Psalm 6, Drowning in Tears

Psalm 6 is a song of penitence. In the previous psalms, a just and righteous David appeals to God to defend him. After all, shouldn't a just Creator protect the just man?

But this psalm is different. Here David admits that he has not been just and that he is deserving of anger and wrath.

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.  A psalm of David.

"Sheminith", like many of the strange Hebrew words which appear in David's songs, is presumably a musical term. It appears two other times in the Old Testament, in the heading of Psalm 12 and in 1 Chronicles 15: 21. Yamauchi (in his commentary of 1 Chronicles) claims that the root of the word is "eight". The Strong's concordance link above suggests that the word refers to an eight-string lyre.

Psalm 6:1-7, My bones in agony

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger 

or discipline me in your wrath.

Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; 

O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in anguish. 

How long, O LORD, how long?  

Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; 

save me because of your unfailing love.

No one remembers you when he is dead. 

Who praises you from the grave?

I am worn out from groaning;

 all night long I flood my bed with weeping 

and drench my couch with tears.  

My eyes grow weak with sorrow; 

they fail because of all my foes.

Notice the the synonymous parallelism in verse 1:
         Do not rebuke me in your anger/

          [Do not] discipline me in your wrath

It is possible that this psalm was written close to the time of Psalm 3, in the conflict and violence of Absalom's revolt. If so, David's guilt goes back to his adultery and apathy regarding his own family. Whether because of his guilt or because of an illness, some of David's pain is physical.

The phrase "No one remembers" alludes to worship (Kidner), not just memory. David makes the claim (repeated elsewhere), that from the grave ("Sheol") he cannot provide worship. There is an aspect of negotiation here: "LORD, wouldn't you rather I return to leading worship?" Even then, the negotiation is based on confidence that God has "unfailing love."

David's desperation and crying has led to exhaustion. He is too tired to pray or call out. But the psalm continues in verses 8 to 10 with a resolution:

Psalm 6:8-10, My weeping heard!

Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the LORD has heard my weeping.  

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;

the LORD accepts my prayer.  

All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;

they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

This sudden confidence and praise is a characteristic of many of David's pleas for help. Somehow David is suddenly reassured that God has heard David's cry and has responded.  

Notice the extended synthetic parallelism. Verses 8 – 10 are really six lines of Hebrew poetry, in an ABBBAA format, each developing an deepening earlier lines.  In simple terms the six lines are:

•             Away from me, evil people
•             God heard my weeping
•             God heard my cry for mercy
•             God heard my prayer
•             My enemies are dismayed
•             My enemies are suddenly turned back

Do you see the elegant "thought rhyme" in David's song?

In the end, David expects to change places with his enemies (Alter); as David is healed, his enemies will be embarrassed, dismayed, disgraced.

This psalm is one of seven that are called "penitential psalms" (Kidner). The other penitential psalms are 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143.

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First published Sept 30, 2023; updated Sept 30, 2026

Psalm 5, A Morning Song

Psalm 5 is a morning song, a song that might follow Psalm 4 of the previous evening.

For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.

Psalm 5:1-3, My sighing

Give ear to my words, O LORD, 

consider my sighing.

Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, 

for to you I pray.

In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; 

in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

This psalm builds throughout on the technique of parallelism, the "rhyme" of parallel ideas, each line modifying the previous line.
     

The first verse is an example of synthetic parallelism: the phrase "Give ear to my words, O LORD," is extended, or enhanced by the second phrase. In the first phrase, David asks God to hear him, so we know David is praying to God. But in the second phrase we know more, for David asks God to listen to his sighing. (The Hebrew word translated "sighing" here could be translated "groaning"; it indicates a "barely audible self-communing", says Kidner.) The sigh progresses into a cry and then into a thoughtful clear prayer for help.

Notice, again the synthetic parallelism in verse three. First we are told the timing of David's prayer (morning); in the second phrase we see David doing two things. What are they?

Psalm 5:4-6, No pleasure in evil

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; 

with you the wicked cannot dwell.

The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; 

you hate all who do wrong.

You destroy those who tell lies;

 bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.

Verses 4-6 continues the poetic parallelism:

• You don't take pleasure in evil /  with you the wicked can't live
• The arrogant can't stand…./ you hate all who do wrong
• You destroy liars / you abhor deceitful men 

Notice the similarities with Psalm 4; again David is calling for help; again David reminds (!) God that David is relying on God's justice and righteousness.

This psalm "alternates in five stophes" (Kidner) with David going directly to God about his own plight, then instructing God on what others are doing and the injustice of their actions. The simple thought structure here is "Help me/Destroy them/Lead me/Declare them guilty/Protect the righteous.

Psalm 5:7-8, Into God's house

But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house;

in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. 

Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies—

make straight your way before me.

What does David, the author of this psalm, mean by the "holy temple"?  The temple in Jerusalem was built, not by David, but by his son, Solomon, after David's death. Does the word "temple" refer to the old temporary tabernacle, where the ark rested?  Kidner suggests several possibilities: Yes, "temple" could be in the original psalm, an ancient phrase for the tabernacle of David's day. Or the word "temple" could be a later editorial adaptation, as Jewish worshipers used the psalm in Solomon's time or later.

Psalm 5:9-10, An open grave

Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;

their heart is filled with destruction.

Their throat is an open grave;

with their tongue they speak deceit. 

Declare them guilty, O God! 

Let their intrigues be their downfall.

Banish them for their many sins,

 for they have rebelled against you.

David is angry at the viciousness and deceitfulness of his enemies. Nothing his enemies say has any truth. David begs God to see this and to respond to the deceit and betrayal. Note the different body parts involved in the deceit as the parallelism builds: mouth, heart, throat, tongue.

Dealing with deliberate, malicious lies, is, sadly, part of human experience. ("If your lips are movin' then you're lyin', lyin', lyin'!")

Psalm 5:11-12, My sighing

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; 

let them ever sing for joy.

            Spread your protection over them, 

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

            For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; 

you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

How does David expect people to express their joy? (He is, after all, the Old Testament harpist!)

What metaphor is implied in verse 12?  (What animals "spread" their protection over their young?)

How does the psalm end?  How has David's mood changed from verse 1 through verse 12?  

Some questions motivated by this psalm:

Note David's mood and its transition as he prays. There is a conflict between David's mood and his expectation. (Is it natural  to expect God to answer your prayers when you are discouraged?)

     

What is the explanation for the abrupt change in the psalm between verse 3 (in the first strophe) and verse 4 (in the next)?

     

How do we deal with enemies? with betrayal? deceit?  Is there a best guide for bringing these things to God?  In my experience, "bitterness is a poison"; one has to find a way past it; one needs a healthy response. Here David angrily takes the bitterness to God and then, trusting in God's righteousness, leaves it there. We will explore this idea more in Psalm 7. 

Some Random Thoughts

An analysis of this psalm (with discussion questions), sponsored by the MidwestSafety Youtube channel, is here.

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First published Sept 29, 2023; updated April 6, 2026

Psalm 4, An Evening Song

Psalms 4 and 5 form a pair, an evening song and then a morning song. These fit together, modeling the Hebrew concept of the "day" beginning with evening. In Psalm 4 we begin our evening with requests and concerns, transitioning into trust and then in Psalm 5 we enter the morning in the same way.

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

"For stringed instruments" is based on a Hebrew word which might be translated "melodies" and might allude to "plucking" an instrument.  (The exact instrument is not clear but I'm certain an accurate translation should be "for the electric Gibson guitar." 😁 The instrument is certainly not an old church piano....  But then I'm not a Hebrew scholar.)

Psalm 4:1-2, Relief, please!

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. 

Give me relief from my distress; 

be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

  

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?  

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?  

Selah.

David calls on God, describing God as righteous and asks for mercy and aid. Briefly there is an aside to the public, pleading for his personal prestige (glory) to be respected and not be tainted and shamed.  (This may coincide with the time of the previous psalm, where if David is fleeing Absalom, he has endured a political campaign against his character.) 

In verse 2 David accuses mankind of seeking delusions and going after false gods. Replace "false gods" with idols, obsession, greed ... and he would be describing any age. (See Tim Keller's book on modern false gods.) If the psalm dates to Absalom's coup, the "delusions" in verse 2 are the lies of Absalom.  

The passage which the NIV translates as "Give release to my distress", Alter translates  as "in the straits You set me free".

Psalm 4:3-5, Set apart

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; 

the LORD will hear when I call to him.  

In your anger do not sin; 

when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. 

Selah.

Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD.

David presses on -- if the public will not defend him, if the people "love delusions and seek false gods", then David will turn to God who defends the righteous and has "set apart the godly for himself."  (The parallelism in verse 3 implies that David is one of the "righteous" set apart by God.)

David begins the psalm with a request. Years ago, I recall someone saying that prayer should begin with praise. But David's psalms tend to break any model one attempts to enforce on religious worship.

Psalm 4:6-7, Joy

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?" 

Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.  

You have filled my heart with greater joy 

than when their grain and new wine abound.  

"Grain and new wine" speak to a good harvest and celebration. But David's joy is in God. Only because of God will David sleep peacefully.

Psalm 4:8, Peace

I will lie down and sleep in peace, 

for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

In verse 8, David finally has peace and sleep. The last word of the psalm is "safety"; David is resting in safety.

Summary: This is an evening song to follow Psalm 3 and to lead into Psalm 5. It is a call for help and a reminder of God's protection, as the evening turns dark and one attempts to lie down and sleep.

David is angry and upset. Night is falling, inviting gloom and depression. But David will trust God, lie down and be silent.  (In my experience, this is not an easy process!) David's practice at night of lying quietly on his bed and searching his heart has long been practiced by believers over the ages.

Some Random Thoughts

An analysis of this psalm (with discussion questions), sponsored by the MidwestSafety Youtube channel, is here.

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First published Sept 28, 2023; updated April 4, 2026

Psalm 3, Ten Thousand Enemies

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

The title of the psalm appears in the original Hebrew manuscripts. According to the title, this psalm was written as David fled Absalom (see 2 Samuel 15 and following; read 2 Samuel 11-18 for the entire story.) Although there is no account of this psalm (or something like it) in the historical passage regarding this event, it certainly fits such a desperate time, a time of despair and plea for help.

The history behind Absalom's rebellion makes it clear that David is largely to blame for his problems!  Does David's guilt change things? Apparently he can still call on God, even when his problems are his  fault. (I find this very reassuring!)

Psalm 3:1-2, Fear

O LORD, how many are my foes! 

How many rise up against me!  

Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him."  

Selah.

The psalm opens with a description of the desperate situation -- everyone is rising up against David; all are saying that God has turned his back on David, leaving David isolated and alone. But David repeats his claims of reliance on God, describing God as a "shield" and the one who gives "glory" and encouragement.

Psalm 3:3-4, Decision

But you are a shield around me, O LORD; 

you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.  

To the LORD I cry aloud, 

and he answers me from his holy hill.  

Selah.

The first half ends with a calm statement: "To the Lord I cry... and the Lord answers."  Selah.

In his despair, David has made an important decision. He had called on God and, somehow, now understands that God has answered. His despair transitions into peace. This sudden resolution is common in David's songs; he begins with frantic despair and pleading and ends with calm confidence and gratitude.

From where does God answer?  (What does this mean?  Is the holy hill Jerusalem?)  

The Hebrew word selah (סֶלָה) is a strange one, unknown and untranslated. Many suggest it is a musical term and suggests a musical interlude. I can imagine that it plays a similar role as the Greek "amen" of later years, that at the statement of "selah" the psalmist says, "So be it", pauses and reflects as the music continues. It is a time for meditation on the passage, amidst the music.    

Psalm 3:5-6, Renewed

I lie down and sleep; 

I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.  

I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.

In the second half of the psalm, David explicitly states that he lay down and slept in peace and awoke in confidence. Even "ten thousand" were not enough to create continued anxiety or fear. This is an act of faith, a statement of trust. At some point David has given everything over to God and no longer fights by himself.  ("Ten thousand" is surely hyperbole ... but is it possible Absalom's army numbered in the thousands?)

Psalm 3:7, Arise!

Arise, O LORD! 

Deliver me, O my God! 

Strike all my enemies on the jaw; 

break the teeth of the wicked. 

What four actions does David ask of God in verse 7?  (What four verbs  appear in this verse?) What is David's request regarding his enemies, in verse 7? (Don't dodge this. Allow the psalm to say what it says!)

Psalm 3:8, Deliverance

From the LORD comes deliverance. 

May your blessing be on your people.  

Selah.

Some call this psalm an "evening prayer". Luther's German translation, however, calls this psalm a "Morgenlied", a morning song. Can you see it as both  an evening prayer and a morning song?

Do you ever wake at 3 am, simultaneously frightened of the future, convinced there is a prowler in the house, or afraid one of the children is not breathing?  What did David do in those times? 

Some Random Thoughts

The final verse shifts from a focus on David to a focus on the people of Israel. Alter's commentary considers this out of place, a "textual tag" from elsewhere. But if this psalm is written as David flees Absalom, then confidence that God has answered David's plea would easy morph into renewed confidence that David's people, his nation, Israel, would also be protected.

An analysis of this psalm (with discussion questions), sponsored by the MidwestSafety Youtube channel, is here.

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First published Sept 27, 2023; updated April 3, 2026

Psalm 2, A King's Coronation

The second psalm is a strange one, distinct from the others. It speaks of nations and kings, of some type of earthly and heavenly political battle.

Psalm 2:1-3, Nations conspire

Why do the nations conspire

 and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth rise up

  and the rulers band together

against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,

``Let us break their chains

    and throw off their shackles.”

In verses 1-3 we see the empires of the earth conspiring against God.  This is a common theme in the Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament.  Those in power (the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Babylonian princes, even the Kings of Judah and Israel) have an agenda contrary to God's.  They seek to ``ascend the throne of heaven", to become premier, to become God (or a god.)  

What does it mean for the kings to "gather together"?  Is this literal?   How active is this opposition to God's rule?  What portion of the earth are involved in it?

According to my commentators, Kidner and Alter, the Hebrew word translated "plot" here is the same as "meditates" in Psalm 1:2. Just as one is to meditate, chew, think seriously about God's principles, here one has an image where the rulers of the earth constantly ruminate on how to overthrow God.

 

Psalm 2:4-6, Laughter

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

 the Lord scoffs at them.

He rebukes them in his anger

    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

``I have installed my king

 on Zion, my holy mountain.”

God is described as laughing, scoffing, angry. Each of these emotions is different and rather human. Does God experience these?  (Don't some of these emotions require elements like surprise or weakness, attributes which God does not have?)

In verse 4, we see God's reaction to the conspiracies of kings -- a shrug, a laugh.  In the end, the empires are not a threat to God. (But they are a threat to God-followers, I presume.)

However, God's eventual response (verse 5) is more than a shrug. God wearies of the trivial boasts of the emperors. Finally God stands up and "terrifies" the nations and appoints His representative, the Messiah, the Chosen One.

Psalm 2:7-9, The nations an inheritance

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;

 today I have become your father.

 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,

    the ends of the earth your possession.

 You will break them with a rod of iron

    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

From verses 6 through 9 we see the coronation of God's Chosen One, installed on the holy mountain of Zion (apparently a rather small hill!), adopted as God's son and heir, inheriting all the nations of the earth. In the New Testament, in the vision of Revelation 12:5, a woman (representing Israel) gives birth to a child who is the One Who will break up the kingdoms of the world with a "rod of iron".

Psalm 2:10-12, A warning to kings ("Kiss the son!")

Therefore, you kings, be wise;

 be warned, you rulers of the earth.

 Serve the Lord with fear

 and celebrate his rule with trembling.

 Kiss his son, or he will be angry

 and your way will lead to your destruction,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

The conclusion comes in verses 10-12, in which the kings (and all the rest of us) are told to follow the true King, to take refuge in God, to live in God's country.

The Hebrew in verse 12 appears to be corrupted.  Both Kidner and Alter analyze the possible original meanings. Kidner argues that the most natural interpretation of the string of letters at the beginning of the verse is "Pay homage to" with "the son" implied. Alter suggests that "with purity be armed," changing bar to bor and giving an alternate meaning ("bear arms") to the Hebrew word that Kidner and the NIV translate as ``kiss".

Reactions to the text
Does this psalm describe a specific historical coronation?  (Of David? Solomon?)  Or is it a more universal, timeless statement, about the the Kingdom of God and the eternal throne of David? The Bible Project study in Psalms views this psalm, like the one before it, as part of the introduction to the entire psalter. As Psalm 1 reminds the reader that they have two choices in life, this psalms is inserted at the beginning of the book to remind the Hebrew reader of the anticipated future king in the David line.

In Acts 4:25, Peter attributes this psalm to David and explicitly lists rulers Herod and Pontius Pilate. This psalm is also mentioned in Acts 13:33 where Paul speaks of Jesus as the recipient of the divine anointing of verse 7.  In the both cases, the early church interprets this ancient Davidic promise as messianic, as really speaking to the Messiah, not just David.

God's covenant with David appears in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 and this psalm echoes parts of that promise.

The opposition of the Earth's emperors to God's rule is a major theme of the book of Revelation.
And so verse 9 is quoted three times in Revelation – in Revelation 2:27, Revelation 12:5, and Revelation 19:15.

In Europe and America, since the Middle Ages, people seeking power claimed some divine right to rule, that God supported their kingdom and its administration.  We want to believe that "our" king (or president) is the one anointed by God in verse 6, instead of one of the many kings conspiring against God in verse 1.  But I think the biblical view has all the rulers of the earth opposed to God; they do not want God's interference.

The Ruling Messiah of David's reign is not merely a temporary local political phenomenon.  When He appeared the first time, he treated Caesar with a true shrug. (See Matt 22:15-22 where Jesus is not interested in Caesar and is unwilling to be drawn into the political debate of the time.)

In the New Testament we see Paul being drawn before rulers and the book of Revelation portrays a world system opposed to God.  This is part of a larger struggle between good and evil, between power-hungry dictators and a supreme Creator. Whether in Germany in 1935 or in the USA in 80+ years later, it would be good for Christians to remember that nationalism is generally opposed to God. Ultimately, like the first psalm, the reader is invited to choose citizenship in God's kingdom.

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First published Sept 25, 2023; updated April 2, 2026

Psalm 1, Two Roads

The book of Psalms opens with this short six verse poem:

Psalm 1:1-2, Delight in the law of the Lord!

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

This poem has been deliberately placed here at the front of the psalms as an introduction, as a guide. The one who delights in the "law" of the Lord and meditates on God's words is "blessed" (happy.) Implied in this introduction is a principal for life: "Keep reading here, in these songs, if you wish to prosper." 

Note that in the time of the psalmists, the "law of the Lord" was the Torah, the five book of Moses. One was to think carefully about the law in Deuteronomy and delight in it!

This psalm has the classic rhyming of Hebrew poetry, parallelism, the repetition of thoughts. Instead of the English tradition of repeating the sound of the last syllable, the Hebrew writers repeat and modify a phrase or concept. We will see this technique throughout the psalms. In the first verse, we see a repeated theme, each phrase building on the last. One should not walk with the wicked ... nor stand with them either ... and especially not sit down and join them. The parallelism is used to build the theme, each repetition of the idea stronger than the last.

The meaning of "company" is elaborated in a series of steps, each changing slightly from the previous. Our anti-model walks alongside sinners, then stops and stands with them, finally joining them and sitting amongst them, breathing in their counsel and advice, mocking God. At some point our community begins to shape our allegiances and our moral choices.

Psalm 1:3, Healthy tree

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

Instead of mocking God, one should delight in God's "law". In a dry hot desert land, we all wish to be healthy, growing by a fresh cool river stream, fruitful and prospering. In contrast, the person who turns from God and ignores Him dries up, turning to dust, blowing away. This simile very closely echoes Jeremiah 17:5-8. There the imagery of cool waters, in contrast to dry, dusty desert is expanded.

Psalm 1:4, Not so, the wicked!

Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

Throughout Psalms and Proverb, there will be a deliberately binary set of choices given the reader. They can seek YHWH, virtue, wisdom... or they can turn away.

The imagery is deliberately simplistic. The good people follow God's "law" (principles) and delight in them. But the wicked scoff at God's principles. There is no in between. This is typical of Old Testament wisdom literature. One is offered a brief "bead" of wisdom -- "You can do this ... or you can do that." Two simple choices. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," write Frost. At some point our choices are simplistic; there are really only two choices, with splintery secondary choices that reflect the primary one. In this song, we are told to meditate on God's principles or to join a group of scoffers. No intermediate choice is offered.

Psalm 1:5-6, Two roads

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The theme "The wicked do this... and the righteous do that..." in the first three verses forms a bookend pair with the last verse, in which the concepts are reflected, "The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but..."

Robert Alter translates "watches over" in verse 6 as "embraces". It implies some intimacy; it is the same Hebrew verb, yada (יָדַע) that is often translated "to know", as in "Adam knew Eve and she became pregnant...." (Genesis 4:1).

Some Random Thoughts

The Bible Project has a single video on this one psalm. 

Caroline Cobb has an album on the psalms. (You can find Caroline Cobb on Spotify here.) Her rendition of Psalm 1 is Like a Tree. I especially enjoy that composition.

At one level the words of this psalm are comforting; on another level they seem simplistic.  I know good friends and family who have sought to follow God's principles and have certainly struggled through pain and suffering; they did not appear "prosperous" to me.  I also have friends who are not Christians but who seem to delight in good and in caring for others.  Do they have a (productive) place in this simple psalm?

Ultimately I want to be on God's side, growing by a cool stream, fed by His/Her guidance and love. Like those of Hebrews 11:16, I look for a better country. And so I will study the psalms....

An analysis of this psalm (with discussion questions), sponsored by the MidwestSafety Youtube channel, is here.

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First published Sept 25, 2023; updated April 1, 2026

Fall Into the Psalter

In the summer of 2015, I wrote a blog, "A Summer in the Psalms." (Note the alliteration? 😁) In that blog, I worked through the first 41 psalms. This autumn I will return to this topic. Since the word "Psalter" is used to describe the entire book of psalms, then this fall we will "Fall into the Psalter". (Sorry -- that's the best I can do with the word play!)

I have spent more than 50 years reading the Bible, thinking seriously about being a Christian and making a variety of attempts at being a "Jesus follower." Amidst the pleasure of reading and learning, I have focused on processing knowledge and information.  (I have been, after all, a university professor.)

I have tended to ignore -- or make weak attempts at -- worship and prayer.

To address this shortcoming, I spent the summer of 2015 studying (again) the Old Testament Psalms. Yes, this was a study, so that, yes, I did get to read and learn -- but the subject of the study was to be the texts of David (and others) on worship.  If I could study and learn from David, maybe I could use my strength (love of learning) to address a weakness (my random, weak attempts at worship.)

During that summer I used three books (commentaries) in the Psalms. An old favorite was the monograph Psalms 1-72, by Derek Kidner (Tyndale Press, 1973.)  A second text was the delightful The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary, by Robert Alter (2007.) In that book, Alter offers his own careful and loving translation of the ancient Hebrew, with an emphasis on the most reasonable meanings and interpretations of the text.

A third book was Reflections on the Psalms, by C. S. Lewis.  The first two texts, above, are written by Hebrew scholars but the book by Lewis, in contrast, is described by the author as the work of an "amateur", one who wants to meditate on the psalms and learn of them, while admitting that he knows little of Hebrew.  Lewis's motive resonates with me.  I too am an amateur, stimulated by Lewis while educated, at least a little, by Alter and Kidner.

For the English text of the various psalms, I will use the New International Version (NIV) translation of the ancient Hebrew texts.

The book of Psalms is broken into five parts, each part also called a "book". Book I consists of Psalms 1-41.  In this three year study of the Old Testament, we will spend almost 27 weeks in the psalms, more than half a year.  For this reason, I will break up the study by these five "books", inserting a study of a book of psalms between studies of other Old Testament books. We will look at Book I of the psalms from late September through mid November and then return to Old Testament history, picking up the books of 1 and 2 Kings. After 1 and 2 Kings, in early January of next year, we will pick up Book II of the psalms. And so on, spreading out our study of the psalms across parts of several different years.

Manuscripts on the Psalms

The book of Psalms comes to us as a collection of (roughly) 150 psalms, arranged in five books.  Many of the psalms have an editorial comment at the beginning, ascribing an author to the psalm or linking the psalm with a specific historical event.  Several psalms are repeated; Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are essentially the same; Psalm 70 is repeated within Psalm 40.  Book I (Psalms 1-41) are supposedly "of David" but other psalms of David occur outside Book I.  Clearly, some type of collecting and editing of the entire "book" of Psalms occurred at some point (probably after the Babylonian captivity.)

The original writings of the psalms aged and decayed over time and were repeatedly copied and recopied.  There are a number of ancient texts from which we can recover most of the original writings.

I will say more about the structure of the psalms in the next Sunday essay.

Chiasmi in Old Testament Prose

In a previous post, we looked briefly at parallelism as a technique in Hebrew poetry. There are other important structures in the Hebrew scriptures.

For thousands of years, human writing, when it existed, was duplicated by careful one-on-one copying of the text.  Ancient Hebrew scrolls were replicated by schools of copyists and a single scroll or book was expensive and the property of a rich man or a group of people.  The Old Testament scriptures were read aloud in a synagogue or memorized and recited in public. 

Our modern world, with individuals owning one or more books, did not come into being until the Renaissance, after the invention of movable type. (See this Wikipedia article on the history of printing.)

Before the printing press, before books were common, the stories and Scriptures were communicated in  publicly readings. It was likely that stories, like those of Ruth or Esther, were memorized and repeated in common gatherings at certain feasts.

The stories and writings come to us with a variety of interesting structures. These structures may have made the writings easier to memorize; they also added a certain elegance and emphasis to the storytelling.  

One technique for emphasis in a text is to have a statement appear at the beginning and the end of the text, as a bookend or bracket for the passage. For example, Psalm 8 begins and ends with 

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

This is clearly the theme of that song. Psalm 118 is another example, beginning and ending with

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

The technical term of the bookends is inclusio. An inclusio might set off a certain passage from the rest of the text, as our modern paragraph markings do. (Ancient Hebrew and Greek had no punctuation or paragraph markings.)

Once one is aware of the concept of the inclusio, one discovers double inclusios, brackets within brackets, in the form A B <text> B' A'. For example, in Genesis 39, the story of Potiphar's wife is set off by these statements 

The Lord was with Joseph ... the Lord was with him and ... gave him success in everything he did,

and

 the Lord was with him...  the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

These bookends set aside the episode of Potiphar's wife and provide a counterpoint to the abuse and defeat Joseph appears to be suffering.

Chiasmi

The concept of inclusios and double inclusios can be generalized and the ancient Hebrew writers did this. Some text would involve a series of concentric circles, in the form
A
    B
        C
<some text>
        C'
    B'
A
and so on. This structure is a chiasmus, a text in which a sequence of concepts or words is then inverted at the end. This seems to have been a fundamental concept for the ancient Hebrew writers and Hebrew scholars have enjoyed discovering these chiasmi (chiasmi is the plural of chiasmus) throughout the Old Testament. 

In Genesis 1:27 there is a chiasmic structure, concentric circles. The poem displays an A B B' A' form, 

 God created ... 

in his own image ... 

in the image ... 

he created 

in which the first and last lines repeat, and then the second and second-to-last lines have the same concept, and so on. (This is in addition to the parallelism there noted in last Sunday's essay!)

This structure of "concentric circles" can become quite complicated. Here is an analysis of the Flood Account as a chiasmic structure.

(This is from a BioLogos forum. Various versions of this chiamus can be found by searching on the title of the slide.  I learned about chiasmi in the previously recommended Exodus course by Carmen Imes.)

Note that the center statement of this chiasmus is the emphatic statement that "God remembered Noah". In some cases, the chiasmus has a central concept and that is the most important concept of the prose.

Resources

If you wish to obsess over chiasmi in Scripture, someone else has already done that. Look at this website, the chiasmusexchange that explores this in depth! (Anytime I "nerd out" on some concept, I discover there is someone that has been there before me!)

Here are notes by Robert Utley on Hebrew poetry that include discussion on forms such as inclusio, chiasmus and others.

Parallelism in Old Testament Poetry

At the end of Genesis 1, we have a short small poetic statement (Genesis 1: 27)

So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them

This is a classic example of Hebrew poetic style, displaying several forms. Hebrew poetry did not rhyme sounds, as English poetry tends to do, but rhymed concepts.  Ideas are repeated in parallel phrases. Note how the first two lines repeat the same idea, just phrased slightly differently. Then a third line is added which provides a climactic, emphatic ending to the first two lines. 

Parallelism

Parallelism is the "rhythm of thought rather than the beat of syllables," says 

The first two lines of that poem are an example of parallelism. In Genesis 4:23, Lamech says

“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;

wives of Lamech, hear my words."

Note the repeated statements.  This follows with 

"I have killed a man for wounding me, 

a young man for injuring me."

The repetitive process of storytelling is an important concept in ancient Hebrew writings, where the story would be read to others and possibly memorized and recited.

A parallelism is an example of a bicolon, a poetic pair of statements. In Old Testament poetry, scholars have attempted to classify parallel statements as

• synonymous parallelism (the two lines essentially say the same thing)
• antithetic parallelism (the two lines complement each other, the second line expressing the first in an opposite manner)
• synthetic or climactic parallelism (the second line builds on the other.)

Synonymous parallelism

As described in this Oxford University Press online reference, synonymous parallelism occurs when the two parallel lines essentially say the same thing. Repetition may be for emphasis or to give a slightly different viewpoint.

There are literally thousands of examples of parallelism in the Old Testament! I've pulled a few examples from several resources (mentioned at the end of the section) and left unmentioned many many more.  

Examples of synonymous parallelism include Psalm 1:5:

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

and Amos 5: 24:

But let justice roll on like a river, 

righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Micah 4:3 has three sets of examples of synonymous parallelism.

He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

David's lament for Saul and Jonathan in 2 Samuel 1: 19-20 has these three sets of parallel statements:

"Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights.  How the mighty have fallen!

"Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, 

lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

Antithetical parallelism

Examples of antithetical parallelism are Psalm 1: 6:

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Note how the second line complements or contrasts the first line. 

Hundreds of the stanzas in the book of Proverbs involve antithetical parallelism, with the second line often introduced by "but...".  Here, for example, is Proverbs 1:10:

A wise son brings joy to his father, 

but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

There are many more examples at this GotQuestions website.

Synthetic parallelism

In synthetic parallelism, the second line builds on the first, adding to it.  This is sometimes called "climactic" parallelism, as the second line might be the climactic, most important thought. As before, the first psalm also has an example of this Psalm 1: 2:

... whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

Here the "delight" in the law is expanded into daily, consistent meditation.

One interesting form of this is sometimes called "numbers parallelism", for example, 1 Samuel 18: 7, 

“Saul has slain his thousands,

    and David his tens of thousands.”

(In the base ten system of the ancient Near East, it was often common to multiply the first number by ten to get the next!)

If one recognizes synthetic parallelism as a major poetic tool of the Old Testament, one is not surprised by the romantic buildup of Proverbs 30:18-19,

“There are three things that are too amazing for me,

four that I do not understand:

the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a snake on a rock,

the way of a ship on the high seas,

    and the way of a man with a young woman."

Synthetic parallelism softens (at least) the sexism of Ecclesiastes 7:28, 

I found one upright man among a thousand,

  but not one upright woman among them all.

a passage which emphasizes the stubborn unrighteousness of all mankind, male or female.

Staircase parallelism and tricolons

If one is accustomed to the techniques of parallelism, then an emphasis can be achieved by deviating from or adding to the expected doublet. Sometimes the couplets of parallelism are emphasized by a climactic third line!  (Three lines of thought are sometimes called a "tricolon".)

For example, back to Genesis 1: 27:

So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them

The first two lines are synonymous parallelism, but just when one imagines the stanza is done, a third line elaborates, explaining that God made these "images" in the forms male and female. This prepares us for the upcoming story of the first couple in Genesis 2.

Some see this process in Exodus 15: 6-7, each line building to the next.

Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power.

Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy.

In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you.

There are many more examples -- once one is aware of these, they seem to be everywhere. Here is Psalm 121: 3-4:

He will not let your foot slip—

    he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

And Psalm 18: 25-26:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, 

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

to the pure you show yourself pure, 

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

A few resources

Parallelism is a fundamental concept in much of Old Testament Hebrew.  There are numerous online notes and resources on this.  Here are a few.

• There is a Wikipedia page on Biblical poetry. 
• The Bible Project has a number of short videos; here is their first. 
• The Gospel Coalition has an article here. 
• Ligonier Ministries has an article here.
• Mike Mazzalongo reviews the Psalms and looks at the poetry of them in this online lecture. beginning around 4:05. 
• Here are notes by Robert Utley on Hebrew poetry that include discussion on forms such as inclusio, chiasmus and others.

In the free online course by Dr. Carmen Imes on Exodus, Dr. Imes stresses that the theology of the Old Testament is carried by the songs, not by the narrative. This emphasis sharpens our need to recognize the styles of Old Testament poetry, as we seek to both understand it and enjoy it. 

I will have more to say when we get to the Psalms and Proverbs.