Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
The psalm in which this declaration stands is one that lifts up divine law and holds forth the divine utterance as the guide for life. The declaration portrays those who obey as hounded for no fault by a brazen and rebellious evil aimed at the sacred law of God. Against that groundless assault it sets a contrasting reverence, for the inner life of the hounded remains fixed in dread and veneration toward the divine utterance.
That groundless assault marks the stage where worldwide evil has ripened to the point that the Lord must indeed rise to inflict retribution, following immense patience under unceasing contempt poured upon His holy precepts. That patience is divine forbearance understood as holding back of His own might, omnipotence turned inward upon Himself, enduring long amid mounting defiance and corruption while still bestowing steady illumination upon those who continue in obedience. That same condition discloses the divine estimate that existence is growing unbearable through harshness and cruelty, because human beings have altered His statutes appointed to govern human action.
The psalm in which this declaration stands is one that lifts up divine law and holds forth the divine utterance as the guide for life. The declaration portrays those who obey as hounded for no fault by a brazen and rebellious evil aimed at the sacred law of God. Against that groundless assault it sets a contrasting reverence, for the inner life of the hounded remains fixed in dread and veneration toward the divine utterance.
That groundless assault marks the stage where worldwide evil has ripened to the point that the Lord must indeed rise to inflict retribution, following immense patience under unceasing contempt poured upon His holy precepts. That patience is divine forbearance understood as holding back of His own might, omnipotence turned inward upon Himself, enduring long amid mounting defiance and corruption while still bestowing steady illumination upon those who continue in obedience. That same condition discloses the divine estimate that existence is growing unbearable through harshness and cruelty, because human beings have altered His statutes appointed to govern human action.