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Day 131

Psalm 52:1a "Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man..."

Day 131 – Psalm 52

“Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man…” Psalm 52:1a

SUPERSCRIPTION

“To the Chief Musician. A contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.'”

A GLIMPSE OF HOW DAVID WROTE HIS PSALMS

This superscription sheds some light as to how David wrote his psalms.

1. Circumstances of life

a) Mention of Doeg the Edomite and Ahimelech would place the historical circumstances at the time when David had to flee from the wrath of King Saul (1 Samuel 21-22).
b) These were tragic times for Israel and in particular for David.
c) Doeg the Edomite informed King Saul that David had gone to see the priest Ahimelech; this resulted in Saul slaying Ahimelech and his family for aiding David.
d) Only Abiathar, one of the sons of Ahimelech, escaped to inform David of Saul’s wickedness.

2. Contemplation

a) David showed himself a man of contemplation.
b) His meditation in turn resulted in the writing of psalms.
c) Psalm 52 was a sad contemplative piece of work that contained traces of imprecation.

THE THEME OF “WICKEDNESS”

The subject of “wickedness” was certainly a recurring theme in the Book of Psalms. There are a number of reasons why the psalmists wrote so much on this theme.

1. Wickedness weighed heavily on the heart.

2. Wickedness must be exposed and resisted (The psalms were written partly to resist evil).

3. Renewal of determination to choose the way of goodness must be encouraged.

4. Hope in God must be given so that no one would fall into despair because of wickedness.