of the “Psalms of David,” from the circumstance that he was the largest
contributor (about eighty psalms) to the collection. (See PSALMS.)
“The greatness of David was felt when he was gone. He had lived in
harmony with both the priesthood and the prophets; a sure sign that the
spirit of his government had been throughly loyal to the higher aims of the
theocracy. The nation had not been oppressed by him, but had been left in
the free enjoyment of its ancient liberties. As far as his power went he had
striven to act justly to all (2 Samuel 8:15). His weak indulgence to his
sons, and his own great sin besides, had been bitterly atoned, and were
forgotten at his death in the remembrance of his long-tried worth. He had
reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem and seven and a half at Hebron (2
Samuel 5:5). Israel at his accession had reached the lowest point of national
depression; its new-born unity rudely dissolved; its territory assailed by
the Philistines. But he had left it an imperial power, with dominions like
those of Egypt or Assyria. The sceptre of Solomon was already, before his
father’s death, owned from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and from
the Orontes to the Red Sea.”, Geikie’s Hours etc., iii.
- DAVID, CITY OF (1.) David took from the Jebusites the fortress of
Mount Zion. He “dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David” (1
Chronicles 11:7). This was the name afterwards given to the castle and
royal palace on Mount Zion, as distinguished from Jerusalem generally (1
Kings 3:1; 8:1), It was on the south-west side of Jerusalem, opposite the
temple mount, with which it was connected by a bridge over the
Tyropoeon valley.
(2) Bethlehem is called the “city of David” (Luke 2:4, 11), because it was
David’s birth-place and early home (1 Samuel 17:12).