A Brief History of the Psalms

In this episode we interview David Mitchell, Biblical scholar and pastoral musician. We explore some of his work on the Psalms from his book The Message of the Psalter: An Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms. David discusses the primary theme of his book with us – namely, that the Psalms have been organized in a way that is intended to convey an eschatological narrative. David shares some of the other theories behind the organization of the Psalms, and then shares a few examples to help illustrate how both the content and the redaction of the Psalms were intended to heighten eschatological expectation.

Show notes:

• What prompted David's interest in the Book of Psalms? (4:22)
• The Psalms were redacted with a particular purpose (16:08)
• The eschatological meta-narrative behind the organization of the Psalter (25:38)
• The Psalms as a multi-author work, compiled to reinforce the hope of Israel (35:35)