A Divine Oath

Be to me a rock of dwelling to which I may continually come; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.  Psalm 71:3  NASB

The commandment – What do you think the poet means when he says that God has given the commandment to save him?  Do you think he means that by keeping the commandments he will be saved?  That’s how we might read this translation.  But now look at Alter’s version: “You ordained to rescue me, for You are my rock and my bastion.”  Quite a difference.  According to Alter’s version, this is about God’s promise, not the merit of the supplicant.

The Hebrew is ṣāwâ, a verb that means “to command, to charge.”  Here it is a Pi’el, perfect, second person.  The Pi’el verb form gives us lots of latitude.  “The Piel stem is the most flexible stem formation in Biblical Hebrew and can express simple, intensive, resultative, causative, or other kinds of verbal action depending on the context and the specific verb.”[1]  What’s quite clear is that this is a verb, not a noun, so it can’t mean that the poet is writing about commandments.  He’s writing about the action of giving a command.  So, Alter chooses “ordained” which has a nice religious tone to it.  But perhaps we could say, “You promised to rescue me,” that is, “You gave a divine order that I should be rescued.”  The psalmist is counting on the fact that “what God commands to be done, he provides the means to accomplish.”^[2]  Once more we see that it is not the penitent’s moral status that initiates rescue.  It is the sovereign will of God.  If God says He will do it, then it will be done, and that’s all there is to it.

This, of course, is a great relief to the psalmist.  He has God’s assurance on the matter.  But does it apply to us?  When we read this verse, do we think that somehow the psalmist is writing universally applicable rescue statements?  That’s how we’d like to read this.  We want to think that because these words are in Holy Scripture and we believe them, then they apply to us too.  We believe we also share in God’s promised rescue.  But isn’t that a bit presumptuous?  Isn’t this a personal song, not a great hymn of the universal Church?  You and I might wish that this poet had us in mind, but history belies that fact.  If it’s applicable at all, there will have to be other grounds to support it.

Fortunately, that evidence is available.  Let’s look at other passages from the Tanakh, then from Paul, and finally from an application of a verse from the prophets to Messianic believers.

Isaiah 46:4  Even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will carry you!  I have done it, and I will bear you;  and I will carry you and I will save you.

Lamentations 3:23-24 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I wait for Him.”

Romans 8:1  Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:9a  And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Hebrews 13:6  so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What will man do to me?”

It seems clear that even though the poet expresses a personal concern, the prophets and the apostolic authors are able to extend the idea to all those who are faithful.  We’re not left with one man’s relief.  God commands saving acts toward all His followers.  Apostolic exegesis assumes it.  Now we can proceed with the rest of this poem, confident that it applies to us too.

Topical Index:  command, ordain, ṣāwâ, rescue, exegesis, Psalm 71:3

[1] https://uhg.readthedocs.io/en/latest/stem_piel.html

^[2] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 1887 צָוָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 757). Chicago: Moody Press.