David as Example

Summary

This article analyses the depiction of the biblical king David in M. Luther’s and early Lutheran political thought. Luther drew his images of David primarily from the exegesis of various psalms. For Luther, David’s faith made him the prime Biblical model of a monarch. Lutheran sermons shaped David into an example of good administration. They admonished Lutheran magistrates and princes to support the church and to keep the law, thereby legitimising and limiting secular government and princely rule. The example of David also provided means to criticise unlawful or despotic rule and thereby contributed to the early modern history of freedom.