READ IT! - Introduction to Psalms 6-12

Readings for this week:

Monday: Psalm 6

Tuesday: Psalm 7

Wednesday: Psalm 8

Thursday: Psalm 9

Friday: Psalm 10

Saturday: Psalm 11

Sunday: Psalm 12

Introduction to Psalms 6-12

Psalm 6

This Davidic psalm contains a note for the director of the music at the beginning, stating that this song is best done with stringed instruments according to “sheminith,” which is probably some sort of musical term. He says, “Be merciful to me, O LORD! My soul is in anguish. I flood my bed with tears. Depart from me, you evildoers! The LORD has heard my cry.”

Psalm 7

This Davidic psalm contains a note saying that it is a “shiggaion” which he sang to the Lord concerning a Benjamite named Cush whom we know nothing about. “Shiggaion” seems to have its roots in the Hebrew word for the ranting or rambling of a drunk person. He says, “O LORD, save me from all who pursue me. Arise in judgment! God has prepared his weapons against the wicked. I will praise the LORD!”

Psalm 8

This Davidic psalm contains a note to the music director saying that it is written according to “gittith.” David spent some time among the Philistines in Gath (Gittites) and a Gittite man named Obed-Edom took care of the Ark on behalf of David when David was too angry with God to deal with it. He says, “O LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth! What is man that you care for him? Yet you have crowned him with glory and honor.”

Psalms 9-10

These Davidic psalms contain a note to the music director saying that it is written to the tune of another popular song at the time called “The Death of the Son.” Psalms 9 and 10 may have been originally a single acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. He says, “I will praise you, O LORD! You have rebuked the nations. The LORD will judge the world with justice. The needy will not be forgotten. O LORD, why do you stand far off? The wicked man hunts the weak. He says, 'God will never see.' O God, break the arm of the wicked!”

Psalm 11

David says, “In the LORD I take refuge. How can you say, 'Flee like a bird'? The LORD hates the wicked. The LORD is righteous and loves justice.”

Psalm 12

This Davidic psalm contains a note to the music director saying that it is written according to “sheminith” which may be a certain stringed instrument on which the song should be played, or it may be another musical notation such as a certain key or octave. The Hebrew root word is related to the number eight so it might be played on an eight-stringed instrument. David says. “Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more. Everyone lies. ‘I will protect the weak,’ says the LORD. The words of the LORD are pure.”