Background of the Psalms

The book of psalm is composed of sacred songs, or sacred poems which are meant to
be sung. In the original Hebrew test the book as a whole was not named, but many individual
psalms contained the word “mizmor” which means a poem sung to the accompaniment of the
string instrument. In the Hebrew bible, psalms begins the third and last section of the biblical
canon, known as the writings (Hebrew Ketuvim).

In the present form, the book of Psalms consist of 150 poems divided into 5 books (1-
41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), the first four books are marked off by concluding
doxologies. Psalm 150 serves as a doxology for the entire collection. It is also assumed that
the fivefold division is perhaps meant to be an imitation of the Pentateuch.

It is hard to be credited about the authorship of psalms as the dating of individual

psalms poses and extremely difficult problem. They were evidently written over a number of
centuries form the monarchy to post-exilic times, based on the varying stages of Israel’s
history and the varying modes of Israel’s faith.

Audience
The psalms were written over a period of more than two hundred years, so they had
many audiences among the Jews, according to the times. Psalms are the integral part of the
ritualized activities, which the Hebrew community developed for marking important public
and personal situations. Although many psalms had their setting in the ritual life of the
Temple of Solomon before the Babylonian Exile (6th century BC), the Psalter became the
hymnbook for Second Temple of Jerusalem, and the order of worship in the Temple
probably played an important role in shaping and ordering the book.1

While Psalm were written during specific period in the history of Israel, from the
monarchy to the postexilic eras, but they connect to our own times as much as they reflect
their times. So we can say that in many ways they were written for us, even thou the original
audience was the children of Israel, the psalms reflect hopes and dreams, fears and failures of
humanity in general2.

Lament psalms

Lament as a genre of psalm, it is not the same as lamentation over the dead. In a
lament psalm, a petitioner addresses God directly on the occasion of some calamity. Given
God’s history with God’s people, the psalmist is comfortable charging God with dereliction
of duty and unabashedly urges a favourable response.

Between these two forms sit the lament psalms, which respond to a crisis that disrupts
the life of an individual or community. In laments, a critical event calls into question the
conviction that God reliably protects the speaker from injustice, chaos, and death. The lament
psalm, then, looks backward at praise (recalling God's saving acts), and it looks forward to

1
https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419
2
https://www.bible.com/versions/1849?returnTo=PSA.INTRO1
thanksgiving and salvation (praising God's inclination to save). Lament gazes unflinchingly
at the present reality of pain and at God's apparent slowness to save.3

The psalms themselves range in mood and expression of faith from joyous celebration
to solemn hymn and bitter protest. They are sometimes classified according to form or type;
the major forms include the hymn (e.g., 104, 135), the lament (e.g., 13, 80), the song of
confidence (e.g., 46, 121), and the song of thanksgiving (e.g., 9, 136). They may also be
classified according to subject matter. Thus a number of psalms have been called “royal”
psalms (2, 18, 20, 21, 28, 44, 45, 61, 63, 72, 89, 101, 110, 132) because they feature the king,
portraying him as both the representative of Yahweh to the community and the representative
of the community to Yahweh. Psalms are also classified according to their use; the “Zion”
hymns (46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122), for example, were part of a ritual re-enactment of the great
deeds of Yahweh in maintaining Zion as the inviolable centre of his divine presence4.

Psalms 13

The title tells us both the author and the audience of the Psalm: To the Chief Musician. A
Psalm of David. Some believe that the Chief Musician is the Lord GOD Himself, and others
supposed to be a leader of choirs or musicians in David's time, such as Heman the Singer or
Asaph (1 Chronicles 6:33, 16:17, and 25:6). This is a Psalm of transition. Starting in
discouragement and despair, David finishes in a place of trust, joy, and encouragement.

A. David's despair.

1. (Psa 13:1) David's despair with the LORD.

How long, O LORD?

Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?

a. How long, O LORD? It seems that every child of God has asked this question at one time
or another, and that every follower of God has felt neglected by God - or at least that they
have waited a long time for God to do what needs to be done.

b. Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? The pain in
David's heart came from a sense that God had forgotten him and that God was distancing
Himself from David. No doubt, David had faced worse circumstances but had faced them
more bravely when he sensed the presence of God with him. Yet now, feeling distant from
God, it did not take much to send David into despair.

3
https://www.bibleodyssey.org/passages/related-articles/psalms-of-lament
4
https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419
c. Forget … Hide Your face: Of course, God did not forget David. God did not hide His face
from David - but David felt like it. When we have such strong feelings then the feelings
create their own reality. David felt God had forgotten him, and felt God was hiding. So, in a
sense, it was true for David - but true according to feelings, not according to fact.

2. (Psa 13:2) David's despair with himself and others.

How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

a. How long shall I take counsel in my soul: No wonder David was discouraged! Taking
counsel in his own soul had led him to sorrow in his heart daily. When I am discouraged and
depressed, the answer is not looking inside myself, but in looking to the LORD.

b. How long will my enemy be exalted over me? This mentions the third way that David was
depressed. David didn't want to lose in any area he was attacked and see his enemy …
exalted over him.

- First, in his relationship with God.

- Second, within himself.
- Third, in regard to his enemies.

B. David's dependent prayer.

1. (Psa 13:3) David prays for his relationship with God.

Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;

Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

a. Consider and hear me: We should not think that David meant two different things when
he said, "Consider and hear me." He used the Hebrew method of repetition to show
emphasis. David desperately cried out to God, asking the LORD to hear him.

b. Enlighten my eyes: David had the wisdom to know that though he felt powerful feelings,
he wasn't seeing reality. His vision was clouded and dark, so he cried out to God, "Enlighten
my eyes."

c. Lest I sleep the sleep of death: If we are not enlightened by God, we will surely fall asleep.
And often, spiritual sleep leads to spiritual death.

2. (Psa 13:4) David prays for victory over his enemies.

Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him";

Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
a. Lest my enemy say: David knew one of the worst parts about losing to anyone is hearing
them boast after they have defeated you. He did not want his enemy to rejoice when he
was brought low.

b. Lest my enemy: "Awareness of God and the enemy is virtually the hallmark of every
psalm of David; the positive and negative charges which produced the driving force of his
best years." (Kidner)

C. David's declaration.
1. (5a) David's trust in God's mercy.

But I have trusted in Your mercy;

a. I have trusted: David, after his prayer, came to a place of confidence and trust. I have
trusted speaks in the past tense; it is as if David remembered that he really did trust God
and he cleared away the fog from his sleepy eyes as God enlightened his eyes.

b. In Your mercy: At this place of discouragement, David could not trust in God's justice, or
in God's law, or in God's holiness. Those things might condemn him because his feelings had
made him not see clearly. But he could always trust in God's mercy. When you can't trust
anything else, trust in God's mercy.

i. "He begins his prayer as if he thought God would never give him a kind look more … But by
the time he had exercised himself a little in duty, his distemper wears off, the mists scatter,
and his faith breaks out as the sun in its strength." (William Gurnall, cited in Spurgeon)

2. (5b-6a) David's joy in the LORD and His salvation.

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

a. My heart shall rejoice: Now, David was still in the realm of feelings (rejoice). But he
directed his feelings instead of having his feelings direct him (shall rejoice). He told his heart
to get busy rejoicing!

b. In Your salvation: This is what David rejoiced in. David, if he could rejoice in nothing else,
could rejoice in the salvation God gave him. This is solid ground for any believer. If you are
saved, you can rejoice, and tell your heart to start rejoicing.

c. I will sing to the LORD: David knew rejoicing is wonderfully expressed in singing. So, he
would sing to the LORD. Singing to the LORD would both express his joy and increase his joy.

i. "There is not half enough singing in the world … I remember a servant who used to sing
while she was at the wash-tub. Her mistress said to her, 'Why, Jane, how is it that you are
always singing?' She said, 'It keeps the bad thoughts away.'" (Spurgeon)
ii. David moved from being depressed and feeling abandoned by God, to singing joy. "The
fact that we feel abandoned itself means that we really know God is there. To be
abandoned you need somebody to be abandoned by. Because we are Christians and have
been taught by God in the Scriptures, we know that God still loves us and will be faithful to
us, regardless of our feelings." (Boice)

3. (6b) With enlightened eyes, David sees God's goodness.

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

a. Because He has dealt bountifully with me: As David thought about it, he had good reason
to rejoice and sing because God had been good to him. If we will only think about it, every
person on this earth has reason to rejoice, because in some way God has been good to
everyone.

b. He has dealt bountifully with me: What a transition! In the beginning of the Psalm, David
was overwhelmed by his feelings and believed that God forgot him and was hiding from
him. He had trouble with God, with himself, and with others. Yet now he saw how God had
dealt bountifully with him. Because his eyes were enlightened, David could now see God's
goodness, and what a change in perspective that was!

i. Before God can enlighten our eyes, we must agree that we don't see everything. We need
to realize that our feelings are not giving us full and accurate information. But if we will do
this, and cry out to the LORD, He will enlighten our eyes and bring us from a place of despair
to a place of trust, joy, and confidence!

ii. "[In times of trouble, the Lord] would with one Scripture or another, strengthen me
against all; insomuch that I have often said, Were it lawful, I could pray for greater trouble,
for the greater comfort's sake." (John Bunyan, cited in Spurgeon)5

Application: This I think Serene have well written it so I no need to explore it more ha ha .

5
https://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/guzik_david/