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

Chapter 6: Composition of Psalms 3-8excerpts from Psalms 3-5 indicating that the psalmists’ found security in theLord as their protector.This thread is strongly subservient to the shared theme relating to enemies. Inall four psalms where protection is mentioned, it is occasioned by thepresence of the psalmists’ enemies.(f) Prayers (see Table 6.16)The language of impassioned prayer and petition is prominent in Psalms 3-6(see Table 6.16). A diverse array of terms is used. Although it is not evident intranslation, the four entries in Row 2 all share the Hebrew noun ‏,רול which istranslated “voice” in 3:5 and 5:4, but “sound” in 5:2 and 6:9. Row 3 shows thatin Psalms 4, 5 and 6 the psalmist refers to himself as praying, twice using thenominal form “my prayer” (4:2 and 6:10) and once the verbal equivalent “Ipray” (5:3). This is significant because it strengthens the genre-based linkbetween Psalms 4-6, adding weight to the argument that they were a preexistingtrio from the music director’s collection. The remainder of the tableindicates the diversity of terms used to express the psalmists’ appeals to theLord and their confidence in his response.281