Bibelkommentare

That wherewith the praying one comforts himself is no peculiar personal prerogative, but the certain, joyous prospect of all believers: ἡ ἐλπίς ου ̓ καταισχύνει , Romans 5:5. These are called קויך ( קוה participle to קוּה ot elp , just as דּבר is the participle to דּבּר ). Hope is the eye of faith which looks forth clear and fixedly into the future. With those who hope in Jahve, who do not allow themselves to be in any way disconcerted respecting Him, are contrasted those who act treacherously towards Him (Psalms 119:158, Aq., Symm., Theodot. οἱ ἀποστατοῦντες ), and that ריקם , i.e. - and it can only mean this-from vain and worthless pretexts, and therefore from wanton unconscientiousness.

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Recognising the infamy of such black ingratitude, he prays for instruction as to the ways which he must take according to the precepts of God ( Psalms 18:22). The will of God, it is true, lies before us in God's written word, but the expounder required for the right understanding of that word is God Himself. He prays Him for knowledge; but in order to make what he knows a perfect and living reality, he still further needs the grace of God, viz., both His enlightening and also His guiding grace.

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His truth is the lasting and self-verifying fact of His revelation of grace. To penetrate into this truth and to walk in it (Psalms 26:3; Psalms 86:11) without God, is a contradiction in its very self. Therefore the psalmist prays, as in Psalms 119:35, οδήγησόν με ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου (lxx Cod. Alex.; whereas Cod. Vat. ἐπὶ τὴν ..., cf. John 16:13). He prays thus, for his salvation comes from Jahve, yea Jahve is his salvation. He does not hope for this or that, but for Him, all the day, i.e., unceasingly,

(Note: Hupfeld thinks the accentuation inappropriate; the first half of the verse, however, really extends to ישׁעי , and consists of two parts, of which the second is the confirmation of the first: the second half contains a relatively new thought. The sequence of the accents: Rebia magnum, Athnach, therefore fully accords with the matter.)

for everything worth hoping for, everything that can satisfy the longing of the soul, is shut up in Him. All mercy or grace, however, which proceeds from Him, has its foundation in His compassion and condescension.

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The supplicatory reminiscere means, may God never forget to exercise His pity and grace towards him, which are (as the plurals imply) so rich and superabundant. The ground on which the prayer is based is introduced with כּי ( nam , or even quoniam ). God's compassion and grace are as old in their operation and efficacy as man's feebleness and sin; in their counsels they are eternal, and therefore have also in themselves the pledge of eternal duration (Psalms 100:5; Psalms 103:17).

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May Jahve not remember the faults of his youth ( חטּאות ), into which lust and thoughtlessness have precipitated him, nor the transgressions ( פּשׁעים ), by which even in maturer and more thoughtful years he has turned the grace of God into licentiousness and broken off his fellowship with Him ( פּשׁע בּ , of defection); but may He, on the contrary, turn His remembrance to him ( זכר ל as in Psalms 136:23) in accordance with His grace or loving-kindness, which אתּה challenges as being the form of self-attestation most closely corresponding to the nature of God. Memor esto quidem mei, observes Augustine, non secundum iram, qua ego dignus sum, sed secundum misericordiam tuam, quae te digna est . For God is טּוב , which is really equivalent to saying, He is ἀγάπη . The next distich shows that טוּב is intended here of God's goodness, and not, as e.g., in Nehemiah 9:35, of His abundance of possessions.

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The בּ with הורה denotes the way, i.e., the right way ( Job 31:7), as the sphere and subject of the instruction, as in Psalms 32:8, Proverbs 4:11; Job 27:11. God condescends to sinners in order to teach them the way that leads to life, for He is טוב־וישׂר ; well-doing is His delight, and, if His anger be not provoked (Psalms 18:27), He has only the sincerest good intention in what He does.

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The shortened form of the future stands here, according to Ges. §128, 2, rem., instead of the full form (which, viz., ידרך , is perhaps meant); for the connection which treats of general facts, does not admit of its being taken as optative. The ב (cf. Psalms 25:5, Psalms 107:7; Psalms 119:35) denotes the sphere of the guidance. משׁפּט is the right so far as it is traversed, i.e., practised or carried out. In this course of right He leads the ענוים , and teaches them the way that is pleasing to Himself. ענוים is the one word for the gentle, mansueti , and the humble, modesti . Jerome uses these words alternately in Psalms 25:9 and Psalms 25:9; but the poet designedly repeats the one word - the cardinal virtue of ענוה - here with the preponderating notion of lowliness. Upon the self-righteous and self-sufficient He would be obliged to force Himself even against their will. He wants disciples eager to learn; and how richly He rewards those who guard what they have learnt!

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The paths intended, are those which He takes with men in accordance with His revealed will and counsel. These paths are חסד loving-kindness, mercy, or grace, for the salvation of men is their goal, and אמת truth, for they give proof at every step of the certainty of His promises. But only they who keep His covenant and His testimonies faithfully and obediently shall share in this mercy and truth. To the psalmist the name of Jahve, which unfolds itself in mercy and truth, is precious. Upon it he bases the prayer that follows.

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