Psalm 27

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.

“He drives darkness away” is not in the original language but seems implied in the context. In a time before electricity, darkness was a bigger problem and a great source of fear. Tragic things happened in the darkness. But the metaphor here describes the LORD as someone who drives out fear.

Literally “refuge” or “place of safety.”

Not just any tent. It’s often called the Tabernacle. This is portable worship center the Israelite ancestors of the Jews used from the time of Moses on the Exodus out of slavery in Egypt until the time King David’s son and successor King Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple.

More literally, “Seek my face.” Another paraphrase might be, “Seek my presence.” In other words, make the LORD part of our lives. Many scholars say the meaning of this verse, in the original Hebrew, is unclear. Scholars have to guess how to translate it. The evidence of that shows up in comparing Bible translations.