Commentary on the Psalms, Psalms 1-72

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 71

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 71 A psalm for David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first captives. No title in the Hebrew. ven the one who composed the title admitted that he did not find it in the Hebrew, but that he introduced it.1 You should know, of course, that the sons of Jonadab were not the first to be taken captive. Blessed Jeremiah, in fact, was ordered by God to offer them wine by way of testing of the Jews’ transgression: since they were unwilling to drink it on account of their forebears’ recommendations, the prophet then accused the Jews of disobedience since those were observing human commands but these were transgressing divine laws.2 Now, the psalm is spoken on the part of those in exile in Babylon , hankering for return and longing for release from slavery; blessed David wrote it, adapting the words to the group of the very pious.3 Most of all he gives a prophecy to the sons of grace, who, freed from the abominable slavery of idols, believe in Christ [our] God and are in receipt of providence on his part. (2) In you, O Lord, I hoped; may I not be put to shame forever (v. 1). May I not fall away from hope, he is saying, as I await your assistance , nor be an object of reproach to greatest extent. The for406 1. Theodoret has had to budge a little from his opening position on the provenance of the psalm titles as expressed in the preface. 2. The incident highlighting the exemplary abstinence of the Rechabites in fidelity to the injunction of Jonadab, son of Rechab, is recounted in Jer 35. Theodoret sees it of no relevance to the psalm contents, which he relates rather to the captivity; then the longer form of the text predictably takes it further here and below. The psalm’s opening, in fact, closely resembles that of Ps 31, to which Theodoret applies a different Sitz im Leben. 3. We have noted that Theodoret sees the Psalms’ composition as a matter of speaking and writing rather than singing. mer offer this supplication in regard to those holding them captive , the latter in regard to the wicked demons. In your righteousness rescue me and deliver me (v. 2): I beg you to deliver a judgment on the Babylonians and me, and execute your verdict justly against them; this way I shall be freed from their servitude. [1420] Incline your ear to me, and save me. Be for me a protector, God, and a secure place to save me, because you are my foundation and my refuge (vv. 2–3). I have you as a champion, secure rampart, and safe bulwark; so receive my petition kindly. As we said before, this is said on the part of both the others, those turning away from evil afterwards up to the present and for all of life, and those being united to good. For he wishes to say this in what follows . (3) O my God, rescue me from the hand of a sinner, from the hand of a lawbreaker and a wrongdoer (v. 4): I beseech you, Lord, to free me from the power of those in the grip of wickedness and impiety . Because you, Lord, Lord, are my endurance, my hope from my youth (v. 5). The first people4 apply the word youth to the time of the great Moses, when they also enjoyed freedom even though having been enslaved to the Egyptians for the longest time. From that time, he is saying, I have had hope in you, and I await assistance from you. The new people, on the other hand, means by youth the renewal, which happened through the regeneration of the washing [of baptism]. (4) Upon you I leaned from the womb, from my mother’s womb you have been my shelter (v. 6). He calls the exodus from Egypt birth and delivery. The God of all also teaches this through the most divine Ezekiel: exposing the impiety of Jerusalem and then saying , “Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite,” he added, “On the day your were born, your navel cord was not cut, you were not rubbed with salt or washed with water for your salvation .”5 In other words, since the navel cord is for a baby like a kind of root, through which it grows and is fed, whereas Israel COMMENTARY ON PSALM 71 407 4. The longer...