April. 1937
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THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS
P salm 8 C ONTINUING our studies in the Messianic Psalms, we now come to Psalm 8, the second in the series. Let me remind my readers that these are studies, rather than lectures. There is not much profit is merely reading what some one has written about the references to Christ that appear in the Psalms; it is more profitable that we study the sub ject, individually, obtaining help from such writing as pertains to this theme. The title-line of the Psalm is a part of the inspired record; therefore it deserves attention. Literally it reads “For the Chief Musician; Set to the Gittith.” The word “Gittith” means “wine presses,” and is a term used to designate the autumn festival, the Feast of Tabernacles. It is probable that this title-line belongs to Psalm 7 rather than to Psalm 8. Over thirty years ago an English writer, James William Thirtle, wrote a book, The Titles to the Psalms, in which he pointed out that whenever the “Chief Musician” line appears at the head of a Psalm, it should be considered as re ferring to the preceding Psalm. Many en lightened writers agree with Mr. Thirtle, declaring that his key is a real discovery. Of this Gittith festival, which is the Feast of Tabernacles, Mr. Thirtle says; “This feast was not only the autumn thanksgiving in Israel, but a commemora tion of the goodness of God to the tribes during the wilderness journeyings. The Lord made the people to dwell in booths, and thus became the Keeper of the nation (Lev. 23:43; Psa. 121:5-7). In this Psalm (the seventh) the worshiper prays as con scious of Jehovah’s care and solicitude (vs. 1, 6-9, 11, 17). Note in verse 5, the lan guage of the vintage season, ‘Let him tread my life down to the earth, And lay my glory in the dust [R. V.].’ The deliver ance of Israel involved the judgment of their oppressors. Hence the Psalm antici pates the outpouring of divine wrath upon the heathen (vs. 6, 11-16). The other Gittith Psalms are 80 and 83.” This would leave us only “A Psalm of David” as a-title-line at the head of Psalm 8; but on the other hand we have a sub title at the end of the Psalm, which is gen erally applied to Psalm 9 but really belongs to Psalm 8, and which reads, “For the Chief Musician; Set to Muth-labben” (R. V.). The meaning of “Muth-labben” is "the death of the champion,” and the reference is supposed to be to Goliath, whose slaying by David was the occasion of the Psalm. Psalm 144 in the Septuagint Version has a title-line reading, “A Psalm of David Con cerning Goliath.” On Psalm 8 Mr. Thirtle says: “The sub-
power by which He raised Christ from the dead, seating Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies, “Far above all princi pality, and power, and might, and domin ion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet [cf. Psa. 8:6], and gave him to be head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” We see plainly that in the New Testa ment use of Psalm 8 we have a sure key to its true significance. It may be that David’s battle with Goliath was the hu man occasion of the Psalm, but behind David and his human purpose there was the Holy Spirit and His divine purpose, and the words here written were not David’s words but God’s; not “the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth” (1 Cor. 2:13). All the writings of David found' in the Scriptures of God may be included in his own description as to method, written in his old age: “All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me” (1 Chron. 28:19). Turning now to the Psalm in the Revised Version, let us study it with the aid of the key furnished us by the New Testament references to and quotations from it. The Psalm begins and ends with the same exclamatory sentence: “O Jehovah, our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth 1” This, of course, is predictive. Neither when it was written, nor at any time since, has Jehovah’s name been even known in all the earth. It points to a time yet fu ture when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge and glory of Jehovah even as the waters cover the sea. We shall be greatly helped to an understanding of the Psalm if we keep in mind the predictive character of its opening and closing sen tences. In the words, “who hast set thy glory above the heavens” (v. 1), we may, in the light derived from the New Testament, see the person of our Lord. As F. W. Grant says: “It is not the glory of moon and stars, spread over the heavens, such as the Psalmist speaks of in the third verse, but a glory above all created things, however wondrous. Jehovah it is who is mani fested in this Son of man, in whose lowly position just the order of His condescend ing love appears. Supreme in power, He is supreme in moral glory, and in Christ [Continued on page 157]
script title should read, ‘Concerning, or re lating to, Muth-labben’ —‘Death of the Champion,’ i.e., Goliath, spoken of in 1 Samuel 17:4, 51 as ‘ish habbênaim, ‘the man who came out between the camps’ for single combat—the champion. Having advanced to the giant in the name of the Lord God of hosts, and achieved a great victory, David now sings ‘How excellent is thy name in all the earth!’ The stripling who chal lenged ‘this uncircumcised Philistine’ with the words, ‘The battle is the Lord’s,’ here says: ‘Thou hast set thy glory above the heavens,’ or ‘made thy majesty to be ex alted beyond all expression’; the weak had been made strong to ‘still the enemy and the avenger.’ ” The Messianic character of our Psalm is amply verified by reference to the New Testament. In Hebrews 2:5-10, the Psalm is shown to be Messianic. Further, at the heart of the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:25- 28 concerning Christ, the opening statement of verse 27 parallels the declaration in Psalm 8 :6. Another passage is equally clear as belonging to Him. It is found in Ephesians 1:21-23, where the Holy Spirit of truth through the apostle speaks of “the exceeding greatness” (v. 19) of the power of God toward believers, which is the same
The Messianic Psalms
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By W ILL IAM L PETTINGILL
Wilmington, Delaware
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