CHAPTER II

PSALMS OF PRAYER IN SEASONS OF TROUBLE

§ 1. Characteristics of the group of Psalms collected together in the present chapter.-The first group of Psalms which I will print may be described as Psalms of Prayer in seasons of trouble. The trouble may be of varying degrees of intensity and of varying origin and nature. Yet in almost all cases it does not resemble those purely individual sorrows which are perhaps shared by no other human being, or only by a man's family or friends; rather is it national or communal. Intensely felt by the writer who gives expression to it, and who finds relief for his burdened soul in prayer, the 'trouble' is nevertheless not exclusively his own, but is shared by his people or his party. And as his party in the writer's eyes constitutes the true Israel, in which his enemies, even though Israelites, can claim no share, all these Psalms express the nation's sorrows and petitions through the mouth of an individual who feels them perhaps all the more intensely because they are his people's the sorrows of the people of God-and not merely his own personal and private woes. For Israel's sorrows concern God: they are in themselves religious. Here, as so often before, we touch on that co-ordination of Israel's salvation and the divine glory which always gave strength to the believer but sometimes marred the purity of his faith.

It must be remembered that this description of the first group is only a rough one, just as all divisions of the Psalter into 'subjects' are more or less inaccurate and approximative. For many

Psalms are of a mixed character; they begin perhaps in a strain of supplication, and as the poet proceeds the confidence that his prayer will be answered grows upon him, and he ends in a tone of jubilant exultation.'

It is noteworthy how large a proportion of the Psalms assigned to this group are taken from the first or second collection.

I include in it thirty-eight Psalms and a half, and of these fifteen and a half belong to the first collection, sixteen to the second, and seven to the third.

§ 2. The first Psalm: The Two Ways.-But before we enter on this group, we must listen to the first Psalm of all, which was perhaps written, and at any rate chosen, as an introduction either to the first collection or to the entire Psalter. It may partly owe its place to its opening word 'happy.' 'The Psalter is the book of spiritual happiness' (Dr. B. Jacob).

Happy is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor standeth in the way of sinners,

Nor sitteth in the assembly of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord;

And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

For he is like a tree planted by watercourses,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
And whose leaf doth not wither;

And whatsoever he doeth he maketh to prosper.

The wicked are not so:

But they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the wicked cannot stand in the judgement, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the wicked shall perish.

'The Lord knoweth.' God 'knows,' that is, he takes an interest in, protects and makes secure the fortunes of the righteous, while the way of life pursued by the wicked ends in disaster and destruction.

The 'law'

The ungodly sinners here referred to are Israelites. is pre-eminently the Pentateuch, but may also include the other sacred writings known to the writer. The 'judgement' is either the general and constant, or else that final sifting judgement of God which was expected in the Messianic age. The views of the Psalmist are too closely akin to those of Job's friends to be wholly in accordance with our own. Righteousness leads to life and prosperity (in the highest sense of the word); sin leads to dissolution and death. Such is our dogma too. But we cannot say that on earth, at any rate, the righteous always prosper; and we trust that no soul which God has created will perish in its sin.

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§ 3. The third and fourth Psalms.—The prayerful hymn with which my first group opens is Ps. iii. The speaker is an individual, but his troubles are his people's, or those of the faithful and pious among them. Many Psalms are both individual and communal in one, for the writer uses his own sorrows and sufferings as the motive for a hymn which shall at once express his own feelings and yet (like a true lyric) be capable of wider application. Or, again, he speaks as a leader or member of his community, in whose aspirations and woes he shares. The period during which this Psalm was written was probably one of the many dark moments during the Persian domination, when faithful Israelites were so sorely oppressed both by traitors in their midst and by their Persian tyrants' (Cheyne).

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!
Many are they that rise up against me.
Many there be who say of my soul,

There is no help for him in God.

But thou, O Lord, art a shield around me;
My glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I

cry aloud unto the Lord

And he heareth me out of his holy hill.

I laid me down and slept;

I have awaked; for the Lord sustaineth me.

I am not afraid of ten thousands of people,

That have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God:

For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone;

Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.

Help belongeth unto the Lord:

Thy blessing be upon thy people.

To a morning succeeds an evening hymn (iv). The Psalmist is confronted by weaklings in faith within his own community. They despond amid misfortune. The period is probably the same as before. But the Psalmist knows a higher joy than mere material prosperity-the assurance of divine protection, the conviction of God's lovingkindness.

Hear me when I call, O God of my right:

Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress;

'TRUST IN THE LORD'

Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

ye sons of men, how long will ye be hard of heart? Wherefore will ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood?

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But know that the Lord hath shewn me marvellous lovingkindness,

The Lord heareth when I call unto him.

Tremble, and sin not:

Consider in your own heart upon your bed, and be still (?). Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

And put your trust in the Lord.

There be many that say, 'Who will shew us prosperity? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put more gladness in my heart,

Than when their corn and new wine are increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep:

For thou, Lord, alone makest me dwell in safety.

A Rabbinic commentary on the words, 'Consider in your own heart upon your bed,' says: 'God spake to Israel: I said to thee, When thou prayest, pray in the synagogue which is in thy town, or if thou canst not pray there, pray in thy field, and if thou canst not pray there, pray in thy house, and if thou canst not pray there, pray in thy bed, and if thou canst not pray there, "consider in thy heart."

§4. The fifth Psalm: A morning hymn.-The next Psalm (v) is once more a morning hymn. The enemies are Israelites: the writer is the spokesman of his party.

Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my sighing.

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God:
For unto thee do I pray.

My voice dost thou hear in the morning, O Lord;

In the morning I set in order my prayer unto thee, and look out.

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness:
Evil may not dwell with thee.

Boasters may not stand in thy sight:
Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Thou destroyest them that speak falsehood:

The Lord abhorreth the bloody and deceitful man.

But I, through the greatness of thy lovingkindness, can enter thine house,

And in the fear of thee I can worship toward thy holy temple.

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies;

Make thy way level before my face.

For there is no truthfulness in their mouth;

Their inward part is ruin;

Their throat is an open sepulchre;

They deceive with their tongue.

Hold them guilty, O God;

Let them fall by their own counsels;

Cast them down through the multitude of their transgressions; For they have rebelled against thee.

Then shall all those that take refuge in thee rejoice:

They shall ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them; They that love thy name will be joyful in thee.

For thou, Lord, blessest the righteous;

With favour as with a diadem dost thou crown him.

'Because of mine enemies.' Professor Wellhausen's note is, as usual, concise and instructive. 'Because they are God's enemies too, and his cause, as well as the petitioner's, is at stake. The godly man cannot claim deliverance because of his own merits; but, compared with the wicked man, he is, at all events, the one who inquires after God. And God cannot but show that such a one is more precious to him than a man who does not desire to know him. We have here a strongly marked contrast between two parties within the community, the godly and the wicked. The man who is praying, speaks in the name of the true Israel; hence my king: Jehovah is the King of Israel. Convinced that the wicked will not be allowed to continue to dwell with Jehovah, he looks forward with longing to the judgement which will sweep them away, and bring about the triumph of the godly in Zion.'

There

One cannot help wondering whether the party opposed to the Psalmist was indeed so wicked as he would make out. have been few religious leaders, and fewer religious founders, who have not failed to understand the point of view of their adversaries. Many of them have indeed been spiritually or