Psalm 16: A Pilgrim’s Song

September 15, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
In Acts 2 Peter says about verses 9 and 10 in this psalm: Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath…

Psalm 9: A Prayer of the Oppressed for Justice

September 2, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
This is a psalm about the judgment of God on the unbelieving that saves us, his people, from their oppression. Let’s look at some of its prominent features. 1. The Structure of the Psalm The psalm has three main parts. In the first part (vv. 1–8) David praises the Lord for upholding his right and…

Psalm 100: Four Triple Parallelisms

August 18, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
In Hebrew poetry the usual form of parallelism is a pair of lines that are roughly the same in meaning (synonymous), or that present a contrast (antithetical). In Psalm 6 we see nine verses in the standard form, and all of these except verse 3 are synonymous. But one verse (v.6) adds a third line…

Christ in the Psalms of Suffering

June 23, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
To speak of Messianic psalms as if there are only a few psalms that speak prophetically of the sufferings and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is a serious mistake. Christ’s presence in the psalms is pervasive.  They are his songs first, and ours only as we are one with him. One of the best…

Psalm 25: A Complicated Chiasm and an Acrostic

March 5, 2022Posted inChiasms, Psalms Commentary
Psalm 25 is an imperfect acrostic. Though it has 22 verses, one for each of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, verses 6 and 16 do not begin with the expected Hebrew letter. It is also a roughly constructed chiasm, and you can see the details of it in the table below. Understanding the chiasm…

Hearing the Acrostic of Psalm 119

February 25, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
It’s well known, of course, that Psalm 119 is an acrostic or alphabetic psalm. Such acrostics are, to say the least, very difficult to render in a faithful English translation, but it is possible to illustrate the effect in a few stanzas. This can help us to hear a little of the sound of these…

Psalm 4: The Key to a Correct Interpretation

February 16, 2022Posted inPsalms Commentary
I found Psalm 4 very difficult to comprehend until I understood two things about verse 2. The Hebrew has two phrases that the translations render as "sons of man" or "son of men," b'ne adam and b'ne ish, but these two phrases are different in meaning. One of them, the one that we could best…

Psalm 62 and the Word Truly

February 16, 2022Posted inPsalm Translations, Psalms Commentary
"Truly he is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be greatly shaken (v.2)." "Truly he is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken (v.6)." The interplay between these two statements is very revealing of the strength of God and the weakness of our faith. On the…

Psalm 37: Two Chiasms and an Acrostic

February 5, 2022Posted inChiasms, Psalms Commentary

At first glance, Psalm 37 seems to be a more or less random collection of verses with the general theme, “Do not fret because of evildoers.” It is, in fact, both an acrostic, or alphabetic psalm, and a carefully constructed poem with three main parts, the first two of which are chiasms. The table below lays out these parts in detail. The central promise for those who heed the exhortation and trust in the Lord is the possession of the land; it is repeated at least five times. For us, that promise means a heavenly inheritance and, in the end, the possession of all things in the new heavens and earth, “for all things are yours… and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Cor 3:21-23).”