translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET study note

text: . The speakers in this psalm (the worshiping community within the nation Israel) were disappointed with God. The psalm begins on a positive note, praising God for leading Israel to past military victories. Verses 1-8 appear to be a song of confidence and petition which the people recited prior to battle. But suddenly the mood changes as the nation laments a recent defeat. The stark contrast between the present and the past only heightens the nation’s confusion. Israel trusted in God for victory, but the Lord rejected them and allowed them to be humiliated in battle. If Israel had been unfaithful to God, their defeat would make sense, but the nation was loyal to the Lord. Comparing the Lord to a careless shepherd, the nation urges God to wake up and to extend his compassion to his suffering people.


text: The speaker changes here to an individual, perhaps the worship leader or the king. The oscillation between singular (vv. 4, 6 ) and plural (vv. 1-3, 5, 7-8 ) in vv. 1-8 may reflect an antiphonal ceremony.


text: The image of the powerful wild ox continues; see the note on the phrase “drive back” in the preceding line.


text: Wake up! See Ps 35:23 .