King David's Legacy
King David ruled the Jewish nation from 2854-2924 (876 BCE to 836 BCE). During his lifetime he compiled the Book of Tehillim which consists of 150 chapters. According to our sages, ten men including Adam, Moses, and others wrote some of the chapters but the bulk are attributed to King David. We are taught that the Psalms were written with Divine inspiration. King David wrote music to accompany the Tehillim and sang these songs of praise to God. According to Talmudic tradition, the Tehillim were sung by the Levites during the Temple service in Jerusalem.
In his songs of praise to God, King David wrote about events in his time, past events and events to come. The Sefer Tehillim is a time line for the history of the world and the Jewish People. In the chapters of this amazing Book, we find the inner world of a man, a Jew, a king, and a servant of God. The chapters cover inner conflicts, deep faith, difficulty and hope in facing life's challenges.
For centuries, any man or woman has been able to open the Book of Psalms and find themselves in it. The Tehillim have the uncanny ability to touch the heart of all people. We believe that by reciting Tehillim with focus, we effect inner changes through self -knowledge and growth. And when we change, the world changes. People who recite Tehillim regularly and with concentration, have found hope, faith, inner joy, peace, and personal salvation.
So too, we pray that through the study and recitation of Tehillim, we will merit the ultimate peace, joy and salvation on a global scale.
