Many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God.

“"But You, O Lord, art my taker." It is said to God in the nature of man, for the taking of man is, the Word made Flesh. "My glory." Even He calls God his glory, whom the Word of God so took, that God became one with Him. Let the proud learn, who unwillingly hear, when it is said to them, "For what have you that you did not receive? Now if you received it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" [1 Corinthians 4:7] "And the lifter up of my head" [Psalm 3:3]. I think that this should be here taken of the human mind, which is not unreasonably called the head of the soul; which so inhered in, and in a sort coalesced with, the supereminent excellency of the Word taking man, that it was not laid aside by so great humiliation of the Passion.”

“Of me (לְנַפְשִׁי - le-nafshi, lit. "to my soul"): [The Lamed prefix means] "concerning" my soul/me. [This usage is] similar to (Exodus 14:3) "And Pharaoh will say concerning (li-) the children of Israel..." [and (Genesis 20:13)] "Say of (li) me, 'He is my brother.'" His deliverance (יְשׁוּעָתָה - yeshu'atah): [This form contains] two signs of the feminine gender [the linking Tav (ת) and the final Heh (ה)], used by way of elegance/poetic expression. Examples are 'eimatah' (אֵימָתָה - his terror) [as in (Exodus 15:16): "תִּפֹּל עֲלֵיהֶם אֵימָ֫תָה וָפַ֫חַד" - "Terror and dread fall upon them"] and 'ba-tzaratah' (בַּצָּרָתָה - his distress) [as in (Psalm 120:1): "אֶל־יְ֭הוָה בַּצָּרָ֣תָה לִּ֑י קָ֝רָ֗אתִי" - "To the LORD, in my distress, I called"]. And [regarding the syntax of the verse itself], [the verse] mentions concerning his [David's] soul [נַפְשִׁי - nafshi, a feminine noun] using the masculine pronoun 'lo' (לוֹ - for him), similar to [the construction in (Isaiah 32:6)]: 'l'harik nefesh ra'ev' (לְהָרִיק נֶפֶשׁ רָעֵב - 'to make empty the soul [feminine noun] of the hungry [masculine adjective]')." Selah (סֶלָה): Many interpret Selah as "forever/eternally" (le-netzach), but this is not correct (ve-eineno nakhon). And the Aramaic translator (Targum) of the Book of Psalms [working] for others said: That the word Selah has no [inherent semantic] meaning (ta'am), but rather it is for regulating the musical intonation (tikkun ta'am ha-niggun). The proof [cited for this view] is that this word is not found anywhere in the Scripture except in the Prayer of Habakkuk [chapter] three, which is in the manner of Psalms, [written] al shigyonot [a musical term], similar to (Psalm 7:1) "Shiggayon of David," [and various psalms] "For the Leader; with stringed instruments" (La-menatzeach bi-nginotai). [However, Ibn Ezra notes a contradiction or complication with the Targum's usage:] Behold, the interpretation [given by the Targum] will be Selah = "forever" (le-netzach) [in practice, despite the claim it has no meaning]. Yet it is written concerning the waters of Meribah [in (Psalm 81:8)], "Selah", and [this interpretation is problematic because] the strife was only once. Also it is written (Habakkuk 3:3) "and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah." And the correct [view] is that the meaning of Selah is like: "So it is," or "Thus," and "The matter is true and correct." [It serves as an affirmation of the preceding statement].”

“Many there are which say of my soul (לנפשי): – that is, “about my soul,” as “Say concerning me (לי), He is my brother” (Gen. 20:13); “and the men of the place asked of his wife (לאשתו)” (ibid. 26:7), and such like. And the reason: because many of the wise ones of Israel, as Ahithophel and others, were of opinion that this punishment came to him on account of the affair of Bathsheba, as was actually the case; and they were thinking likewise that the kingdom would never return to him; therefore they followed Absalom and rebelled against him, and were saying that for him there was no portion in the world to come. Therefore he says of my soul. And he says: There is no salvation (ישועתה) for him in God: – There is no salvation for him in this world, for he cannot escape from the hand of Absalom, neither is there salvation for his soul in the world to come. For this reason it is that he uses the intensive form ישועתה [“salvation”], his meaning being salvation and salvation; for every reduplication of ending is (equivalent) to a duplication of meaning; and in like manner (we have) עזרתה (Ps. 44:27; 63:8; 94:17) (meaning) “great help”; תבואתה (Deut. 33:16); נפלאתה (2 Sam. 1:26) החבאתה (Josh. 6:17) as I have written in the grammatical part of the book Miklol. And so in the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tob, ad loc.) it says: “Great ones are saying, i.e. (men) great in the Torah... Doeg the Ab beth Din it was of whom it is said ‘chiefest of Saul's shepherds’ (1 Sam. 21:8); ‘And Ahithophel was counsellor’ (1 Chron. 27:33); ‘and the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God’ (2 Sam. 16:23). And what was it they were saying? ‘Is it possible! The man who took captive the ewe-lamb and slew the shepherd and caused Israel to fall by the sword, shall there be salvation for him? There is no salvation for him in God!’” Selah: – The majority of commentators say of the word Selah that it is equivalent to לעולם (“for ever”); and so Jonathan renders it in the Prayer of Habakkuk (3:3, 9, 13) for ever (לעלמין). And in this sense the word is common in our prayers. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra – may the memory of the just be blessed! – has interpreted (ad loc.) that it is equivalent to אמת (truth). For myself, I say it is not a significant word. And it is to be interpreted as having the meaning “lifting up” (of the musical accompaniment) from (the passage) “cast up, cast up (סלו) the way” (Is. 62:10), signifying that at the point where this word is mentioned and read there was a raising of the sound of the music (מזמור). And the proof is in the fact that it is not found except in this book and in the Prayer of Habakkuk, which was a song (accompanied by music), as is written also there (3:19), “For the chief musician on my stringed instruments.””

“The preceding Psalm showed the effort of the adversaries; here, against their effort, he implores divine help. And this Psalm is composed in the manner of a prayer. In this Psalm we can lay down the foundation of the history, and afterward set forth the allegorical sense, and further the moral sense. The historical sense is clear from the title, which is, "when he fled from the face of Absalom his son." As is found in 2 Kings 15, Absalom the son of David, pursuing his father, sought to kill him; David yielded to him, going out from Jerusalem with his men with bare feet. He understood this to befall him on account of the sin of homicide and adultery, just as the prophet Nathan had foretold to him: 2 Kings 12: "The sword shall not depart from your house forever, because you have despised me." But while Absalom was pursuing David, the army of David turned against him; and Absalom, carried by the impetus of his mule, was brought under a branching oak, where, the branches entwining his neck, and there hanging with his head caught, he was slain by Joab, the commander of David's army. When he had died, David, restored to the kingdom, reigned in peace. Against this persecution, therefore, is this Psalm, "Lord, why..." and so forth. Yet by this was prefigured the persecution which Christ suffered from his son Judas, John 13: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you." And again Matthew 9: "Can the children of the bridegroom mourn..." and so forth. From this Judas Christ fled, when, at his departure, with the other apostles he withdrew to the Mount of Olives as the passion drew near. And just as David showed peace to his wicked son, when he charged the people going to war: "Spare the boy Absalom," and when he had been slain, said, "Who will grant me that I might die for you, my son Absalom," etc., so Christ did to Judas the betrayer, as is clear at the banquet and in the kiss; for which reason Absalom is fittingly called "the peace of the father." For "Abba" in Hebrew is interpreted in Latin as "father." "Salon," however, means "peace." And Judas himself betrayed Christ with the utterance of peace. And just as Absalom, so also Judas perished by hanging. When he had died, Christ reigned in peace, because he rose again in glory; and this can be referred to all the tribulations of the Church. It can also be read morally, against the tribulations which one suffers from enemies, whether temporal or spiritual. And therefore the affection of a man imploring is expressed. Concerning this, therefore, he does two things. First he sets forth beforehand the effort of the adversaries, or explains to God his torment. Second he confesses that divine help is present to him, "But you, O Lord," etc. Now he sets forth the persecution, as to the number of those doing harm: "they are multiplied," namely nations, peoples, kings, and princes. And not only these, who are outsiders, but even his son: Psalm 39: "They are multiplied over my head," etc. And as to the motive for doing harm, that it is without cause. Hence: "why": 1 Kings 10 and 26: "What have I done, or what evil is in my hand?" And as to the manifold torment, that they vex in many ways by afflicting. Hence: "they afflict." A tribulus is a pricking plant: Genesis 3: "It shall bring forth to you thorns and thistles." Those, therefore, afflict who prick. But they pricked Christ by buffeting, scourging, spitting upon, mocking him, and threatening him with death. And this is what he says: "many rise up," namely in deeds. For Absalom wished to kill David, as is clear in the counsel of Hushai, 2 Kings 17. Likewise also Judas handed over Christ to death. Again, they afflict with words, by detraction, or by putting forth falsehoods: hence "many say," etc., against that which is said in Psalm 36: "But the salvation of the just is from the Lord." For if the wicked considered this, they would not easily rise up against the just; but because they do not believe this, or because they despise the power of God or the justice of man, therefore they say by mouth and by deed, "There is no salvation for him," etc., that is, in him whom he worships and makes a God for himself. This the persecutors also said of Christ: for if they had hoped that he would rise again, neither would Judas have betrayed him, nor would they have killed him. And the sense is: he will not save him, nor is he the Son of God; hence they said, Matthew 27: "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross"; and further on, "If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him." "But you." This is the second part. Where he shows that help has been prepared for him by God. And concerning this he does two things. First he shows that divine help is present to him specially. Second, that it is present generally to all, at the place, "Salvation is of the Lord." And concerning the first he sets forth three things. First, the divine help. Second, the experience of the help, at "with my voice." Third, the conception of security, at "I will not fear." He says therefore, "But you, O Lord"; as if to say: these rise up to make war, but you take me up to protect me. And this is better according to the letter of Jerome, which says: "my shield is round about me," as if defending me like a shield. Likewise, he not only preserves in life against those wishing to destroy him, but also in glory against those who defame; hence he says "my glory": 2 Corinthians 10: "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord"; Jeremiah 9: "In this let him glory who glories, to know and understand me." And not only do you stand by me against those who defame me, but you also make me prevail against those who oppress me; hence he adds: "lifting up my head": Psalm 26: "And now I have lifted up my head over my enemies." These things can be referred to Christ, who was conceived according to human nature in the incarnation, since "the Word was made flesh," John 1. Isaiah 42: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my elect, in whom my soul is well pleased": Psalm 64: "Blessed is he whom you have chosen and taken to yourself." Likewise he was glorious in the resurrection: John 17: "Glorify me, you, Father." Likewise exalted in the ascension: Philippians 2: "Wherefore God also," etc. Then when he says, "with my voice," he shows the experience of the help. And he sets forth three things: namely the prayer, at "with my voice"; second the being heard, at "and he heard me"; third he shows in what he was heard, where he says: "I have slept," etc. Concerning the first he touches on two things which ought to be in prayer: for it ought to be attentive. And therefore he says: "with my voice," namely of the heart, which sounds to God, by which Moses, silent in mouth, cried out to the Lord in his heart: Exodus 14: "The Lord said: Why do you cry to me," etc. By this voice also, crying out, Susanna was heard; Daniel 13: "who, weeping, looked up to heaven, for her heart had confidence in the Lord," etc. 1 Kings 1: "Moreover Hannah spoke in her heart," etc. 1 Corinthians 14: "I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind." And therefore he says "my." For a voice, when it does not proceed from the heart, is not "mine." Likewise it ought to be right; for then it is right, when it tends where it ought: and therefore he says, "to the Lord," where help is: 2 Chronicles 20: "When we do not know what we ought to do, this only remains to us, that we direct our eyes to you": Psalm 120: "My help is from the Lord." Likewise it ought to be devout: hence he added, "I have cried out"; for prayer is called "clamorous" on account of the greatness of feeling: Psalm 10: "Let my cry come to you," etc. Hebrews 5: "with a strong cry and tears," etc. Then the being heard is set down, when he says: "and he heard me from the mountain," that is, from the sublimity of the divine majesty, which is inaccessible: Psalm 23, "Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord," that is, to his omnipotence; or from the height of his justice, because it is incomprehensible: Psalm 35: "Your judgments are a great abyss"; or from the holy mountain, that is, from me who was a holy mountain, concerning which Isaiah 2: "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared," etc. There follows, "I have slept." Where he shows in what he was heard. "Because I have risen." Now there is a difference between one who is dead and one who is asleep: for the dead does not rise again: Job 14: "Do you think that a dead man shall live again?"; but one asleep does rise: Psalm 40: "Shall not he who sleeps rise again?" Thus, therefore, when the tribulation is so great that a man does not return to his former state, it is called death. But when one afflicted, or tempted, falls into sin and rises again, it is called sleeping. Thus David, as it were, slept, because he was freed from his son and from sin. Now he is said to "sleep" as it were a little; but to be "sunk in slumber" as it were much: hence another text says, "I took sleep," that is, I slept deeply. Thus Christ is said to have slept, because he offered himself willingly to the passion; and because he was sunk in slumber, death followed. Hence from sleeping he passed over into deep sleep. This deep sleep is signified in the deep sleep of Adam. Genesis 2: "The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam," etc., because from the side of Christ, dead on the cross, the Church was formed. He says therefore, "and I have risen up," namely by his own power: John 10: "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again." And this is because "the Lord has upheld me." Another text has, "sustained." For he had the power of the divinity, that he should rise. Psalm 36: "When the just man falls, he shall not be bruised, because the Lord puts his hand under him." Then when he says, "I will not fear," the confidence of security is set down: as if to say, since I have thus been heard, I will not fear, etc. Below, Psalm 26: "If armies should stand together against me," etc. In which it is signified that the Church of Christ cannot be entirely brought down. To Christ also, after the resurrection, the multitude of the people, which stood about him crucified, could do no harm at all: for "Christ, rising from the dead, dies now no more," Romans 6. And whence he has this confidence, he shows when he says, "Arise," namely, manifest your power by making me rise from death; and this is, "save me," etc. "For you have struck," etc. Above he had said two things: that they afflict him: "Lord, why are they multiplied who afflict me"; and against these he says: "for you have struck"; likewise they defamed him: "there is no salvation for him," etc.; and against these, "the teeth of sinners," that is, you have brought their cursing words to nothing; Job 19: "I was breaking the jaws of the wicked," etc. The text of Jerome has, "you have struck the jaws and the teeth"; as if to say: you have struck so strongly that the teeth were broken. Absalom was the jaw, but the teeth those adhering to him. Hence, Absalom being destroyed, the others were broken. Finally, when he says, "of the Lord," he shows that divine help belongs to the whole people. And first as to preservation from evil; and therefore he says, "salvation is of the Lord." And therefore prayer ought to be directed to God. Second, as to the multiplication of goods; and therefore he says: "upon your people your blessing," that is, upon the people who hope in you and from you, and not in another, is your blessing. The blessing of the Lord always implies the multiplication of goods: Proverbs 10: "The blessing of the Lord makes rich." This Psalm can, however, be read otherwise according to the Gloss, namely that the whole Christ speaks this, that is, the Church and its head, set amid the storms of persecutions. Or this Psalm can be read morally in the person of each and every believer, who is assailed by vices and desires. And according to this, by David is understood any believer whatsoever, by Absalom the vices and carnal concupiscences, as is clear in the Gloss.”

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me,.... Or "about me" (a) protecting and defending me. David was a military man, and often alludes to military affairs; and borrows words from thence, expressive of his great security from the Lord; see Psa 18:2. So Jehovah the Father was a shield to Christ, in his infancy, from Herod's rage and fury; and afterwards from the insults of the Pharisees, and their attempts to take away his life before the time; and in his sufferings and death, so as that his faith and confidence in him were kept up, and he got the victory over sin, Satan, and the world; see Psa 22:9. And the Lord is a shield unto all his people, Gen 15:1. They are kept by his power, and encompassed about with his favour, as with a shield; his veracity and his faithfulness in his promises, and his truth, are their shield and buckler: and especially his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the shield which faith makes use of, particularly his blood and righteousness, and salvation by him; which it holds up, and defends itself with, against the charges of the law, the accusations of conscience, and the temptations of Satan; and which are a security from the justice of God, and wrath to come; my glory; who took David from the sheepfold, and made him king over Israel, and raised him to all the glory he had enjoyed; and in whom he gloried as his covenant God, and of whom he made his boast; and not of his strength, valour, wisdom, riches, and honour. So God the Father is the glory of Christ, the glorifier of him, by supporting him under his sufferings, raising him from the dead, and setting him at his own right hand, where he is crowned with glory and honour: he is the glory of his people, in whom they glory, and by whom they are called to eternal glory; and who will give it to them, and reveal it in them, even an eternal weight of it, which the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared unto; and the lifter up mine head; such as the helmet is: the Lord was lifter up of David's head when he brought him to the throne, and afterwards gave him victory over his enemies; for so the phrase of lifting up the head signifies; see Kg2 25:27. And he was the lifter up of Christ's head when he raised him from the dead; and exalted him, both with and at his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, and gave him a name above every name. And he is the lifter up of the heads of his people in conversion, when he raises them from a low estate, and sets them among princes to inherit the throne of glory; and when he gives them comfort, peace, and joy, which causes them to lift up their heads; whereas in sorrow, and mourning, and distress, the head is bowed down like a bulrush, Isa 58:5; and when he gives them boldness and confidence, as at the throne of grace now, through the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon them; so at the bar of judgment hereafter, through the righteousness of Christ put upon them, as that they shall not be ashamed nor confounded; see Luk 21:28; and he will be the lifter up of their heads in the resurrection morn, and when they shall appear with Christ in glory. (a) "circa me", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Muis, Ainsworth, Cocceius, Michaelis.”

“God. His case is desperate. (Worthington) — He must therefore be a criminal. This is the usual judgment of the world, though very false, as we have seen in the person of Job; for temporal punishments are frequently an effect of the divine clemency. Semei upbraided David on this occasion, as the Jews did Christ, 2 Kings xvi. 7., and Matthew xxvii. 42. At the end of this verse, Hebrew adds, Selah, (Calmet) sle and Septuagint diapsalma , (Haydock) a word which is not much better understood. Houbigant therefore informs us that he has omitted it entirely, as the Vulgate seems to have done, except [in] Psalm lxi. 8., where it is rendered, in æternum, “for ever,” (Berthier) as St. Jerome expresses it semper, in his Hebrew version. It would perhaps be as well to leave the original term. (Haydock) — It occurs seventy-one times in the psalms, and thrice in Habacuc. Some think it is a sign to raise the voice, or to pause, &c., (Berthier) at the end of the lesson, before the psalter was divided. None, except Eusebius, asserts that it was inserted by the original authors, and it seems now to be useless. (Calmet, Dis.)”

“(Heb.: 3:4-5) But cleansed by penitence he stands in a totally different relationship to God and God to him from that which men suppose. Every hour he has reason to fear some overwhelming attack but Jahve is the shield which covers him behind and before (בּעד constr. of בּעד = Arab. ba‛da, prop. pone, post). His kingdom is taken from him, but Jahve is his glory. With covered head and dejected countenance he ascended the Mount of Olives (Sa2 15:30), but Jahve is the "lifter up of his head," inasmuch as He comforts and helps him. The primary passage of this believing utterance "God is a shield" is Gen 15:1 (cf. Deu 33:29). Very far from praying in vain, he is assured, that when he prays his prayer will be heard and answered. The rendering "I cried and He answered me" is erroneous here where אקרא does not stand in an historical connection. The future of sequence does not require it, as is evident from Psa 55:17. (comp. on Psa 120:1); it is only an expression of confidence in the answer on God's part, which will follow his prayer. In constructions like קולי אקרא, Hitzig and Hupfeld regard קולי as the narrower subject-notion beside the more general one (as Psa 44:3; Psa 69:11; 83:19): my voice - I cried; but the position of the words is not favourable to this in the passage before us and in Psa 17:10; Psa 27:7; Psa 57:5; Psa 66:17; Psa 142:2, Isa 36:9, though it may be in Psa 69:11; Psa 108:2. According to Ew. 281, c, קולי is an accusative of more precise definition, as without doubt in Isa 10:30 cf. Psa 60:7; Psa 17:13.; the cry is thereby described as a loud cry. (Note: Bttcher, Collectanea pp. 166f., also adopts the view, that נפשׁי, פּי, קולי are each appositum vicarium subjecti and therefore nomin. in such passages. But 1) the fact that את never stands beside them is explained by the consideration that it is not suited to an adverbial collateral definition. And 2) that elsewhere the same notions appear as direct subjects, just as 3) that elsewhere they alternate with the verbal subject-notion in the parallel member of the verse (Psa 130:5; Pro 8:4) - these last two admit of no inference. The controverted question of the syntax is, moreover, an old one and has been treated of at length by Kimchi in his Book of Roots s. r. אוה.) To this cry, as ויּענני as being a pure mood of sequence implies, succeeds the answer, or, which better corresponds to the original meaning of ענה (comp. Arab. ‛nn, to meet, stand opposite) reply; (Note: Vid., Redslob in his treatise: Die Integritat der Stelle Hos. vii. 4-10 in Frage gestellt S. 7.) and it comes from the place whither it was directed: מהר קדשוּ. He had removed the ark from Kirjath Jeraim to Zion. He had not taken it with him when he left Jerusalem and fled before Absolom, Sa2 15:25. He was therefore separated by a hostile power from the resting-place of the divine presence. But his prayer urged its way on to the cherubim-throne; and to the answer of Him who is enthroned there, there is no separating barrier of space or created things.”