C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Psalms 37:39-40

Psa 37:39-40

The salvation of the righteous cometh from Jahve; it is therefore characterized, in accordance with its origin, as sure, perfect, and enduring for ever. מעוּזּם is an apposition; the plena scriptio serves, as in 2Sa 22:33, to indicate to us that מעוז is meant in this passage to signify not a fortress, but a hiding-place, a place of protection, a refuge, in which sense Arab. ma'âd‛llh (the protection of God) and m‛âḏwjh‛llh (the protection of God’s presence) is an Arabic expression (also used as a formula of an oath); vid., moreover on Psa 31:3. The moods of sequence in Psa 37:40 are aoristi gnomici. The parallelism in Psa 37:40 is progressive after the manner of the Psalms of degrees. The short confirmatory clause kichā'subo forms an expressive closing cadence.