The Message of the Psalter: An Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms

Is the Book of Psalms just an ad hoc collection of ancient lyrics? Or is there more to it than that? The Message of the Psalter established, in 1997, the case for a messianic meta-narrative in the Book of Psalms.

It proposes, in ten chapters, that the Psalter has been redacted to reflect a programme of eschatological events like that of Zechariah 9-14. These events include the ingathering of exiled Israel by a bridegroom-king; his establishment of a kingdom, followed by his violent death; the scattering of Israel in the wilderness, and their subsequent regathering and further imperilment; their rescue by a king from the heavens, who establishes his kingdom from Zion, brings peace and prosperity to the earth and receives the homage of the nations.

There is an appendix of apocalyptic midrashim, some translated into English for the first time.

REVIEWS

The Message of the Psalter is one of several recent additions to the growing corpus of work that treats the purposeful arrangement of the Book of Psalms. Mitchell is in full accord with those who argue that the Psalter is not a random anthology but is a purposefully edited literary whole. His thesis, however, goes in a different direction from that of others who have attempted to articulate the theological agenda that guided the editorial process…Mitchell argues that the agenda is eschatological….The Message of the Psalter makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing study of the purposeful arrangement of the Psalter, as it points us in the direction of an eschatological agenda for the whole.

Professor Mark Futato, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL

A recent and impressive full-length treatment is David C. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter (1997). After a thorough review of Psalms studies interpreting the Psalter as a coherent collection (pp. 15-65), he proposes his own interpretation: that the Psalter is to be interpreted eschatologically and that the Davidic kingship, far from being downplayed and viewed as “failed” in the Psalter, forms the basis for the eschatological hope in a messianic figure that is found throughout the collection.

He states that “the messianic theme is central to the purpose of the collection” (p. 87), and that the Psalter “was designed by its redactors as a purposefully ordered arrangement of lyrics with an eschatological message. This message…consists of a predicted sequence of eschatological events. These include Israel in exile, the appearing of a messianic superhero, the ingathering of Israel, the attack of the nations, the hero’s suffering, the scattering of Israel in the wilderness, their ingathering and further imperilment, the appearance of a superhero from the heavens to rescue them, the establishment of his malkut [kingship] from Zion, the prosperity of Israel and the homage of the nations” (p. 15).

Mitchell faults Wilson and others for reading the Psalter “historically” (i.e., tying it in specifically with Israel’s pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic situations) rather than eschatologically, whereby the vision looks far beyond these historical periods. He combines a close reading of individual psalms, section by section through the Psalter, with plausible links of these to the development of Israel’s eschatological program in ways already suggested by “the ancient commentators’ referring to them in connection with the same or similar events” (p. 299). The overall force and logic of his argument is impressive, and his work will surely occupy a pivotal position in future discussions of the Psalter’s composition and message.

Professor David M. Howard, Jr., Bethel Theological Seminary, Minnesota

David Mitchell is a biblical scholar, musicologist, and musical director. Originally from Scotland, he now lives in Brussels where he is Precentor and Director of Music in Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral.
His writings centre around the mysterious Book of Psalms. The Message of the Psalter (1997) proposes that the Book of Psalms is redacted to reflect an eschatological timetable similar to Zechariah 9-14. The Songs of Ascents: Psalms 120-134 in the Worship of the Jerusalem Temple (2015) traces the Songs of Ascents as liturgy from the day of their first performance on 15 Ethanim 959 BC to the last days of the second temple, and provides a reconstruction of their original music, based on the Masoretic cantillation. Messiah ben Joseph (2016) is the first ever full-length study of the slain messiah of rabbinic Judaism, a figure which first appears in the Pentateuch and in the Psalms.
For more information on Mitchell's work, go to www.brightmorningstar.org.