David as a Prophet

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I listen to EWTN sometimes and wonder why none of their commenters talk about Psalms as prophecy. Does the Catholic Church not have this concept of David as a prophet who saw Jesus? Because he hints about him quite often:

(Psalm 2:2) “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers gather together against the Lord and His Christ”

(Psalm 16:10) “For You will not abandon my soul to Hades [death], nor allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

(Psalm 18:9) “[God] bowed Heaven and descended”

(Psalm 22:7-8) "All who see me mock me; they speak with their lips and shake their head, saying: “He hoped in the Lord, let Him rescue him;”

(Psalm 22:15-18) “My tongue cleaves to my throat; and You led me into the dust of death. For many dogs surrounded me; an assembly of evildoers enclosed me; they pierced my hands and feet. I numbered all my bones, and they look and stare at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

(Psalm 30:1,3,5) “I will exalt You, O Lord, for You lifted me up, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me … O Lord, You brought my soul out of Hades; You saved me from those who go down to the pit … Weeping will lodge at evening, but great joy in the morning.”

(Psalm 31:5) “Into Your hands I commit my spirit”

(Psalm 116:13) “I will receive the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Communion)

(Psalm 34:8) “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Communion)

(Psalm 38:12-15) “Those who seek my life use violence. And those who seek evil for me speak folly; and they meditate on deceit all the day long. But I like a deaf man do not hear, and I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.”

(Psalm 41:39) “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me”

(Psalm 47:5) “God ascended with a shout” (Ascension)

(Psalm 68:1) “Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered!” (Resurrection)

(Psalm 69:21) “They gave me vinegar for my drink”

(Psalm 78:65) “Then the LORD awaked as one out of sleep” (Resurrection)

(Psalm 2:7-8) " “You are My Son; today I have begotten you. Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession."
 
I wonder about this too. From what I read David is viewed as a great king the CC. But I haven’t read any Catholic naming him Prophet. Probably they aren’t certain even if they reverence his Psalms and use them pretty much as we do (minus the Psaltery way or reading which is speciifc to Orthodoxy).
 
Interesting. I’ve always remembered King David to be Priest, Prophet and King.

Remember that all the people of Israel were a priestly people.

Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

He is a prophet because anyone who speaks the Word of God is a prophet. And as you say, he wrote the Psalms.

And finally, he is a King because God anointed him so.

I don’t know why I can’t find this explicitly taught in the Catechism, though.

Oh! Here it is!

2579 David is par excellence the king “after God’s own heart,” the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name. His submission to the will of God, his praise, and his repentance, will be a model for the prayer of the people. His prayer, the prayer of God’s Anointed, is a faithful adherence to the divine promise and expresses a loving and joyful trust in God, the only King and Lord. In the Psalms David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the first prophet of Jewish and Christian prayer. The prayer of Christ, the true Messiah and Son of David, will reveal and fulfill the meaning of this prayer.
 
Perhaps it’s more of an East/West kind of a thing?

In iconography, I usually see David grouped with all the other OT prophets, and he usually gets labeled as “Holy Prophet David the King” or “Saint David Prophet and King” or sometimes just “Prophet David.”
 
He’s definitely a prophet, though we more often speak of him as a king. We, like the Orthodox, pray the psalms daily, and the Church understands the psalms to be the prayer of Christ himself in a mystical sense.
 
Prayer Before a Crucifix

“Look down upon me O good and sweet Jesus…as I contemplate your five precious wounds, having before my eyes what the prophet David spoke of you: ‘They have pierced my hands and my feet. They have numbered all my bones.’”

Roman Martyrology: December 29th. St. David, King and Prophet.

It’s hardly a strange thing in Catholic circles to recognize David as prophet.
 
He’s considered a prophet. I say an old traditional prayer after Communion (the “Prayer Before a Crucifix”) that refers to “Your Prophet David.”
Edited to add, I see porthos beat me to it with the same prayer.
 
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Yes David was a prophet.

Acts 2:29-31

29 My brothers, one can confidently say to you about the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
30 But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
31 he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld nor did his flesh see corruption.
 
True, David has always been held as a prophet.

Also an exorcist ;D

So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, David took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil spirit departed from him. (1 Sam 16:23).

Thus the origin of the Psalms! Like a priest, with a single heart, he separated the clean from the unclean (Ps 1), removed the wicked from the city of God (Ps 100[101]), and cast the evil spirit from the anointed king. But Saul, a man of two minds, was revisited by the evil spirit and twice while David played with his hand, and Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled and escaped that night (1 Sam 18:10; 19:10), as twice the Jews would pick up stones to stone Our Lord (Jn 8:59; 10:31), but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the Temple. It makes one wonder just which words angered Saul so!
 
David as a prophet, and the psalms as a source of Messianic prophecy? Of course the Church teaches that. Sheesh, you can’t flip a page in a medieval theologian without “the psalmist says” or “David says.” Just like you can’t flip a page without seeing “Paul says” or “the apostle says.”

If you want to learn about Messianic prophecies in David, watch EWTN shows about Messianic prophecies.

In general, the best EWTN show about the prophets is Fr. Mitch Pacwa’s Old Testament Prophets (which is basically a college course that he used to teach, but turned into a show). You can listen to it in podcast form pretty easily. I think there are six or seven episodes that are just about David and the Psalms.
 
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