The Psalms covered in this post are Psalm 56-60, all of which are considered to be in Book II. Each of these was penned by David and talks about his time on the run from Saul. In them you get a sense of isolation, desparation, and the feeling of having the world against you. This is something many of us can relate to.

Each Psalm has what is commonly referred to as a superscription. Some translations show this before the Psalm, some show it as part of verse 1, some don’t show this text at all, and the Hebrew Bible considers the superscription to be verse 1 (throwing the verses off by one). These short descriptions often provide context for the Psalm, along with an author. However there are quite a few interesting words that appear in these superscriptions. We will discuss unique words as we break down each chapter. Words that appear in multiple psalms, however, I will discuss upfront instead of repeating each time it appears.

Mikhtam appears in all 5 of the superscriptions for the Psalms discussed in this post. The only other place it is seen is in Psalm 16. Strong’s Concordance defines the it to mean an engraving or a poem.[4] Speculation about it’s meaning stem from similar Hebrew words people believe it was derived from. Sill, many scholars suggest the meaning of “mikhtam” or “michtam” is not actually known.[5]

The superscriptions of Psalm 57, 58, and 59 all contain the word Al-tashheth. At first glance “set to Al-tashheth” makes me think Al-tashheth was a popular song of the day, and the superscription is telling the music director to set the words of the psalm to the known tune. Since assumptions can get you in trouble, I still looked up the meaning. The phrase “set to” is not actually in the Hebrew and Al-tashheth could be translated to “do not destroy.” Strong’s Concordance suggests that “do not destroy” was the first line of a popular song, leading most translations to add set to in the translation.[6] I have not studied Hebrew long enough to know if set to is implied in the grammatical structure of the sentence, leading to the assumption that it is a song, therefore I cannot say whether this tradition is accurate or not. However, with out this knowledge, it seems that it could indicate the importance of the psalm and allude to the fact that someone might want to destroy or get rid of the knowledge conveyed within the text.

Another word that is found often in Psalms but usually in the psalm itself, rather than the superscription, is selah. Scholars are unsure what selah means; it appears frequently in Psalms and occasionally in Habbakuk, but no where else in the Bible. It is thought that the word was derived from Hebrew words meaning "to praise," "to lift up," and "to pause." Since the psalms are often prayers and songs, it is possible that selah was a musical instruction for performers.[9][10]

For the music director; according to Jonathelemrehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Jonathelemrehokim may appear as one word or three depending on the English translation (or it may be translated), but the Hebrew is three distinct words: Jona (dove),[1] elem (silence or congregation),[2] rehokim (remote or long ago).[3] That would make the translation something like “the congregation of doves from long ago (or far away).” In some ways that seems wrong, but today we associate doves with peace and innocence and I could see a translation like “the congregation of saints or innocents from long ago or far away.” Another possibility is that this was a name or “genre” or even existing song. Perhaps David was saying his psalm was meant to go to the tune of a know song called Jonathelemrehokim.

The story of David being in Gath can be found in 1 Samuel 21:10-15 (an interesting aside is that Goliath, whom David slayed in his youth, was also from Gath: see 1 Samuel 17:4). Important context to take from 1 Samuel 21:10-15 is that David was hiding from Saul, who was trying to kill him. Once there, David feared what the king of Gath would do to him so he pretending to be insane. So, when the men of Gath took David into custody and brought him before the king, the king had no interest in David. This is something to keep in mind when reading this psalm.

The Psalm very much embodies the modern phrase “let go and let God.” David talks about all of the people who are against him and how they would destroy him if they could. Despite the danger around him, David says that when he becomes afraid, he will put his trust in God. His focus is on praises God through the trials he is facing.

There are two interesting verses I want to point out: Psalm 56:8, 11.

Psalms 8 is so interesting to me. Based on the verse before, I would assume David is address God which would mean that God is telling his wanderings, putting his tears into a bottle and writing something in a book. That lead me to a few questions:

❓Who is God telling about David’s wanderings?

❓Why is it necessary to identify the bottle as belonging to God? What is special about this bottle?

❓Why is God putting David’s tears in a bottle?

❓What book is being asked about? Is this the book of Life mentioned in Philippians 4:3 and Revelation, most specifically in Revelation 20:12?

❓Who is they that are in the book? the tears? David’s enemies?

Psalm 56:11 reminds me of Matthew 10:28, where Messiah tells the disciples not to fear mortal men who can only kill the body but to fear the Most High who can destroy both the body and the soul.

For the music director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

The words Al-tashheth and Mikhtam were discussed in the first section above.

The context of this Psalm is that of David and Saul’s interaction in 1 Samuel 24. In this chapter, Saul is pursuing David with the intent of killing him. Before Saul finds David, he stops to relieve himself in a cave, which just so happens to be where David and his men are hiding. David has the opportunity to kill Saul, but chooses not to and then uses this information to try to convince Saul he is not a threat, but a loyal servant. Saul realizes at this moment that David is the more righteous of them and acknowledges that David’s line will inherit the throne. They end their meeting with an agreement that David will not kill Saul’s descendants when he takes the throne.

Psaltery is another word that pops up in which we might not be familiar. A psaltery is a string instrument very similar to a harp and may even be translated as harp in some translations.[7] David was a musician known for playing the harp, which might be why he mentions this instrument specifically in the psalm.

For the music director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David.

There isn’t anything in the superscription to give us context for this psalm, but we do know it was written by David—possibly around the same time as the two before which were during his time running from Saul.

In this Psalm David address people who speak of justice and righteousness but do not behave in a just and righteous manner. These people make way for injustice and violence to prevail, whether by silence or of their own doing—it sounds a lot like the governments of the world today if you ask me. Whoever David is talking about is said to be venomous like a snake and unable to be controlled by snake charmers. This is interesting phrasing considering the devil is often depicted as a serpent. David calls for the swift and complete punishment of the wicked. Notice that this punishment is to come from God not man. When the wicked are punished, the righteous will rejoice and see that they serve a just God.

An interesting verse in this psalm is Psalm 58:3 which says the wicked are that way from birth. When I first read this I was confused (and a bit worried, admittedly). It seemed to be saying that some people are just born wicked. However, the Bible on a whole reminds us that we are all born sinners and only through the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) can we get change. With this framing in mind, we are all wicked from birth and the wicked spoken of in this verse are simply people who have not been saved yet.

For the music director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David, when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.

The story of Saul sending men to watch David’s house and kill him is told in 1 Samuel 19. Saul being plagued by an evil spirit is intimidated by David and seeks to kill him. Two of Saul’s children intervene in his plans to kill David but in the portion specific to the superscription it is Saul’s daughter Michal who is married to David that intervenes. David flees by way of a window and escapes to Samuel to save his life.

In this psalm, once again David is calling for God to protect him from those who want to kill him. He proclaims his innocence and places his faith in the Most High. He refers to God as his refuge. When things were stressful and death was knocking at his door, David found peace in God. We must find our solace in God as well.

Some interesting imagery is found in this psalm. Much of the focus on the wicked is in their words and how they speak (recall in Psalm 58 David focuses on the fact that the wicked lie). Elsewhere in the Bible it says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If we have evil in our heart, it will inevitably pour out of our mouths.

For the music director; according to Shushan Eduth. A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

Shushan Eduth is another word that appears in Psalms which translators aren’t sure how to translate. According to Strong’s Concordance it either means lilies or trumpets.[8] If it means trumpets, perhaps this psalm was meant to be played by a trumpet. Strong’s suggests that it was the name of a popular song

This psalm is about the feeling of being rejected by the Most High.

Verses 6-8 proclaim how God sees the surrounding peoples, calling attention to Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, Judah, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Judah, Manasseh, and Ephraim all descend from Jacob (and thus Abraham) and are part of Israel. Edom is the nation that sprang from Esau, Jacob’s brother. Moab descended from Lot and one of his daughters. Each of these groups of people descend from Noah’s son Shem and are relatively close in relation. While there is a Gilead that descends from Manasseh a nation known as Gilead is mentioned much earlier in Genesis 31; I’m not sure of the lineage of these people. Despite being known for their presence in Canaan, Genesis 10:13-14 identifies the Philistines as descendants of Mizraim. They are descended from Noah’s son Ham.

Despite feeling abandoned and rejected by God, David is still calling on Him for assistance. He makes the point that men can’t help them, only the power of God is of any use. In all of Israel’s history, their successes came from God not men. Treaties with neighboring countries was usually where they went wrong. We should remember the same today; no matter how good an alliance looks, only God can truly have our back all the time. As such it is Him we should rely on.

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