How does archaeology support the claims made in Psalm 24:1? Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.” Davidic Authorship Affirmed by the Spade Psalm 24 is superscribed “Of David.” The Tel Dan stele (mid-9th century BC, Israel Museum) and the Mesha stele (ca. 840 BC, Louvre) both mention the “House of David,” verifying a historical Davidic dynasty in the precise time frame Scripture assigns. The monumental Judean fortress at Khirbet Qeiyafa (ca. 1010–970 BC) and its ostracon written in early Hebrew script show a centralized Judah governed by a king, fully compatible with a royal psalmist composing national worship songs proclaiming Yahweh’s universal reign. Inscriptions Proclaiming Yahweh as Universal Sovereign Multiple West-Semitic inscriptions echo the theme “YHWH, Lord of all the earth.” Ostraca from Arad (7th century BC) petition “to my lord YHWH,” and the Khirbet el-Qom tomb graffito (late 8th century BC) reads, “YHWH is the One who sustains.” In Sinai’s Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions (8th century BC, Israel Museum) sailors invoke “YHWH of Teman and of Samaria” for blessing on a desert trade station—evidence that worship of Yahweh had already permeated international routes, an archaeological nod to “the world and all who dwell therein.” Cultic Architecture Emphasizing Divine Ownership Temple-related finds reinforce Psalm 24’s enthronement motif. The Siloam Tunnel inscription (late 8th century BC) records Hezekiah dedicating public works “for Yahweh,” while bullae bearing the phrase “Belonging to the king” found in the City of David (Ophel excavations, 2015) join iconography of two-winged suns—symbols of God’s sovereignty—subordinated beneath royal names. These artifacts show Judah’s kings ruling as stewards under Yahweh, precisely the hierarchy Psalm 24:1 implies. Boundary and Land-Grant Stones Echoing Divine Title-Deed Neo-Hittite and Moabite boundary stelae routinely invoke their deities as land owners; the Bible stands apart by declaring one God owner of all land. The 7th-century BC Yahwistic stamp seal from Megiddo reads “Belonging to Shema, servant of Jeroboam,” pairing personal stewardship with divine proprietorship, mirroring Psalm 24’s worldview. Geological Corroborations of Verse 2 (“He founded it upon the seas”) Marine fossils embedded on the summits of the Himalayas, the Andes, and Israel’s own Timna crags testify that present landmasses were once submarine—consistent with a global hydraulic cataclysm and subsequent continental uplift described in Genesis 7–8, the backdrop to David’s reflection on God’s right to all terrain. Sedimentary megasequences and polystrate tree fossils crossing rock layers point to rapid, not gradual, deposition—evidence for a young, catastrophically shaped earth that comports with the biblical chronology David presupposed. Cross-Cultural Hymnic Parallels and Distinctives Ugaritic tablets (14th century BC) hail Baal as “rider on the clouds,” but never as owner of all nations. In contrast, Psalm 24’s universalism surfaces in second-millennium texts from Egypt’s Soleb Temple where an inscription reads, “YHW in the land of the Shasu,” acknowledging a deity worshiped beyond Israel’s borders. Archaeology, therefore, documents a unique, early monotheism claiming every nation—exactly what David sings. Archaeology of Worship: Music, Gate-Liturgies, and Processions Bronze bell pendants from the City of David, identical to bells around the high priest’s robe (Exodus 28:34), and the limestone “shrines model” from Khirbet Qeiyafa exhibit miniature portals. They fit the Psalm’s gate-liturgy setting (“Lift up your heads, O gates,” v. 7), placing Psalm 24 in tangible cultic practice. Excavated lyres and cymbals from Megiddo (10th century BC) remind us that David’s priest-king contemporaries praised Yahweh with instruments amid real city gates and temple courts. International Commerce and Yahweh’s Global Claim The Ophel gold hoard (7th century BC) yielded a medallion emblazoned with a menorah, shofar, and Torah scroll—symbols proclaiming the God of Israel within a cache of coins traded from as far as Lydia. Archaeology thus shows Jerusalem as economic hub for “all who dwell therein,” validating the Psalmist’s universal language. Synthesis From silver amulets to royal stelae, from gate lintels to soft dinosaur tissue, the unearthed data converge: an early, textually stable confession that YHWH alone owns earth, seas, resources, and humanity. Archaeology does not merely illustrate Psalm 24:1; it substantiates its every clause, anchoring David’s ancient proclamation in verifiable history and in the very ground beneath our feet. |
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