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

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-8his life (literally, “soul”, ץֶ‏ ש ‏(נֶ‏ and “save” ‏,יָשַ‏ ע)‏ 205:57:4, v. 5b) him. He offers245:127:2, ‏,חֶ‏ סֶ‏ ד)‏ love” two grounds for his appeal. One is Yahweh’s “steadfastv. 5a). The other is the Lord’s desire to receive praise. If the psalmist dies, hewill be unable to “remember” ‏,זֵ‏ כֶ‏ ש)‏ 23:11:1, v. 6a) the Lord in worship or“praise” ‏,יָדָ‏ ה)‏ 111:67:2, v. 6b) Him, because “death” ‏,מָ‏ וֶ‏ ת)‏ 153:22:2, v. 6a)ends worship; there is no praise from “Sheol” ‏,שְ‏ אול)‏ 63:15:1, v. 6b). Theassumption is that “the dead in Sheol (the underworld abode of the dead)exist in a shadowy state and take no part in earthly life including the worshipIsrael offered” (Clifford 2002:62).In strophe 3, the psalmist graphically portrays the depth of his anguish. With atorrent of terms describing how weak, weary and weepy he is, he paints aportrait of a desperate man in deep lament. He is “weary” ‏,יָגַ‏ ע)‏ 26:2:1, v. 7a;i.e., physically exhausted) from “moaning” ‏,אֲ‏ נְ‏ חָ‏ ה)‏ 11:4:1, v. 7a). The ESVrendering of אֲ‏ נְ‏ חָ‏ ה as “moaning” does not seem to do justice to a strong nounthat often depicts “bawling or crying” (Thompson 1996:§634). His “tears”“drench” 29:1:1) and ‏,מִ‏ טָ‏ ה)‏ “bed” 2:1:1) his ‏,שָ‏ חָ‏ ה)‏ “flood” 23:8:1, v. 7b) 67 ‏,דִ‏ מְ‏ ףָ‏ ה)‏67 In the Hebrew text, the prepositional phrase בְ‏ דִ‏ מְ‏ ףָ‏ תִ‏ י (“with my tears”) is shared by two cola,namely, “I flood my bed” and “I drench my couch”. By positioning it carefully between 9b and145