READ IT! - Introduction to Psalms 86-89

Readings for this week

Monday: Psalm 86

Tuesday: Psalm 87

Wednesday: Psalm 88

Thursday: Psalm 89

Friday: Judges 1

Saturday: Judges 2

Sunday: Judges 3

Introduction to Psalms 86-89

Psalm 86

In this Davidic psalm, the writer prays, “Hear, O LORD, and answer me. Save your servant! You alone are God. I will glorify your name forever. Show me a sign of your favor.”

Psalm 87

This psalm is attributed to the Sons of Korah. The writer says, “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. The LORD will write in the register of the peoples of Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Cush: ‘This one was born in Zion.’” “Rahab” here is a reference to Egypt; elsewhere it applies to the mythical monster of the deep (see Job 9:13; Psalm 89:9-10).

Psalm 88

This psalm is attributed to the Sons of Korah, and contains a note at the beginning for the director of music, saying that it is according to “mahalath leannoth,” which is likely a reference to a stringed instrument used for mourning and laments. It then notes that this Korahite psalm is specifically a “maskil” of Heman the Ezrahite. Heman the Ezrahite may be one of the three Levites assigned by King David to be ministers of music. This Heman was a grandson of Samuel the prophet who went on to become King David's seer, and to have fourteen sons and three daughters.

He writes, “O LORD, day and night I cry out to you. You have put me in the darkest depths. Do the dead rise up to praise you? I am in despair.”

Several of the psalms that are attributed to “The Sons of Korah” deal with some of the darker issues of human existence, such as dealing with death and depression.

Psalm 89

This is another “maskil” written either by or in the tradition of Ethan the Ezrahite. The writer  says, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD. You said, ‘I will establish the throne of David forever.’ O Lord, where is your love of old?”

This psalm is a prayer mourning the downfall of the Davidic dynasty and pleading for its restoration. The historical context may have been the attack on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the exile of King Jehoiachin in 597 BC. The imagery in these verses was borrowed from ancient Near Eastern myths of creation. Rahab was the mythical monster of the deep, probably another name for Leviathan.