Psalm 5/Assumptions

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It is normal for songs to have superscriptions.<refPS>James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Third Edition with Supplement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969): 365-81.).</refPS> E.g., "the superscripts to Egyptian hymns mention genre classification and/or authorship."<refPS>Waltke 1991:587</refPS>

The consistent structure of biblical psalm superscriptions is (1) +/- address (2) +/- musical notation (3) +/- genre/author (4) +/- liturgical notation (5) +/- historical superscription<refPS>Daniel Bourguet, “La structure des titres des psaumes,” Revue d’Histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses, 61, 1981, 109-124).</refPS>

David is a king

David is a musician (1 Sam. 16:17ff.; 2 Sam. 1:17ff.; 22:1f; 23:1f.; Amos 6:5).

"Music is an accomplishment that kings - Shulgi, king of Ur, or David, king of Israel - needed to master in order to become model rulers. Therefore, music was part of the education of rulers and the elite.<refPS>Anne Caubet, "Music and Dance in the World of the Bible" in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2018), 468-9.</refPS>

In the psalms, as elsewhere in the ANE, "the king is privileged in prayer," and he is "prominent in leading prayers."<refPS>Eaton 1975:174, 195.</refPS>