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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 33:20 - 33:20
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Accordingly, in this closing hexastich, the church acknowledges Him as its help, its shield, and its source of joy. Besides the passage before us, חִכָּה occurs in only one other instance in the Psalter, viz., Psa 106:13. This word, which belongs to the group of words signifying hoping and waiting, is perhaps from the root חך (Arab. ḥk', ḥkâ, firmiter constringere sc. nodum), to be firm, compact, like קִוָּה from קָוָה, to pull tight or fast, cf. the German harren (to wait) and hart (hard, compact). In Psa 33:20 we still hear the echo of the primary passage Deu 33:29 (cf. Deu 33:26). The emphasis, as in Psa 115:9-11, rests upon הוּא, into which בֹּו, in Psa 33:21, puts this thought, viz., He is the unlimited sphere, the inexhaustible matter, the perennial spring of our joy. The second כִּי confirms this subjectively. His holy Name is His church's ground of faith, of love, and of hope; for from thence comes its salvation. It can boldly pray that the mercy of the Lord may be upon it, for it waits upon Him, and man's waiting or hoping and God's giving are reciprocally conditioned. This is the meaning of the כַּאֲשֶׁר. God is true to His word. The Te Deum laudamus of Ambrose closes in the same way.