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

Chapter 2: History of Psalms Studiesboth literary-theological and a prophetic-eschatological (messianic) collection.Like Wilson (1985a), Mays stresses the programmatic function of Psalms 1and 2, as well as the strategic significance of Psalms 89 and 93-100, inreflecting the redactional agenda of the editors.The articles by Murphy (1993:21-28) and Brueggemann (1993:29-41) soundsome cautions in response to Mays. Murphy warns that Mays’ approach is asdependent on hypothetical historical reconstructions as the form-criticalmethod is. Brueggemann too objects that Mays’ approach to understandingthe final shape and purpose of the Psalter is too dependent on discerning thehistorical circumstances that gave rise to it. He favours a pure sapientialreading in which Psalms 1, 73 and 150 serve respectively as the point ofdeparture, turning point and destination.The first of Wilson’s two contributions, “Understanding the PurposefulArrangement of Psalms in the Psalter: Pitfalls and Promise” (Wilson1993a:42-51), criticises three inadequate approaches, namely, (a) Walton’scantata hypothesis that relies on minor details in certain psalms to create astoryline, (b) Goulder’s dependence on a hypothetical festival to understandthe sequence of psalms and (c) Arens’ proposal that the psalms werearranged to fit a three-year lectionary. His second essay, “Shaping thePsalter: A Consideration of Editorial Linkage in the Psalms” (Wilson 1993b:72-51