Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 4: Analysis of Psalms 3-83) Christians adopted it as a penitential prayer, both by viewing sicknessas a result of sin and by treating it as a metaphor for sin. 62Due to the implied morning setting following a long, sleepless night of travail(v. 7), it may have been used in morning prayer.It is possible that this psalm reflects the time of morning prayer,when the memory of the long night was still vivid and thethought of another night was appalling; if such were the case,there would be a certain affinity between this psalm and Pss 3–5, which were also related to the morning and evening times ofprayer (Craigie 1998:94).4.4.4 Structural analysisThe structure of Psalm 6 poses few challenges. It consists of four strophes,which follow the classical pattern of a lament psalm as described by Ryken(1992:240), 63 except that the second and third constituents are reversed.62 The other psalms traditionally used by Christians as penitential psalms are 32, 38, 51, 102,130 and 143.140