Psalms

Psalms is the nineteenth book of the Bible and the longest, with 150 individual poems. The collection is the songbook of ancient Israel, poetry written for worship, prayer, lament, and praise across roughly a thousand years of Israelite history. Many of the psalms are traditionally attributed to King David, who is named in the titles of seventy-three of them. Others are credited to Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses, and figures whose identities are uncertain.

The book is organized into five smaller collections, each ending with a brief praise. The psalms themselves cover an enormous emotional range. There are psalms of praise and thanksgiving, psalms of lament from people in deep distress, psalms confessing sin, psalms requesting protection from enemies, psalms celebrating God's law, psalms reflecting on the suffering of the innocent, and psalms looking forward to a coming king.

Some of the most familiar passages in the Bible are here. Psalm 23 pictures God as a shepherd. Psalm 51 is David's confession after his affair with Bathsheba. Psalm 91 promises protection. Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is an elaborate poem on the law of God, structured by the Hebrew alphabet. The closing psalms, 146 through 150, build to a sustained shout of praise.

The Psalms have been used in Jewish and Christian worship continuously for thousands of years. They are quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament book.