From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordDavid is the biblical king and the exemplary voice Traherne hears in the Psalms.
- In TraherneReading David changes the narrator’s understanding of his own discoveries.
- In this edition“David” often identifies Traherne’s received understanding of the psalmist.
- A place to beginRecognition of his own thoughts in the Psalms opens a new reading of the whole Bible.
Meaning
David is the biblical king and the exemplary voice Traherne hears in the Psalms. He appears as ruler, poet, contemplative, and lover of God’s works, rather than simply as an item of sacred biography.
Use in the book
Reading David changes the narrator’s understanding of his own discoveries. What first seemed private and unprecedented becomes participation in a recognisable scriptural life. The Psalms confirm that common objects can be matters of heavenly joy; their singer delights in the same creation that awakened the child. David’s kingship also joins inward enjoyment to the vocabulary of dominion and possession. Traherne reads him expansively and christologically: the marriage song becomes a celebration of Christ, the Church, and the world as their palace.
Places to read
In this edition
“David” often identifies Traherne’s received understanding of the psalmist. The lexicon follows that devotional attribution without treating it as a modern historical judgement on the authorship of every psalm.