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

Chapter 6: Composition of Psalms 3-8(g) Righteousness, joy and praise (see Table 6.17)Righteousness, joy and praise are three smaller threads that do not warrantseparate tables, yet do occur in several places in these psalms. Table 6.17shows these occurrences.Righteousness. Psalms 4, 5 and 7 portray the psalmists as righteous; directappeals to Yahweh are based, at least in part, on the righteousness of thepetitioner. The author of Psalm 4 begins by appealing to the “God of myrighteousness” (4:2), a phrase which implies that God should answer himbecause he and/or his cause are righteous (Rawlinson 2004). Addressing hisadversaries, he calls for them to “know that the Lord has set apart the godly[man] for himself” (4:4), clearly insinuating that he is such a “godly man”. Thenhe calls on them to “offer right sacrifices” (4:6). By its strong languagedenouncing the wicked, Psalm 5 indirectly implies that the psalmist willreceive a good hearing with Yahweh because he is more righteous than hisenemies, yet it never explicitly makes that appeal. Rather than approachingYahweh in bold assurance of his own righteousness, the psalmist approacheson the basis of “your steadfast love” (5:8a) and “in fear” (5:8b). There are twoallusions to words in the קדר family in Psalm 5, one as the author asks God to“lead me in your righteousness” (5:9) and another as he affirms, addressingthe Lord, that “you bless the righteous” (5:13). Psalm 7, with its use of legal282