israel is, it is true, at the present time in possession of a fixed dwelling-place, but only as the gift of his God, and for each individual it is only during his life, which is but a handbreadth long.

May Jahve, then - so David prays - turn away His look of wrath from him, in order that he may shine forth, become cheerful or clear up, before he goes hence and it is too late. השׁע is imper. apoc. Hiph . for השׁעה (in the signification of Kal ), and ought, according to the form הרב, properly to be השׁע; it is, however, pointed just like the imper. Hiph . of שׁעע in Isa 6:10, without any necessity for explaining it as meaning obline ( oculos tuos ) = connive (Abulwalîd), which would be an expression unworthy of God.

It is on the contrary to be rendered: look away from me; on which compare Job 7:19; Job 14:6; on אבליגה cf. ib . Job 10:20; Job 9:27; on אלך בּטרם, ib . Job 10:21; on ואיננּי, ib . Job 7:8, Job 7:21. The close of the Psalm, consequently, is re-echoed in many ways in the Book of Job The Book of Job is occupied with the same riddle as that with which this Psalm is occupied.

But in the solution of it, it advances a step further. David does not know how to disassociate in his mind sin and suffering, and wrath and suffering. The Book of Job, on the contrary, thinks of suffering and love together; and in the truth that suffering also, even though it be unto death, must serve the highest interests of those who love God, it possesses a satisfactory solution.

(In the Hebrew, v. 1 is the designation 'A Psalm of David, when he fled before Absolom, his son.' ; from then on v. 1-8 in English translation corresponds to v. 2-9 in the Hebrew)

Psa 39:12-13 (Hebrew_Bible_39:13-14) Finally, the poet renews the prayer for an alleviation of his sufferings, basing it upon the shortness of the earthly pilgrimage. The urgent שׁמעה is here fuller toned, being שׁמעה. Side by side with the language of prayer, tears even appear here as prayer that is intelligible to God; for when the gates of prayer seem to be closed, the gates of tears still remain unclosed (שׁערי דמעות לא ננעלו), B.

Berachoth 32b . As a reason for his being heard, David appeals to the instability and finite character of this earthly life in language which we also hear from his own lips in 1Ch 29:15. גּר is the stranger who travels about and sojourns as a guest in a country that is not his native land; תּושׁב is a sojourner, or one enjoying the protection of the laws, who, without possessing any hereditary title, has settled down there, and to whom a settlement is allotted by sufferance.

The earth is God's; that which may be said of the Holy Land (Lev 25:23) may be said of the whole earth; man has no right upon it, he only remains there so long as God permits him. כּכל־אבותי glances back even to the patriarchs (Gen 47:9, cf. Psa 23:4). Israel is, it is true, at the present time in possession of a fixed dwelling-place, but only as the gift of his God, and for each individual it is only during his life, which is but a handbreadth long.

May Jahve, then - so David prays - turn away His look of wrath from him, in order that he may shine forth, become cheerful or clear up, before he goes hence and it is too late. השׁע is imper. apoc. Hiph . for השׁעה (in the signification of Kal ), and ought, according to the form הרב, properly to be השׁע; it is, however, pointed just like the imper. Hiph . of שׁעע in Isa 6:10, without any necessity for explaining it as meaning obline ( oculos tuos ) = connive (Abulwalîd), which would be an expression unworthy of God.

It is on the contrary to be rendered: look away from me; on which compare Job 7:19; Job 14:6; on אבליגה cf. ib . Job 10:20; Job 9:27; on אלך בּטרם, ib . Job 10:21; on ואיננּי, ib . Job 7:8, Job 7:21. The close of the Psalm, consequently, is re-echoed in many ways in the Book of Job The Book of Job is occupied with the same riddle as that with which this Psalm is occupied.

But in the solution of it, it advances a step further. David does not know how to disassociate in his mind sin and suffering, and wrath and suffering. The Book of Job, on the contrary, thinks of suffering and love together; and in the truth that suffering also, even though it be unto death, must serve the highest interests of those who love God, it possesses a satisfactory solution.

(In the Hebrew, v. 1 is the designation 'A Psalm of David, when he fled before Absolom, his son.' ; from then on v. 1-8 in English translation corresponds to v. 2-9 in the Hebrew)

Psa 39:1-13 is followed by Psalms 40, because the language of thanksgiving with which it opens is, as it were, the echo of the language of payer contained in the former. If Psalms 40 was composed by David, and not rather by Jeremiah-a question which can only be decided by including Ps 69 (which see) in the same investigation-it belongs to the number of those Psalms which were composed between Gibea of Saul and Ziklag.

The mention of the roll of the book in v. 8 harmonizes with the retrospective references to the Tôra, which abound in the Psalms belonging to the time of Saul. And to this we may add the vow to praise Jahve בּקהל, Psa 40:10, cf. Psa 22:26; Psa 35:18; the expression, “more in number than the hairs of my head,” Psa 40:13, cf. Psa 69:5; the wish יצּרוּני, Psa 40:12, cf.

Psa 25:21; the mocking האח האה, Psa 40:16, cf. Psa 35:21, Psa 35:25; and much besides, on which vid. , my Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews , S. 457 transl. vol. ii. p. 149. The second half has an independent form in Psa 70:1-5. It is far better adapted to form an independent Psalm than the first half, which merely looks back into the past, and for this very reason contains no prayer.

The long lines, more in keeping with the style of prayer than of song, which alternate with disproportionately shorter ones, are characteristic of this Psalm. If with these long lines we associate a few others, which are likewise more or less distinctly indicated, then the Psalm can be easily divided into seven six-line strophes. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 10:5-10, Psa 40:7 of this Psalm are, by following the lxx, taken as the language of the Christ at His coming into the world.

There can be no doubt in this particular instance that, as we look to the second part of the Psalm, this rendering is brought about typically. The words of David, the anointed one, but only now on the way to the throne, are so moulded by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of prophecy, that they sound at the same time like the words of the second David, passing through suffering to glory, whose offering up of Himself is the close of the animal sacrifices, and whose person and work are the very kernel and star of the roll of the Law.

We are not thereby compelled to understand the whole Psalm as typically predictive. It again descends from the typically prophetic height to which it has risen even from Psa 40:10 onwards; and from Psa 40:13 onwards, the typically prophetic strain which still lingers in Psa 40:10 and Psa 40:11 has entirely ceased.

Psa 40:1-4 David, who, though not without some hesitation, we regard as the author, now finds himself in a situation in which, on the one hand, he has just been rescued from danger, and, on the other, is still exposed to peril. Under such circumstances praise rightly occupies the first place, as in general, according to Psa 50:23, gratitude is the way to salvation.

His hope, although תּוחלת ממשּׁכה (Pro 13:12), has not deceived him; he is rescued, and can now again sing a new song of thanksgiving, an example for others, strengthening their trust. קוּה קוּיתי, I waited with constancy and perseverance. יהוה is the accusative as in Psa 25:5; Psa 130:5, and not the vocative as in Psa 39:8. אזנו is to be supplied in thought to ויּט, although after the analogy of Psa 17:6; Psa 31:3, one might have looked for the Hiph .

wayaT instead of the Kal . בור שׁאון does not mean a pit of roaring (of water), since שׁאון standing alone (see, on the other hand, Psa 65:8, Isa 17:12.) has not this meaning; and, moreover, “rushing, roaring” (Hengstenberg), tumultuous waters of a pit or a cistern does not furnish any idea that is true to nature; neither does it mean a pit of falling in, since שׁאה does not exhibit the signification deorsum labi ; but the meaning is: a pit of devastation, of destruction, of ruin (Jer 25:31; Jer 46:17), vid.

, supra on Psa 35:8. Another figure is “mire of the marsh” (יון found only here and in Psa 69:3), i. e. , water, in the miry bottom of which one can find no firm footing - a combination like מטר־גּשׁם, Zec 10:1, אדמת־עפר, Dan 12:2, explained in the Mishna, Mikvaoth ix. 2, by טיט הבורות (mire of the cisterns). Taking them out of this, Jahve placed his feet upon a rock, established his footsteps, i.

e. , removed him from the danger which surrounded him, and gave him firm ground under his feet. The high rock and the firm footsteps are the opposites of the deep pit and the yielding miry bottom. This deliverance afforded him new matter for thanksgiving (cf. Psa 33:3), and became in his mouth “praise to our God;” for the deliverance of the chosen king is an act of the God of Israel on behalf of His chosen people.

The futures in Psa 40:4 (with an alliteration similar to Psa 52:8) indicate, by their being thus cumulative, that they are intended of the present and of that which still continues in the future.

Psa 40:1-4 David, who, though not without some hesitation, we regard as the author, now finds himself in a situation in which, on the one hand, he has just been rescued from danger, and, on the other, is still exposed to peril. Under such circumstances praise rightly occupies the first place, as in general, according to Psa 50:23, gratitude is the way to salvation.

His hope, although תּוחלת ממשּׁכה (Pro 13:12), has not deceived him; he is rescued, and can now again sing a new song of thanksgiving, an example for others, strengthening their trust. קוּה קוּיתי, I waited with constancy and perseverance. יהוה is the accusative as in Psa 25:5; Psa 130:5, and not the vocative as in Psa 39:8. אזנו is to be supplied in thought to ויּט, although after the analogy of Psa 17:6; Psa 31:3, one might have looked for the Hiph .

wayaT instead of the Kal . בור שׁאון does not mean a pit of roaring (of water), since שׁאון standing alone (see, on the other hand, Psa 65:8, Isa 17:12.) has not this meaning; and, moreover, “rushing, roaring” (Hengstenberg), tumultuous waters of a pit or a cistern does not furnish any idea that is true to nature; neither does it mean a pit of falling in, since שׁאה does not exhibit the signification deorsum labi ; but the meaning is: a pit of devastation, of destruction, of ruin (Jer 25:31; Jer 46:17), vid.

, supra on Psa 35:8. Another figure is “mire of the marsh” (יון found only here and in Psa 69:3), i. e. , water, in the miry bottom of which one can find no firm footing - a combination like מטר־גּשׁם, Zec 10:1, אדמת־עפר, Dan 12:2, explained in the Mishna, Mikvaoth ix. 2, by טיט הבורות (mire of the cisterns). Taking them out of this, Jahve placed his feet upon a rock, established his footsteps, i.

e. , removed him from the danger which surrounded him, and gave him firm ground under his feet. The high rock and the firm footsteps are the opposites of the deep pit and the yielding miry bottom. This deliverance afforded him new matter for thanksgiving (cf. Psa 33:3), and became in his mouth “praise to our God;” for the deliverance of the chosen king is an act of the God of Israel on behalf of His chosen people.

The futures in Psa 40:4 (with an alliteration similar to Psa 52:8) indicate, by their being thus cumulative, that they are intended of the present and of that which still continues in the future.

Psa 40:1-4 David, who, though not without some hesitation, we regard as the author, now finds himself in a situation in which, on the one hand, he has just been rescued from danger, and, on the other, is still exposed to peril. Under such circumstances praise rightly occupies the first place, as in general, according to Psa 50:23, gratitude is the way to salvation.

His hope, although תּוחלת ממשּׁכה (Pro 13:12), has not deceived him; he is rescued, and can now again sing a new song of thanksgiving, an example for others, strengthening their trust. קוּה קוּיתי, I waited with constancy and perseverance. יהוה is the accusative as in Psa 25:5; Psa 130:5, and not the vocative as in Psa 39:8. אזנו is to be supplied in thought to ויּט, although after the analogy of Psa 17:6; Psa 31:3, one might have looked for the Hiph .

wayaT instead of the Kal . בור שׁאון does not mean a pit of roaring (of water), since שׁאון standing alone (see, on the other hand, Psa 65:8, Isa 17:12.) has not this meaning; and, moreover, “rushing, roaring” (Hengstenberg), tumultuous waters of a pit or a cistern does not furnish any idea that is true to nature; neither does it mean a pit of falling in, since שׁאה does not exhibit the signification deorsum labi ; but the meaning is: a pit of devastation, of destruction, of ruin (Jer 25:31; Jer 46:17), vid.

, supra on Psa 35:8. Another figure is “mire of the marsh” (יון found only here and in Psa 69:3), i. e. , water, in the miry bottom of which one can find no firm footing - a combination like מטר־גּשׁם, Zec 10:1, אדמת־עפר, Dan 12:2, explained in the Mishna, Mikvaoth ix. 2, by טיט הבורות (mire of the cisterns). Taking them out of this, Jahve placed his feet upon a rock, established his footsteps, i.

e. , removed him from the danger which surrounded him, and gave him firm ground under his feet. The high rock and the firm footsteps are the opposites of the deep pit and the yielding miry bottom. This deliverance afforded him new matter for thanksgiving (cf. Psa 33:3), and became in his mouth “praise to our God;” for the deliverance of the chosen king is an act of the God of Israel on behalf of His chosen people.

The futures in Psa 40:4 (with an alliteration similar to Psa 52:8) indicate, by their being thus cumulative, that they are intended of the present and of that which still continues in the future.