Smith DTh Thesis (final).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Chapter 2: History of Psalms StudiesA similar view of the Psalter is presented by Marti Steussy (2004) in Psalms, abook written as an introduction to the Psalter for pastors and seminarystudents. Although she treats some aspects topically, for the most partSteussy works through the Psalter in canonical order. In the mould of Wilsonand DeClaissé-Walford, she treats the five Books as telling Israel’s story fromthe reign of King David, through the Babylonian exile, to the return andrebuilding of the Temple.John Walton (1991, “Psalms: A Cantata about the Davidic Covenant”) madean ambitious proposal that it may be possible to read the Psalter as a cantataabout the Davidic covenant. Whereas Gerald Wilson’s work focused almostentirely on psalm titles and seam psalms, Walton wondered if there mighthave been “an editorial rationale for the placement of each psalm” (Walton1991:23). He based his analysis on the content of each psalm, not on theeditorial information provided in the headings. In fact, one of themethodological presuppositions of his cantata theory is that the rationale forthe placement of psalms may have nothing to do with the information providedin the psalm headings, since the headings are tied to the original historicalcontext or life-setting, which may have no bearing on the final redactorsrationale for placing the psalm within the final Psalter. Walton (p. 24)cautiously proposed and defended the following outline:36