PSALM 7
“A shiggaion of David which he sang to Yahweh on account of Cush, a Benjamite.“
An explanation from BibleHub:
“Shiggayon designates a particular kind of poetic-musical composition marked by emotional intensity, fluid structure, and vivid imagery. Rather than the regular parallelism typical of Hebrew poetry, a shiggayon moves with impassioned freedom—suitable for urgent lament, vigorous protest, or ecstatic praise. Its singular appearance in Psalm 7 and plural form shigionoth in Habakkuk 3 suggest a recognized liturgical category within Israel’s worship repertoire.”
Recall that Saul is from the tribe of Benjamin. This Cush fellow is never mentioned so there are a few theories about who David is referring to.
- A guy in Saul’s court that has done David harm. Saul favored his own tribe of Benjamin and promoted them to positions of importance.
- The Cushite who delivers the news that David’s son Absolom is dead. (If this is the case – and I don’t believe it is – this Psalm would not be written at this point of David’s life because Absolom isn’t even born yet.
- A possible “nickname” for Saul himself.
I lean toward option 3. Here’s why:
- Saul is the son of Kish (which I just found out is actually pronounced like the fancy brunch dish: quiche.) 🙃 Maybe it’s matter of a translation or copy error. The names Cush and Kish are similar in Hebrew.
- Cush begat Nimrod the famous hunter “before the Lord.” And Saul is hunting David. Could be a pun.
- Verse 2 reveals that David’s life is threatened by him. Even if this “Cush” is a henchman, he is ultimately a tool of the bigger problem: Saul.
This raging cry for justice sounds like it could be accompanied by rather ferocious strumming of ominous minor chords. 🎸
David actually pronounces a conditional curse upon himself.
“O Lord my God, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice, if I have betrayed a friend or plundered my enemy without cause, then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honor in the dust.”
Psalms 7:3-5 NLT
We don’t sing songs that call for God to rise up in anger and destroy the wicked. Some would say that those psalms were only for the OT and that we are now in a time of grace and have no use for them.
Here is a FABULOUS lecture from Dr. Carmen Joy Imes on Praying Lament. She is an OT scholar and excellent communicator. If you have about an hour, it’s well worth your time. She explains the purpose of lament and imprecatory psalms and why we still need them today.
David calls for God’s righteous judgment and sings of his trust in that divine justice.
And really, if “vengeance is mine, saith the Lord,” then what else can you do? When I hear of some injustice in the world, I usually follow suit with psalms like this one and ask the Lord to rise up and bring justice. If my sense of right and wrong is violated and my anger roused when I hear of children being abused, I know that the Lord’s anger is greater because His love is greater and His knowledge is greater. We can stand around with our hands in our pockets and shrug over injustice or we can pray rowdy prayers and do our best to support justice for those who have been mistreated.
PSALM 27
This is one of the famous ones. It shimmers with… chutzpah! (That’s a Yiddish term for brash confidence). 😏 This would be a great psalm to memorize.
“Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear. Though war arise against me, even in this I will remain confident.”
Psalms 27:3 LEB
This isn’t theory for David. He really does have a whole army encamped against him.
“One thing I have asked from Yahweh; it I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Yahweh, and to consider his temple.”
Psalms 27:4 LEB
Make a mental note of this. This statement will be a huge driving force in David’s life. Right now he is a fugitive. The last time he went to the tabernacle it led to the massacre of the priests and their families. You can hear the yearning for time to just sit in the presence of the Lord. No danger. No demands. Just plenty of time to linger and think and reflect and worship. This mental picture will fuel David’s resolve and keep him going for these years of banishment, and give focus and purpose to his later years.
Verse 8 is interesting. The Hebrew word order is like this: “unto thee, said my heart, seek ye my face, Thy face YHWH I will seek.”
It’s like David hears the whisper of the Holy Spirit from within his own soul saying, “Search for me.” The “face” is a way of talking about someone’s presence. If you see a person’s face, you are in their presence. This is a call from within the heart to search out the presence of the LORD.
“If my father or my mother forsake me, then Yahweh will receive me.”
Psalms 27:10 LEB
And where are David’s parents right now? Exiled in Moab. It was risky to be associated with David at this point. But even if your own parents were to disown you, the LORD will not.
“Surely I believe that I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.”
Psalms 27:13 LEB
I don’t know if you ever do this but sometimes I get in a mood 😒 and feel like I have to just hold on and tolerate life in this dismal world until Jesus comes. 😞 But David expresses his faith that he is going to see the goodness of God – not just in the sweet by and by but (as our Bible College president would say), “in the nasty now and now.” Here. Now. This side of glory. When life isn’t easy, I can still trust in the eternal goodness of God, but it’s hard sometimes to be confident that I’ll see it here and now “in the land of the living.”
🤨 Oh yes, God has been good up til yesterday, but He’s all done now. He just packed up and went home. No more goodness for you til you pass on to glory. He just got up this morning and said, “Yup. All fresh out of goodness. We won’t get anymore in until the millennium.” What kind of a pathetic pity party pansy are you?
🫤 Well… when you put it like THAT.
🤨 Ya know what? We’re gonna say the thing. You need to say it.
🙄 But it’s so cheesy-American-evangelical…
🤨 I don’t care if it’s cheesier than a Hallmark movie baptized in queso, it’s true and you need to say it.
😒 (sigh) Ok. I’m ready.
🤨 God is good.
😏 All the time.
🤨 And all the time…
😏 God is good.
🤨 There. Let’s have no more nonsense. If I hear you whine again you’ll be writing it a hundred times on the blackboard.
😬 I’m gonna start watching for God’s goodness right now. Oh look… I think I see some. I’m just gonna go check it out…
PSALM 31
This is one of the psalms that starts out “To the music director.” And since I am a music director it feels like it’s addressed to me. ☺️
You’re reading along in this psalm, then all of a sudden, the words of Jesus from the cross leap off the page:
“Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God.”
Psalms 31:5 LEB
Whenever I see that, it makes me go back and read the whole psalm as if it were from the lips of Christ Himself.
We know that this is a psalm of David, and that it reflects David’s experiences; his feelings and desires. But the Spirit of God is at work in David’s writing, inspiring him and giving him words and ideas. There is a wonderful and holy partnership here. David is living out the experience of being pursued by enemies and being in fear for his life. But his real life experiences are simultaneously functioning as catalysts to bring about the writing of inspired scripture. Prophetic scripture.
Just as Christ Himself, the living Word of God, was both fully human and fully divine, so also the written Word of God is both a fully human and fully divine document. The individuals who wrote it had vocabulary and styles and experiences that are unique to them. The Lord didn’t make it all sound the same. He allowed the unique voices of His chosen vessels to come through. They weren’t robots or writing in some kind of trance. David’s cries for help are REAL. They are from his heart. But they are also a revelation of the heart of God.
Now, I know that the canon of scripture has long been closed, but look what Paul said of the Corinthian saints.
“You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all people, revealing yourselves, that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NASB2020
David’s bad days had meaning. They brought him to a point where he could prophetically write the very words of Jesus from the cross. (Especially in Psalm 22). If he never had any problems, if he had never been one step ahead of death, he could not have written such things. Song writers write from experience.
Our bad days have meaning too. They may not become holy writ but if we will bear up in faith and perseverance and confident hope, the people around us will be able to read the chapters and verses of our lives as a gospel text, “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.”
To The Reader 