(This is the first of a few posts on Psalm 4, written as a followup to Oscar Hammerstein and reading the Bible)

Let’s look at Psalm 4.

The header tells us that it is attributed to David, that it’s dedicated to some director of music, that it is written to be accompanied by stringed instruments. So this is a poem or lyrics of some sort.

That could scare us, those of us who hated having to read poetry in middle school. But we’re over that now, aren’t we. By now we know that poetry (including song lyrics)  is a way of sharing the heart when fewer words are more powerful than more. Poems are built for reflection in ways that how-to manuals aren’t. They are less like a recipe for success and more like sitting in a moment and describing your reactions. They use metaphors and pictures.  Because they reflect real people who have real emotions, poems often make unexpected leaps.

David starts Psalm 4 with “Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”

It sounds pretty polished to us, pretty formal. But it’s a polish that comes from repeating it over and over before writing it down, because, after all, David lived in a pretty oral culture.

Look at those sentences again. Before the smoothing, here’s what it may have said:  “Everything is screwed up. You’re God. You’re perfect.  But I’m talking and You aren’t listening. Please listen!? Please.”

Does that sound more familiar?

So when David, when we, talk that way, what comes next?

What David writes is challenging: “How long, o men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?”

So who is talking? David? Is it his glory? Is this written when he’s king?

Or is it God talking? And what would that mean?

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