Mar 26 2024 22 mins 9
Podcast Introduction
In our reading today we’ll read Psalms 72-74, and after the reading I’ll have some comments. I’m calling today’s episode “Persist.”
Comments on Psalms 72-74
Introduction to Psalm 72
This psalm is entitled "A Psalm of Solomon", but translating from the Hebrew into English can be a bit inexact at times. This is one example. Some translations render the Hebrew here as "A Psalm for Solomon", and still others as"A Psalm to Solomon." As a matter of fact, nearly every psalm with this title can be translated in one of these ways.
So how does one decide which word to use when there are multiple possibilities? You look at the context. What does the surrounding text say? Or I suppose in the case of the title of a psalm, what does the psalm say? Which translation makes the most sense?
In the case of Psalm 72, a case can easily be made for any one of these uses, which is of course why different Bible translations render it differently.
Some commentators look at this psalm as being written by David for his son, and about his son Solomon, and about his future descendent, the Messiah. So their translation of the title is "A Psalm for Solomon", or even "A Psalm to Solomon."
Other commentators believe that the most logical translation is "A Psalm of Solomon." The final verse of this psalm is, "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, end here." Many scholars think that Solomon compiled Book Two of Psalms, and wrote this psalm as an ending of psalms that were primarily written by David. Book Two is made up of Psalms 42 to this one, Psalm 72. You will notice was we read it, that the subject of the psalm is not David, but Solomon partly, but it is certainly applicable to the Messiah.
Introduction to Psalm 73
This psalm begins Book 3 of the Psalter. The title of this psalm is "A Psalm of Asaph". Asaph was a musician and singer during the times of both David and Solomon. In addition to his musical talents, 1 Chronicles 25:1 and 2 Chronicles 29:30 tell us that Asaph was also a prophet.
As we read through this psalm, notice the pronouns. In the first section Asaph talks about what will happen to the ungodly. In these verses, the dominant pronoun is "they". From verses 13-17 the dominant pronoun is "I" as he describes how troubled he is about this situation until he discovered the cure for his trouble. Verses 18-22 find the focus now on God, and the dominant pronoun is "You." Finally in the closing verses he confesses his faith in God and the assurance he has that he will spend eternity with Him. And the dominant pronouns here are both "You" and "I."
Introduction to Psalm 74
This psalm is entitled "A Maskil of Asaph." Some translations render it as "A Contemplation of Asaph." We've talked about what a maskil is before, so I won't belabor it now.
This is a psalm of sorrow upon the destruction of the sanctuary. The actual time of the psalm is not known, because was the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, and then later during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. And then there is a third possibility: Asaph was thinking back to when the tabernacle was destroyed in Shiloh (1 Samuel 4). The Hebrew word for sanctuary here in this psalm is also used for the tabernacle in Exodus 25, Leviticus 12 and 21, and in Numbers 10 and 18.
You might be wondering about how Asaph is a possibility when these events happened hundreds of years apart. Commentator James Montgomery Boice explains, in reference to this psalm referring to the destruction by the Babylonian or Antiochus Epiphanes: Either th...
