Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8The psalmist framed his opening appeals with two strong references to hisown righteousness. At the beginning of the strophe, he called himself“righteous” ‏,קֶ‏ דֶ‏ ר)‏ 123:50:4; v. 2a); at the end, “godly” ‏,חָ‏ סִ‏ יד)‏ 32:25:1; v. 4a). 40These terms present the grounds of his pleas for help; he based hisconfidence on his own faithfulness to Yahweh and on the justness of hiscause. He appealed to “O God of my righteousness” ‏ֹלהֵ‏ י קִ‏ דְ‏ רִ‏ י)‏ ‏,אֱ‏ v. 2), in which“my righteousness” is best taken as referring to the psalmist and his cause. 41According to Rawlinson (2004:23), the phrase אֱ‏ ‏ֹלהֵ‏ י קִ‏ דְ‏ רִ‏ י denotes “the God whosees that I and my cause are righteous”. He was appealing to God tovindicate him because he (God) knew he was innocent (cf. Briggs and Briggs1906:30; Scroggie 1948:59; Craigie 1998:80; Wilson 2002:151). The term2; Baer and ‏,חָ‏ סִ‏ יד s.v. (“godly/pious [man]”, 32:25:1, v. 4; see BDB 2000, הָ‏ סִ‏ ידGordon 1996, §2878) depicts not just a man who is holy or godly, but one whois loyal to the covenant with God (related to סֶ‏ ד ‏;הֶ‏ see Harris 1999, §698), “one40 Although the colon containing the noun חָ‏ סִ‏ יד (v. 4a) does not explicitly identify the psalmistas the godly man in question, the parallel line makes it clear that he is referring to himself as a.(4b (see .v חָ‏ סִ‏ יד41 Less likely, though enjoying some scholarly support, is the view that “my righteousness”refers to God as the one who is by nature righteous (e.g., Kidner 1973:56). If this view ispreferred, it would be translated “O my righteous God”.115