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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Psalm 21

Lines Scansion





 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NASB (Verse 1 in Hebrew is the superscription)
1 O Lord, in Your strength the king will be glad,
And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
3 For You meet him with the blessings of good things;
You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life of You,
You gave it to him,
Length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through Your salvation,
Splendor and majesty You place upon him.
6 For You make him most blessed forever;
You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.
 
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,

 And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger;
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
And fire will devour them.
10 Their offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from among the sons of men.
11 Though they intended evil against You
And devised a plot,
They will not succeed.
12 For You will make them turn their back;
You will aim with Your bowstrings at their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.

Effect of the Metric Center on the Psalm’s Development
 
Closely tied thematically to Psalm 20 (Ross, BKC, 808), this Royal Psalm praises Yahweh for his deliverance in verses 1-6 (English) leading up to his reason for praise in 7a, “Because the king trusts in Yahweh.”  The remainder of the Psalm praises Yahweh who fights on behalf of his people.  Again, the metric center appears to signal a turning point in the Psalm. Craigie (Psalms 1-50, 191, 193 Italics mine) states:
Whereas the first part of the psalm [English vv. 1-6], presumably spoken by the congregation, referred primarily to God’s past actions on behalf of the king, which were a source of thanksgiving, this single verse—the mid-point of the entire psalm—serves to bring the focus to the present, the actual moment of proclamation in the liturgy.  Just as the king had trusted in the past, so now in the present moment the solemn declaration is made (presumably by a priest): “the king is trusting in the Lord”. . . . But always, past and future remained contingent upon the present moment, and it was the present moment which formed the central point of the liturgy [English  v. 7a].  

Thus the metric center, located temporally in the present (בֹּטֵחַ, Qal Active Participle, “is trusting”) serves as the theological center of the Psalm transitioning from Yahweh’s past actions to the psalmist’s confidence in Yahweh’s help in the future.

Summary