Chapter I

HEBREW PSALMS WHICH ARE NOT HYMNS

The Book of Psalms is no longer to be regarded by Old Testament scholars as an isolated phenomenon. Similar religious poetry is found not only in the narrative and prophetic portions of the Old Testament, in the Apocrypha, and the New Testament, but also in the literatures of Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, India, and Greece. Indeed, wherever religion really develops beyond the primitive stage, it expresses itself in poetry and we get something comparable to the Hebrew psalms.

One primary fact, then, to be considered in the study of the Old Testament psalms is that they are only the surviving fragments of the religious poetry of a race; and that they have been preserved partly by reason of the literary merit that made it difficult for them to be forgotten, and partly by reason of the fact that they happened to be included in the song books of the sanctuaries. One must accordingly bear constantly in mind the larger literature of which they were a part, and employ to a legitimate degree the imagination, in order to rightly comprehend the life out of which the psalms have come, and to see in any true perspective the significance of the surviving psalms.

Furthermore, it is now to be clearly recognized that the careful philological study of words and sentences, and the further effort to determine the date and authorship of the psalms, while always indispensable, are yet inadequate methods of procedure. It is true that again and again fixing with philological accuracy the meaning of a word or clause is the clue to the understanding of a psalm, yet to arrive at any just appreciation of the psalms it is absolutely necessary to classify them scientifically on the basis of their similarities and dissimilarities, and so to arrange them in the species or groups into which they naturally fall. It is then possible to compare psalm with psalm within the species, fixing as nearly as possible the type and noting every variation from the type. In this way the eye of the reader is opened to the originality and literary beauty of particular psalms, which originality and literary beauty are in turn the expression of the uniqueness and power of the psalmist’s spiritual experience.

It may also be suggested that another principle of investigation should prove fruitful, namely, an attempt to arrange the groups of psalms, and the individual psalms within the groups, according to the principle of development from the lower to the higher stages of religious experience. Of course opinions may and do differ as to what is highest in religion, but the student of religion may never cease in his effort to find the line of development and to determine the highest. Since then the psalms are almost exclusively religious literature, and since the supreme motive for studying them is to gain the more complete understanding of religion, it is necessary to arrange the psalms in ascending order, so that one can more readily appraise the worth of religion in them, and determine and properly appreciate that which is most precious.

Finally, a further source of enlightenment and a valuable standard of appraisal has been neglected, unless the Old Testament psalms in their respective groups are compared with the psalms of Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, India, and Greece. Many decades have passed since a succession of studies first pointed out striking similarities between the Hebrew and the Babylonian so-called penitential psalms. Recent commentaries on the psalms such as Staerks in 1911 and Kittels in 1916 have printed in the appendices a number of Egyptian and Babylonian psalms, but the comparative method has not yet been widely and thoroughly applied.

An immense amount of work yet remains to be done in comparative study of the religious poetry of the different literatures. Species must be compared with species; prayer of supplication with prayer of supplication; prayer of thanksgiving with prayer of thanksgiving; affirmation of faith with affirmation of faith; hymn of praise with hymn of praise, and teaching psalm with teaching psalm. Before Hebrew hymns of praise, however, can be properly studied, the relationship of the hymns to the other groups that make up Hebrew religious poesy ought to be understood. Consideration must first be given, therefore, to the different groups of psalms to be found in the Hebrew Psalter.

Psalms of Lamentation and Petition

It has been suggested that the psalms ought to be classified in groups, and that the groups ought to be arranged in an ascending order, according to the stage of religious development which they represent. Following this principle, one can quite properly place lowest the Psalms of Lamentation and Petition. The lament in such psalms describes the unhappy plight of the oppressed nation, the persecuted religious community, or the afflicted individual. The petition makes earnest appeal to Yahwe for deliverance. Frequently the petition is reinforced by rather naïve considerations, such as are calculated to persuade the Deity to action. Surely Yahwe ought to be concerned for the glory of his name! Why should the unbelievers say scoffingly, “Where is now your God?” Again what profit is there to Yahwe in the death of his followers? Assuredly the dead in Sheol do not praise him. Most commonly does the psalmist urge that he has long trusted Yahwe; that Yahwe is his only hope, and that therefore Yahwe can not fail him.

In addition to the lament and the petition—the two most characteristic features of this group—one generally finds the vow. If God will come to the help of the sufferer, he will in turn render some specified service to Yahwe. It may be an animal sacrifice at the sanctuary, or it may be such a spiritual sacrifice of praise and testimony as will turn sinners to Yahwe. Yet another common feature of this group is the protestation of confidence that Yahwe will most certainly deliver the suppliant. Frequently it is found near the end of the psalm, and so confident is the sufferer of deliverance that he commonly uses the perfect tense, as if his salvation were already effected.

Of the fifty Psalms of Lamentation in the Psalter, thirteen express the petition of the nation or the religious community for Yahwe’s deliverance. Psalms 79, 74, 44, 80, 83, 60, 137, and 129 lament the humiliation and suffering endured by the nation at the hands of foreign enemies; 85 and 126 recognize in general terms Israel’s affliction, and implore Yahwe’s mercy; while Psalms 10 and 123 lament the wrongs inflicted upon the pious of the land by the powerful and godless rich.

Of these Psalms 137, 129, 125, and 123 are distinctive both for originality and simplicity of expression and for sincerity and intensity of feeling. Psalm 137 recalls the wrongs and the insults received at the hands of Babylonians and Edomites and calls for vengeance upon those nations. Psalm 129, in much the same spirit, remembers Israel’s manifold sufferings at the hands of many foes and petitions vindictively for revenge. On the other hand 125 recalls Yahwe’s goodness in restoring the nation from exile and pleads with confidence for a further manifestation of his favor; while in 123 the contempt of the rich and the proud causes the pious to look with humble and childlike confidence to the God of mercy.

Undoubtedly greater far than any of the preceding psalms is Psalm 90, which, transcending the limitations of the nation and the sect, laments the brevity and troubled nature of human life, and pleads for some knowledge of the plan of the eternal God, some permanency for human effort, some small measure of happiness in life’s brief day.

To this group of national prayers of lamentation and petition ought possibly to be added Psalm 67. There is here, to be sure, no lament, but verses 2 and 3 are a petition for the coming of Yahwe’s salvation to earth, and verses 4, 5, and 6 may also be understood as a petition for the establishment of divine government upon earth:

May peoples praise Thee, O God; May all peoples praise Thee. May nations be glad and sing for joy. For thou shalt judge peoples righteously And govern nations upon earth.

Verses 7 and 8 are then simply a positive expression of confidence that the prayer just uttered is to be answered and God’s supreme blessing received. The psalm is not then an eschatological hymn of praise, but rather an eschatological prayer.

Psalms 20 and 72 have distinctive positions in this group, since each offers up a petition in behalf of the king. In Psalm 20 the king had apparently presented his offerings and sacrifices at the sanctuary, and the priest prays, in verses 2-6 that God will remember the king’s sacrifices and grant him help in the day of trouble and all his hearts desires. Naturally, in the case of a king, the chief concern is that he should be victorious over his enemies whenever war should come. In verse 7 the priest, possibly informed by some sign that the sacrifice had indeed been accepted by Yahwe, gives positive assurance that the prayer has been answered:

Now I know that Yahwe will save his anointed.

Verse 8 reaffirms faith in Yahwe as mightier than horse or chariot, while verse 9 again predicts victory over the enemy. The psalm concludes in verse 10, as it began, with a petition for the king.

Psalm 72 might be fitted into the coronation service, being then the prayer offered for a just and successful reign. This would mean translating the successive sentences of the psalm from verse 1 to verse 11 and from verse 15 to verse 17 as petitions. Thus verse 2 would be translated:

May he judge thy people with righteousness And thy poor with justice.

and other verses correspondingly. This psalm is then in no sense a psalm of lamentation, but it seems to be a psalm of petition in behalf of the king who is about to begin his reign.

The remaining thirty-seven Psalms of Lamentation, or almost one-fourth of the Psalter, arise out of the distress of the individual. The most common misfortune is sickness (Psalms 13, 6, 88, 70, 39, 77, and 102), accordingly the petition is that the afflicted one may be saved from death by Yahwe’s merciful power.

Together with sickness there is usually the bitter complaint against the wicked enemies (Psalms 3, 13, 70, 64, 140, 7, 55, and 109). It is of course altogether understandable that men should be alienated from a sick person, regarding him as justly smitten of God and afflicted, and that such men should in turn be regarded by the sick man as enemies. It is also possible that in some instances, as in Psalms 22 and 69, it may be a matter of religious persecution. On the other hand the language used in a number of psalms (13, 70, 64, 140, 7, 55, 57, 59, and 109) rather strongly suggests that the enemies are practicers of black magic, an art familiar to every land unilluminated by modern scientific knowledge.

Yet in a considerable number of these psalms it is Yahwe himself who has sent the affliction. When this is the case the psalmist may do either of two things: he may acknowledge his misfortune to be just punishment for his sin, and accordingly petition for forgiveness and deliverance (Psalms 38, 88, 39, and 102); or he may affirm his innocence and demand deliverance as a matter of justice (Psalms 26, 7, 17, 59, and 71).

Of all the individual psalms of lamentation, unquestionably the three finest are 51, 42-43, and 130. Psalm 51 has but one single clause referring to physical distress! “that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice,” and is remarkable for its profound consciousness of guilt, and its strong conviction that cleansing and regeneration and the righteous life can only be achieved by divine mercy and divine redemptive power. As for Psalms 42-43, there is expressed in language of haunting beauty, both an intense thirst for the presence of God, and the awakening realization of a something of superior worth in man that can only be satisfied by the experience of God. This would seem to be the road along which the Hebrew ultimately arrived at the consciousness of his own supreme worth and immortality. Yet possibly the rarest of these psalms both for simplicity of expression and depth of religious insight is 130. The psalmist, who “waits for God more than they who watch for the morning” has an amazingly profound consciousness of sin expressed in the words:

If iniquities thou should’st record, O Yahwe, Lord who could stand ...

and likewise a sublime conception of God’s mercy:

But with Thee is forgiveness That Thou mays’t be revered.

Psalms of Testimony and Thanksgiving

Corresponding to the Psalms of Lamentation and Petition are the Psalms of Testimony and Thanksgiving. The afflicted community or individual which has, in answer to its petition to Yahwe, experienced deliverance is obligated to give public expression to its gratitude for Yahwe’s salvation. Such psalms may be expected to tell the story of the affliction, the appeal for divine help, and the deliverance. Furthermore it is altogether natural for any people with a national and a religious consciousness to look back through the years and the centuries and to give thanks for the favors manifested by Deity to the fathers. Originally the first words of such psalms may well have been: “Give thanks to Yahwe” or “I will give thanks to Yahwe.”

It is best to begin with the individual psalms of thanksgiving, since the individual experience of affliction and deliverance recurs with little change from age to age, and the individual psalm of thanksgiving accordingly approximates more nearly than the national the original type. The individual psalms of thanksgiving in the Psalter are 116, 30, 32, 138, 66, 21, 18, 118, and 103.

Psalm 116 is the testimony of a man who has been sick unto death. In anguish and despair he prayed: “O Yahwe save my life.” Yahwe heard his prayer, restored him to health, and accordingly he is in the temple to pay his vows, to offer up his sacrifices of thanksgiving and to give his testimony in the presence of all Yahwe’s people.

Again Psalm 30 is the testimony of a man who had once been very prosperous, but who by the loss of Yahwe’s favor had been brought low. Near unto death, he cried unto Yahwe, pleading that his death could not profit the Deity since the dead in Sheol praise not God. Yahwe saved his life to the end that he might praise and give thanks to his God continually.

Psalm 32 is in form and content quite similar to the teaching or wisdom psalms. Here, however, the teaching is based on a personal experience of deliverance from sickness, and the teaching is itself a testimony of gratitude for recovery. In his distress this psalmist made confession of his sin. Yahwe forgave and healed him. Jonah 2:3-10 is likewise a psalm of thanksgiving. The afflicted one at the point of death made his prayer and his vow. That prayer came to Yahwe in his sanctuary and he was saved. Accordingly he offered to Yahwe the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Psalms 138 and 66 do not state the nature of the deliverance for which they give thanks, but the author of 66 follows time honored custom by offering an actual animal sacrifice at the sanctuary in fulfillment of his vow. Psalms 18 and 118 express the gratitude of two national leaders for deliverance from great peril.

The difficulty of deciding with certainty to which group a number of psalms belong is illustrated by Psalm 21. Verses 2 and 8 are addressed to Yahwe and express the king’s devotion to his God, while verses 3-7 describe the goodness of Yahwe to the king. Yahwe had bestowed upon him the crown, had given him length of days, and had maintained him in security and honor upon his throne. Verses 9-13 are addressed to the king, probably by the priest, and promise the king complete victory over his enemies. The concluding verse 14 addressed to Yahwe:

Be exalted, O Yahwe in thy strength We will sing and praise thy Power.

This verse has the form of a petition, but its formal language amounts to an ascription of praise. The psalm then does not in the main utter a petition, nor express faith in Deity, but is rather an expression of thanksgiving and may well have been originally used in the celebration of an anniversary of the king’s ascension to the throne.

The classic individual psalm of thanksgiving in the Psalter is 103. Though it is here an individual who calls upon his soul to bless Yahwe, yet there is little that is personal about the psalm, for the psalmist identifies himself with his fellow Israelites and for that matter with universal humanity. Also there is little to distinguish this psalm of thanksgiving from the hymn of praise. The psalmist does not refer in verses 3-5, nor anywhere else, to any single individual personal concrete experience of Jehovah’s salvation, and the psalm is not in that sense a psalm of testimony. Yet exhortation to “forget not all His benefits,” the mention at the very outset of the psalm of the healing of diseases; linking of this healing with the forgiveness of sin as in the psalms of lamentation; the enumeration of Yahwe’s gracious favors to man; all these are calculated to call forth gratitude, and it is actually as a psalm of thanksgiving that the readers of the Bible have always regarded it. Notable in the psalm is the conception of the all but limitless mercy of God; the comparison of God’s compassion to that of an earthly father’s, the emphasis upon the eternity of God in contrast to the frail mortality of man and the fact that God’s mercy is extended to successive generations of men.

The transition to the national psalms of thanksgiving is splendidly made by Psalm 107. This might perhaps be called a liturgical psalm of thanksgiving. Verses 1-3 are clearly introductory. There is the general call to thanksgiving in verse 1:

Give thanks unto Yahwe for he is good, For his mercy endureth forever.

Then in verses 2 and 3 the call is directed especially to the representatives of the Diaspora who by divine mercy have returned from all lands to Zion. The service of thanksgiving proper falls into four parts. The author has selected the four most wonderful deliverances of which he has knowledge; the deliverance of travelers hopelessly lost in the great desert; the deliverance of men who for their rebellion against God had been fettered and cast into prison; the deliverance of the sick who for their iniquities had been brought to the gates of death; the deliverance of sailors from a terrible storm on the much-dreaded sea. We may suppose that processions representing each of these groups came forward in the temple, while their stories were being told—possibly by a soloist—after which the chorus summoned them to give thanks, adding to the refrain a couplet suitable to each group. The psalm concludes with a hymn of praise to the God who manifests his power both over nature and over the affairs of men.

The National Psalms of Thanksgiving in the Psalter are fewer in number than the individual and further removed from the original type. This may be because national escapes from peril are rarer and more difficult to celebrate; and as they become more remote in time, the few psalms of thanksgiving that have been written to celebrate those deliverances have less and less interest for the public, and correspondingly less suitability for public worship, and so are lost. In the Psalter we have in addition to Psalm 107, Psalms 124, 136, 114, 124, and 65. Of these Psalm 124 is the only one which could be supposed to have been composed to celebrate a recent deliverance. On the one hand the language is general and the figures of speech are familiar, but on the other hand there is a spontaneity, simplicity and power of expression that suggest a recent experience of escape from great peril. This is especially true of verse 7.

Likewise delightful for its originality of literary form is Psalm 114. It celebrates in poetic and dramatic language the triumphant crossing of the Red Sea and the Jordan. Obviously it is looking back at these events through the media of legend and myth, and verse 2 makes it clear that the poem can not be earlier than the division of the kingdom. Nevertheless the author is so thrilled by the stories that have come down to him that his poem possesses amazing spontaneity and power.

In contrast with the two preceding poems, Psalms 136 and 105 are highly stereotyped. Every second line in 136 is the refrain: “For his mercy endureth forever” and the psalm was therefor probably written for public rendition. Both psalms deal with the theme so dear to the Hebrew heart, Yahwe’s gift to the fathers of the land of Canaan, and both retell something of the biblical story of the patriarchs, the deliverance from Egypt, and the conquest.

Psalm 65 seems to be essentially a psalm of harvest thanksgiving. It accompanies the payment of vows (verse 2). Verses 2-5 are introductory, announcing the presence of the worshipers at the sanctuary. Verses 6-9 express faith in the God of land and sea, while verses 10-14 accredit to him the increase of the fields and the flocks. The psalms of testimony and thanksgiving pass over naturally into the hymns of praise, but as the hymns form the chief object of this study their treatment is postponed until the next chapter.

Psalms of Faith

Out of the experience of affliction as expressed in the psalms of lamentation and petition, and out of the further experience of deliverance as expressed in the psalms of testimony and thanksgiving, develops a serene faith and confidence over against the perplexities, the perils, and the conflicts of life. One characteristic element in the Psalm of Lamentation and Petition is the affirmation of faith in Yahwe. That affirmation of faith gradually develops until it becomes the entire theme of the psalm. This development can be traced to some extent in the psalms themselves. It is well to begin with Psalm 9, for while it expresses predominatingly confidence, yet it petitions at some length for Yahwe’s help against Israel’s enemies. Psalm 27 makes a much stronger affirmation of faith in Yahwe and a correspondingly briefer petition for divine protection; while Psalms 4 and 16, expressing quiet confidence in Yahwe, have only the very briefest appeals for his assistance. Psalms 11, 62, 63, and 92 still recognize the presence of enemies, but all are confident that their wicked foes must perish, while the faithful will experience Yahwe’s blessing.

The classic expressions of faith in Yahwe, however, are Psalms 23, 131, 121, and 91. Psalm 23:1-4 conceives of God under the figure of a shepherd, who gives to his own food, drink, guidance, protection. With the thought of danger in verse 4 the psalmist apparently felt the need of a stronger figure of speech to express his perfect security and good fortune, so in verse 5 he conceives of God as his host. God is providing for him most generously and he is confident that he will be the happy guest of God for the rest of his days.

Psalm 131 is of rarest beauty in its simplicity. This psalmist is aware that there are problems which he cannot solve by reason, and which might be permitted to harass his soul. Not in presumptuous pride, but in sincere humility, he simply trusts Yahwe, with a mind as free from protest as that of a weaned child in its mother’s arms.

Psalm 121 and more especially Psalm 91 seem to be liturgical in character. In Psalm 121, verse 1, the psalmist recognizes his need of help and that the help must come from Deity. Many of his fellow countrymen had through the centuries uncritically sought help from the gods of the high places. This psalmist asks with intense yearning and earnestness whence his help is to come. In verse 2 he answers his own question:

My help cometh from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.

It is perhaps a question whether verses 3-8 are a soliloquy, or whether they are addressed to the psalmist by the priest. In either case the psalmist has the assurance that Israel’s God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, will keep him everywhere and at all times, secure from evil.

In Psalm 91, verses 1 and 2 state the general truth that the man who trusts God is happy:

Blessed is the man, who dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, Who abideth under the shadow of the Almighty, Who saith of Yahwe, “My refuge and my fortress, My God in whom I trust.”

The verses 3-13 bring to the psalmist the assurance, presumably from God’s spokesman, the priest, that Yahwe will keep him under his constant protection, and that he need fear no peril however great. Finally in verses 14-16 the assurance is confirmed by a divine oracle, the voice of God, promising the psalmist deliverance from every trouble, long life and honor.

Among these psalms of faith ought certainly to be included Psalm 46. Although this psalm does not contemplate any present situation in life, it looks forward with confidence to the turmoil and conflict, that in the last days will precede Yahwe’s final victory and subsequent reign of righteousness and peace. The psalm is written, not from an individual but from a national point of view. Its motive is sounded forth in the refrain which occurs at verse 8 and verse 12, and which undoubtedly ought to be inserted after verse 4 to divide the psalm into three equal sections:

Yahwe of Hosts is with us, A fortress for us is the God of Jacob.

It may accordingly be described as a national eschatological psalm of faith.

The psalm opens with the strong profession of faith of verse 2:

God is for us refuge and strength, In troubles he proves himself help indeed.

Verses 3 and 4 introduce us to the dread and terrifying phenomena of the last days; yet are not the believers in Yahwe afraid:

Therefore will we not fear though the earth tremble, And the mountains sink down into the heart of the sea. Let its waters roar and rage, Let the mountains shake with its violence; Yahwe of hosts is with us, A fortress for us is the God of Jacob.

The second division, verses 5-7, pictures the serenity of the new Jerusalem already enjoying what the old Jerusalem lacked, a river flowing through its midst, and protected by God in this great hour while the hostile nations rage without its walls. Finally the third division, verses 9-11, invites us to behold the evidence of the complete and final defeat of the enemies of God, the bows snapped, the spears broken, and the chariots burning up in fire. Also one is to hear the voice of God claiming forevermore his rightful and supreme sovereignty among the nations of the earth.

Unique among the psalms of confidence is Psalm 139. The psalmist marvels, in verses 1-6, at Yahwe’s complete knowledge of his earthly life; in verses 7-12, at the omnipresent power of Deity, from which there is no escape; in verses 14-16, at the divine wisdom manifested in the creation of the psalmist’s body and the complete determining of his life’s course, in verse 17 at the innumerable thoughts and purposes of God. Verses 19-22 descend to the commonplace in petitioning for the death of the wicked while the concluding verses 23-24 ask God that his heart be searched for the discovery of wrong and that he be divinely guided in the right way. It is perhaps possible to regard verses 1-18 as an expression of faith in Yahwe, introductory to the petitions 19-24 and so class the poem as a psalm of lamentation and petition, but the verses 1-18 seem to be relatively so much more important that it seems wiser to regard it as a psalm of faith.

Teaching or Wisdom Psalms

There is a natural line of development from the psalm of faith to what may perhaps be called teaching or wisdom psalms. The believing psalmist assumes that God is in complete control of all the circumstances of life, and is convinced that God will protect him from all evil and give him success. This assumption of faith then becomes for many the all important, fundamental law of life, and as such it must needs be taught to youth. Thus doubtless originated the wisdom psalms; of which we have in the Psalter 1, 112, 34, 78, 127, 128, 133, 125, 73, 37, 49.

Psalm 1 is a splendid type of the wisdom psalm, since it begins with the characteristic opening words: “Blessed is the man,” and then sets forth the qualities of the good man and claims for him success, while it asserts for the wicked certain condemnation and ruin. Psalms 112 and 34 are also characteristic wisdom psalms, confined however in the artificial limitations of alphabetical acrostics. Psalm 78 teaches the same lesson as to the secret of success from history, recalling how Yahwe had again and again punished disobedience and rewarded obedience until he finally rejected Ephraim and accepted Judah, and chose David to be his servant.

If there were in Israel wise men, such as the author of Ecclesiastes, who taught that all life was vanity, there were other wise men such as the author of Psalm 127 who taught that while all human effort without God’s cooperation was vain, yet life with God’s cooperation was certain of happiness. God does give his help to man, and one of his very best gifts is children. Again 128 gives the assurance that he who walks in Yahwe’s ways will enjoy the fruits of his labor, and in happiness see his children and children’s children round about him. Psalm 133 pays simple and charming tribute to the joy of human fellowship.

The assertion that the righteous always prosper and that the wicked suffer misfortune was inevitably challenged by the sceptics and scorned by the scoffers, who mocked the believing psalmist in his distress saying: “Where is now your God?” It became necessary therefore to deal with this problem on the basis of the facts of life, and we get accordingly a somewhat different type of wisdom psalm. Psalm 125 testifies to the existence of this problem. Verses 1 and 2, to be sure, affirm the security of the righteous. Verse 3, however, attempts to justify the affirmation of the preceding verses by a rational argument. If the righteous were not certain to prosper in the world, why should men be righteous? Would not the righteous become wicked and the moral foundations of life crumble? The petition in verses 4 and 5 requesting Yahwe’s favor for the good and his punishment for the wicked, while properly no part of a teaching psalm, are further recognition that actually certain of the facts of life contradict the psalmist’s theory. Nevertheless, his own conviction is expressed in verse 1:

They who trust in Yahwe are as Mount Zion Which cannot be moved but abideth forever.

Psalm 73 is the teaching of one who wrestled with this same problem of the theodicy. Verse 1 is an assertion of his faith:

Yes God is good to Israel To those who are pure of heart.

But verses 2-20 tell how nearly the psalmist came to losing that faith as he saw the wicked prosper, while he himself suffered misfortunes, and how he recovered his faith with the conviction that the prosperity of the wicked was but temporary and their ultimate doom certain. Verses 23-28 are accordingly an assertion of the psalmist’s devotion to Yahwe as in a psalm of faith, but the main thesis of the psalm is stated in verse 1, and so may therefore be best grouped with the wisdom psalms.

Psalm 37 is composed in stanzas of four lines, the first letters of the first lines of the stanzas spelling out the alphabet. The author of the psalm is an old man who gives warning against fretting over the prosperity of the wicked, and who affirms on the basis of his long experience of life, that, while the prosperity of the wicked is short-lived, God never forsakes the righteous. The use of the acrostic form may itself be taken as evidence of this psalmist’s unquestioning belief in the above dogma.

The author of Psalm 49 has no certain promise of prosperity for the righteous, nor does he threaten the wicked with premature death, but he does smile at their fatuous confidence, since death must surely overtake them. Therefore he does not let their possession of wealth trouble him because it cannot be taken to Sheol. On the other hand there seems to be just a suggestion in verse 16 that God can relieve the pious from the grasp of death:

Surely God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol For he will receive me.

##