PSALM 52
(For the Director of Music: A poem of contemplation by Dawid, when Doeg the Edomite came and reported to Sha’ul and told him, “Dawid has come to the house of Akhimelekh.”)
1. What is [this] bragging about evil, O valiant warrior?
The lovingkindness of El [lasts] the whole day!
2. Your tongue invents chasms [of greed],
like a sharp razor that causes slackness.
Causes slackness: by cutting an important ligament or cable that holds something firmly in place; alt., effects deceit.
3. You love evil rather than good,
lying more than saying what is right.
Ponder [this].
4. You love all [kinds of] words that swallow up,
[you] deceitful tongue!
5. El will also pull you down for perpetuity;
He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent
And [pluck up] your roots out of the land of the living!
Ponder [this].
6. And righteous [people] will see [it] and be afraid,
and will laugh about him, [saying],
7. “Look at the ‘strong man’ who did not make Elohim his stronghold,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches
and prevailed by means of his own [wicked] cravings!”
8. But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of Elohim!
I have trusted in the everlasting kindness of Elohim.
9. I will thank You for a [whole] epoch, because You have accomplished [it]!
And I will place my eager expectation in Your reputation,
because it is good in the sight of Your devout ones!
Ponder [this].
PSALM 53
(For the Director of Music: A poem of contemplation by Dawid, to the tune of “Makhalath”)
1. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no Elohim!”
They have become corrupt and have done repulsive [things]!
There is none [who] does good.
2. Elohim looks down from the sky on the children of Adam
To see if there are any [who] have understanding, who are seeking [to consult] Elohim.
3. Every one [of them] has turned backward,
they have united in becoming corrupt!
There is none who does good—not even one!
Turned backward: or slidden backwards.
4. Are they unable to distinguish—the perpetrators of harm
who devour my people [as] they devour bread, and do not invite Elohim?
Invite: or call on, cry to for help, summon, or proclaim.
5. There, they are trembling with dread [where] there was no dread,
because Elohim has scattered the bones of the one who encamped against you.
You have put [them] to shame because Elohim has rejected them.
6. Who will allow the salvation of Israel [to come] out of Tzion?
When Elohim brings back the captive [exile]s of His people,
Yaaqov will be glad; Israel will rejoice!
PSALM 54
(For the Director of Music: a contemplative poem belonging to David, when the Ziyfites went and said to King Sha’ul, “Isn’t David hiding [here] with us?”)
1. O Elohim! Rescue me through Your Name!
And by Your heroic might, vindicate me!
2. O Elohim, hear my prayer!
Bend Your ear to the words of my mouth,
3. because foreigners have risen up against me;
ruthless terrorists have demanded my life.
They have not set Elohim within their sights,
Ponder [this].
4. Look! Elohim is a helper;
Adonai is for me through those who sustain my life.
5. He will repay my enemies for the evil [they have done];
Annihilate them in Your faithfulness!
6. I will slaughter [my offering] to You willingly;
I will confess Your Name, O YHWH, because [it is] good,
Confess Your Name: or, praise Your reputation.
7. because from all distress He has delivered me,
And my eye has looked on my enemies.
Enemies: a different word from verse 5, where the sense of those who rise up and leap on one. This may be an allusion to when Israel “looked on” the Egyptian army washing up onto the banks of the Red Sea after YHWH destroyed them.
PSALM 55
(For the Director of Music: on stringed instruments; a contemplative poem belonging to David.)
1. Bend Your ear, O Elohim, to my prayer,
And do not hide Yourself from my plea for favor!
2. Incline [Your attention] to me, and respond to me;
when I [anxiously] complain, I am restless and distracted
3. because of the sound of an enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked,
since they have been shaking trouble onto me and are angrily harassing me.
4. My heart is writhing [deep] within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5. Fear and trembling have come upon me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
6. So I said, “Who can give me wings like a dove?
I would fly away and settle down [restfully]!
7. “Indeed, I would wander far away
and lodge in the uninhabited place!”
Ponder [this].
8. “I would hurry [to] my place of refuge
from wind and storm and tornado.”
9. Swallow them up, O Elohim, and divide their tongues,
because I have seen violence and strife in the city!
Divide their tongues: as at Bavel, so they cannot understand each other, or at least make them have different opinions so that they cannot agree; divide and conquer!
10. Day and night they surround it on its walls;
both harm and trouble are in its midst!
11. Calamity is in its innermost part;
Fraud and deceit do not depart from its open squares.
12. For it is not an enemy who defies me; that I could bear.
Nor is it one who hates me who has become powerful against me; him too I could hide from.
13. But it was you—a [mere] mortal, my equal,
one [quietly] friendly to me—someone I knew!
Equal: from a word meaning “ordered, in a neat row”—i.e, on the same level. Quietly friendly: docile, unassuming, seemingly tame—but hiding a dangerous secret.
14. Together we used to have pleasant, deep conversations;
we walked among the throng in the House of Elohim!
15. Let death bring desolation upon them;
let them go down alive into the underworld
because bad things are in the places where they stop over, in their very midst!
16. When I call on Elohim,
YHWH will rescue me.
17. Both [in the] evening and morning and at high noon I will make my complaint;
When I start a commotion, He will listen to my voice.
18. He has ransomed my soul in peace from the battle [that was] against me,
because among the many, there were [some who were] with me.
19. El will hear and humble them—
the very One who inhabits [what is] most ancient
(Ponder [this])—
[He will humble those] in whom there is no change and who do not revere Elohim.
20. He has sent out his hands against those who at peace with him;
he has broken his treaty!
21. [The things in] his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords!
22. Throw your burden onto YHWH, and He will sustain you;
He will never, ever allow the righteous to be dislodged.
23. But You, O Elohim, will bring them down to the pit of destruction—
blood[thirsty] and deceitful men;
they will not live out half of their [allotted] days, but I will trust in You.
PSALM 56
(For the Director of Music: set to “A Dove of Silent Distances”, a contemplative poem by David when the Filistines arrested him in Gath)
1. Show me favor, O Elohim, because a mortal has been eager [to crush] me!
All day long he is fighting to put a squeeze on me!
2. My oppressors would wear themselves out all day long
because there are many who do battle with me in arrogance.
3. [On whatever] day I am afraid, I will trust in You!
4. Through Elohim I will make my boast [in] His word.
In Elohim I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.
What can [mere] flesh do to me?
5. All day they stretch my words against me;
all of their plans are for evil!
6. They stay hidden;
they watch my steps carefully while they lie in wait for my life.
7. Will they escape on the basis of wrongdoing?
In anger bring them down, O Elohim!
8. You [Yourself] have kept count of the times I have been a fugitive;
put my tears in Your bottle! Aren’t they in Your record-book?
9. Then my enemies will turn around and go backward,
on the day I call out [to You].
Of this I am sure, because Elohim is for me!
10. Through Elohim I will make my boast [in] His word;
through YHWH I will make my boast [in] His word!
David specifies which Elohim he is talking about, in case it is not clear.
11. In Elohim I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.
What can [a mere] human do to me?
12. Your vows are on me, O Elohim.
[my] thanks to You I will pay in full
On me: i.e., my responsibility, binding on me.
13. because You have snatched my soul away from death!
Haven’t [You kept] my feet from stumbling,
so that I can direct my walk in the presence of Elohim in the light of life?
PSALM 57
(For the Director of Music: [to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy”; a contemplative poem by David when he was running away from the presence of Sha’ul in the cave)
1. Show me favor, O Elohim! Show me favor,
because my soul runs to You for protection,
and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
until [these] calamities have passed by!
2. I will call out to Elohim Most High—
To El, who brings to completion that which concerns me.
3. He will send from the Heavens and deliver me;
He taunts the one who is after me so eagerly.
Ponder [this].
Elohim will send His kindness and His reliability!
4. My soul is among [fierce] lions; I am lying [here] set ablaze [by] sons of Adam
whose teeth are a spear and arrows, and whose tongue is a sharp sword!
5. Rise up high above the Heavens, O Elohim!
[Let] Your honored reputation [be known] over the whole earth!
Like his descendant Y’hoshafat, David stops in the middle of a life-and-death situation and worships YHWH. (2 Chron. 20)
6. They have set a trap [to catch me by] my footsteps; my soul has been bent down.
They have dug a pit in front of me; they [themselves] have fallen right into it!
Ponder [this].
7. My heart is firmly settled, O Elohim! My heart is firmly settled!
I will sing and [praise You], play[ing] a musical instrument!
8. Rouse yourself, O my honor! Wake up, O harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn!
9. I will give You thanks among the peoples, Adonai!
I will make music to You among the nations
10. because Your lovingkindness is great all the way up to the Heavens
and Your reliability [reaches] to the [thinnest of the] clouds!
11. May You be raised up high above the Heavens, O Elohim!
[Let] Your honored reputation [be known] over the whole earth!
PSALM 58
(For the Director of Music: [to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy”; a contemplative poem by David)
1. Are [you] really silent? You promise “righteousness”.
Do you judge equitably, O sons of Adam?
2. Hardly! At heart, you do injustices in the Land;
You make ready the violence of your hands!
3. [Even] from the womb, the wicked are alienated;
they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking falsehood!
Alienated: or estranged (from YHWH and from fellow men).
4. The heat [of their rage] is just like the burning [venom] of a snake--
like a deaf cobra that closes up its ear,
5. which does not give heed to the voice of charmers,
Joining in league ever so skillfully!
6. O Elohim, pull the teeth out of their mouths!
Tear out the fangs of young lions, O YHWH!
Tear out: or break out.
7. Let them flow away like continuously-running waters for him;
When he bends [his bow], let his arrows be as if they were cut short!
8. [Let them be] like a snail that melts away as it moves [forward],
like a woman’s untimely-born child that barely gets to glimpse the sun!
9. Before it can perceive your bramble-thorns, as if alive,
as [with] burning anger He will sweep them away like a storm-wind!
10. A righteous person will be glad when he beholds [the] avenging;
He washes the blood of the wicked off His feet!
Or, He washes His feet with the blood of the wicked.
11. Then people will say, “So there really is a reward for doing right;
There is an Elohim Who judges the earth [after all]!”
Reward for doing right: literally, fruit for the righteous.
PSALM 59
(For the Director of Music: [to the tune of] “Do Not Destroy”;
a contemplative poem by David when Sha’ul sent [men] and they watched over the house to kill him)
1. Rescue me from my enemies, my Elohim!
From those who rise up against me, lift me high [to where I am inaccessible]!
2. Rescue me from evildoers
and save me from blood[thirsty] men!
Evildoers: or, troublemakers, workers of iniquity.
3. Because, look! They are lurking in ambush to [take] my life.
Fierce ones are ganging up against me, not [because of any] guilt or sin of my own, O YHWH.
4. Without [any] fault [of mine], they run and get ready.
Rouse Yourself, to [come] meet me, and look!
5. So You, O YHWH, Elohim of Armies, Elohim of Israel,
wake up to call all the nations to account!
Don’t show favor to any who deal treacherously [and make] trouble.
Ponder [this.]
6. They come back at evening, they growl like the dog
and surround a city!
7. Look, they [even] let it gush forth with their mouth; swords are in their lips,
because, “Who is listening?”
8. But You, O YHWH, will laugh at them;
You hold all nations in disdain.
They think they have power and seem like a threat, but He could blow them away with no effort.
9. His strength—for You I will eagerly keep watch,
Because Elohim is my refuge.
10. Elohim, Who has mercy on me, will go on ahead of me
and I will gaze [with satisfaction] on my enemies.
11. Don’t kill them, lest my people forget;
destabilize them by Your power and take them down, Adonai our defender!
He wants them to remain, but decimated, as an ongoing testimony to YHWH’s ability to overcome anything.
12. The sin [comes from] their mouth, the words [out of] their lips,
so let them be captured by their own pride,
both for the oath [they broke] and because of the lies they recount.
13. Finish them off with burning rage! Finish them off, so they will know
that Elohim rules in Yaaqov, and to the ends of the earth!
Ponder [this].
Ends: can mean both geographically and chronologically.
14. When they come back at evening, they growl like the dog
and surround a city!
15. They [indeed] wander all around [looking for something] to eat;
if they do not get their fill, they howl [with complaint]!
Wander: or stagger, run to and fro with instability. Howl: Here he carries the dog analogy further than before.
16. But I will sing of Your immovable stability;
I will celebrate Your [merciful] kindness in the morning,
because You have become My refuge
and the Place to which I can escape on the day I have distress--
17. my Stronghold! To You I will make music,
Because Elohim is my secure, out-of-reach retreat–
the Elohim Who has mercy on me!
PSALM 60
(For the Director of Music: [based] on “Sixfold Witness”; a contemplative poem by David to teach, when he struggled with Mesopotamia and Aram-Tzovah and Yo’av returned and attacked 12,000 [men of] Edom in the Valley of Salt)
1. O Elohim, You have rejected us, You have broken us open,
You have been exasperated; restore us again!
2. You have made the earth shake; You have split it open!
Heal its fractures, because it is [still] shaking!
3. You have caused Your people to see difficulty;
You have made us drink the wine of reeling.
4. You have given Your people a signal
That they should flee from the presence of the bow.
Ponder [this].
5. [This is] so that the one you love may be rescued;
Let Your right hand save and answer me!
6. Elohim has spoken in His holiness:
“I will divide out portions in Sh’khem, and measure the Valley of Sukkoth
7. “Mine is Gil’ad and Mine is M’nasheh
And Efrayim is eh protection for My head and Y’hudah is My engraving tool!
8. “Moav is My pot for washing, and over Edom I will throw My shoe.
Because of Me, Pleshet will sound an alarm.”
Pleshet: the land of the Filistines.
9. Who will lead me to the besieged city?
Who will guide me to Edom?
10. Isn’t it You, O Elohim, who rejected us?
And won’t You go out with our armies?
11. Come, give us help [getting] out of distress,
As the deliverance of humans is a useless lie!
12. Through Elohim we will act effectively;
He is [the One who] will trample down our enemies!
PSALM 61
(For the Director of Music: on a stringed instrument, by David)
1. Listen to my outcry, O Elohim!
Pay attention to my prayer!
2. From the very end of the earth I will call to You when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lea me onto the cliff that is higher than I [am],
3. because You have been a shelter for me,
a strong tower from the presence of the enemy!
4. I want to stay in Your tent for ages.
I will seek refuge in the shelter of Your wings,
5. because You, O Elohim, have listened to my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who reverence Your Name.
6. Days upon the days of a king
You will add to his years like a generation and [another] generation.
7. He will remain in the presence of Elohim for an age;
[please] appoint lovingkindness and faithfulness to watch over him!
8. When this is the case, I will make music to Your Name into perpetuity
to fulfill my vows day [after] day.
PSALM 62
(For the Director of Music: the responsibility of Y’duthun, by David)
Y’duthun: the chief of one of the three choirs of the temple; his descendants formed one of the perpetual temple choirs. (Brown-Driver-Briggs; see 1 Chon. 16, 25; 2 Chron. 5, etc.)
1. My soul is indeed quieted [when waiting] toward YHWH;
From Him [comes] my deliverance.
Or, my soul waits quietly for Elohim alone. (I.e., no one else can give such a calming hope.)
2. He alone is my rock and my deliverance—my refuge;
I will not be dislodged very far.
3. How long will you frantically shout over a man?
All of you will be slain, [easily pushed over] like a leaning wall [or] a tottering fence.
Frantically shout: the term includes the elements of mischief and overwhelming someone or assailing him. Usually the less one’s ideas stand up to reason and reality, the more loudly he tries to force them on others.
4. Even from his high position have they conspired to cast [one] down;
they prefer [another] who is unreliable.
With their mouths they bless, but inwardly they are cursing.
Ponder [this].
5. My soul is indeed quieted [when waiting] toward YHWH,
because my expectation is from Him.
Only He is a solid basis for hope, because He is reliable and alone has the resources to provide what we need. Compare the slight difference with verse 1.
6. He alone is my rock and my deliverance—my refuge;
I will not be dislodged.
Dislodged: Here it is not at all, an improvement over verse 2.
7. My deliverance and my honor are Elohim’s responsibility.
[He is] my boulder of strength; my shelter is [found] in Elohim.
His responsibility: not ours; therefore we can “cast all our cares on Him” (1 Kefa 5:7) and do not have to noisily brag.
8. Trust in Him all the time, people! Pour out your hearts before Him.
Elohim is a shelter for us.
Ponder [this].
9. The children of humanity are a [mere] vapor;
how unreliable are the sons of a man!
They [are on the side of the] scales that goes up;
[all of] them together are [lighter] than a breath!
10. Don’t put your trust in extortion
or vainly [expect anything] from violent plundering;
if an army flourishes with efficiency, don’t set your heart [on even them]!
11. Elohim has spoken once; twice I have heard this:
that power belongs to Elohim.
12. And mercy is Yours, O Adonai,
Because You pay each man back according to what he does.
PSALM 63
(A psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Y’hudah)
1. O Elohim, You are my El.
I will diligently seek You early in the morning.
My soul is thirsty for you;
my flesh faints for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water!
2. Yes, I have contemplated You in the sanctuary,
to see Your power and Your weightiness.
3. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
my lips will praise You.
4. Likewise I will bless You while I am alive.
In Your name I will lift my hands.
5. As with fat [mixed] with ashes, my soul will be satisfied,
my lips singing, my mouth raving
Fat with ashes: what remained after the offerings had been offered on the altar.
6. Whenever I remember You on my bed in the night watches,
I will meditate on You,
Meditate: or muse (with a sub-sense of muttering or groaning). Notice it is about a topic (YHWH in this case), so the biblical idea of meditation is not to stop thinking, as some define it today, but to focus one’s thoughts all the more fully.
7. because you have been a help to me,
so in the shade of Your wings I will cry out [with joy].
8. My soul sticks close behind You;
Your right hand holds me up.
9. But those who seek my life for [the purpose of] ruination
will go into the lowest parts of the earth!
Ruination: devastation, laying waste; this is the Hebrew term shoah, which is used for the Holocaust of the 1940s. Lowest: or underneath.
10. Their [blood] will be poured out by means of a sword;
They will become a prey for foxes.
Prey: or an allotment; etymologically, something measured out as their portion.
11. But the king will rejoice in Elohim;
everyone who swears by Him will make their boast [in Him],
because the mouth of those who speak falsehood will be stopped up!
PSALM 64
(For the Director of Music; a psalm of David)
1. Listen to my voice, O Elohim, while I meditate;
keep watch over my life in light of the enemy’s terror!
Or, preserve my life from the fear of the enemy. Meditate: see note on 63:6.
2. Conceal me from a wicked one’s plotting behind closed doors,
From an insurrection of trouble-makers
3. who sharpen their tongues like the sword,
aiming a bitter word [like] their arrows
4. to shoot the innocent [from] within their secret hideout
[where] they can shoot him suddenly [without warning], and aren’t afraid [of getting caught].
5. [There] they can solidify their hold on an evil matter,
and rehearse [how they are going] to bury snare-traps.
6. They devise violent, unjust schemes: “We have perfected a plan for a disguise!”
Both the mind and heart of a man are miry!
Miry: the Hebrew word is amoq, from which English gets the word amok.
7. But Elohim will shoot [His own] arrow at them:
they will be defeated suddenly.
8. He will even make them stumble over their own tongues,
so that all who see them will retreat.
Their voice gave them away so their secret was open and they could be recognized for who they are even before they arrived to do their mischief. We need to pray this in regard to many evil agendas today.
9. Then all of humanity will reverence and recount the work of Elohim,
and they will give wise consideration to His deeds.
10. [The] righteous will be glad in YHWH, and will put their trust in Him.
and all the upright of heart will make their boast [in Him].
PSALM 65
(For the Director of Music; a psalm of David: a song)
1. Praise is [quietly] awaiting You, O Elohim, in Tzion,
and to You a vow will be fulfilled.
2. O You who hear prayer,
all flesh will come [all the way] to You;
3. Words of perversities are gaining strength against me;
[as for] our transgressions, You provide a covering for them.
4. How blessed [is the one] You choose and allow to come close, remaining in Your courts!
We will be satisfied with [the] goodness of Your House, [the] holiness of Your temple.
5. [With] awesome acts that are just right You will respond to us, O Elohim of our deliverance,
the One in whom all the ends of the earth and far-off seas have confidence,
6. the One who set mountains in pace by His power,
being equipped with [triumphant, heroic] strength!
7. You [are the One] who addresses [in a loud tone and pacify] the roaring of seas,
the din of their waves, and the noisy confusion of nations,
One cannot help but think of Yeshua, who, as YHWH’s spokesman, said to the stormy sea, “Peace! Be still!”
8. and those who dwell at the outermost fringes
are afraid of Your distinguishing signs;
You make the goings-forth of morning and evening to prevail with a joyful cry!
9. You attend to the earth and make it overflow, enriching it abundantly;
the irrigating-channel of Elohim is full of water.
You provide their grain, for this is how you have arranged [things].
10. Its ridges You abundantly water; you press down its furrow.
You soften it with heavy rains; You bless its sprouting [and growth].
11. You crown the year with Your goodness,
and Your [surrounding] entrenchments drip with abundant fertility.
12. The wild meadows drip [with distillation];
the little hills are wearing belts of joy!
13. The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are enveloped in grain.
They shout for joy; they even sing!
PSALM 66
1. Shout joyfully to YHWH, all the earth!
2. Make music in honor of His Name!
Make His praise carry weight!
3. Tell Elohim, “How awesome are Your deeds!”
In the greatness of Your power, Your enemies will feign obedience.
4. The whole earth will bow down and make music to You;
They will make music to Your Name.
Ponder [this].
5. Come and see the things Elohim has made!
What He does for the descendants of Adam is awesome!
Made: or done.
6. He turned the sea into dry land; they crossed the river on foot.
We will celebrate Him right there!
7. He rules formidably forever, His eyes keeping watch on the nations;
the rebellious will not lift themselves high.
Ponder [this].
8. Bend the knee to our Elohim, O you peoples!
Make the sound of His praise heard
9. Who sets our soul among the living.
and has not allowed our feet to be dislodged,
10. because You have scrutinized us, O Elohim;
You have tested us as silver is tested [and refined].
11. You have brought us into a place we cannot get out of;
You have put pressure on our bodies.
Bodies: literally, hips or loins or possibly the lower back—the areas that bear the brunt of any weight put on us.
12. You have caused mortals to ride, mounted, over our heads;
we went through fire and water, but You brought us out to [a place of] plenty.
13. I will come into Your house with ascending [offering]s;
I will fulfill my vows to You
14. which my lips let [out into the] open and my mouth spoke
when I was in a tight spot.
How common it is for people to make promises to YHWH when we are in distress, but we are responsible to do what we have said. (Num. 30:2)
15. I will [offer] up to You ascending [offering]s of fattened animals,
along with the aroma of [cooking] rams; I will prepare bulls and he-goats!
Ponder [this].
16. Come, all you who revere Elohim!
Listen and I will recount what He has accomplished for my soul!
17. I called out to Him [with] my mouth,
and He was extolled [from] beneath my tongue.
18. If in my heart I consider [doing] wrong,
my Master will not listen.
19. But Elohim has in fact listened to me;
He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer.
20. Blessed by Elohim, who has not rejected my prayer
Or turned His mercy away from me!
PSALM 67
(For the chief musician: a psalm to be sung with accompaniment)
Chief musician: from the word for ambition, endurance, and victorious success; this derivative word could indicate “the one who gets the job done”, pulling everyone together in symphony.
1. Elohim, show us favor and bless us; may He make His face to shine with us!
This is an allusion to Numbers 6:24, with a slightly different angle: this time His face is not just shining on us, but along with us—i.e., we are shining with Him, and the nations can see it. This, not an inwardly-turned selfishness, is the purpose we want YHWH to bless us:
2. Then Your way would be known on the earth, Your deliverance among all the Gentiles!
3. Let the peoples give You thanks, O Elohim! Let the peoples give You thanks—all of them!
4. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, because You will judge the peoples with equity, and guide the nations on the earth; ponder this!
This is clearly a reference to the Messianic Kingdom, of which a forestaste was seen in David’s day.
5. Let the peoples give You thanks, O Elohim! Let the peoples give You thanks—all of them!
6. Then the earth will provide her produce. May Elohim—our own Elohim—bless us!
The blessing is only obvious to all when there is plenty to go around, when some are not stealing from others, but rather thanking the Provider who is merciful to all.
7. May Elohim bless us, so that all the furthest extremities of the earth may respect Him!
The blessing is only complete when all others can share in it, and only then is its stability not threatened.
PSALM 68
(For the chief musician: a psalm of David; a song)
1. May YHWH rise up, and His enemies scatter!
May those who hate Him flee from before His face!
2. Just as smoke is diffused [and blown away], may they be driven away!
As wax melts away due to the presence of fire, let the wicked vanish due to Elohim’s presence,
3. but let the righteous be glad and rejoice before Elohim’s presence!
Yes, let them celebrate gleefully!
4. Sing to Elohim! Praise His name with music!
Lift up the One who rides on the desert plains by His Name, Yah, and be jubilant in front of Him!
5. A father to orphans and a court advocate for widows
is Elohim in His one-of-a-kind abode!
6. Elohim sets the solitary ones in a home [with family];
He brings captives out into prosperity, while the stubborn [rebels] reside in a parched [land].
7. O Elohim, when You went out ahead of Your people,
when You strode through the desert (think about this),
8. Earth shook; the skies even dripped down from the presence of Elohim,
This Sinai [shook] due to the presence of Elohim—the Elohim of Israel!
9. You sprinkled [the Land of] Your inheritance with generous rain, O Elohim,
and when it was exhausted, You made it stable.
10. The ones You enlivened dwelt in it;
In Your goodness You made [it] ready for the poor, O Elohim.
11. Adonai gives the word;
great is the company of those who publish the glad news!
12. Kings of armies retreat!
They retreat, and she who stays at home will divide the spoils.
13. [Even] if you lie down between the pair of prongs,
[they will become] wings of a dove overlaid with silver, her pinions with greenish gold.
14. When spread out [by] Shaddai, kings are in it,
[white as the] snow at Tzalmon.
Tzalmon: a wooded hill in Samaria near Sh’khem. (Brown Driver Briggs)
15. A mighty mountain is the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of [multiple] peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
Mighty: literally, of Elohim, an idiom for being far greater than ordinary mountains. It probably refers to Mount Hermon, which is massive and snow-covered, standing out in stark contrast with the other hills near Bashan (the Golan Heights).
16. Why, O mountains, do you envy the mountain of peaks,
the mountain Elohim was pleased to make His place to sit?
Indeed, YHWH will sit down in victory!
17. The chariots of Elohim are a pair of myriads; thousands twice [told]!
Adonai is among them, [as at] Sinai, the set-apart [place].
18. You have ascended to the height; You have taken prisoners captive.
You have received gifts among men,
And even the stubborn rebels, so that Yah Elohim might establish [His] seat!
19. Blessed be Adonai; day by day He loads us [with benefits]—
the Elohim of our deliverance.
Ponder [this].
Loads us: or, carries a burden for us.
20. The El is to us an El of saving deeds,
and to YHWH my Lord belong escapes from death!
Escapes from death: or, solutions to death, terminations for death. He indeed has brought the ultimate solutions to the death that came upon all men when Adam disobeyed, allowing us not just to escape death many times but also to be freed from death’s sting because through Him we will outlive it. My Lord: Adonai.
21. Elohim will even shatter the head of His enemies,
The hairy scalp of the one who goes on walking around in his [many kinds of] guilt.
22. Adonai said, “From Bashan I will retrieve;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea
23. “in order that you may, with your foot, severely wound [them]
in the blood of the tongues of your dogs—from your enemies even more than [this].”
24. They have seen Your traveling company, O Elohim—
the procession of my El, my King, in the holy place.
25. The singers went before; after [them] the instrumentalists,
among the young women beating the tambourines.
26. In the assemblies, bend the knee to Elohim;
[bless] YHWH from the wellspring of Israel!
27. Binyamin the youngest is there as their leader;
The princes of Yehudah as their crowd,
[along with] rulers of Z’vulun, rulers of Nafthali.
28. Elohim has ordered your strength, [so] be strong!
O Elohim, You have accomplished this for us!
YHWH does not command us to do what He does not make possible.
29. Because of Your temple above Yerushalayim,
to You kings will bring along tribute-gifts.
30. Rebuke the animals that live among the reeds,
the congregating of the valiant among the calves of the peoples
[until everyone] submits himself humbly with pieces of silver.
Disperse peoples who approach [to join battle], who take pleasure in [war]!
31. Ambassadors will come running from Mitzrayim and Kush,
their hands [full of gifts] to Elohim.
32. [You] dominions of the earth, sing to Elohim;
Make music to Adonai!
Ponder [this].
33. To the One who rides on the skies of the ancient heavens,
look! He utters with His voice—a mighty voice!
34. Ascribe strength to Elohim!
His majesty is over Israel, and His power is in the clouds!
35. Elohim is more awe-inspiring than your sanctuaries!
The El of Israel is the One who provides strength
and in multiple [ways] to the People.
Bend the knee to Elohim!
PSALM 69
(For the chief musician: set to “The Six-Petalled Flowers”, belonging to David)
1. Save me, O Elohim,
because the waters have come [up] so far [that I can’t] breathe!
2. I have sunk into deep mire, where there is no [place to] stand!
I have come into the deepest parts of the water, and they are overflowing me!
3. I have grown weary in my calling out; my throat is dry [as if scorched].
My eyes are used up as I wait in expectation for my Elohim.
4. Those who hate me for no reason are more than the hairs of my head!
They who want to annihilate me are many, being my enemies because of a lie.
What I have not stolen, I still must pay back!
5. O Elohim, You know how foolish I have been,
and my [many instances of] guilt are not concealed from You.
6. Don’t let those who put their hope in You be shamed because of me,
O YHWH, my Master of Armies!
Don’t let those who seek You be confused because of me, O Elohim of Israel!
I.e., do not let my straying on this occasion cause doubt in any whom I have taught about You in the past.
7. Because for Your sake I have borne disgrace; dishonor has covered my face.
Though he is confessing his present sin, he reminds YHWH of his past attempts to stand up for Him.
8. I have become a stranger to my brothers, and someone unfamiliar to my mother’s children
9. since zeal for Your house has consumed me,
and the taunts of those who scorn You have fallen on me.
10. When I wept with my soul fasting,
that became a reproach to me.
11. When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
His genuine mourning was laughed off as just another political maneuver.
12. I’m the talk of those who sit in the gate
and [the one] the beer-drinkers sing about!
Sit in the gate: the city council or courtroom judges. From the highest to lowest echelons in society, he is complained about or mocked.
13. But [as for] me, O YHWH, my prayer to You [is at the] acceptable time;
in the abundance of Your kindness, answer me with the reliability of Your deliverance!
14. Pull me up out of the quicksand and don’t let me sink!
Let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters!
15. Don’t let the overflowing water sweep me away
or let [its] depth swallow me up!
And don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me!
16. Respond to me, O YHWH, because Your lovingkindness is good;
as consistent with the abundance of Your compassions, turn toward me!
17. And don’t keep hiding Your face from Your servant,
because I’m in dire straits; answer me quickly!
18. Come close to my soul; ransom her!
Redeem me on account of my enemies!
19. You have become [all too] familiar with [how they have] taunted me,
shamed me, and brought me disgrace.
All my oppressors are right in front of You.
Right in front of: or conspicuous too, easy to see and identify.
20. Scorn has broken my heart, and I am mortified;
I looked expectantly for [someone to show] pity, but there were none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21. They even put bitter poison in my food,
and when I was thirsty they gave me something sour to drink!
22. Let their table in front of them become a snare,
and their well-being a trap!
23. Let their eyes be darkened so they can no longer see,
and let their loins shake continually!
24. Pour out Your indignation on them,
and let the burning heat of Your nostrils overtake them!
25. Let their [army] camp become desolate;
let there come to be no one inhabiting their tents,
26. because they persecute [those] whom You have punished,
and gossip about the pain of those You have pierced.
I.e., they have mocked my attempts to repent, so do not even show them common mercies.
27. Add [more] guilt to their [existing] guilt,
and do not let them come into right standing with You.
I.e., do not judge them innocent on any count, but bear in mind these additional offenses.
28. Let them be erased from the Book of Life,
and do not let them be enrolled with the righteous!
29. But I am afflicted and sore with pain;
let Your deliverance, O Elohim, set me high up out of their reach!
30. I will rave about the reputation of Elohim in a song,
and promote Him with thanksgiving,
Promote Him: or promote it (His reputation, also a masculine noun).
31. and this will be more pleasing to YHWH than an ox or bull,
which has horns and hooves!
This kind of offering He can fully consume without being concerned about “undigestible parts”.
32. The afflicted will see this and be glad,
and you who seek after Elohim, your hearts will remain alive,
When he is rescued, others in the same position as he will see and be encouraged that they too may receive justice.
33. because YHWH listens to the needy
and does not treat His prisoners with contempt.
34. Let the heavens and the earth praise Him,
the seas and everything that glides through them,
35. because Elohim will save Tzion and rebuild the cities of Yehudah
so they may settle there and retake possession of it.
This seems very applicable today, when people are explaining the attacks on Zionist Jews in Israel as punishment from YHWH, not realizing that “whom YHWH loves He corrects with discipline, just as a father does to the son in whom he delights”. (Prov. 3:12)
36. Then the descendants of His servants will inherit it
and those who love His name will inhabit it.
His treasure will not forever be turned over to those who do not properly appreciate it—or Him.
PSALM 70
(For the chief musician; belonging to David, to bring to remembrance)
This may have been accompanied by the blowing of the silver trumpets, as YHWH instructed Israel to do when calling Him to remember us in a dangerous war situation. (Num. 10:2, 9)
1. O Elohim, hurry to rescue me!
O YHWH, [hurry] to my aid!
2. Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced;
let those who desire my harm slide backward, [being repelled] and humiliated!
3. Let them be turned back on the heel of their shame
who are saying, “Aha! Aha!”
Aha: This exclamation is used throughout Scripture of those who express satisfaction or joy over an enemy or rival’s adversity. (Brown-Driver-Briggs)
4. Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You,
and let all those who love Your deliverance say, “Let Elohim be magnified!”
With joy and hope he foresees the final outcome, but then returns to the urgent plea of the moment:
5. But I am afflicted and needy, O Elohim; hurry to me!
My Help and my Deliverer You are, O YHWH; don’t delay!
PSALM 71
1. In You, YHWH, I seek my refuge;
don’t ever let me be put to shame at all!
2. In Your righteousness, rescue me and let me escape;
bend Your ear toward me and save me!
3. Become for me a rock of refuge to which I can always come!
You have given the command to let me be spared, because You are my cliff and stronghold.
4. My Elohim, let me escape out of the hand of the wicked—
out of the grasp of the unjust and cruel [man]
5. because You are my hope, Adonai YHWH,
the One I have trusted in since my youth.
Hope: The Hebrew word is based on the word for a rope—i.e., the only way out of a deep pit.
6. On You I have supported myself since the womb;
You are the One who separated me from the innermost part of my mother.
My boast will always be in You.
7. I have become like a marvel to many,
but You are my strong refuge.
8. My mouth will be filled with Your praise,
Your splendid beauty all day [long]!
9. Don’t cast me off in the time of [my] old age;
Don’t abandon me when my strength has been used up,
10. because my enemies are talking about me,
and those who keep my soul under guard are conspiring together,
11. saying, “Elohim has abandoned him; chase him down and seize him,
because there is no one to rescue [him]!”
12. O Elohim, don’t be far away from me;
hurry to my aid!
13. Let the accusers of my soul be put to shame and brought to an end;
Let those who seek to do me harm be wrapped in disgrace and dishonor!
14. But as for me, I will always be expectant with hope
that I will add [yet] more and more to [how I already] rave about You!
15. My mouth will recount Your righteousness, Your deliverance all day [long],
because I do not know how to count [how many Your great acts have been]!
16. I will go in the strength of YHWH;
I will bring to remembrance Your righteousness—Yours alone.
Bring to remembrance: or, remind (both friends and foes), make mention of.
17. Elohim, You have taught me since my youth,
and until now I have been making Your incomparable deeds known.
Until now: literally, as far as here; i.e., up to this point (and the tense implies continuing). Incomparable: the term connotes being out of anyone else’s reach, , extraordinary, above anything humans are capable of.
18. And even until old age and white hairs, O Elohim, do not abandon me,
until I can declare Your strong forearm to [another] generation,
Your heroic deeds to everyone who is to come.
The psalmist did succeed at this, seeing that we are reading his words to this day.
19. And Your righteousness reaches to the height[s],
O Elohim, Who has done great things!
Who is like You, O Elohim?
20. You who have caused me to see great and severe distresses
will turn back and revive me, and bring me back up from the depths of the earth.
Revive: or bring me back to life.
21. You will greatly enlarge me, and bring me relief on every side.
22. I will also thank You with a stringed instrument
[for] Your reliability, my Elohim;
I will make music to You with the harp, O Holy One of Israel!
23. My lips will cry out with overwhelming joy when I make melody to You
along with my soul, which You have ransomed.
24. My tongue will also give voice to Your righteousness all day long,
because they have been put to shame, because they have been confounded
who seek my harm.
Put to shame: or disappointed, delayed. Confounded: or disgraced, humiliated.
PSALM 72
[For Shlomoh]
1. O Elohim, grant Your just legal procedures to the king,
Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2. Let him judge Your people rightly,
and Your poor with justice.
3. May the mountains carry total well-being to the people,
and the hills [be laden] with righteousness!
4. Let him do justice [for] the poor of the people;
let him bring deliverance to the children of the needy, and shatter the oppressor!
5. They will reverence You with sun,
And before the face of the moon, generation [to more] generations.
6. May he come down like rain upon the [mown] grass,
as heavy showers drip [on] the earth.
7. In his days may the righteous flourish,
and an abundance of peace until the moon is no more!
Is no more: or, wears out.
8. May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River [all the way] to the ends of the earth!
Sea to sea: from the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) to the Mediterranean. River: when spoken of with no name, this usually refers to the Ferath (Euphrates), the great river on whose banks Avraham grew up.
9. May desert-dwellers bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
10. The kings of Tarshish will bring back a tribute;
the kings of Sh’va and S’va will approach with a gift.
11. May all kings prostrate themselves to him,
and all nations serve him!
This holds for any king of all Israel, but has a special significance in reference to the Messiah of latter-day prophecy.
12. He will rescue the needy when he cries out [for help]
and the afflicted who has no one to help him.
13. He will look with compassion on the poor and needy,
and will save the lives of the needy.
14. From fraud and cruelty he will redeem their life,
and their blood will be valuable in His eyes.
15. While he lives, some of the gold from Sh’va will be given to him;
prayers will constantly be made on his behalf, and he will be blessed all day long.
16. There will be plenty of grain in the land; it will wave on the mountaintops.
Its fruit will gleam like Levanon, from the city like the verdure of the earth!
Like Levanon: as reflective as snow-covered mountains.
17. His reputation will be last forever; his fame will increase in front of the sun!
People will bless themselves through him, and all nations will advance [because of] him.
18. Blessed be YHWH Elohim—the Elohim of Israel, who alone does distinguishing marvels!
YHWH Elohim: One of the few other places His title is arranged like this is in the creation account. (Gen. 2)
19. And let His honorable name be blessed forever,
and let the whole earth be filled with His honor. Amen and amen!
20. The prayers of David, son of Yishai, are [thus] completed.
This may have been the last psalm David wrote, at the time of his son’s coronation, which he made sure was accomplished before his death. (1 Kings 1:28ff)
PSALM 73
(A Psalm of Asaf)
1. Elohim is indeed good to Israel—
to those of sincere heart.
2. But [as for] me, my feet had all but slid out from [under me];
it wouldn’t have taken much more for my steps to be washed out.
3. Because I envied the [foolish] braggarts
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,
Prosperity: or contentment, tranquility, calmness (shalom)—i.e., how easy they have it.
4. because in their death they have no sharp pains,
And their belly is plump!
5. They don’t have to work hard [like other] mortal men,
And they are not plagued along with [the rest of] humanity.
6. Therefore haughtiness serves as their neck ornament;
violence covers them like a [long, loose] robe.
7. Their eyes [bulge] out from the fine portions [they have been eating],
Surpassing what their hearts had imagined.
8. They mock and threaten [to do] evil;
In their out-of-reach [towers] they plot extortion.
Out-of-reach: literally, lofty.
9. They set their mouth against the heavens,
While their tongue walks on the earth.
Against: or, in, if a different kind of contrast is being made.
10. Therefore His people are turned back this far,
when full [cups] of water are drained by them.
11. And they say, “How [could] El have found out?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
I.e, “What does He know? We can do whatever we want, because no one is watching!”
12. Look how wicked these are, yet they are at ease;
They perpetually increase in wealth!
13. Clearly, it’s been useless for me to have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands with innocence,
14. while I have been plagued all day long,
and chastised every morning!
Plagued: or struck (down), as if by being beaten—a common form of chastisement (corrective rebuke) at that time. In any case, he gets the hard knocks while the conspirators of evil live an easy life.
15. If I had said, “I will tell it like it is!”,
I would indeed have acted treacherously toward the generation of Your children.
Tell it like it is: or, recount it this way. Not just doing them a disservice, he would have actually betrayed them. The following verses tell why.
16. When I considered [how] to make sense of this,
It was troublesome in my eyes,
17. until I came into El’s sanctuary—
then I began to discern how it would end up for them.
Discern: be able to distinguish, perceive, or understand—to tell the truth apart from how things looked.
18. You have set them in slippery places, for sure!
You have made them fall down to [become] wreckage!
Slippery places: One cannot help but think of the wealthy owners of homes that have been washed away by California mudslides, when they thought they were firmly established in high ground, out of the reach of any trouble. (v. 8).
19. Oh, how they have come to ruin in but a moment!
They have utterly come to an end from the calamities.
20. As when one is awakened from a dream, O Master,
when stirred up, You will hold their shadowy images in contempt.
21. Because my heart was embittered [within itself]
and I felt sharp pain in my abdominal organs,
22. I [was] senseless and did not know [what I was doing];
I became like a [lumbering, brutish] beast toward You.
The way he felt about the prosperity of the wicked blinded him to the real, ultimate facts and led him to think of YHWH as being unjust, though in reality He had always been faithful:
23. Yet I am constantly with You;
You have grasped [me and hold me fast] by my right hand.
24. By Your [wise] counsel You will guide me,
And afterward select me for honor.
25. Whom [but You] do I have in Heaven?
And with You [there], I have come to desire nothing [else] on earth.
26. My physical strength and my heart have been used up,
but Elohim is the [safe] refuge of my heart, and my allotted portion into the Age.
27. Because it’s clearly evident that those who distance themselves from You will be lost;
You have brought to an end all who adulterously desert You.
28. But [as for] myself, it is good for me to come close to Elohim;
I have made the Master YHWH my refuge, to [be able to] recount all of Your works!
As we approach the final showdown, where the wicked, counterfeit empire will be given a short time to prosper at the expense of the holy ones (Dan. 8:24-25), wearing us down (Dan. 7:25), we need to remember the final outcome (7:26) as seen here in microcosm and detailed throughout the rest of Scripture, and hold onto not only hope but the faithfulness to YHWH that it inspires.
PSALM 74
(A contemplation belonging to Asaf)
1. Why, O Elohim? Have You pushed us aside for the long term?
[Why] do Your nostrils smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2. Remember Your congregation, which You purchased in antiquity,
The tribe of Your possession, which You redeemed--
this Mount Tzion, where You have settled!
3. Lift up Your repeated strokes toward [these] perpetual deceptions—
[enough times for] all the havoc an enemy has wrought in the holy [place].
4. Your harassers roar in the innermost part of Your meeting[place];
They set up banners [with] their insignia!
The meaning of this will become clear when we see it taking place.
5. They are known as [those] who lift up axes among thick [clusters of] trees.
6. And now, [all of them] together are hammering down its ornate carvings
with felling tools and hammers!
7. They have let the fire of Your sanctuary loose onto the earth;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name!
8. They have said in their hearts, “We will oppress [all of them] together!”
They have burned up all of El’s appointed meeting places in the Land!
9. We do not see our miraculous signs; there is no longer a prophet among us,
nor is there anyone with us who knows to what purpose [we should aim].
10. How long, O Elohim, will the oppressor taunt?
Will the enemy spurn Your Name for the long term?
11. Why are You withdrawing Your hand,
When You could [pull] Your right hand out from within Your bosom
and finish them off?
12. Elohim is also my King since antiquity;
Accomplishing acts of deliverance in the midst of the Land.
13. You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the sea-serpents upon the waters!
Sea-serpents: associated with Pharaoh (Y’hezq’El/Ezek. 29:3) and wild beasts (dinosaurs or dragons) symbolic of the demonic spirits that now inhabit Babylon. (Yirmeyahu/Jer. 51:37) The next verse is parallel and especially speaks of the final showdown between good and evil, light and darkness in the last days:
14. You crushed the heads of Levyathan,
Giving him as food for the people inhabiting the desert.
15. You split open a spring and the riverbed;
You dried up ever-flowing rivers!
To accomplish His purposes, YHWH can change things that seem reliable and bring provision from unexpected sources.
16. The day belongs to You, [but] of course the night is Yours [too];
You have firmly established the luminary and te sun.
17. You have set all the borders of the Land;
You formed the summer and winter.
18. Remember this, O YHWH: an enemy has taunted,
and a foolish people has treated Your Name with contempt.
19. Don’t turn the life of Your turtledove over to the wild beast!
Don’t forget the life of Your afflicted one for perpetuity!
20. Show respect for the covenant,
Because the dark places of the earth are full of the lairs of violence!
21. Don’t let the oppressed come back in humiliation!
Let the afflicted and needy rave [in praise of] Your Name!
22. Rise up, O YHWH, and plead Your own cause!
Remember how the senseless fool scorns You all day [long]!
23. Don’t forget the voices of those who treat You with hostility;
the uproar of those who rise up against You is continually increasing!
PSALM 75
(For the Director [of Music, to the tune of] “Do Not Spoil”: a Psalm Belonging to Asaf)
1. [With] a song, we thank You! O Elohim, we thank You!
While Your Name is [so] near, we recount Your extraordinary [deeds]!
2. Because I pick the right time,
I can judge from [a basis of] uprightness.
Right time: the set time, the appointed season. When one is in synch with YHWH’s seasons, he can better sense what is proper.
3. The earth and all its inhabitants are melting away;
I have adjusted its pillars [to make them even]. Ponder [this].
4. I have said to the boastful, “Do not brag!”
And to the wicked, “Don’t lift up a horn!
Lift up a horn: symbolic of smug dignity or triumphant arrogance, a parallel to the idea in the previous line.
5. “Don’t lift up your own horn to an elevated level,
Speaking with a neck rigidly thrust forward!”
Rigidly thrust forward: an arrogant stance with disdain for the “loser” one thinks he has outdone. In the context of the Asafite psalms, which are marching orders for the regathering of Israel and the greater Exodus, one cannot help but think of the counterfeit emperor, who thinks he has the world in his pocket and that he has overcome the holy ones he so despises. (Daniel 7:21, 25)
6. Because neither from the place from which one comes out to where he crosses over,
nor from the uninhabited place [does] acclaim [come],
Acclaim: adulation, triumph, exaltation, a high position and recognition.
7. because Elohim is the One who decides [the outcome];
This [one] He causes to fall, and this [one] he raises high.
8. Because a cup is in the hand of YHWH, and the wine is foaming up; it is fully mixed,
And from thence he pours it out.
All the wicked of the earth will absolutely drain out [and] drink down its dregs!
Foaming up: or fermenting.
9. And I will recount [it] for posterity;
I will make music to the Elohim of Yaaqov!
10. And all the horns of the wicked I will chop off,
[But] the horns of the righteous will be lifted high!
One wonders whether the armies of latter days will have iconic, Viking-like horned helmets, especially the armies of the “Beast”, who may revive the ancient bull-worship, while the righteous lift up their holy shofars to celebrate YHWH’s victory. (Compare Hannah’s prayer of thanks in 1 Shmuel 2:1.
Psalms or T'hillim
(Prayer-Songs)
INTRODUCTION: The psalms give us many examples of the way YHWH wants to be approached and worshipped, whether there is an official sanctuary in place or not. The psalms are a songbook specifically designed for use in the Temple. They call on all to participate in praise to YHWH using a melody and instruments. (e.g., Psalm 33) When they tell us to clap our hands, shout, or dance to YHWH, these are not requests but commands. They call for a vivid response to what He has done. When He delivers His people throughout Scripture, a new song usually comes forth. (Psalm 98) Shouting aloud brings great release when we have been afraid or angered. People do it for worthless events like a football match, and the teams feed off it; how much more do YHWH’s awesome deeds deserve an emphatic response?
