First-Person

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1. Mizmor 6

   Rabbi Avi Baumol

   Mizmor 6 opens with the word “God” and addresses Him directly. The Mizmor describes great despair and perhaps depression due to a state of sin. David teaches us to express ourselves and our predicaments to God at our time of need.

2. Mizmor 40

   Rabbi Avi Baumol

   The first section of Mizmor 40, in which the poet addresses God in third person, is a 'Hymn of Gratitude'. In the second section, the poet addresses God directly with a request for help. In contrast to Mizmor 27, the poet makes his request with a sense of confidence that his prayers will be answered.

3. “From the Depths I Call to You” – Psalm 130

   Part 4

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   The Psalm reflects a gradual, dramatic process of hope for a two-way relationship between man, who seeks deliverance from his sins, and God, with Whom reside forgiveness, kindness and redemption. This two-way relationship does in fact exist, as described in the psalm, at different levels in the worshipper’s consciousness, but it is not yet manifest in the external reality.

   The analysis of this psalm highlights its appropriateness to the Yom Kippur experience and the inner process that the worshipper undergoes, from the somber Kol Nidrei until the closing Ne’ila prayer.

   At the start of this holy day, a person is bent and broken, mired in the depths of his sins. He begs God to listen to his desperate cry.

   The prayer service inspires and encourages the worshipper: God is waiting for his repentance and will certainly forgive his sins.

   As the time for the Ne’ila prayer arrives, and the sense that our prayers have indeed been heard on high grows firm, the synagogue is enveloped in tense anticipation: we await God’s positive response. This answer is not uttered explicitly, but the certainty of its existence accompanies the congregants to their homes. 

4. The "Song to Counter Evil" - Psalm 91

   Part 1

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   Our psalm describes in detail both a person’s trust in God and the kindness and protection that God grants him.

   The question that arises is regarding the subject of our psalm. Is it the person of faith himself who is the speaker here? Is the psalmist presenting the man of faith in the third person? Perhaps the man of faith is being addressed by the psalmist in second person. All three of the above possibilities appear in the psalm, and they are constantly being exchanged.

   Generally speaking, exegetical efforts are aimed towards blurring the transition from one speaker to another, so as to arrive at a psalm that is uniform and harmonious from a linguistic, literary point of view.

5. The "Song to Counter Evil" - Psalm 91

   Part 2

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   Other interpretations regard our psalm as a drama comprising three voices: a dramatic exchange of different characters who speak over the course of the unit.

   This interpretation is preferable because it avoids the forced explanations of the other commentaries, who find it necessary to blur the transition from one speaker to another. However, it also raises a series of new questions:

   • What is the nature of the relationship between the various voices?
   • Why is the principal dialogue repeated twice?
   • What is the role of God in the conclusion of the psalm when Psalms is not a book of prophecies?
   • What is the significance of the dramatic form used in this Psalm?