Bible Commentaries

Consolation in the Presence of Bloodthirsty Adversaries

(In the Hebrew, Psalm 54:1-2 comprise the designation 'To the leader, with theaccompaniment of stringed instruments, a Maskil of David … '; from thenon Psalm 54:1-7 in English translation corresponds to vv. 3-9 in the Hebrew)
Here again we have one of the eight Psalms dates from the time of Saul'spersecution - a (Maskı̂l), like the two preceding Psalms, and having points ofclose contact both with Psalm 53:1-6 (cf. Psalm 54:5 with Psalm 53:3) and with Psalm 52:1-9 (cf. theresemblance in the closing words of. v. 8 and Ps 52:11): To the Precentor,with the accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid., on Psalm 4:1), ameditation, by David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: Is notDavid hidden among us? Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, had escaped toDavid, who with six hundred men was then in the fortified town of Keïla(Keilah), but received through Abiathar the divine answer, that theinhabitants would give him up if Saul should lay siege to the town. Thereupon we find him in the wilderness of Zîph; the Ziphites betray himand pledge themselves to capture him, and thereby he is in the greateststraits, out of which he was only rescued by an invasion of the Philistines,which compelled Saul to retreat (1 Samuel 23:19.). The same history whichthe earlier narrator of the Books of Samuel relates here, we meet with oncemore in 1 Sam. 26, related with fuller colouring. The form of theinscription of the Psalm is word for word the same as both in 1 Samuel 23:19 and in 1 Samuel 26:1; the annals are in all three passages the ultimate sourceof the inscription.

(Heb.: 54:3-5)This short song is divided into two parts by (Sela) The first half prays forhelp and answer. The Name of God is the manifestation of His nature,which has mercy as its central point (for the Name of God is טּוב, v. 8, Ps 52:11), so that בּשׁמך (which is here the parallelword to בּגבוּרתך) is consequently equivalent to בּחסדּך. The obtaining of right for any one (דּין like שׁפט, Psalm 7:9, and frequently, עשׂה דּין, Psalm 9:5) isattributed to the all-conquering might of God, which is only one side of thedivine Name, i.e., of the divine nature which manifests itself in thediversity of its attributes. האזין (Psalm 54:4 ) is construed with ל (cf. אל, Psalm 87:2) like הטּה אזן, Psalm 78:1. The Targum, misled byPsalm 86:14, reads זרים instead of זרים in Psalm 54:5. The inscriptionleads one to think of the Ziphites in particular in connection with“strangers” and “violent men.” The two words in most instances denoteforeign enemies, Isaiah 25:2., Psalm 29:5; Ezekiel 31:12; but זר is also astranger in the widest sense, regulated in each instance according to theopposite, e.g., the non-priest, Leviticus 22:10; and one's fellow-countrymen canalso turn out to be עריצים, Jeremiah 15:21. The Ziphites, although Judaeanslike David, might be called “strangers,” because they had taken the sideagainst David; and “violent men,” because they pledged themselves toseize and deliver him up. Under other circumstances this might have beentheir duty as subjects. In this instance, however, it was godlessness, as Psalm 54:5 (cf. Psalm 86:14) says. Any one at that time in Israel who feared God morethan man, could not lend himself to be made a tool of Saul's blind fury. God had already manifestly enough acknowledged David.

(Heb.: 54:6-9)In this second half, the poet, in the certainty of being heard, rejoices inhelp, and makes a vow of thanksgiving. The בּ of בּסמכי is notmeant to imply that God is one out of many who upheld his threatenedlife; but rather that He comes within the category of such, and fills it up inHimself alone, cf. Psalm 118:7; and for the origin of this Beth essentiae, Psalm 99:6; Judges 11:35. In Psalm 54:7 the Kerîmerits the preference over the Chethîb(evilshall “revert” to my spies), which would at least require על instead of ל (cf. Psalm 7:17). Concerning שׁררי, vid., on Psalm 27:11. In the rapid transition to invocation in Psalm 54:7 the end of the Psalm announces itself. The truth of God is not described as an instrumental agent of the cutting off, but as an impelling cause. It is the same Beth as in the expression בּנדבה (Numbers 15:3): by or out of free impulse. These free-will sacrifices are not spiritual here in opposition to the ritual sacrifices (Psalm 50:14), but ritual as an outward representation of the spiritual. The subject of הצּילני is the Name of God; the post-biblical language, following Leviticus 24:11, calls God straightway השּׁם, and passages like Isaiah 30:27 and the one before us come very near to this usage. The praeterites mention the ground of the thanksgiving. What David now still hopes for will then lie behind him in the past. The closing line, v. 9b, recalls Psalm 35:21, cf. Psalm 59:11; Psalm 92:12; the invoking of the curse upon his enemies in v. 8 recalls Psalm 17:13; Psalm 56:8; Psalm 59:12.; and the vow of thanksgiving in v. 8 recalls Psalm 22:26; Psalm 35:18; Psalm 40:10.