World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 143
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A Psalm by . Hear my , . Listen to my petitions. In your and , relieve me. Don't enter into with , for in your sight no man living is . For pursues . He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long . Therefore is overwhelmed within me. within me is desolate. I remember the days of old. I on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands. I spread out my hands to you. thirsts for you, like a parched land. . Hurry to answer me, . fails. Don't hide your from me, so that I don't become like those who go down into . Cause me to hear your in the morning, for I in you. Cause me to know in which I should walk, for I lift up to you. me, , from . I flee to you to hide me. Teach me to do your will, for you are my . Your is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. Revive me, , for your name's sake. In your , bring out of trouble. In your , , and destroy all those who afflict , for I am .
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The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.
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