Psalms 41-80

► Psalms 44

Psalm 44 recalls God's past military victories on the nation's behalf, then contrasts this with a present national defeat, exile, or subjugation. The psalm closes with imperatives urging God to "awake" and intervene. It ends, leaving us with that disconnect between the past and the present.

Structural Features

This Psalm doesn't have clear structural markers but it really doesn't seem to need them. One thing that might be worth noticing is the near constant use of You and Your.

Connections

Romans 8:36 is the clearest case. Paul directly quotes verse 22 — "we are killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep for the slaughter" — in the middle of his argument that nothing can separate believers from the love of Christ. Paul uses the psalm's language of suffering-while-faithful as a description of Christian suffering, essentially reading Israel's ancient complaint as prefiguring the experience of the church.

It's a notable move: Psalm 44 uses that line as a protest (why is this happening to us if we're innocent?), while Paul uses it more as reassurance (this kind of suffering doesn't mean God has abandoned us — it's actually expected). Same words, repurposed argument.

► Psalm 59

Structural Elements

A few key repeated words:

  • God:
    • אֱלֹהִים (ʾĕlōhîm) "God" ×9 (vv. 1, 5, 5, 9, 10, 10, 13, 17, 17)
    • יְהוָה (YHWH) "LORD" ×3 (vv. 3, 5, 8)
    • אֲדֹנָי (ʾădōnāy) "Lord" ×1 (v. 11)
  • Phrases:
    • "for God is my fortress" ×2 (vv. 9, 17)
    • "God of my covenant-love" ×2 (vv. 10, 17)
    • also verses 6 and 14 are identical
  • Root שׂגב (śgb) ×4 — "set me on high" (v. 1), "fortress" (vv. 9, 16, 17)
  • עֹז (ʿōz) "strength" ×3 (vv. 9, 16, 17)
  • חֶסֶד (ḥesed) "covenant-love" ×3 (vv. 10, 16, 17)
  • אֵלֶיךָ (ʾēlêkā) "to you" ×2 (vv. 9, 17)
  • הַצִּילֵנִי (haṣṣîlēnî) "deliver me" ×2 (vv. 1, 2)
  • אָוֶן (ʾāwen) "iniquity, wickedness" ×2 (vv. 2, 5)
  • גּוֹי (gôy) "nation" ×2 (vv. 5, 8)
  • פֶּה (peh) "mouth" ×2 (vv. 7, 12)
  • שָׂפָה (śāpâ) "lip" ×2 (vv. 7, 12)
  • חַטָּאת (ḥaṭṭāʾt) "sin" ×2 (vv. 3, 12)
  • נוּעַ (nûaʿ) "totter, wander" ×2 (vv. 11, 15)
  • כַּלֵּה (kallēh) "make an end" ×2 (vv. 13, 13)

Biblical Connections

The superscription's citations:

The heading reads, "when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him". 1 Sam 19:11 reads: "Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him and to kill him in the morning".

The heading reads, אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת (Al-tashheth) "Do Not Destroy", this heading is shared with Pss 57, 58, 75. It is most likely a melody incipit. This phrase is also used in Deut 9:26 and Isa 65:8.

Review the following, Psalm 59 drawing on earlier material

v. 8 // Psalm 2:4 and Psalm 37:13 — (A).

וְאַתָּה יְהוָה תִּשְׂחַק־לָמוֹ תִּלְעַג לְכָל־גּוֹיִם against Ps 2:4's יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק אֲדֹנָי יִלְעַג־לָמוֹ. The verb-pair שׂחק // לעג with God as subject occurs only in these two texts; Ps 37:13 has the שׂחק half alone. Ps 59 additionally shares Ps 2's object גּוֹיִם. Given that Ps 59:13 also ends with universal dominion (לְאַפְסֵי הָאָרֶץ, cf. Ps 2:8's אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ), the dependence on the royal-programmatic language of Ps 2 looks real and directional.

v. 17 // Exodus 15:2 — (A/B).

עֻזִּי אֵלֶיךָ אֲזַמֵּרָה against the Song of the Sea's עָזִּי וְזִמְרָת יָהּ (also Isa 12:2; Ps 118:14). The collocation עֹז + זמר with a first-person suffix is a fixed victory-hymn formula. Its placement as the psalm's final colon is a deliberate genre signal: the individual lament closes by adopting the diction of national deliverance.

vv. 1–2 // 2 Samuel 22:49 = Psalm 18:48 — (A).

Ps 59: הַצִּילֵנִי מֵאֹיְבַי ... מִמִּתְקוֹמְמַי תְּשַׂגְּבֵנִי ... וּמֵאַנְשֵׁי דָמִים הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי. 2 Sam 22:49: וּמִקָּמַי תְּרוֹמְמֵנִי מֵאִישׁ חֲמָסִים תַּצִּילֵנִי. Shared: נצל hiphil imperative/imperfect, the ablative מִן of hostile agents, the participial "those rising against me" (root קום), and a hiphil verb of elevation. The hitpolel מִתְקוֹמְמַי is rare (elsewhere Job 27:7; Ps 17:7; 139:21). מִשְׂגַּבִּי, the psalm's refrain-word, is likewise the signature epithet of 2 Sam 22:3 // Ps 18:3.

vv. 4–5 // Psalm 35:23 — (B).

עוּרָה לִקְרָאתִי וּרְאֵה ... הָקִיצָה לִפְקֹד alongside Ps 35:23's הָעִירָה וְהָקִיצָה לְמִשְׁפָּטִי. The pairing of עור and קיץ in the "awakening of God" topos is confined to a small set (Pss 7:7; 35:23; 44:24; 59:4–5; 78:65).

v. 5's divine title — (B).

יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים צְבָאוֹת ... אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל is the fullest form of the title in the Psalter, matched only in Ps 80:5, 20 (and cf. 84:9). Both psalms are Elohistic and both use the title at a structural pivot.

v. 11 // Genesis 4:12–15 — (B/C), but philologically weightier than usually granted.

אַל־תַּהַרְגֵם פֶּן־יִשְׁכְּחוּ עַמִּי הֲנִיעֵמוֹ בְחֵילְךָ. The logic is precisely Cain's: the offender is not killed but made נָע — a wanderer — so that he survives as a legible sign. The root נוע is the hinge (Gen 4:12, 14; Ps 59:11, and again 59:15, where the enemies יְנוּעוּן for food, exactly Cain's condition). Compare also the "lest they forget" motif of Deut 4:9; 8:11–14, and the preservation-for-instruction logic of Exod 9:16 and Judg 3:1–2.

v. 12 // Hosea 4:2 — (A), and underappreciated.

וּמֵאָלָה וּמִכַּחַשׁ יְסַפֵּרוּ against Hosea's אָלֹה וְכַחֵשׁ וְרָצֹחַ. The word-pair אָלָה + כַּחַשׁ is genuinely rare; it recurs at Hos 10:4. Whichever direction dependence runs, the psalmist is charging the enemies with covenant-catalogue offences, not merely with rudeness.

v. 7 // Psalm 57:5 — (B).

חֲרָבוֹת בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֵיהֶם against Ps 57:5's וּלְשׁוֹנָם חֶרֶב חַדָּה. Compare Pss 55:22; 64:4; Prov 12:18. Ps 57 is an אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת psalm with a Saul superscription, so this is best read as intra-collection cohesion within the Miktam group (Pss 56–60) rather than citation.

v. 11 // Psalm 56:7 — (B).

וְהוֹרִידֵמוֹ מָגִנֵּנוּ אֲדֹנָי against Ps 56:8's בְּאַף עַמִּים הוֹרֵד אֱלֹהִים. Hiphil of ירד with God bringing down peoples is uncommon; again, collection-level linkage.

v. 16 // Psalms 90:14 and 92:2–3 — (A).

The triad בֹּקֶר + חֶסֶד + רנן appears in exactly three places: Ps 59:16 (וַאֲרַנֵּן לַבֹּקֶר חַסְדֶּךָ), Ps 90:14 (שַׂבְּעֵנוּ בַבֹּקֶר חַסְדֶּךָ וּנְרַנְּנָה), Ps 92:3 (לְהַגִּיד בַּבֹּקֶר חַסְדֶּךָ). Note that Ps 90:14 uses שׂבע ("satisfy") of the worshipper's morning, while Ps 59:15 uses אִם־לֹא יִשְׂבְּעוּ ("if they are not satisfied") of the enemies' night — the same root partitioning the two parties.

v. 13 // 1 Samuel 2:10; Zechariah 9:10 — (B).

מֹשֵׁל בְּיַעֲקֹב לְאַפְסֵי הָאָרֶץ. אַפְסֵי־אֶרֶץ is a fixed eschatological-royal idiom (1 Sam 2:10; Pss 2:8; 22:28; 67:8; 72:8; 98:3; Isa 45:22; 52:10; Mic 5:3; Zech 9:10). Its co-occurrence with משׁל is closest to Zech 9:10 and Ps 22:29 (וּמֹשֵׁל בַּגּוֹיִם).

v. 13's כַּלֵּה // Jeremiah 30:11 — (C).

The psalm's internal tension — do not kill them (v. 11) yet make a full end (v. 13) — is the same tension the prophets resolve asymmetrically: כָלָה for the nations, not for Jacob (Jer 30:11; 46:28; cf. Neh 9:31; Ezek 20:17). Ps 59 states both halves without resolving them, which is one reason it reads as a composite or at least a bipartite composition.

► Psalm 64

This is a powerful and compact poem about the peril of hidden enemies and the certainty of divine justice.

Structural Elements

The word God is used 3 times and Yahweh once:

  • אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) God — vv. 1, 7, 9
  • יְהוָה (YHWH) Yahweh — v. 10

There is a set of words that are repeated in a grouping:

  • vv. 3-4
    • לְשׁוֹנָם (leshonam) | tongue
    • חִצָּם (chitsam) | arrow
    • לִירוֹת (lirot) | shoot
    • פִּתְאֹם (pit'om) | suddenly
    • יֹרֻהוּ (yoruhu) | shoot
    • וְלֹא יִירָאוּ (velo yirau) | they do not fear
  • vv. 7-10
    • יֹּרֵם (yorem) | shoot
    • חֵץ (chets) | arrow
    • פִּתְאוֹם (pit'om) | suddenly
    • לְשׁוֹנָם (leshonam) | tongue
    • וַיִּירְאוּ (vayyiru) | they all fear

And there is a repetition of a very similar phrase. You could see these as part of, or connected to, the clusters above.

  • v6 - who will see them?
  • v9 - all who see them

► Psalm 67

June 2026

Structural Elements

The most clear structural element is the repetition of verse 3 and 5. You could view this as the chorus breaking the psalm into 3 verses.

There are also a number of repeated words:

  • God (אֱלֹהִים / Elohim), v1, v3, v5, v6, v6, v7
  • Peoples (עַמִּים / ammim), v3, v3, v4, v5, v5
  • Earth (אֶרֶץ / eretz), v2, v4, v6, v7
  • Bless (יְבָרֵךְ / barak), v1, v6, v7
  • Praise (יוֹדוּךָ / yoducha), v3, v3, v5, v5

Biblical Connections

Verse 2 is a clear allusion to Numbers 6:25. The verb יָאֵר (ya'er, "cause to shine") and פָּנָיו (panav, "His face") are identical in both. The same rare verb, the same noun. It's close enough that any Hebrew reader would immediately recognize the reference, but changed just enough to say something new with it.

Numbers 6:25:

יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ — "May YHWH make His face shine toward you"

Psalm 67:2:

יָאֵר פָּנָיו אִתָּנוּ — "May He make His face shine upon/with us"

Verse 2 Should probably explore Genesis 12:3 — God blessing Abraham "so that all families of the earth will be blessed" is almost certainly behind the theology of vv.2-3, the idea that Israel's blessing flows outward to all nations

► Psalm 72

Editorial Frame

Psalm 72 closes Book II of the Psalter (Psalms 42–72), and the editors left some genuinely interesting marks around it — at both ends of the poem.

At the front stands the superscription, and the Hebrew is wonderfully ambiguous. The preposition lě- can mean "by," "for," or "concerning" Solomon, and the psalm reads best as a prayer on behalf of the king rather than a composition by him—a father praying for a son, or a community praying for its monarch.

At the back, the psalm closes not only with the expected liturgical doxology ("Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things... Amen and Amen," vv. 18–19), but with a striking editorial colophon: "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended" (v. 20). This is fascinating. For one thing, it sits in tension with the ascription we started with: the superscription assigns the psalm to Solomon (לִשְׁלֹמֹה, lishlomoh), yet the colophon attributes the preceding collection to David. And it doesn't square with the rest of the book either—for the prayers of David are by no means "ended" here. Further "Davidic" psalms appear well after this point (e.g., 86, 101, 138–145).

One possible way to square these is that v. 20 once marked the end of an older, self-standing "Davidic" scroll, and that the editors of the canonical Psalter let the seam show. The colophon is a fossil of an earlier compilation stage rather than a global claim—a small window into how the book was assembled.

Structure

This psalm unfolds in six movements:

  • petition for righteous judgment (vv. 1–4)
  • prayer for an enduring, fertilizing reign (vv. 5–7)
  • universal dominion and tribute (vv. 8–11)
  • the motivating ground of that homage—care for the poor (vv. 12–14)
  • a closing prayer for prosperity, perpetuity, and worldwide blessing (vv. 15–17)
  • editorial doxology (vv. 18–19) and colophon (v. 20)

A genuine grammatical crux runs through the whole poem: the long chain of verbs after the opening imperative ("Give the king your justice, O God," v. 1) can be parsed as jussives ("may he judge," "may he live") or as indicatives ("he will judge," "he shall live"). Hebrew leaves it open, and translations diverge accordingly. This ambiguity allows the poem to hovers between petition and prophecy.

Two other structural elements to notice:

  • righteousness/justice (צֶדֶק / מִשְׁפָּט) form a chiasm in the opening. Notice that vv. 1-2 use justice, righteousness and then flip the order to righteousness, justice.
  • the recurring solar imagery (vv. 5, 17) frames the body, binding the king's permanence to the cosmic order.

Connections

  • "all nations shall be blessed in him" (v. 17) echoes the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3; 22:18).
  • "from sea to sea... to the ends of the earth" (v. 8) reappears almost verbatim in Zechariah 9:10.

► Psalm 73

Psalm 73 opens Book III of the Psalter (Pss. 73–89). It functions as a sort of thematic opening to this book of psalms.

Structural Features

  • Repetition
    • akh (surely/only): vv. 1, 13, 18. Each "surely" could be seen as the beginning of a section.
    • tov (good): vv. 1, 28. Possibly an inclusio around the entire Psalm.
    • lev/levav (heart): 1, 13, 21, 26, 26
  • Progression of references to God
    • Elohim/El (God - generic term): vv. 1, 11, 17, 26, 28
    • (You - personal): vv. 15, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27
    • Adonai (Lord - title): vv. 20, 28
    • YHWH (God's name): v. 28

Connections

Psalm 73:26 — "God is... my portion (chelqi) forever"

Numbers 18:20 — "I am your portion (chelqekha)... among the people of Israel"

Both use the identical root, חלק (chalaq, "portion/share"), in the identical construction — "[God] is my/your portion." Asaph, a Levite, is picking up the exact technical term used to explain why Levites get no land — and applying it to himself personally.

Notes

Attributed to Asaph, one of David's Levitical choir-masters (1 Chron. 6:39; 15:17), it belongs to the "Asaphite" collection (Pss. 50, 73–83).

► Psalm 74

Psalm 74 is a communal lament. It carries the title "A Maskil of Asaph," the Asaphite collection (Pss 50, 73-83) that contributes a distinctive theological voice: God as judge, shepherd, and covenant-suitor.

Structural Features

I have found it useful to use a different color for each of the following groups, although I don't always highlight the final group's items.

  • Divine designations
    • YHWH (LORD) ×1 (v.18)
    • אֵל "God" ×1 (v.8)
    • אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) "God" ×4 (vv.1, 10, 12, 22)
    • שֵׁם (shem) "name" ×4 (vv.7, 10, 18, 21)
  • Section 1 marker
    • לָמָה / לָמָּה (lamah) "why" ×2 (vv.1, 11)
  • Section 2 marker
    • אַתָּה (attah) "you" (emphatic) ×7 (vv.13, 14, 15, 15, 16, 17, 17)
  • Section 3 marker
    • זכר (zakhar) "remember" ×3 (vv.2, 18, 22)
    • אַל (al) "do not" ×4 (vv.19, 19, 21, 23)
    • שׁכח (shakakh) "forget" ×2 (vv.19, 23)
  • Adversary vocabulary
    • צרר (tsarar) "adversary / foe" ×3 (vv.4, 10, 23; צֹרְרֶיךָ, צָר, צֹרְרֶיךָ)
    • חרף (kharaf) "reproach / taunt" ×3 (vv.10, 18, 22; verb, verb, noun חֶרְפָּה)
    • נָבָל (naval) "fool / impious" ×2 (vv.18, 22)
    • נאץ (na'ats) "spurn / revile" ×2 (vv.10, 18)
    • אוֹיֵב (oyev) "enemy" ×3 (vv.3, 10, 18)
  • Other interesting repetition
    • כֹּל / כָּל (kol) "all" ×4 (vv.3, 8, 17, 22)
    • עַד (ad) "until / how long" ×2 (vv.9, 10)
    • לֹא (lo) "not" ×2 (vv.9, 9)
    • נֶצַח (netsakh) "perpetuity / forever" ×4 (vv.1, 3, 10, 19)
    • קֶדֶם (qedem) "of old" ×2 (vv.2, 12)
    • אֶרֶץ (erets) "earth / land" ×5 (vv.7, 8, 12, 17, 20)
    • קֶרֶב (qerev) "midst" ×3 (vv.4, 11, 12)
    • מוֹעֵד (mo'ed) "appointed place / assembly" ×2 (vv.4, 8)
    • שׁכן (shakan) "dwell" ×2 (vv.2, 7; שָׁכַנְתָּ verb, מִשְׁכָּן "dwelling")
    • רֹאשׁ (ro'sh) "head" ×2 (vv.13, 14; the sea monsters' heads)
    • אוֹת (ot) "sign" ×3 (vv.4, 4, 9)
    • עָנִי (ani) "poor / afflicted" ×2 (vv.19, 21)
    • חַיָּה (khayyah) "living thing / beast" ×2 (v.19, 19)

This Psalm can be broken into three sections. Verses 1–11 are framed by two "why" questions addressed to God (vv. 1, 11). Verses 12–17 consist largely of statements with God as "you"; the emphatic Hebrew pronoun 'attah occurs seven times in vv. 13–17. Verses 18–23 alternate "remember" (vv. 18, 22) with "do not forget" (vv. 19, 23). "Remember" also occurs in v. 2, so that with v. 22 it brackets nearly the entire psalm.

image missing

The purpose of “The Couple Project” was to learn how to improve our marriage. That was relatively successful. Now we use this site to post what we are studying in the bible each week.

© Nathan & Kelli