turns to the Psalms; so maybe we can examine some of those texts after all. Just keep in mind I don't have the Hebrew handy; I'm doin' major stuff that way elsewhere.

Last year at this time I studied Psalms 1-21. So this year I begin with Psalm 22. My quotes will all be from the NRSV.

Psalm 22

4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
8 Commit your cause to the L
ORD; let him deliver let him rescue the one in whom he delights!
19 But you, O L
ORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
[30-31] ... [F]uture generations will be told about the L
ORD, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn ...

This seems to be the speech of someone who has almost been defeated by entirely personal enemies. There is no national crisis; otherwise, the speaker would use the terms, we and us. Instead, he or she speaks in terms of I and me. Who are these enemies? and what kind of situation would give rise to such a plea?

The various wild beasts referred to are certainly metaphors for these enemies. It would seem to be the doctrine of this board, that they are sinners, folks who arent halachically correct. The pshat does not substantiate this, however. "All who see me mock at me" (verse 7). He doesnt say sinners, he doesnt say evildoers; he says All. Not until verse 16, halfway through this comparatively long psalm, does the word evildoer finally occur.

On another board, mods recently saw fit to allow the creation of a thread dedicated to the persecution of someone who is, arguably, a crazy man. It would seem to me that that individual is a good model of the sort of person who might pray this psalm.

What do "save," "help," "deliver," "rescue" mean here?

P.