Psalms 27 - Introduction

XXVII.

The opening of this ode reads like the expression of a warrior’s faith. On the other hand, Psalms 27:4 and G point to a Levitical origin. Probably a priest or Levite speaks here for the nation at large, deprived for the present, by foreign persecution, of the regular Temple services. The tone is confident and even triumphant till we come to Psalms 27:7, when an abrupt change occurs both in feeling and rhythm. The situation which inspired these latter verses was plainly sad — quite changed from the confidence of the earlier part. Nor is it only that the attitude of praise is changed for that of prayer, but the religious experience of this writer is plainly of a different kind from that of the author of the earlier part. He has had “fears within” as well as “fightings without.” He shrinks from the anger of God, and dreads that the Divine favour may be withdrawn (Psalms 27:9). Many therefore regard the psalm as composite, the work of two different minds. The opening rhythm resembles that of Psalms 11:7, and this part of the psalm may be arranged in six verses of four lines each, resembling English common metre verse (see General Introduction, V.). The latter part is irregular. The Codex Vat. of the LXX. and the Vulg. add to the title the words “before he was anointed,” which only serve to make the question of date of composition still more perplexing.