Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:4 (Dec 2024)
Article: Revisiting The Psalter’s Shape: Hope For A Davidic King In The Psalter’s Utopian Vision
Author: S. D. Ellison

JETS 67:4 (December 2024) p. 625

Revisiting The Psalter’s Shape: Hope For A Davidic King In The Psalter’s Utopian Vision

S. D. Ellison*

* S. D. Ellison is Director of Training at the Irish Baptist College in Moira, Northern Ireland. He may be contacted at [email protected]. This article is based on conclusions arrived at in his forthcoming monograph, Hope for a New David in the Psalter’s Narrative Impulse: Reading the Psalms as Utopian Literature. This is a lightly revised version of a paper delivered at the Irish Biblical Association in December 2021.

Abstract: By engaging with the excellent work of Gerald H. Wilson and David C. Mitchell, this article adds further nuance to the growing scholarly consensus that the Psalter should be read as a book. Reading the Psalter synchronically, it reasserts that there is a unifying nature to the Psalter’s narrative impulse and outlines the forward-looking impetus of the Psalter’s utopian hope. Finally, it notes the contribution of Psalms 110 and 132 to this forward-looking narrative impulse. The article concludes that it is justifiable to assert that the Psalter—as a unified entity—encourages its reader with the utopian hope of a new Davidic king.

Key words: Psalter, Davidic king, utopian hope, Gerald H. Wilson, David C. Mitchell

The concept of kingship is prominent within the OT. Genesis instigates a hope for kingship, perhaps most notably in Jacob’s blessing on Judah (49:8–12).1 Deuteronomy details how a future king should ideally function (17:14–20).2 The narrator of Judges, in drawing the narrative to a conclusion, repeatedly testifies to the need for a king in Israel (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).3 As the king par excellence, David’s emergence is the high point in Israel’s search for a suitable king. Eventually, however, David falls short of the ideal for which Israel hoped (cf. 2 Sam 11–12). Nevertheless, the subsequent prophetic critique of inadequate kings (e.g.,

JETS 67:4 (December 2024) p. 626

Jer 22:10–19; 23:1) is de...