Psalms - Authorship and Ascriptions

Authorship and Ascriptions

See also: History of music in the Biblical period

In various biblical passages, David is referred to as “the favorite of the songs of Israel,” the one who soothed Saul with music, and the founder of Temple singing. A Psalms scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPsa) attributes 3600 tehilim (songs of praise) plus other compositions to David. Seventy-three of the 150 Psalms in the Bible are attributed to David. The supreme kingship of Yahweh is the most pervasive theological concept in the book of Psalms, and many psalms attributed to David are directed to Yahweh by name, whether in praise or petition, suggesting a relationship. According to the Midrash Tehillim, King David was prompted to the Psalms by the Holy Spirit that rested upon him.

In addition to ascribing authorship to David, several Psalms are identified with specific events in David’s life. Psalm 34 is attributed to David on the occasion of his escape from the Abimelech (king) Achish by pretending to be insane. According to the narrative in 1 Samuel 21, instead of killing the man who had exacted so many casualties from him, Abimelech allows David to depart, exclaiming, “Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?" Psalm 34 is one of seven acrostic Psalms in the original Hebrew; most English translations do not retain the acrostic form. The first part of Psalm 34 is directed toward Yahweh in complete and humble gratitude (David does not even mention his own royal status); the second part confidently directs others to Yahweh.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them ... Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

— Psalm 34:6–7,11 (ESV)

In contrast, Psalm 18 is not related to a specific incident but rather to God’s faithful deliverance from “all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” The text of this Psalm was thought to date to the 10th century BC even before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and is very similar to that of 2 Samuel 22. In this Psalm, David recalls being in deadly situations: “The cords of death entangled me, the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.” He cries out to God for help, and God rescues David.

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

— Psalm 18:1–3 (NIV)

The Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford (1600–1661) notes that crying out to God is mentioned in many Psalms attributed to David. He comments, “Fervour is a heavenly ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier issue.” The Midrash Tehillim teaches from Psalm 4 “that the mere mechanical application to the Throne of Mercy is not efficacious is plainly seen from the words of King David, who says God is nigh to all that call upon Him, and ... he adds the important words, 'to those who call upon Him in truth.'”

Jewish tradition, recorded in the Talmud, posits that the Psalms are the work of David (seventy-three Psalms are with David's name), based on the writings of ten ancient psalmists (including Adam and Moses).

In the New Testament, six of the Psalms (2, 16, 32, 69, 95, and 110) are specifically identified as the work of David (in, respectively, Acts 4:25; Acts 2:31; Rom. 4:6; Rom. 11:9; Heb. 4:7; and Matt. 22:43 and corresponding verses in the other Synoptic Gospels, as well as Acts 2:34).

Many modern scholars see them as the product of several authors or groups of authors, many unknown. The majority of Psalms are prefixed with introductory words—"superscriptions", which are frequently different in the Masoretic and Septuagint traditions, or missing in one while present in the other. In the Masoretic text, 101 bear in the headings the name of a specific person or group; 73 of these refer to David. The ascription to David usually takes the form לדוד, with the preposition "le-" attached to David's name. This can mean "of," "by," "for," or "concerning". Hence, while the traditional interpretation is that these Psalms were written by David, Michael Goulder argues that the psalms were written in David's lifetime, probably by one of his sons, "in response to situations in which he found himself."

Additionally, thirteen Psalms have headings that refer to some event in the life of David. These Psalms are 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63 and 142.

Other scholars think the Psalms is a post-Exilic collection of poems, the work of several authors from differing dates. These scholars assert that many of the Psalms could have been composed as early as the Monarchy, when they honored successions of Davidic kings. The early poems may have been used in worship at the temple.

Psalms 39, 62, and 77 are linked with Jeduthun, to be sung after his manner or in his choir. Psalms 50 and 73–83 are the Psalms of Asaph, associated with Asaph, as the master of his choir, to be sung in the worship of God. The ascriptions of Psalms 42, 44–49, 84, 85, 87, and 88 assert that the "sons of Korah" were entrusted with arranging and singing them; 2 Chronicles 20:19 suggests that this group formed a leading part of the Korathite singers. Hebraist Joel M. Hoffman suggests that Psalm 49 may be an anti-corruption Psalm, not "for Korah" but "against Korah."

Psalm 18 is also found, with minor variations, at 2 Samuel 22, for which reason, in accordance with the naming convention used elsewhere in the historic parts of the Bible, it is known as the Song of David. Portions of Psalms 105, 96, and possibly 106 appear in 1 Chronicles 16 under the ambiguous heading (in the Douay translation), "In that day David made Asaph the chief to give praise to the Lord with his brethren."

Benjamin Urrutia wrote a brief article on the Egyptian religious ritual of the Opening of the Mouth. In it, he traces common themes between the Opening of the Mouth and Psalm 51, such as opening the mouth (or of the lips, in Psalm 51), healing of broken bones, and washing the inner organs with special cleansing spices.

Muslim tradition maintains that the Psalms, known as Zabur in the Quran, were revealed to David by God in the same way that the Torah was revealed to Moses and the Quran to Muhammad.