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

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8(v. 2b)—the psalmist remembers how Yahweh has previously been thesource of his joy; the implication is that Yahweh, not prosperity (i.e., “grainand wine”), is still his source.In the final verse, the psalmist confidently declares that he will enjoy “peace”43:3:1, v. 9b). Two phrases in verse ‏,בֶ‏ טַ‏ ח)‏ “safety” 237:27:1, v. 9a) and ‏,שָ‏ לום)‏9 deserve a mention. First, the combination of אֶ‏ שְ‏ כְ‏ בָ‏ ה וְ‏ אִ‏ ישָ‏ ן (“I will lie down andsleep”) echoes Psalm 3:6, the only two occurrences of this combination in thePsalter. Second, the phrase כִ‏ י־אַ‏ ָ ה יְהוָ‏ ה (“for you Lord”) echoes וְ‏ אַ‏ ָ ה יְהוָ‏ ה (“but‏.(וְ‏ אַ‏ ְ יְהוָ‏ ה 6:4, you Lord”) in Psalm 3:4 (cf. PsThe remaining terms in the last strophe offer little connection to the remainder‏,אוש)‏ “light” 656:49:2, v. 7b) occurs twice; ‏,נָ‏ שָ‏ א)‏ up” of my corpus. Only “lift121:19:1, v. 7b), “joy” ‏,שִ‏ מְ‏ חָ‏ ה)‏ 94:13:1, v. 8a), “grain” ‏,דָ‏ גָ‏ ן)‏ 40:3:1, v. 8b), “wine”1089:159:1, v. 9b) all occur only here in ‏,יָשַ‏ ב)‏ “dwell” 38:1:1, v. 8b) and , ִ ישוש)‏the corpus.4.2.6 ThemesThe outstanding theme of the psalm is its tone of “serene confidence” (Clifford2002:55) stemming from the psalmist’s covenant relationship with Yahweh (v.119