Psalm 91

The 91st Psalm (according to Greek counting the 90th) is a consolation psalm in the form of a poem, which calls for trust in God.

The poem was apparently written in a war camp, where fighting and epidemics threatened ( Ps 91 : 3–8  EU ). After Psalm 34 , this is the second psalm that describes angels as guardians of the godly . Verses 11 and 12 are quoted by Satan in the temptation of Jesus ( Mt 4,6  EU ).

author

Even if there is no certainty about the author of the psalm, the psalm is mostly assigned to Moses and is one of the compositions of Moses, as several expressions and idioms of the psalm are reminiscent of Deuteronomy 32 EU . Less speaks in favor of David's authorship assumed by the tradition of the Septuagint .

structure

The psalm can be divided into the following sections:

• Verses 1–13: promise of protection for the godly ( Ps 91,1-13  EU )
  • Verses 1-2: The position of the godly
  • Verses 3–8: Your Safety
  • Verses 9-10: Your home
  • Verses 11-13: Your servants
• Verses 14-16: Confirmation through divine promise ( Ps 91  : 14-16 EU )

Liturgical reception

• In the Divine Office of the Roman Catholic Church, Psalm 91 is part of Compline on Sunday.
• Psalm 91 accompanies the funeral procession at the Jewish burial in the cemetery.

Musical reception

• Cornelius Becker wrote Psalm 91 in poetry under the title Whoever Trusts the Supreme Umbrella .
• Paul Gerhard wrote the psalm song Who sits under the umbrella of the Most High .
• Sebald Heyden composed the psalm song Who is in the protection of the Most High .
• Carl Friedrich Ludwig Hellwig composed Psalm 91 “Who under the umbrella” for 6 solo voices and choir for the Berlin Singakademie in 1814 . In 1823 he added two violins, viola and cello to the work, and in 1831 he composed a final fugue for them.
• Giacomo Meyerbeer set the eloquent Psalm 1853 to music for two four-part choirs (with solos) as a commissioned composition by Friedrich Wilhelm IV. For the newly founded State and Cathedral Choir. Premiere on May 8, 1853 in the Friedenskirche in Potsdam
• Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy composed a movement with two verses from Psalm 91 for his oratorio Elias .
• Johann Hermann Schein set Psalm 91 to music under the title Who sits under the umbrella of the Most High as a motet .
• The title of Sinéad O'Connor's album The Lion and the Cobra comes from Psalm 91 (“You will go over lions and otters”), the song “Never Get Old” also begins with a recitative of this psalm in Gaelic by the singer Enya .

Web links

Commons : Psalm 91  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Psalm 91 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 91 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain for settings of Psalm 91 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Luther , Ed .: Kurt Aland : Luther Deutsch , Volume 5.
2. ↑ The Book of Psalms , in: Erich Zenger u. a., Introduction to the Old Testament , Stuttgart a. a. 1995 pp. 242-255 ISBN 3-17-012037-9
3. ↑ ^{a b} Charles Haddon Spurgeon : The Treasury of David - An Interpretation of the Psalms , CLV (2004), p. 1215 ( online )
4. ↑ Artur Weiser : Das alten Testament Deutsch , Volume 15, The Psalmen, Göttingen 1987, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , ISBN 3-5255-1169-8