Hope for a Davidic king in the Psalter's utopian vision

This dissertation seeks to further refine the scholarly discussion concerning the shape of the Psalter, specifically by addressing the issue of its message. The message of the Psalter is one of hope: the narrative impulse sustains expectations of a better future by assuring the Psalter’s reader that one day Zion will be glorified, enemies will be vanquished and the Davidic dynasty will endure with the arrival of a new Davidic king.<br><br>The work of two scholars in particular continue to dominate the landscape of Psalter studies: Gerald H. Wilson and David C. Mitchell.

In this dissertation Wilson’s work is developed by outlining more fully the evidence that the Psalter is a carefully organised collection, and arguing that this narrative trajectory may be detected across all five books of the Psalter. Mitchell’s work is refined by recognising the forward-looking impetus of the Psalter but arguing that this is best described using the category of utopian hope rather than eschatological expectation.