TGC 620 – The Shape of Psalter: David, Moses, and Christ

In this episode, Paul Schultz talks with the Rev. Dr. Adam Hensley, Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, about the deliberate ordering of the Hebrew Psalter. Hensley explains how the five books of Psalms are marked by real editorial seams (not artificial divisions) and traces the influential but flawed thesis of Gerald Wilson, who argued that the Psalter records a shift away from the Davidic covenant toward Moses and a "democratized" covenant applied to the whole people, following Israel's exile and the loss of kingship. Hensley lays out his own thesis in response: rather than the Davidic covenant being democratized, the Mosaic covenant is "royalized." Moses appears throughout the Psalter as the one who diagnoses Israel's sin and intercedes, but never as the one who solves it. That role belongs to the idealized king, the Christ, whose intercession reconciles not only Israel but the nations to God. Drawing on Psalm 89's lament, the Davidic and Solomonic material at the end of Book Two, and the pattern of Moses references through Books Three and Four, Hensley shows how the Psalter's editors kept pointing forward to a greater son of David rather than settling for a Mosaic consolation prize. He connects this to his dissertation, published by T&T Clark as Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. ----more---- Host: Fr. Paul Schultz Guest: Dr. Adam Hensley ----more---- Become a Patron! You can subscribe to the Journal here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/subscribe/ You can read the Gottesblog here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/gottesblog/ You can support Gottesdienst here: https://www.gottesdienst.org/make-a-donation/ As always, we, at The Gottesdienst Crowd, would be honored if you would Subscribe, Rate, and Review. Thanks for listening and thanks for your support.