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- Old Testament
Book of Psalms
Pronunciation:
Authorship and Origin:
The Hebrews called this collection of 150 psalms the 'book of praises'. It is the second of
three OT books known as poetical books (i.e. Job, Psalms, and Proverbs). These books were also called the 'books of truth'. The psalms were written over an extended period of time (around 1000 B.C. until 400 B.C.) by different authors. New psalms were added over time to the basic collection. Seventy-three psalms were written by David the king. Others were contributed by various Levitical singing clans including the clans of Asaph and Korah. Forty-nine of the psalms are anonymous.
Overview and Significant sections
The 150 psalms are divided into five books or collections which were added to four times after the initial worship book was compiled. This first worship book was assembled before David's death and consist of his work. These are mostly personal psalms reflecting David's own experiences. Book two (Psalms 42-72) were probably written during Solomon's time. Books III (73-89) and IV (90-106) are from the days of Exile, and the final book (107-150), which contains the most liturgical of the psalms, were probably collected aroung the time of Ezra after the return from exile. There are many themes which run through the Psalms, including praise, history, relationships, calling on God to overthrow the wicked, repentance, and messianic psalms. All the psalms can be useful for today in our devotional life. They are examples of how to praise and pray to God.
For more detailed study:
Read Chapter 1. (the entire book is available starting here.)
The Concise Matthew Henry Commentary on this book.
bible.org introduction of this book.
the World Wide Study Bible has Dictionary, Commentary, Scripture and sermons available
on this book.
