I. GOD'S PEOPLE CHASTENED (1-4). PENITENT LAMENTATION. "Thou has cast us off." Divine Displeasure Apprehended. II. GOD'S PROTECTION CRAVED (5). POWERFUL SUPPLICATION. "Thy beloved ones ... save!" Divine Deliverance Asked. III. GOD'S PROMISE CLAIMED (6-8). PERTINEN:T CITATION. "God hath sworn by His holiness." Divine Declaration Adduced . IV. GOD'S POWER · CONTEMPLATED (9-12). PRAYERFUL ANTICIPATION. "Thou ... who didst cast us off." Divine Deliverance Assured. SUPERSCRIPT.-Michtam of David, to teach; when he waged war with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah; when Joab returned and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand. SUBSCR.lfT.-For the Chief Musician; upon Neginah. PRIMARY AssocIATION .-Writer and occasion as title; c£ notes to xliv., which may belong to the same period; and cviii. of whimh verses 5-12 of the present psalm form part. Aram-naharaim == Syria of the two rivers (i.e. Euphrates ann Tigris) identified with Meso potamia. Aram-zobah refers to. the region between Tigris and
DISCLOSURES CONCERNING THE ENEMY REPROBATE 155 Orontes, N.E. of Damascus. By collating 2 Sam. viii.; 1 Chron. xviii. 12-13; 1 Kings xi. r5-r6, etc., we gather that while David was engaged in his first Syrian campaign in the far north-east, the Edomites seized the opportunity to invade Palestine and inflicted a serious reverse upon the Israelites. When David heard of it, he immediately despatched a strong force under Joab and the enemy was, crushed in the Valley of Salt (south of the Dead Sea on the ancient border between Judah and Edom). By his skilfulness and promptitude in meeting this great crisis, David gained considerable renown, 2 Sam. viii. 13. He himself defeated the Syrians, Abishai (Joab's lieutenant) the Edomites, while Joab remained six months in Edom to complete the conquest, r Kings xi. 16. In the encounter with Abishai, the Edomites lost eighteen thousand men slain, and Joab accounted for another twelve thousand. There is therefore no discrepancy as some allege. "Neginah "(subscript)= smiting, see Ps. iii. The plural "Neginoth" generally appears. PROPHETIC .ANTICIPATION.-Points to the time when Israel will at last realise that the long period of dispersion and suffering comes from God's chastening liand. We see here some of the fruits of this divine discipline. Israel will be then in a condition to receive the full inheritance which has never yet been hers in actual possession. The fulfilment of divine promises such as Deut. xxx. 1-3 will be claimed by a newly exercised faith on the part of the godly ones. Verses 6-7 suggest a fresh apportionment of the land which can hardly refer to the period of David's wars, and the reference to a standard (4) indicates that Israel (prophetically) is once more acknowledged by God as His people. The ambiguous language of verse 4 is probably to suit both historical and prophetical aspects. PERSONAL APPLICA'rION.-The psalm expresses confidence in a crisis. Despise not divine discipline nor despair under it; c£ Heb. xii. Men's passions are like volcanic fires ever ready to discharge molten lava in a destructive stream; when God's restraining hand is removed, these passions, ever seething under the surface of society, belch forth with disastrous effect (3). God sometimes punis)ies the wicked by intoxicating them with success (3). Our Lord Jesus is the true Benjamin (5), see verse notes. God's essential nature makes it impossible for Him to break a promise (6). Restoration brings men back to the path their faithful fathers trod (6). Mere profession
(Moab), the old nature (Edom), and fleshly religion (Philistia) all come under the judgment of God (8). rrb contains a truth frequently urged upon our attention. Compare 12b with Phil. iv. 3. When God!s people sin, they are no longer invincible, c£ Josh. vi.-viii. Sin makes wide breaches in the saint's defences (2). There is great lack to-day of long-sighted leaders (9 ). The Lord is the true Leader (10). VERSE NOTES 2. The disaster is compared to an earthquake, a common figure in Scripture tor social convulsions. 3. "Hard" = calamitous. (b) A common metaphor for divine judgments; like a drugged potion in its virulent effect:s. 4. "Banner" = standard; (b) the LXX perhaps represents a better reading, "That they may betake themselves to flight from before the bow," i.e. God had summoned them to the battle only to put them to flight before the enemy archers; the line is expostulatory; for similar thought, c£ Deut. i. 27. 5. Seems an allusion to Benjamin's name {Son of my right hand) as repre senting the whole people, c£ Deut. xxxiii. 12; "beloved (ones)"; "us," hr. me, as A.V. 6-8. God is the speaker; possibly an actual oracle quoted or it may be inspired comment on the great promise to David, 2 Sam. vii. The Lord is here represented as a victorious warrior portioning out the land to His people. "Shechem . . . Succoth" the former representing territory west of Jordan, the latter that east of Jordan. Both places are connected with patriarchal history and here appear also with proehetic significance. Shechem ( = shoulder) was the first place where Abraham received promise ofthe land. References show that it typifies the spirit of obedience; this will characterise Israel in the land under the New Covenant. Succoth ( = booths) connects with the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, which commemorates the end of wilderness wanderings and foreshadows the millennial day of final rest in the promised land. Other historic names in this psalm also have prophetic meaning. 7. (a) Re£ to that section of the nation which settled east of Jordan; (be) these two trioes represent those who settled west of Jordan; "defence," Ephraim was numerically the strongest tribe and here represented as a warrior's helmet. 8. Neighbouring nations reduced to servitude in ctr. to the honour placed upon Israel. Proud Moab becomes like the slave who bears the vessels for washing the conqueror's feet; while Edom will be like the slave to whom the conqueror flings his sandals to be carried or cleaned (margin); the action may also signify transference of possession, Ruth iv. 7; Josh. x. 24. Philistia. will raise the shout of acclamation acknowledging the conqueror as king lest she too be destroyed. 9. "city" probably refers to Sela, or Petra, the capital of Edom and famous for its inaccessibility, Obad. 3; (b) pre£ as marg., so rna. 12. This prayer of faith anticipating victory, refers back to Ps. xliv. s:
Book Two. III. Dominion of tlie Ent/ironed Redeemer, lxi.-lxxii. I. The Retun1ed King, lxi.-lxviii. (i) Sighs for the Sanctuary, lxi.-lxiv. Prayers. (ii) Songs of the Salvation, lxv.-lxviii. Praises.
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