Chapter One Hundred Thirty

According to the inscriptions in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles, this psalm is attributed to David. From the circumstances of the life of this king, the occasion for its composition can be considered his response to the reproach of Michal during the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant into the tent in Zion. She saw in the king’s dancing before this holy object a diminishment of his royal dignity, which she apparently thought should be expressed in carefully calculated and methodically important actions of the king, rather than in such simple, sincere, and unaffected behavior as David displayed here. His answer to Michal (2 Sam 6:20-22) is very close to the content of this psalm, in which David speaks of his humility.

Lord, I have never been proud and artificially arrogant: this is foreign to me. I am like a child, humbly submitting myself to the will of the Lord. Let Israel also trust in Him (1–3).

Psalm 130:1. Lord! my heart has not been puffed up, and my eyes have not been lifted up, and I have not walked in things too great and too wonderful for me. “I have not walked in things too great and too wonderful for me” – the same as “my heart has not been puffed up,” that is, I have not tried artificially to maintain my dignity, to show myself to others as other than what I am, or to elevate my dignity in the eyes of others. David always lived according to what was in him, and in this case, sincerely rejoicing at the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant, he showed his joy in unaffected actions.

Psalm 130:2. Have I not humbled and quieted my soul, like a child weaned from its mother? My soul is in me like a weaned child. A child weaned from its mother’s breast, accustomed to other food, sits calmly in her arms, asking nothing from her. David compares himself with such a child, one who placed full faith in God’s help and made no demands upon Him.

Psalm 130:3. Let Israel trust in the Lord from this time forth and forever. This is probably a liturgical addition from a later time.