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Day 139

Psalm 53:1a "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God."

Day 139 – Psalm 53

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.” Psalm 53:1a

SUPERSCRIPTION

To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A Contemplation of David.

FEATURES OF THE SUPERSCRIPTION

This superscription has two usual features. There was the usual presentation to “The Chief Musician.” The author of the psalm was identified as David.

The new feature is the term “Mahalath”. This term must be compared with another superscription attached to Psalm 88, where the full term is used, “Mahalath Leannoth”. This term was probably used to describe the tune of the psalm. The word “sadness” is best employed to describe “Mahalath”.

GREAT SIMILARITY

Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are almost identical. David was the author of both psalms.

1. Why write two similar psalms?

a) David’s habit was a love for “contemplation”.
b) The theme of “wickedness” was once again dealt with.
c) David may have thought he could understand wickedness better if he thought harder on the subject.
d) However, his contemplation did not yield major differences.
e) There was a slight variation of thought in Psalm 53 and this made this psalm a little different from the earlier psalm he wrote (Psalm 14).

2. The name of a tune “Mahalath” is attached to Psalm 53

a) This contemplative psalm of David was to be sung with a tinge of sadness.
b) There was no tune attached to Psalm 14.

2. Slight variation in Psalm 53

a) The variation is on the subject of “fear” (Psalm 53:5).
b) The psalmist introduced a new thought of how the wicked struggled with their fears.