Goulder attempts to honor the biblical traditions of interpretation toward the Psalms in regard to the way they were collected and the order in which they appear. He firmly believes that David’s priest and close attendant was instrumental in the writing of these Psalms, beginning with the death of Uriah to the succession of Solomon. Psalms 51 through 72 have their historical foundation in 2 Samuel and are, according to Goulder, a personal response to these recorded events. These are prayers in which David’s heart is “opened to God with all the devotion, hatred, loyalty, fear, desperation, and triumph of which he is capable.” He concludes this text with a concisely argued and intriguing suggestion of how the present structure of the Psalms developed.
With Logos Bible Software, The Prayers of David: Psalms 51–72 is completely searchable, with passages of Scripture appearing on mouseover, as well as being linked to your favorite Bible translation in your library. This makes these texts more powerful and easier to access than ever before for scholarly work or personal Bible study. With the advanced search features of Logos Bible Software, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “succession,” or “atonement.”
Michael Goulder is an emeritus professor of Biblical studies at the University of Birmingham and the former rector of St. Christopher’s in Withington.