Studying Psalm Titles/Superscriptions - Psalm 56 in particular

[Pergamum]

Some bibles include the Psalm superscriptions/titles. Some don't.

The Hebrew had these titles it seems. The Septuagint also had them, but some scholars say the Septuagint varies in its use of titles. The Psalms found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (so I have read) do not include these superscriptions. Were these authentic or added later? And how much later?

The Superscription for Psalm 56 is as follows:

To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.

What things can be drawn out from this superscription?

It was addressed to the Chief Musician...can anyone elaborate the significance of this?

Also, Michtam seems to mean poem or engraving, why not just translate it as "poem" then, why keep the hebrew even in our English translations like the KJV?

That long word, "Jonath-elem-rechokim" seems to mean, "The Silent Dove in Distant Places" - can anything be drawn from this? David like a dove in flight in the wilderness, or are we to interpret this no deeper than we would a poem being set "To the tune of Dixie?"

Also, I Samual seems to speak of David fleeing to Gath but the Psalm superscription seems to say he was carried or taken to Gath? Is this a contradiction or different emphasis? How do we explain this difference in the stories?


Thanks.

 

[Pergamum]

Also, about the phrase: "when the Philistines took him in Gath" - does this mean that David actually wrote the Psalm during this episode or wrote this psalm thinking back on this episode?

 

[MW]

Traditionally the titles have been recognised as genuine. For evidence one might compare 2 Sam. 22 with Ps. 18; also Ps. 110 with Matt. 22:43-44.

There continues to be scholarly debate over the genuineness of the titles. Because the so-called LXX adds and embellishes the titles it is thought there are no genuine titles, or at best there is no way of identifying them. Some are happy to accept them as genuine because their view of canonicity does not require them to think of the Old Testament canon closing with Ezra.

Recent studies have drawn attention to the structure of the Psalter as a literary unit, and this has had the happy effect of showing that many of the titles sew individual psalms and collections together and help to provide overarching themes.

There is no need to tie the composition of the Psalm to the historical detail as there is usually nothing in the text to suggest the writing took place at that specific time. Nevertheless the historical details are important and they often provide a thematic lens through which to interpret the Psalm. E.g., Ps. 50 enters into a law-suit with the wicked man and specifically mentions theft, adultery, and slander. Ps. 51 follows with an allusion to the Bathsheba incident, which included these three sins in particular.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

I once preached a Psalms series on all the Davidic Psalms that referenced (or seemed to) specific incidents in David's life. So my sermons in this vein led off with a brief rehearsal of the historic matter alluded to (apparently) by the title description. I also tried to put them in something like a "chronological" sequence.

Now in so doing, I realize I could have been disrupting some other element of structural integrity, whether the 5-Books, or other internal collection coherence (as Rev.Winzer describes above) intended by an ostensibly inspired collector/editor. I made a few educated guesses as to a "proper" sequence. But as we cannot say everything we wish in every sermon anyway, I think my choice of structure also served to deepen the study for our benefit.



I'll share with you one choice I made of inclusion in my series that I have not found support for in any commentary (I'm not afraid to go out on a limb, sometimes). I reworded the title of Ps.9, and eliminated the typically supplied text (italicized words). So it read: "To the chief musician; upon the death of the son; a Psalm of David."

Ps.3:1 alludes to David's flight from Absalom (mentioned by name), and I do not think he wrote Ps.9 in the aftermath of that whole tragedy and Absalom's death. The death of another son, Amnon (murdered by Absalom, with earned prejudice) is utterly forgettable. But there is another son of David, the only one for which no name is recorded: his first by Bathsheba, whose death is played out with peculiar pathos, 2Sam.12:13-23. V20 tells us that upon receiving the news, David recovered himself, prepared, and first "went into the house of the Lord, and worshiped."

In my judgment, those events and those words set the stage for the language that opens Ps.9

1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. 2 I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High...

The appropriate response to the justice of the Lord is reverence and thankful worship.

6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished. 7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, 8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.

The Lord is a righteous judge, who never voids his justice.

12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. 13 Be gracious to me, O LORD!...

Consider those words, as they come from the lips of a guilty murderer, found out. As well as v16

16 The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

At the end of this verse is a rare meditative direction, "higgaion," a special emphasis. Perhaps the sense can be captured with the phrase: "Now think about that!" Which direction is then chased by the first of the two "messianic pauses" (my interpretation of "Selah") in the Psalm.


David doesn't lose sight of the fact that he is both a horrendous sinner--on par with the lowest of the Gentiles, guilty and worthy of death-- and he is still the mediatorial, typological king and head, whose duties include leading the people in worship. This is the context for his reply to the incredulous servants, 2Sam.12:21-23. There is an ironic juxtaposition between his "publick" personage, and his awareness that he stands in private as a wretch saved only by grace; and in that awareness the conclusion of the Psalm may be the more appreciated

17 The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. 19 Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you! 20 Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah.

O Lord, I am but a man also, and a sinner also; an oppressor, who is also desperately needy!
But there is a Son who is coming, for my sake, and for my son's sake, to deliver us from the destiny of the wicked.

 

[Contra_Mundum]

Pergy,
One point more, respecting your initial query, Ps.56.

In my series, I related Ps.34 to the time when David took Goliath's sword (from the priests at Nob), and escaped from Saul's murderous clutches.

I related Ps.56 to a later time, 1Sam.28, when David was (as it were) in the clutches of the Philistines, supposedly in the service of the king of Gath, and about to be forced into an utterly untenable position where no choice was safe. The reader who does not already know the story is not sure how this straight will work out--or if it will work out--for David and his men.

I called that sermon, "When the Christian is Afraid."