8. The Formation of the Psalter
We are told directly that Hezekiah’s men copied out (and
put in final form?) at least some of the proverbs of Solomon (Prov. 25:1). This
ac-cords well with what we know of the overall reign of righteous Hezekiah: that
he was a man — like his forefather David — consumed with a zeal for
the Lord’s house and the Lord’s worship. Moreover, we are told that
Hezekiah “commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the
words of David and of Asaph the seer” (2 Chron. 29:30). This may
mean that he authorized the use of an old collection (David’s) as well as
a new collection (Asaph’s) of Temple songs.
This suggests that Hezekiah, and dedicated men under his
direction, organized and reissued the older Psalms, and supplemented the
collection with newer ones (including those of Hezekiah himself: see Booker,
The Songs of Degrees, pp. 102-104). This arrangement was probably
intended to produce a “Hymnal” to supplement the Sabbath readings of
Scripture in the Temple; hence the five “Books” of the Psalms,
corresponding to the five books of Moses (see Chapter 2).
And so it appears that Hezekiah was the virtual
“editor” of the Psalter. In fact, the Talmud has attributed to him
the final preparation of Isaiah, Proverbs (as above), the Song of Songs, and
Ecclesiastes. This implication, that he was otherwise busily engaged in work of
a similar nature, enhances the possibility of his large involvement with the
Psalms (J.W. Thirtle, Old Testament Problems, pp. 88-101).
This view of the formation of the Psalter, then, brings into
focus two great men, both of them kings. Only kings would have had the authority
to do what was required: that is, to organize and direct scribes, Levites,
priests, and musicians in the great undertaking of organizing Israel’s
musical worship of the Lord. And David and Hezekiah, above all others before and
after, were patrons of the worship of the Lord. It is quite possible that
Hezekiah involved himself even in making inspired additions to the text of some
of David’s psalms, to fit them to his own similar, though not identical,
circumstances. Possible examples of this will be noted at the appropriate places
in the commentary itself.