Happy is he that considereth the poor: The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; And he shall be counted happy upon the earth: And thou wilt not deliver him unto the rage of his enemies. The Lord will support him upon the bed of languishing : Thou changest all his couch in his sickness. I say, 'Lord, be merciful unto me: Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.' Mine enemies speak evil of me, 'When shall he die, and his name perish?' And if one come to see me, he speaketh falsehood: His heart gathereth malice to itself; When he goeth abroad, he telleth it. All that hate me whisper together against me: Against me do they devise evil. 'A sore disease,' say they, 'cleaveth fast unto him: And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, Hath lifted up his heel against me. (?) But thou, O Lord, be gracious unto me, Raise me up, and requite them. By this I shall know that thou hast pleasure in me, §14. Psalms forty-two and forty-three: The soul which longs for God. With the next Psalm we pass out of the first collection into the second. For some unknown reason it has become divided in our present Psalter into two (xlii, xliii). It was written, perhaps by some Levite (for it is a Psalm of Korah), at any rate by some lover of the Temple and its services, far from Jerusalem, in an enforced captivity. Some scholars assign it to the reign of Artaxerxes Ochus; Professor Cheyne would look rather to the days of Scopas and Antiochus the Great (198 B.C.). The Psalm is divided into three equal parts by a thrice-repeated refrain. The 'little mountain' is apparently the hill of Zion, but the text is probably corrupt. How admirably the love of the Temple became combined with the purest religious rapture! And note that the THE THIRST FOR GOD 455 lack of the material temple could not separate the singer from his God. Spirit was near to spirit. As a hart panteth after the water brooks, My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: While they continually say unto me, 'Where is thy God?' I remember these things, and pour out my soul within me: How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holiday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the salvation of my countenance, and my God. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Therefore will I remember thee far from the land of Jordan, Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of thy waterspouts; I say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?' As with rottenness in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; And why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the salvation of my countenance, and my God. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against a merciless nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwellingplace. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Wait thou for God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the salvation of my countenance, and my God. § 15. The fifty-fifth Psalm: Exaudi, Deus.'-The occasion and nearer epoch of the next Psalm (lv) are unknown. Doubtless the speaker is, as usual, the representative of his party, but the 'friend' can hardly be other than an individual, and the incident referred to a real one. The rendering of the last verse is partly conjectural. Give ear to my prayer, O God, And hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me : I toss to and fro in my complaint, and moan aloud, (?) Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: For they cast mischief upon me, and in wrath they persecute me. My heart is sore pained within me: And the terrors of death are fallen upon me. And I said, 'Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would lodge in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape From the windy storm and tempest.' Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues : For I have seen violence and strife in the city. Oppression and guile depart not from its market-place. 'WHAT CAN FLESH DO UNTO ME?' 457 For it is not an enemy that revileth me; then I could bear it: Neither is it he that hateth me that is insolent towards me; Then I would hide myself from him: But it is thou, a man mine equal, My familiar friend, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, And walked unto the house of God amid the throng. But as for me, I will call upon God, And the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and noon I will complain and moan; So shall he hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace that they should not come nigh me, For there were many who had risen up against me. God heareth the cry of the afflicted; Yea, he that is enthroned of old answereth them. § 16. Psalms fifty-six and fifty-seven.-The next two Psalms (lvi, lvii) are, as Professor Cheyne says, 'twins.' For lofty trust in God amid trouble and danger, simply and yet grandly expressed, they take a high rank among their fellows. Unfortunately, the text is in many places very uncertain and corrupt. I have adopted various emendations which afford a more probable sense than the existing text. Be merciful unto me, O God, for man crusheth me; Mine enemies would crush me all the day, On the day when I fear, I trust in thee. In God I put my trust: I have no fear; what can flesh do unto me? All the day they plot against me, (?) All their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, They mark my steps; like a lion they wait for my soul. Recompense them according to their wickedness; In thine anger cast down the peoples, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings: (?) Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle. When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: I know that God is for me. Of God I boast continually: In God I put my trust: I have no fear; what can man do unto me? Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render thank-offerings unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: Thou hast saved my feet from falling, That I may walk before God in the light of the living. 'I will render thank-offerings.' The Midrash says finely, 'If all prayers become needless in the future, the prayer of thanksgiving will never be abandoned; and though all sacrifices shall cease in the future, the thank-offering will cease not for ever.' Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, I will cry unto God most high; Unto God that dealeth bountifully with me. He shall send from heaven, and save me From the grasp of mine enemies: God shall send forth his lovingkindness and his truth. My soul is among lions: Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, They have prepared a net for my steps; They have digged a pit before me: They are fallen into the midst of it. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let thy glory be above all the earth. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast: Awake, my glory; awake, harp and lyre; I will awake the dawn. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the peoples: |