Psalm 11

The subtitle wasn’t part of the original psalm. And the possible byline “of David,” isn’t necessarily a byline. The vague phrase could mean the song was written by David, about David, or was inspired by David. Almost half of the psalms are attributed to David in this way, 73 of 150. Ancient Jewish history tells of David playing a lyre and writing songs. For one, he wrote a song of mourning at the battlefield death of King Saul and his sons: “How have the mighty fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19-27 New American Standard Bible). An ancient Jewish scroll from about the time of Jesus, discovered among the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, reports that David wrote 3,600 songs.

Another way of interpreting this verse is to read that the foundations are already collapsing and that the songwriter is asking why: What have the good people in the world done to deserve this?

Literally “burning wind.” For readers in the sprawling region of Israel and her neighbors, that descriptions fits the scirocco winds that storm in from the Sahara Desert with enough dust and heat to wilt summer crops, and with enough hurricane force to blow them into the dirt. These winds can reach peaks over 60 mph (100 km/h).