Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- PART ONE: GOD'S AGENCY IN HISTORY: THE HERMENEUTICAL PROBLEM AND ISAIAH'S PROPHETIC VIEW OF HISTORY -- 1. JUSTICE, HARMONY, AND POWER: THREE DIFFERENT CULTURAL EXPERIENCES OF HISTORY -- 1.1 God's Agency in Creation and History -- 1.2 Greek Historiography and its Understanding of the Universality of History -- 1.3 The Biblical Notion of the Universality of History and the Reality of the Divine Council -- 1.4 Justice and the Agency of God -- 1.5 Conclusion -- 1.6 History as the Sequence of Facts in the Causal Continuum -- 1.7 Thesis: The Realistic Dimension of Biblical Experiences of History -- 1.8 Outline of the Investigation -- 2. THE ECLIPSE OF THE BIBLICAL EXPERIENCE OF HISTORY -- 2.1 The Romantic View of the Biblical Notion of History -- 2.2 The Construers of History as Its Lone Agents -- 2.3 History and Kerygma: Israel's Ongoing Actualization of Its Foundational History -- 2.4 Conclusion: The Limitedness of the Modern Concept of History -- 3. TOWARD REGAINING THE UNIVERSAL DIMENSION OF HISTORY. ISAIAH'S PROPHETIC VIEW OF HISTORY: THE PEOPLE'S VIOLATION OF THE TORAH, THE COMING OF THE ASSYRIANS, AND THE "STRANGE WORK" OF YHWH -- 3.1 Recapitulation: Toward Regaining the Universal Dimension of History -- 3.2 The Prophetic View of History: Hermeneutical Considerations -- 3.3 History as Trial (Isaiah 1-4) -- 3.4 The People's Violation of Justice and Righteousness (Isaiah 5) -- 3.5 Isaiah's Vision of the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 6) -- 3.6 Isaiah's Prophetic Commission and YHWH's "Strange Work" -- 3.7 Outlook: Isaiah's Role in the Unfolding of History -- 3.8 Intermediate Reflection: YHWH's Acting Against Evil -- PART TWO: GOD'S AGENCY IN RESPONSE TO PRAYERS: THE PSALMIST'S CHANGE OF MOOD IN PSALMS 3, 6, AND 7 -- 4. DIVINE ACTING AND THE PSALMIST'S CHANGE OF MOOD FROM LAMENT TO JOY IN PSALMS 3 AND 6.

4.1 Introduction: How Does the Psalmist's Change of Mood from Lament to Joy Occur? -- 4.2 Methodological Issues -- 4.3 The Cultically Mediated Oracle of Salvation -- 4.4 The Temple-Theological Dynamic of Divine Absence and Presence -- 4.5 Critique -- 4.6 The Psalmist's Dream-Oracle in Ps 3:6 -- 4.7 The Petitioner's Change of Mood from Lament to Joy in Ps 6:9-11 -- 5. PSALM 7: THE PETITIONER'S APPEAL TO YHWH, THE JUDGE, AT DAWN -- 5.1 YHWH's Acting as Judge in the Individual Complaint Psalms -- 5.2 Psalm 7: The Psalmist's Appeal at Dawn to YHWH, the Universal Judge in the Heavenly Height -- 6. THE THEORY OF THE JUDICIAL ORDEAL AT THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE -- 6.1 The Cultic-Institutional Hypothesis -- 6.2 Critique: The Hypothetical Character of the Cultic Institution -- 6.3 YHWH's Acting as Judge in the Individual Complaint Psalms -- 6.4 Conclusion -- 7. GOD'S ACTING AS JUDGE IN THE CONTEXT OF TREATY VIOLATIONS -- 7.1 An "Alliance Background" of Psalm 7? -- 7.2 The Prayer of Tukulti-Ninurta I to Shamash, the Judge -- 7.3 Sargon's Letter to Assur Concerning his Eighth Campaign -- 7.4 The Oath Between the Serpent and the Eagle in the Legend of Etana -- 7.5 Conclusion -- 8. DIVINE ACTING AS JUDGE IN THE CONTEXT OF DIVINATION -- 8.1 Introduction: YHWH's Acting in the Judicial Assembly in Ps 7:7-12 -- 8.2 The Prayer of the Diviner to Shamash, the Judge, at Dawn -- 8.3 Conclusion -- 9. DIVINE ACTING AS JUDGE IN THE CONTEXT OF INCANTATION-RITUALS AND INDIVIDUAL COMPLAINT PSALMS -- 9.1 Introduction: YHWH's Reversion of Evil in Ps 7:13-17 -- 9.2 Incantations to Shamash, the Judge -- 9.3 Structural Analogies Between Incantation-Ceremonies and Individual Complaint Psalms -- 9.4 Conclusion -- 9.5 "Joy Comes With the Morning" (Ps 30:6): Psalms 3-7 as a Redactional Liturgical Sequence -- 9.6 The Absalom Narrative as a "Midrash" to Psalms 3-7 -- PART THREE: SUMMARY.

10. THE UNIVERSALISTIC THEOLOGY OF DIVINE AGENCY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS -- 10.1 Recapitulation: The Realistic Dimension of the Biblical Experience of History -- 10.2 The Invisible Power of YHWH'S Voice (Psalms 28-30) -- 10.3 Human Participation in the Universal Communication of YHWH's Righteousness (Psalm 40) -- Bibliography -- Index -- Scripture Index -- Index of Concepts -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z.