Psalms 8

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.

Scholars can only guess what the writer meant by gittith. Some guesses scholars offer: It could have been a type of instrument, like a unique style of a harp or a flute, perhaps named after the city where it was made. It might have been the name of a melody that fit the lyrics.

Bible experts say this is a hard verse to translate, as anyone can see by comparing Bible versions. A more traditional translation of the first line: “From the mouths of infants and nursing babies.” Some scholars say the babies are a symbol of human weakness. Scholars add that God turns this weakness to strength once the people recognize the name of God and work all that it represents into their vocabulary and their lives. It’s a theory, one of many. Whatever the details, the message is that God is stronger than his enemies.