EXPOSITION
AGAIN the psalm has a title, "To the chief Musician on Neginoth. A Psalm of David;" literally, "to the superintendent or foreman," which, in this instance, would be the choir-leader, or "precentor" (Kay). "On Neginoth" is supposed to mean "for stringed instruments" (Hengstenberg, Kay, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Revised Version, etc.); comp. Isaiah 38:20. The authorship of David is generally allowed; but there is nothing to mark the exact circumstances under which the psalm was written. In its metrical structure it very much resembles Psalms 3:1-8; being composed, like that, of a short strophe (verses1, 2), a short anti-strophe (Psalms 3:3, Psalms 3:4), and a longer epode (Psalms 3:5-8). The divisions arc marked, as in Psalms 3:1-8; by the introduction of the word selah, perhaps meaning "pause," or "rest."