Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 54:1 - 54:1

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 54:1 - 54:1


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(Heb.: 54:3-5) This short song is divided into two parts by Sela The first half prays for help and answer. The Name of God is the manifestation of His nature, which has mercy as its central point (for the Name of God is טֹּוב, v. 8, Ps 52:11), so that בְּשִׁמְךָ (which is here the parallel word to בִּגְבוּרָֽתְךָ) is consequently equivalent to בְּחַסְדְּךָ. The obtaining of right for any one (דִּין like שָׁפַט, Psa 7:9, and frequently, עָשָׂה דִּין, Psa 9:5) is attributed to the all-conquering might of God, which is only one side of the divine Name, i.e., of the divine nature which manifests itself in the diversity of its attributes. הֶֽאֱזִין (Psa 54:4) is construed with לְ (cf. אל, Psa 87:2) like הִטָּה אֹזֶן, Psa 78:1. The Targum, misled by Psa 86:14, reads זֵרִים instead of זָרִים in Psa 54:5. The inscription leads one to think of the Ziphites in particular in connection with “strangers” and “violent men.” The two words in most instances denote foreign enemies, Isa 25:2., Psa 29:5; Eze 31:12; but זָר is also a stranger in the widest sense, regulated in each instance according to the opposite, e.g., the non-priest, Lev 22:10; and one's fellow-countrymen can also turn out to be עריצים, Jer 15:21. The Ziphites, although Judaeans like David, might be called “strangers,” because they had taken the side against David; and “violent men,” because they pledged themselves to seize and deliver him up. Under other circumstances this might have been their duty as subjects. In this instance, however, it was godlessness, as Psa 54:5 (cf. Psa 86:14) says. Any one at that time in Israel who feared God more than man, could not lend himself to be made a tool of Saul's blind fury. God had already manifestly enough acknowledged David.