Digging Deeper for such a time as this: *** Part 8 of 8 *** DAVID THE “PSALMS OF DAVID” The sweet psalmist of Israel.—2 Sam. 23:1. 1. QUITE apart from its altogether unique religious value, Hebrew poetry can justly claim its place among the great literatures of the world. It combines a simplicity which they seldom equal with a brilliant but chastened imagination which is all its own. Its power is nowhere more vividly seen than in its descriptions of nature, which the rapt eyes of the Hebrew poet sometimes see touched into glad sympathy with redeemed humanity and lit with the glory of the latter days. In a word or two, he can produce the clearest pictures and the most startling contrasts. The sower with his tear stained face is transformed by a touch into the glad reaper who comes home with his arm full of sheaves (126:5, 6). The only marriage-song in the Psalter (45) shines with all the brilliant splendour of the East. It opens the gates of an ivory palace and shows us trains of bejewelled ladies who enter to the ravishing sounds of music. ¶ The Hebrew speech approves itself one of the fittest vehicles of poetical expression. Like other Semitic languages, it is marked by great simplicity of form. The rigidity of its three-lettered root scheme, its lack of precise distinction of time within the verb forms, its weakness in connective particles, and its general incapacity for abstractions, prevented its ever attaining the subtle logical effects of Greek or our complex modern languages. But this very failure in philosophical grasp enhances the pictorial power of the speech. In Hebrew all things appear in action. The verb is the predominant element in the sentence. And, though the shades of time-distinction are blurred, the richness of the language in intensive forms throws the precise complexion of the act into clear, strong light. But even the simplicity of the tenses heightens the pictorial effect; and the paratactic connexion of the clauses gives the Hebrew sentence the appearance of a series of artistic strokes, often of gemlike brilliance. Hebrew possesses likewise a great wealth of synonyms, especially in descriptions of the common scenes and interests of life, and in the region of feeling. The language is equally rich in imagery. The daring boldness and luxuriance of its figures are, indeed, almost oppressive to the modern mind. But the Hebrew poet himself was unconscious of any wanton riot of imagination. To him the bold, swift changes of metaphor were natural reflections of the play of passion in the soul. For Hebrew poetry is pre-eminently passionate. The “simple, sensuous” speech is but a veil, which thrills and quivers with the poet’s every passing emotion. 2. The main body of Old Testament poetry turns directly on the praise of God, and the varying emotions of the devout soul in its relation to Him. In this region the poetry of Israel is unique. There is religious poetry among other nations—often far surpassing that of Israel in sustained reflection on the mysteries of life, and dramatic representations of the conflict of the individual with the inexorable decrees of fate—but in no other religious literature do we find ourselves in such close and intimate touch with God. The poets of Greece and Babylonia “feel after God.” To the pure-eyed seers of Israel He was as luminously self-evident a Being as their own selves. In Him their poetry “lives and moves,” and thrills and glows with fervid emotion. And it is this vital contact with God that gives that literature its perennial freshness and inspiration. We may know more of the Eternal than even the loftiest souls in Israel. But such was the immediacy of their feeling of God, and their power to express that feeling, that their lyrical utterances remain the classics of devotion. The Christian world still gives voice to its faith and hope and joy in God through the rapturous strains of the “sweet singers of Israel.” And the best of our hymns have caught their glow at this altar. Of this distinctively religious poetry of Israel the finest gems are found in the Psalter, which has been aptly described as “the heart of the Bible”; for what the heart is in man—the welling fountain of his feelings and imaginations, his joys and griefs and manifold cravings and aspirations—the Psalter is in the Bible. Thus the Psalter has touched and held the hearts of the devout in all the ages. Here heart speaks to heart, deep responds to deep, on the great realities of spiritual life. ¶ The human heart is like a ship on a wild sea, driven by winds from all corners of the world. And what find we for the most part in the Psalter, but the earnest words of men tossed about by such winds? Where can one find nobler words of joy than those the Psalms of praise and thanksgiving contain? In these thou mayest gaze into the heart of all the saints, as into lovely pleasure gardens, or into heaven itself, and see how fine, pleasant, delightsome flowers spring up therein from all manner of beautiful, gladsome thoughts of God because of His goodness. And, again, where canst thou find deeper, more plaintive and heart-moving words of sorrow than in the Psalms of lamentation? There too thou mayest look into the heart of all the saints—but as into death, or hell itself. How dark and gloomy all things are when the heart is troubled by the sense of the wrath of God! And so also when they speak of fear or hope, they use words that no painter could approach in colouring, or even an orator like Cicero in vividness of description. THE PSALMS 1. The Hebrew Psalter is the hymn-book of the holy catholic Church throughout the world. It has been so from the beginning, and in all probability it will be so to the end. There are indeed some churches which do not lift their praises to God in the very words of the Psalter, and there are other churches which praise Him in a multitude of other hymns besides those of the Psalter. But even where the psalms are not directly used, their words and thoughts have been appropriated, so that many of the noblest modern hymns are but echoes of the songs of the ancient Jewish church, and written under the immediate inspiration of the Psalter. It will be enough to recall Luther’s great hymn: A safe stronghold our God is still, which is nothing but the German version of the Forty-sixth Psalm. ¶ It was “out of the depths” that the psalmists cried to God, and the deep of our experience answers to the deep of theirs. In their words we find our own emotions expressed and see our own experience reflected. They knew what was in man; and that is why they “find” us. They knew the strangeness and the sorrow of life, but amidst it all they also knew God to be their shelter and their strength. Never have there been men who faced more honestly the problems of life, or felt its pathos more keenly. Life was a mystery, and they knew that by searching they could never fully find its meaning out; but they searched like the brave men they were, till sometimes their hearts grew bitter and throbbed with pain (63:2). They voice that “sense of tears in mortal things” which is felt by all who look with fearless and unconventional eyes at the pain and surprises of life. 2. More persistently than any other book in the Bible does the Psalter bring home to us the overwhelming sense of the reality and personality of God. The sight of His gracious face was better to the psalmists than abundance of corn and wine, and His presence by the side of the spirit that was perplexed soothed it into peace again. The “strangers and pilgrims” are yet in some strange sense the guests of God, daily gathering around His hospitable table in a world that is full of His goodness. From every storm there is a refuge in the shadow of His wings, and there the weary soul can lie in peace and look up with a smile, like a weaned child on the bosom of his mother. The psalms were written and sung by men who counted God their friend. ¶ The Psalter is always serious and sometimes sad; yet it is sad only to transform sadness into joy, and its main characteristic is gladness. In no direction does this appear more clearly than in its delight in nature. This delight is not the simply, innocently sensuous delight of the Song of Songs. What the poet there did unconsciously is done consciously by the psalmists. They glorify nature as the vision and language of God. Sometimes they are content to give a picture in a few lines, like that of the strong sun running his course in Ps. 19. No application is made; the poet trusts the sacramental power of the mere natural beauty of the thing. Ps. 19 does indeed end with a moral reflection. It is a beautiful one, but surely forms a separate piece from the first half of the poem. The juncture of the two is just what would be approved in a popular hymn-book; the artist and the sacramentalist (if the twain be not one) might wish the two psalms were still given separately. Sometimes there is a magnificent theophany—the Lord manifesting Himself in the thunderstorm, as in 18, 29, and the conclusion of 77. Sometimes the theophany is rather suggested than described, as in 96, where the coming of spring is the advent of the Lord to judge. There is a famous addition in some copies of the Septuagint of this psalm: “Say among the nations, The Lord reigneth from the tree.” This is thought to have been added in Christian times, but as far as the context comes into the argument, the words may be taken in a sense which is quite in harmony with the psalmist’s sacramental vision of the awakening forest. Sometimes, as in 104, we have an elaborate description of all the dædal life of nature in which ascription of praise to the Creator, Guide, and Provider is continually interwoven; through and over all runs the melody of simple joy. 3. Most of the psalms are direct addresses to God. The rest of them are devout meditations upon the Divine word, and the blessedness of those who receive it into their hearts, or varied expressions of spiritual life arising from the most intimate and inspiring relations with God, and suitable to the sanctuary. The central and ruling idea of the whole is worship in its most comprehensive sense, and is embodied in a single impressive sentence in Ps. 95: “Oh come, bowing down let us worship, Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker; For he is our God, And we are the people of his care, The flock of his hand.” DAVID AND THE PSALMS No problem seems so easy, and few are in reality so difficult, as that of determining the ultimate origin of the individual psalms. Many of the superscriptions seem to contain information, as precise as it is welcome, with regard to the origin and occasion of the psalms to which they are attached. But it is quite certain that the superscriptions are not original and integral to the psalms themselves, for the superscriptions of the Greek version do not quite agree with those of the Hebrew; sometimes they assign to David (cf. 95) or to other authors (for example, Haggai and Zechariah; cf. 146) a psalm which is anonymous in the Hebrew; and sometimes they add information which is not warranted by the Hebrew text (cf. 144, where to “David” the Greek version adds “touching Goliath”). The Syriac version again differs both from the Greek and from the Hebrew. Had the titles been original to the psalms, such variety would have been impossible. Therefore it is fair to conclude that the titles are no part of the psalms, but were added afterwards. The time when they were added cannot be exactly determined. Some would be prefixed at the time of the earlier compilations, others when the collections were made. Several of the titles in the LXX show, what one or two psalms in the Hebrew exhibit, a combination of inconsistent traditions as regards both author and occasion. As a whole, the titles represent an early but far from contemporary tradition, and are for the most part uncritical in character. Further, the superscriptions are sometimes at variance with the explicit statements of the historical books. A curious illustration of this is found in Ps. 34, whose superscription calls the Philistine king before whom David feigned madness Ahimelech instead of Achish (1 Sam. 21:14). Again, the superscriptions are sometimes at variance with the contents of the psalms themselves. For example, Ps. 59 contemplates a situation in which certain cruel and blasphemous men go about the city, whereas the superscription assigns it to the occasion when David’s house was watched by Saul’s emissaries. In the same psalm, the enemies of the singer are described as the nations, that is, the heathen. ¶ By the titles seventy-three psalms are assigned to David, the principal groups being Ps. 3–41 (omitting 10 and 33) and 51–70 (omitting 66 and 67). In the LXX the number is somewhat larger, the title “to David” being added to fourteen more (including 93–99 Heb.), but omitted in some MSS from three or four others. The following special occasions are named in the Hebrew titles: 3, when he fled from Absalom; 7, concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite; 18, when Jehovah delivered him from his enemies and from Saul; 30, at the dedication of the House; 34, when he changed his behaviour before Ahimelech; 51, after his rebuke by Nathan; 52, when Doeg denounced him to Saul; 54, when the Ziphites betrayed his hiding-place; 56, when the Philistines took him in Gath; 57, when he fled from Saul, in the cave; 59, when Saul’s messengers watched the house to kill him; 60, after the defeat of Edom in the Valley of Salt; 63, in the wilderness of Judah; 142, when he was in the cave. 1. It may be questioned whether the Hebrew phrase rendered “Psalm of David” was originally intended to imply authorship, though undoubtedly this must have been the view taken by the time the historical notices, which appear chiefly in the second book, were added. But there are cases where the idea of authorship is altogether excluded by the simple fact that the psalm is assigned not to a man but to a guild, namely, the sons of Korah, that is, the Korahitic guild of temple-singers (cf. 42–49). The psalms so superscribed form a collection which, for some reason that we are left to infer, was associated with this particular guild. In other words this title, together with the kindred title “Psalm of Asaph,” appears to be a liturgical designation, the clue to which is now lost. Possibly the title “Psalm of David” is to be similarly explained, especially as it is often accompanied by the certainly liturgical direction rendered “For the Chief Musician” in our English Bibles, and the Hebrew preposition rendered by “of” and “to” is in both cases the same. It is easy, of course, to see why later ages should have believed in David as the author of the psalms with which his name, for whatever reason, was associated. He was known to be a great minstrel and poet (cf. 2 Sam. 1), an ardent worshipper of Jehovah, and earnestly bent upon building Him a temple; and so he not unnaturally came to be regarded not only as the father of religious song, but as the composer of much of the Psalter. But the majority of the psalms ascribed to David cannot be his; for (1) many are of unequal poetical merit, and, instead of displaying the freshness and originality which we should expect in the founder of Hebrew psalmody, contain frequent conventional phrases (e.g. Ps. 6, 31, 35, 40:13 ff.), and reminiscences of earlier psalms, which betray the poet of a later age. (2) Some have pronounced Aramaisms, the occurrence of which in an early poem of Judah is entirely without analogy, or other marks of lateness. (3) Others have stylistic affinities with psalms which, upon independent grounds, must be assigned to an age much later than that of David: though the alphabetical arrangement (Pss. 9–10, 25, 34, 37, 145), for instance, cannot be proved to have been unused as early as David’s day, the known examples of it are much later (Lam. 1–4, Prov. 31:10–31); and at least Ps. 25, 34, 37, 145 are shown by their general tone and style to belong to the later products of Hebrew poetry. (4) Many are unadapted to David’s situation or character. (5) Not infrequently also the psalms ascribed to David presuppose the circumstances or character of a later age. Ps. 69:35f. implies an approaching restoration of Jerusalem and Judah; Ps. 68:4 (“Make a highway for him that rideth through the deserts”) points to the same historical situation as Isa. 40:3; Ps. 22:27–30, 65:2, 68:31, 86:9 presuppose the prophetic teaching (Isa. 2:2–4, etc.) of the acceptance of Israel’s religion by the nations of the earth. Many also of the same psalms, it is difficult not to feel, express an intensity of religious devotion, a depth of spiritual insight, and a maturity of theological reflection, beyond what we should expect from David or David’s age. David had many high and honourable qualities: he was loyal, generous, disinterested, amiable, a faithful friend, a just and benevolent ruler; and the narrative in the Books of Samuel show that his religion elevated and ennobled his aims, and, except on the occasion of his great fall, exerted a visible influence upon the tenor of his life. Still, as we should not gather from the history that he was exposed to quite such a succession of trials and afflictions as are represented in the psalms ascribed to him, so we should scarcely gather from it that he was a man of the deep and intense spiritual feeling reflected in the psalms that bear his name. Every indication converges to the same conclusion, namely, that the “Davidic” psalms spring, in fact, from many different periods of Israelitish history, from the time of David himself downwards; and that in the varied moods which they reflect—despondency, trouble, searchings of heart, penitence, hope, confidence, thankfulness, exultation—or the various situations which they shadow forth—distress, sickness, oppression or persecution, deliverance—they set before us the experiences of many men and of many ages of the national life. 2. On the other hand, a real basis of fact seems to underlie the Jewish tradition which links the beginnings of psalmody with David. David was first introduced to Saul as a minstrel; as a deviser of musical instruments he is named in Amos 6:5. The Lament over Saul and Jonathan, a secular song, reveals to us David’s poetic power; as a composer of sacred poems he appears in the appendix to Samuel (2 Sam. 22, 23:1–7) and in Chronicles (esp. 1 Chron. 16:7–36). How much older this representation may be it is hard to say; but it points to a tradition that David was the father of Hebrew psalmody, and it would be rash to deny the possibility that some psalms or portions of psalms of Davidic authorship are to be found in the Psalter. In the complex personality of David the emotional sensibilities that make the poet formed a rich element. He had a true genius for friendship, and celebrated the noblest of his friendships in immortal verse. But the soul that was knit in such bonds of tender affection was inspired by no less pure a passion for his God. His zeal for Jehovah led him to dance in prophetic ecstasy before the ark. And the same ardent enthusiasm can hardly have failed at other times to express itself in song. In this varied, many-sided, strangely-chequered life, with its startling vicissitudes, its religious aspiration and endeavour, its heights and depths of experience of good and evil—with its love of music and gift of lyric song—with the incitements to the use of that gift springing from the companionship of prophets like Samuel and Nathan, from the promises they gave, and the hopes they inspired for the future of the kingdom—can any one say that there is not abundant material for psalm-composition, or sufficient motive or skill to engage in it? Had the anointing to be king, the trials at Saul’s court, the vicissitudes of the wilderness persecution, the bringing up of the ark, the promises of Nathan, the rebellion of Absalom, the sin with Bathsheba itself and the penitence that followed, no power in them to draw forth such psalmody? ¶ It is allowed that for many centuries David had at least the reputation of being the founder of psalmody in Israel. In 2 Sam. 23:1 he is described as being “lovely (or pleasant) in Israel’s songs of praise” (R.V.m.); 1 Sam. 16:18 describes his youthful skill upon the harp; 1 Chron. 23:5 and 2 Chron. 29:25 describe his introducing stringed instruments into the service of the sanctuary to accompany the psalms that were sung there. Neh. 12:36 refers to “the musical instruments of David the man of God”; while Amos 6:5 shows that much earlier than this David’s musical instruments had become proverbial. It was not, however, a mere association of David’s name with instruments of music, as many modern critics assert. The word used in 2 Sam. 23:1 implies more than this, and the single illustration of the Lamentation in 2 Sam. 1 is enough to prove that David was no mere skilled musical executant. The early character of the tradition which constituted him “the sweet Psalmist of Israel” has been shown, and by the time that Heb. 4:7 was written, and indeed long before then, the whole Psalter was called after him and recognized by the simple name “David.” Is it likely that he composed no sacred songs? If he did, is it likely that they all perished? The permanence of songs as literature is well known. The fragments contained in the early books of the Old Testament are an illustration of this. The care with which oral traditions of all kinds were handed on amongst the Jews and other Eastern nations is matter of history. But the memory is especially tenacious of poetry, of lyrical poetry more than of other kinds of verse, of sacred lyrics, especially when used in public worship and often repeated, most of all. 3. It was the gracious thought of God to provide for His people a book of worship which should cultivate their personal association with Himself, and thus lift them out of sin and misery, and one that should abide through all time, more clearly understood and more highly prized with the advance of years. In order to accomplish this He first produced the men, appointed their circumstances of temptation and suffering, accompanied by such timely manifestations of His grace as should enable them to write psalms that would stir the hearts of men to their depths—psalms on the face of which genuineness should be inerasably stamped. David, the father of all who cultivated sacred song in Israel, He brought up from the pastures and sheepfolds, to wear a crown indeed, foreshadowing the Messiah, but to find no comfort or rest until he had been hunted like a wild beast through deserts and mountains, until he had passed through a furnace seven times heated in the treachery of his friends and the malignity of his enemies, until his own son, his pride and joy, had basely turned against him, and had driven him from his home and from the altars of God, until his heart had been wrung by the untimely and violent death of that son, whom in all his wickedness he had loved more than his own life, until a combination of great powers had threatened to wipe him and his children off the face of the earth. David, the author of a number of these psalms, so suffered that he might initiate for the world this truly Divine book. ¶ The poets of Israel did not make their national heroes, however great, the subjects of their verse, or if they did, no works of this kind have come down to us. Designed to be the great teachers of a pure faith to men, chosen of God to speak His words, to utter the yearnings and the hopes of men’s hearts towards Him, they were not suffered to forget this their higher vocation, or when they did, their words perished. Even the fame of Solomon could not secure for his thousand and five songs, which were probably merely of a secular kind, the meed of immortality. Hence it is that we have no Hebrew Poems on the life of David; and hence also it is that the perils and adventures through which he passed are not described in David’s songs as they would have been by more modern poets. We are often at a loss to know to what particular parts of his history, to what turns and circumstances of his fortunes, this or that psalm is to be referred. Still it is impossible to read them and not to see that they are coloured by the reminiscences of his life. Hastings, J. (Ed.). (1914).The greater men and women of the Bible: Ruth–Naaman. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. - via Logos 5
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 00:05:50 +0000