The Eschatological Vision of Psalm 108

Wyatt A. Graham

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The following excerpt is adapted with permission from Wyatt A. Graham, The Promised Davidic King: Psalm 108’s Canonical Placement and Use of Earlier Psalms (Lexham, 2023).

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Psalm 108 is divided into two halves, which are separated by material from Psalms 57 and 60.¹ Psalm 108:2–6 corresponds to Psalm 57:8–12, and Psalm 108:7–14 corresponds to Psalm 60:7–14.² Consequently, Psalm 108 separates into one half that concerns David’s praise for God among all people (108:2–6) and another half that speaks of God’s salvation of Israel and establishment of his rule (108:7–14).

The first half of Psalm 108 (108:2–6) contains an inclusio, signaled by the term כָּבוֹד in 108:2, 6. Psalm 108:2–4 describes David’s intent to worship God, forming another inclusio with the term זמר in 108:2, 4. ³

The psalm’s first half, therefore, separates into two sub-groups: 108:2–4 and 108:5–6. The second half of Psalm 108 presents the idea of salvation, enclosing that second half in something of a thematic inclusio (108:7, 13).³

Other explanations of the structure exist, but they either present a structure based primarily upon thematic features⁴ or rely too heavily on form-critical features.⁵ The former explanation is too subjective and may undervalue the explicit linguistic features of Psalm 108. The latter explanation works only if one can demonstrate that the author of Psalm 108 intended to structure his psalm according to form-critical standards, which seems improbable. Instead, readers should analyze Psalm 108’s structure by noticing the psalm’s explicit linguistic features (e.g., key-word repetition) and its two-part division due to its unique citation of Psalms 57 and 60.

Superscription

According to the superscription, Psalm 108 is a שִׁיר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד. The word שִׁיר is a generic word for “song,” but the word מִזְמוֹר refers to “a song with instrumental accompaniment.”⁶ Furthermore, the terms שִׁיר and מִזְמוֹר define the genre of the psalm. In psalm superscriptions, psalm genres are marked by singular, common nouns without a definite article.⁷ Both שִׁיר and מִזְמוֹר satisfy this criteria. As a genre, מִזְמוֹר is common in the Psalter, appearing 52 times in the Psalter by itself, and, in 5 cases, מִזְמוֹר appears with שִׁיר to signify a psalm’s genre.⁸ In Daniel Bourguet’s study of the psalm superscriptions, he found that, when מִזְמוֹר and שִׁיר appear together, as they do here, they relate appositionally and are in the absolute state.⁸

The phrase לְדָוִד identifies the author of Psalm 108, namely, David. Egbert Ballhorn notes that שִׁיר מִזְמוֹר followed by a lamed plus a name occurs with Korah (Pss 44:1; 88:1) and Asaph (Ps 83:1), but this is the first time that this particular construction appears with David.⁹ Psalm 109 is also a מִזְמוֹר written by David. After considering the superscription of Psalm 109, Ballhorn concludes that Psalm 108 is a new composition meant to fit within its canonical context.⁹ Likewise, Psalm 110 is also a מִזְמוֹר written by David. This further shows that Psalm 108 is intentionally placed before Psalms 109 and 110.¹⁰

The superscription thus defines the genre of Psalm 108 as a “song, a mizmor” as well as identifying the author: David. David wrote Psalm 108 to be a song that was accompanied by stringed instruments. Canonically, the genre and authorship of Psalm 108 unite Psalms 108–110 into a group. All three psalms are mizmorim by David.

Psalm 108:2–6

In Psalm 108:2, David affirms his steadfastness before singing praises to God. When David says “my heart is steadfast,” he means my heart is ready.¹¹ The niphal verb נָכוֹן can express the idea of readiness.¹² In context, David would be affirming his readiness to “sing and praise with my glory” (Ps 108:2b). In contrast, the same line in Psalm 57:8 speaks of David’s steady soul, and נָכוֹן probably conveys the idea of “firmness.”¹³

The phrase “even my glory” (אַף־כְּבוֹדִי) refers to the psalmist’s tongue, not his soul¹⁴ or God.¹⁵ The phrase “my glory” refers to the psalmist’s tongue because David claims that he will sing to God: “I will sing and praise, even my glory.” Glory is, therefore, probably a metonymy for “tongue,”¹⁶ and David means that he will glorify God with his tongue through singing.¹⁷ The אַף adds emphasis (“even”) to what follows: “even my glory.”¹⁸ The LXX renders the phrase ἐν τῇ δόξῃ μου, perhaps translating אַף with ἐν.¹⁹

In Psalm 108:3, David personifies his instruments when he says, “Awake, O harp and lyre!” He then proclaims that he will praise God with his instruments in the early part of the morning: “I will awaken the dawn!”²⁰ His praise for God is not restricted to a private audience. Rather, David will praise YHWH “among the peoples” and “among the nations” (Ps 108:4). God is not a local deity nor is his power restrained. Instead, David confesses that YHWH’s faithfulness “is great above the heavens” and his truthfulness “comes to the clouds” (Ps 108:5). Finally, David calls on God to rise above the heavens and to let his glory fill the earth (Ps 108:6).²¹

Psalm 108:7–14

The term “glory” in Psalm 108:6 functions as an inclusio with “my glory” in Psalm 108:2.³ In Psalm 108, the glory of God is not an undefined entity. Rather, the glory of God is the concrete theophany of YHWH in salvation as Psalm 108:7 verifies.²² David says, “In order that your beloved ones may be rescued, save with your right hand and answer me!” (Ps 108:7). After praying that God’s glory would span the earth, David ties God’s answer (“answer me!) to the rescue of his beloved ones.²³ Psalm 108:6 ends the citation of Psalm 57:8–12, and Psalm 108:7 begins the citation of Psalm 60:7–14. David, therefore, skillfully ties what was Psalm 60:7 to what was Psalm 57:8–12.

In Psalm 108:8–10, David recounts an earlier promise of God. He introduces the promise with “God spoke in his sanctuary.” The word sanctuary (קֹדֶשׁ) could also mean “holiness.”²⁴ However, the term sanctuary or heavenly sanctuary makes better contextual sense in this passage.²⁵ In Psalm 108:6, David prays that God would rise above the heavens, and it is not unreasonable to argue that Psalm 108:6 could elucidate the meaning of קֹדֶשׁ in Psalm 108:8. David perhaps envisions God as speaking from heaven or from above the heavens. God also speaks from heaven in Psalm 2:6 (cf. 2:4). Moreover, the language of sanctuary fits with the Zion and temple themes that are present in Psalm 110.²⁶

God promises victory over the nations surrounding Israel. The oracular promise names nine entities over which God will claim victory. The nine entities can be divided into three sets of three. There are three places (Shechem, Succoth, and Gilead), three tribes (Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah), and three enemies (Moab, Edom, and Philistia).²⁷ Erich Zenger teases out the different ways that God claims authority over these nine entities. He redistributes the inhabitants of Shechem and Succoth, cares for Gilead and Manasseh, uses Ephraim and Judah to aid in his regal duty, subjugates Moab and Edom, and exults over Philistia.²⁸

According to Vesco, the entities named in Psalm 108:8–10 follow a geographical movement that begins in Israel and then moves from east to west.³ Botha and Zenger track the movement from north to south.48²⁹ Konrad Schaefer seems to track the movement from the west to the east:

Shechem with a large part of Manasseh west of the Jordan is claimed as well as Succoth together with Gilead east of the Jordan. Northern Ephraim will serve as a military helmet and southern Judah as scepter. The oracle confirms Israel’s rights over three longstanding enemies, as the divine warrior claims neighboring Moab in the south-east, Edom in the south and coastal Philistia.³⁰

Schaefer thus appears to track the movement from the west (Shechem) to the east (Succoth and Gilead) and then from the north to the south.

Why do Vesco, Botha, Zenger, and Schaefer appear to track the movement of the entities differently? Vesco defines Succoth and Gilead as part of Israel, and so he begins tracking the movement in Moab (east). Botha likely starts with Ephraim (north) and moves downward. Zenger defines Succoth and Shechem as the north (not west and east).³¹ Schaefer simply comments on the geographical location of the places as they appear in the passage without intentionally tracking their movement in a line. No matter the starting point, however, it is clear that God systematically names regions surrounding Israel and claims victory over them.

Botha argues that Shechem and Succoth bring to mind the patriarchal period, suggesting the fulfillment of the Abrahamic land promise.³² In Genesis 12:6–7, God promises the land of Shechem to Abraham (Abram). Jacob dwelled in Shechem and Succoth (Gen 33:17–18),³¹ and he had earlier dwelled in Gilead (Gen 31:21).³³ Further, Psalm 108’s canonical context alludes to the fulfillment of another promise made in Genesis. Psalm 110:1 and 6 allude to Genesis 3:15,³⁴ indicating a fulfillment of the promise to crush the serpent’s head in Genesis 3. It seems likely, therefore, that the place names Shechem, Succoth, and Gilead allude to the patriarchal period, bringing to mind God’s promise that Israel would inherit the land. The context of Psalm 108 bears this observation out because the whole psalm concerns a new conquest of the land.

Moreover, the enemies described in Psalm 108:8–10 correspond to the hope of the Davidic kingdom.³¹ Isaiah 11:13–14 recounts:

The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them. (ESV)

Ephraim and Judah work together to defeat the Philistines, Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites. In Psalm 108, Ephraim (the helmet) and Judah (the scepter) exult over Philistia and subjugate Edom and Moab.³⁵ Through the tribe of Judah, David and the Messiah come (Gen 49:10; Num 24:17-19).³⁶ Ephraim probably represents the northern kingdom of Israel, and their reunion is part of the eschatological coming together of the kingdom (see Ezek 37:19). The conquest that Psalm 108 describes, therefore, points to the future fulfillment of the Davidic kingdom with Judah—through whom the Messiah would come—ruling. Psalm 108 thus describes an eschatological victory.

Edom represents Israel’s great eschatological enemy, and it is mentioned twice in Psalm 108 (108:10, 11). Leslie Allen writes, “As in Amos 9:12, Edom is the eschatological archenemy (cf. Ps 137:7).”³⁷ Edom stood by as Judah was plundered and exiled (Obad 10–14). In the kingdom, however, the survivors of the exile will rule over Edom (Obad 21). The double mention of Edom in Psalm 108 underscores the animosity towards Edom and its unique status as Israel’s “eschatological archenemy.”³⁸

Notably, both Edom and Moab are not annihilated, but they join the kingdom of God as servants. Moab becomes Israel’s wash-basin, and Edom fetches God’s shoe like a slave.³⁹ Some argue that hurling a shoe at Edom signifies ownership, citing Ruth 4:7 as evidence for this ancient custom.⁴⁰ While God certainly claims ownership of Edom, he also presses Edom into service. Casting a shoe at Edom, therefore, probably should be interpreted in the same manner as God calling Moab his wash-basin. Both nations serve God. Just as Moab becomes God’s wash-basin, so also is Edom his slave. The phrase “I will exult over Philistia” in Psalm 108:10 is an “expression of triumph over a conquered enemy.”⁴¹

Psalm 108:11 continues God’s speech but is not part of the oracular promise (Ps 108:8–10). David records God asking two questions: “Who will bring me to the fortified city” and “Who will lead me to Edom?” The questions are rhetorical. God’s glory rises above the earth, and he claims it as his own. He needs no guide. The subtext behind the rhetorical questions is that no one can bring God to a fortified city nor lead him to Edom. God is over all.

The fortified city may be Bozrah, which is located in Edom (Gen 36:33).³³ Rogerson and McKay suggest the city of Petra (Obad 3).⁴² Defining a specific location for the generic noun מִבְצָר is a tenuous venture. It may not even be the intent of the psalm to define a specific geographical location. Botha, for example, notes how Psalm 108:11 uses מִבְצָר instead of מָצוֹר, as Psalm 60:11 uses,⁴³ which he suggests creates a wordplay with Psalm 108:13: “Give us help from the enemy (מִצָּר).”⁴⁴ It is possible that the psalm uses מִבְצָר simply to create this wordplay with מִצָּר. But Botha’s argument may be only partially correct. Read within its canonical context, the “fortified city” of Psalm 108:11 may refer to the city for which the redeemed of God sought in Psalm 107 (Ps 107:4, 7, and 36).⁴⁵ If so, the rhetorical question in Psalm 108:11 implies that God is able to lead his people to a fortified city, a place safe from the enemy. This clarifies why Psalm 108 switches מָצוֹר (Ps 60:11) for מִבְצָר in Psalm 108:11, namely, because of the wordplay in Psalm 108:13 and because of the connection to Psalm 107.⁴⁶ God will lead his people to מִבְצָר, which protects them from the enemy (מִצָּר).

In Psalm 108:12, the voice of the community joins with David in prayer. The prayer of David becomes the prayer of the people of God. In the beginning of the psalm, the prayer seems to be the prayer of an individual, but it soon takes on universal significance. In Psalm 108:7, David’s prayer already includes the community (“beloved ones”).⁴⁷ Psalm 108:5–6 expands the scope of the psalm to include the entire world. Moreover, the oracle in Psalm 108:8–10 concerns the nations surrounding Israel. In this psalm, David’s individual prayer to God thus includes God’s people, the nations, and the entire world. The psalm speaks in cosmic terms.⁴⁸

In Psalm 108:2, David readies his heart and praises God (see Ps 108:3–4). He confesses God’s faithfulness (Ps 108:5) and trusts in God’s promise of victory (Ps 108:8–10). It seems unlikely, therefore, that David believes that God has “rejected us” (Ps 108:12). Rather, David leans into God’s faithfulness.⁴⁹ He asks whether God has rejected his people in order to persuade God to act on what he has promised. God had promised victory over Israel’s enemies (Ps 108:8–10), but David complains that God does not go out with Israel’s armies.

Only with God’s help will David lead his people to victory for the “salvation of man is vain” (108:13).⁵⁰ The term “vain” (שָׁוְא) resonates with biblical wisdom literature (Job 7:3; 11:11; 15:31; 31:5, 35:13; Prov 30:8). This resonance may be significant because Psalm 107 ends with a call to be wise: “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD” (Ps 107:43 ESV). Following after Psalm 107, Psalm 108 may continue the message of Psalm 107.

Moreover, the transition from the singular in Psalm 107:43a (“him”) to the plural in Psalm 107:43b (“them”) may carry messianic implications. Nancy DeClaissé-Walford argues, “By placing fifteen psalms of David in Book Five and, specifically, Psalms 108, 109, and 110 directly after Psalm 107, the shapers of the Psalter suggest that the answer to the question, ‘Who is the wise one?’ of Psalm 107:43 is David, the ideal king of ancient Israel.”⁵¹ According to her, when David swears fealty to YHWH in Psalm 108:13–14, the “postexilic community” would afterward imitate David’s example.⁵² On this reading, the “him” in Psalm 107:43a would be the messiah. It also seems possible to identify the “them” who “consider the steadfast love of the LORD” in Psalm 107:43b as the post-exilic community. Psalm 108:13–14 would thus intentionally carry forward the message of Psalm 107 by highlighting the “wise” man who is the messiah.

Psalm 108 ends with a statement of trust in God who will conquer Israel’s foes. When God faithfully fulfills his promise to reconquer the land (Ps 108:8–10), then Israel’s armies will do valiantly (Ps 108:14a). Ultimately, however, God “will tread down our enemy” (Ps 108:14b).⁵³ In these verses, David speaks in the first person plural. According to Vesco, this means that David functions as “the spokesperson of Israel” (comme porte parole d’Israël).⁵⁴ As king, David represents his people. He uses the royal “we,” showing his solidarity with the community of faith. David’s wise confession of trust in God overlaps with the voice of the community.

Conclusion

In Psalm 108, David asks God to reveal his eschatological glory and to assert his sovereignty over the world. In so doing, God will deliver the kingdom to David, and the people of God will dwell securely. Psalm 108 is not an example of “grotesque nationalism,” as Terrien claims.⁵⁵ It is, instead, a song of trust in God who is faithful and who will fulfill his promises to his people. God will lead David to absolute victory over his enemies and will establish the kingdom of God.

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Wyatt Graham (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is executive director of The Gospel Coalition Canada and author of The Promised Davidic King: Psalm 108’s Canonical Placement and Use of Earlier Psalms (Lexham, 2023).

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Image: Hendrick ter Bruggen, King David Playing the Harp

1. Concerning Ps 60, Wilson notes, “The comparison of these three psalms (57; 60; 108) demonstrates how psalms or psalmic segments could be recombined and re-used to speak to different settings and times. The use in Psalm 108 of 60:5–12 also helps indicate structural divisions within our psalm.” Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), loc. 18152, Kindle. The opposite is also true. How Ps 108 cites Pss 57 and 60 helps determine the structural divisions of Ps 108 itself.[↩]
2. Note that verse citations throughout refer to the verse numbering of the Hebrew text.[↩]
3. Vesco, Le Psautier de David, 2:1039.[↩][↩][↩][↩]
4. DeClaissé-Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner, Psalms, 821.[↩]
5. Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 116–17.[↩]
6. Cobb, Book of Psalms, x.[↩]
7. Daniel Bourguet, “La Structure des Titres des Psaumes,” Revue d’Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses 61, no. 2 (1981): 112.[↩]
8. Bourguet, “Structure des Titres des Psaumes,” 115.[↩][↩]
9. Ballhorn, Zum Telos des Psalters, 148.[↩][↩]
10. Martin Leuenberger also argues that the shared genre and authorship of Pss 108–110 demonstrate that these three psalms are a compositional unity. Leuenberger, Konzeptionen des Königtums Gottes, 286.[↩]
11. Botha, “Psalm 108,” 586.[↩]
12. HALOT, 464.[↩]
13. Jacquet, Les Psaumes et le Coeur, 179. Both the double repetition of “my heart is firm” (נָכוֹן לִבִּי אֱלֹהִים נָכוֹן לִבִּי) and the total context of Ps 57 lead to this conclusion. In Ps 57, David is in dire straits and confesses the firmness of his faith in God. In Ps 108, David may once again need God’s rescue. But the psalm’s tone is much more positive and triumphant. The portions of Pss 57 and 60 that David selects to form Ps 108 create a psalm with a hopeful, positive tone. Grogan, Psalms, 182.[↩]
14. Rashi, Rashi’s Commentary on Psalms, trans. Mayer I. Gruber, Brill Reference Library of Judaism 18 (Boston: Brill, 2004), 637.[↩]
15. Jacquet, Les Psaumes et le Coeur, 181; Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 114. In ch. 4, I detail my arguments for this position extensively.[↩]
16. John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament, vol. 4 (1810; repr., Paris, AR: Baptist Standard Bearer, 2005), 175.[↩]
17. David prays that God’s glory would rise above the earth in Ps 108:6. It is reason- able to assume, therefore, that David’s praying with his glory (tongue) signifies that he will verbally glorify God, especially since he does just that in Ps 108:4–6.[↩]
18. Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 115.[↩]
19. Nancy deClaissé-Walford states that the LXX translates אַף with ἐν. DeClaissé-Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner, Psalms, 822n6. But it is not certain that this is what the LXX translators are doing. They may simply have added ἐν to ensure that the Greek text was readable. If so, they either did not translate אַף or they translated from a text that did not contain אַף.[↩]
20. Rashi claims that David awoke at midnight, citing a rabbinic tradition in which a north wind would blow into a lyre sitting above David’s bed. In this sense, David would awaken the dawn. Rashi, Psalms, 637. This seems to be an overly literal understanding of what David means. Likely, David means that he will praise God in the early hours of the morning. Theodoret argues that the dawn refers to the incarnation. Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms: Psalms 73–150, trans. Robert C. Hill (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001), 198 (§2). Isa 58:8 may provide biblical evidence for taking “dawn” as the messiah: “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard” (ESV).[↩]
21. Joachim Becker argues that Ps 108:6 refers to the world-spanning revelation of God’s glory (Isa 35:2; 40:5; 59:19; 60:2; 66:18; Pss 97:6; 102:16). Becker, Israel deutet seine Psalmen, 66. Following Becker, Steven Cook defines God’s exaltation as an eschatological revelation of God’s glory. Cook, “Apocalypticism and the Psalter,” 92.[↩]
22. Becker, Israel deutet seine Psalmen, 67.[↩]
23. According to Zenger, Ps 108:7 uses the first person pronoun “me” to underscore that the king is speaking. In Ps 60:7, the text reads “answer us.” Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 116.[↩]
24. HALOT, 1076.[↩]
25. Becker calls it the “heavenly temple of Yahweh” (himmlische Heiligtum Jahwes). Becker, Israel deutet seine Psalmen, 67; Botha, “Psalm 108,” 577; Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 114.[↩]
26. Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 114.[↩]
27. Benjamin J. Segal, A New Psalm: The Psalms as Literature (New York: Gefen, 2013), 523.[↩]
28. Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 121.[↩]
29. Botha, “Psalm 108,” 581–82; Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 120.[↩]
30. Schaefer, Psalms, 269.[↩]
31. Hossfeld and Zenger, Commentary on Psalms 101–150, 120.[↩][↩][↩]
32. Botha, “Psalm 108,” 582.[↩]
33. Segal, A New Psalm, 523.[↩][↩]
34. James Hamilton, “The Skull Crushing Seed of the Woman: Inner-Biblical Interpretation of Genesis 3:15,” SBJT 10, no. 2 (2006): 37.[↩]
35. Moab, Edom, and Philistia are also mentioned in Exod 15:14–15. DeClaissé- Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner, Psalms, 824.[↩]
36. Raymond Jacques Tournay, Seeing and Hearing God with the Psalms: The Prophetic Liturgy of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, trans. J. Edward Crowley, JSOTSup 118 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1991), 179.[↩]
37. Allen, Psalms 101–150, 79.[↩]
38. Goldingay states that “there is no particular reason to interpret Edom as an eschatological enemy.” Goldingay, Psalms 90–150, 264. But given Amos 9:12, Obad, and the placement of Ps 108 in the fifth Book of the Psalter, there are ample reasons to interpret Edom eschatologically.[↩]
39. Alexander, Psalms, 2:70; Rogerson and McKay, Psalms 101–150, 58.[↩]
40. Tournay, Seeing and Hearing, 179; Richard J. Clifford, Psalms 73–150, AOTC (Nashville: Abingdon, 2003), 170; deClaissé-Walford, Jacobson, and Tanner, Psalms, 824.[↩]
41. Alexander, Psalms, 3:91.[↩]
42. Rogerson and McKay, Psalms 101–150, 58–59.[↩]
43. According to Tournay, מָצוֹר is a play on words with Bosra (i.e., Botsrah), the capital of Idumaea. Tournay, Seeing and Hearing, 179.[↩]
44. Botha, “Psalm 108,” 588.[↩]
45. Vesco, Le Psautier de David, 2:1037.[↩]
46. The editor(s) may have made this switch to tie Ps 108 closer to Ps 107. If the change is original to David, then the editor(s) would have intended this connection to be made between Ps 107 and Ps 108. In ch. 5, I suggest a hermeneutical framework to understand how David’s intent and the editor’s intent can work together without David’s intent being lost.[↩]
47. W. Dennis Tucker notes that the shift to the plural in Ps 108:7 indicates the communal nature of the psalm in W. Dennis Tucker Jr., Constructing and Deconstructing Power in Psalms 107–150 (Atlanta: SBL, 2014), 70.[↩]
48. Tucker, Constructing and Deconstructing Power, 69.[↩]
49. Goldingay comments, “[T]he function of the rhetorical question is to press the matter into God’s own thinking, to drive God to think about it and to dare to take responsibility for the answer.” Goldingay, Psalms 90–150, 270. Goldingay uses overly provocative language to make his point. David does not give God new information or “dare” him to act. David, instead, calls on God to fulfill his promise.[↩]
50. Clifford economically describes Ps 108:13–14 with “Human help is worthless.” Clifford, Psalms 73–150, 170.[↩]
51. Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford, Reading from the Beginning: The Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997), 97. Wilson already argued that David is the wise man who heeds the words of Ps 107 in Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, 221.[↩]
52. DeClaissé-Walford, Reading from the Beginning, 93.[↩]
53. Rogerson and McKay see God here as a “warrior king.” Rogerson and McKay, Psalms 101–150, 58. Cf. Clifford, Psalms 73–150, 169–70.[↩]
54. Vesco, Le Psautier de David, 2:1039. Grogan sees the roles of the king and individual uniting, so that the king is the “royal representative of the people, on whom the whole nation speaks in prayer and praise.” Grogan, Psalms, 182.[↩]
55. Terrien, Psalms, 742.[↩]