Poetry and wisdom
Psalms
Israel’s songbook of 150 psalms: praise, lament, thanksgiving, and trust.
The Psalms were written over about a thousand years, from Moses’ prayer in Psalm 90 to songs of the exile and return. David wrote the largest share, and the superscriptions tie many to events in his life (for example Psalms 3, 51, and 142). The collection was arranged in five books, probably finished after the exile.
Kinds of writing
- Song and psalm 100%
Key verses
The way of the righteous. Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
Psalm 1:1 (World English Bible)
My God, why have you forsaken me?. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 22:1 (World English Bible)
Yahweh is my shepherd. Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.
Psalm 23:1 (World English Bible)
Sit at my right hand, often quoted in the New Testament. Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
Psalm 110:1 (World English Bible)
Let everything that has breath praise Yah. Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah!
Psalm 150:6 (World English Bible)
People
DavidAsaphHemanJeduthunMosesSolomon
Places
JerusalemMount ZionEgyptRed SeaMount HermonBabylon
On the timeline
Crossing the Red SeaForty years in the wildernessDavid on the run from SaulThe ark brought to JerusalemGod's covenant with DavidDavid, Bathsheba, and Nathan's rebukeAbsalom's rebellionThe crucifixion
The New Testament quotes or alludes to Psalms 97 times (counted in the site’s Old in the New).
Dating notes
Many psalms have no author or date given. The span runs from Moses to the final collection. The span is an estimate; Scripture doesn’t say when the book was written.