Psalm 7

“Sad song” is a guess about how to translate a mysterious Hebrew word: shiggaion. This is the only place in the Bible where the word shows up. A form of the word also appears in Habakkuk 3:1, shigionoth.  Bible scholars say the word in Psalm 7 could mean one of many things. Perhaps it’s just another word for “psalm.” Or maybe it’s a type of song, such as a lament or a rambling, flow of consciousness psalm, with an uneven beat. Some scholars say the best guess so far: song of lament.

It’s uncertain who this Cush was. His story doesn’t show up in the Bible, but the story may have appeared in other books the Bible says people wrote about David; the prophet Nathan is said to have written one of them (1 Chronicles 29:29). The Bible does say people from the tribe of Benjamin caused David plenty of trouble (1 Samuel 24-26). The tribe of Benjamin was the next-door neighbor to the tribe of Judah, David’s tribe.

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.

The word in the original language of Hebrew is selah. Bible scholars haven’t figured out what it means yet, so all we can do is guess. It could mean “pause for effect,” “instrumental interlude,” or “choir singing ‘Amen.’” We’re offering a guess instead of selah. Though selah might be the better way to go because it’s always correct, it’s also always incomprehensible. “Instruments only” has a good chance of being wrong, but at least we convey the idea that the Hebrew word behind it probably has something to do with enhancing the song.

Some warriors had a trusted battlefield assistant who held the shield, to protect the warrior from arrows, rocks, and javelins as the fight raged. The songwriter compares God to that one who holds the warrior’s life in a pair of hands that lift the shield.