Praying the Psalms ... God's Covenant with David, Part I
As we pray, read and sing the Psalms, we may not be aware that they actually convey something of a dramatic shift in the course of salvation history.
First, note that the Psalms is divided into five books. These are indicated by a closing doxology at the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, 106 and the final Psalm 150 is entirely a doxology (in fact, the final five psalms, 146-150, are a closing doxology).
Now there is an interesting rabbinical tradition contained in the oldest surviving commentary on the Psalms, the “Midrash Tehillim,” (Tehillim, “Praises,” is the Hebrew title for the Psalms). The Midrash states: “Moses gave Israel the five books” (of the Law) “and David gave Israel the five books of the Psalms.” The idea is that as the Law represented God’s covenant with Moses, but the Psalms represent God’s covenant with David.
St. Hippolytus (170-235 AD, a disciple of St. Irenaeus) wrote: “The book of Psalms contains new doctrine after the law of Moses. And after the writing of Moses, it is the second book of doctrine.... David ... first gave to the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he abrogates the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifices, and introduces the new hymn and new style of jubilant praise in the worship of God,”
God’s covenant with Moses was for the nation of Israel, but His covenant with David was for all peoples and everlasting, a kingship not only over Israel but also over the nations, the Gentiles. God said, “The Lord will make you a house.... I will raise up your offspring after you, ... I will establish his kingdom.... I will be his father and he shall be my son.... your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam 7:11-16; cf. 1 Chron 17:11-14, 2 Chron 6:16; Ps 89:3-4; 2:7-8.)
The Mosaic covenant focused on Mt. Sinai (Horeb), the tent/tabernacle, the law, burnt offering sacrifice, and silent liturgy. The Davidic covenant focused on Mt. Zion (Jerusalem), the Temple, on wisdom, the sacrifice of the thank offering, and musical liturgy.
This Davidic spirituality overflows to all the Psalms, whether a psalm was written by David (roughly 1050 BC) or by someone else in the following 600 years (after the Jews’ return from the Babylonian exile), or later. It is the hymnal, the poetry, the liturgical culture, and record of God’s covenant with King David, and the peoples’ response of praise and thanksgiving, as well as lament and trust in trial, and joy in redemption.
Now covenants are not just contracts. Covenants extend family ties. God’s covenant with David represents God’s plan to restore, after Adam’s fall, God’s family bond with all of mankind. The Davidic covenant actually fulfills every other Old Testament covenant (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses), and the Davidic covenant is itself fulfilled in Christ – the “new covenant” prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31) at the time of the Babylonian exile.
Why does all this matter to us?
Jesus came to restore and fulfill the Davidic Covenant, not the Mosaic covenant. First Century Jews were looking for a Messiah who was a Davidic King who would restore the Kingdom on Mount Zion. Jesus is attested in Scripture as the Son of David, not the son of Moses. The Church is the temple of living stones of the New Jerusalem, not the tabernacle of Sinai. We sing the songs of Zion at the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Eucharist), rather than offer silent burnt offerings. And Jesus tells the apostles to go out and make disciples of “all nations” (Mt 28:19), as promised in the Davidic covenant.
Bergsma, John, Psalm Basics for Catholics (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2018).
Bergsma, John and Pitre, Brant, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, The Old Testament (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2018), Ch. 24 “Psalms.”
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News on October 3, 2019.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
As we pray, read and sing the Psalms, we may not be aware that they actually convey something of a dramatic shift in the course of salvation history.
First, note that the Psalms is divided into five books. These are indicated by a closing doxology at the end of Psalms 41, 72, 89, 106 and the final Psalm 150 is entirely a doxology (in fact, the final five psalms, 146-150, are a closing doxology).
Now there is an interesting rabbinical tradition contained in the oldest surviving commentary on the Psalms, the “Midrash Tehillim,” (Tehillim, “Praises,” is the Hebrew title for the Psalms). The Midrash states: “Moses gave Israel the five books” (of the Law) “and David gave Israel the five books of the Psalms.” The idea is that as the Law represented God’s covenant with Moses, but the Psalms represent God’s covenant with David.
St. Hippolytus (170-235 AD, a disciple of St. Irenaeus) wrote: “The book of Psalms contains new doctrine after the law of Moses. And after the writing of Moses, it is the second book of doctrine.... David ... first gave to the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he abrogates the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifices, and introduces the new hymn and new style of jubilant praise in the worship of God,”
 |
| Saul Anoints David (Syria, 3rd Cent.) |
The Mosaic covenant focused on Mt. Sinai (Horeb), the tent/tabernacle, the law, burnt offering sacrifice, and silent liturgy. The Davidic covenant focused on Mt. Zion (Jerusalem), the Temple, on wisdom, the sacrifice of the thank offering, and musical liturgy.
This Davidic spirituality overflows to all the Psalms, whether a psalm was written by David (roughly 1050 BC) or by someone else in the following 600 years (after the Jews’ return from the Babylonian exile), or later. It is the hymnal, the poetry, the liturgical culture, and record of God’s covenant with King David, and the peoples’ response of praise and thanksgiving, as well as lament and trust in trial, and joy in redemption.
Now covenants are not just contracts. Covenants extend family ties. God’s covenant with David represents God’s plan to restore, after Adam’s fall, God’s family bond with all of mankind. The Davidic covenant actually fulfills every other Old Testament covenant (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses), and the Davidic covenant is itself fulfilled in Christ – the “new covenant” prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31) at the time of the Babylonian exile.
Why does all this matter to us?
Jesus came to restore and fulfill the Davidic Covenant, not the Mosaic covenant. First Century Jews were looking for a Messiah who was a Davidic King who would restore the Kingdom on Mount Zion. Jesus is attested in Scripture as the Son of David, not the son of Moses. The Church is the temple of living stones of the New Jerusalem, not the tabernacle of Sinai. We sing the songs of Zion at the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Eucharist), rather than offer silent burnt offerings. And Jesus tells the apostles to go out and make disciples of “all nations” (Mt 28:19), as promised in the Davidic covenant.
Dibby Green
Sources:
Barber, Michael, Singing in the Reign (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2001), Introduction by Scott Hahn.Bergsma, John, Psalm Basics for Catholics (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2018).
Bergsma, John and Pitre, Brant, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, The Old Testament (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2018), Ch. 24 “Psalms.”
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News on October 3, 2019.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.