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

Chapter 5: Concatenation in Psalms 3-8not well-suited for use as a morning prayer in temple worship, I find thisargument persuasive against a cultic arrangement.The most satisfactory explanation of the similarities between Psalms 3 and 4is that the editors juxtaposed them on content grounds. The internal evidencesupports this conclusion. A combination of verbal, structural and thematicfactors might have influenced the editors. Astute editors would have noticedthe structural similarities in the length, balance and flow which give the twopsalms a similar feel. This may have led them, so to speak, to place them inthe same group of psalms. Then close scrutiny of their content would haveכְ‏ בודִ‏ י (b) describing the psalmist’s adversity, קַ‏ ש (a) exposed their verbal links:with reference to the psalmist’s honour, (c) שַ‏ בִ‏ ים אֹמְ‏ שִ‏ ים introducing the enemy’swords, (d) שכב וישן as a declaration of confidence in Yahweh’s protection and(e) אַ‏ ָ ה יהוה introducing an exclamation of faith in his protection. Coupled withthe fact that a central motif of both psalms depicts Yahweh’s covenantfaithfulness to the Davidic king in a time of crisis, there would have been morethan enough evidence to convince the editors that these are sister psalmswhich belong together.195