Real Hope: The Israelites' Playlistናሙና

Faith And Trust

This psalm is one of a number of psalms that are used for special holy days, often associated with pilgrimages to Jerusalem, culminating in ascending the steps to the temple. It has been said that some were originally written by King David to be sung as the Levitical singers changed shifts in the proposed new temple where they were to minister in rotating shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

They were to be sung to each other as one shift came off duty and another shift came on. Hence it could be envisaged that the retiring shift sang ‘If the Lord had not been on our side’ and the replacement shift would sing ‘let Israel say’ etc., in bold response. They were to be ‘short, sharp and shiny’ [not a theological term] that were easily remembered and hard to forget. They formed faith and trust and culture. Many were ‘songs of deliverance’ from their enemies, such as v 7 (NKJV): ‘Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.’

There are 15 Psalms of Ascent that were, incidentally, also found in the Dead Sea scrolls, hence helping to verify the authenticity and the age of the Bible. The modern use for these psalms, however, may be the ones that you take to heart, to sing to yourself, to God and to others.

Written by JOHN SCOTT