The book of Psalms: the praying heart of the Bible
The book of Psalms is the best-loved collection of prayers and songs in history. For three thousand years it has given Jews and Christians words to praise, give thanks, weep, confess, ask for help and trust God. Jesus prayed with the Psalms, the first Christians sang them in their gatherings, monks pray them every day and millions of believers read them in times of joy and sorrow. Its Hebrew name, Tehillim, means “praises”; the word “psalm” comes from the Greek psalmos, a song accompanied by stringed instruments.
How it is organised
The book contains 150 psalms, divided since ancient times into five books, perhaps echoing the five books of Moses: Book I (Psalms 1–41), Book II (42–72), Book III (73–89), Book IV (90–106) and Book V (107–150). Each book ends with a doxology, a short word of praise, and Psalm 150 closes the whole collection as one great final doxology. Psalm 1 serves as the entrance: it presents two ways, that of the righteous who meditates on God’s law and that of the wicked.
Who wrote the Psalms?
According to their titles, King David wrote about 73 psalms. Psalms are also attributed to Asaph (12), the sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (Psalm 90, regarded as the oldest), Heman and Ethan. About fifty psalms name no author. The collection took shape over several centuries, from David’s time until after the exile in Babylon.
Kinds of psalms
Hymns of praise: they celebrate God’s greatness as Creator and Saviour (Psalms 8, 19, 29, 100, 103, 145–150). Laments: prayers in times of personal or national distress; they are the largest group (Psalms 13, 22, 42, 88). Thanksgiving: they give thanks for a specific deliverance (Psalms 30, 34, 116). Psalms of trust: they express confidence in God (Psalms 23, 27, 46, 91, 121). Royal and messianic psalms: they speak of Israel’s king and announce the Messiah (Psalms 2, 22, 45, 72, 110). Penitential psalms: Christian tradition groups seven psalms of repentance: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. Wisdom psalms: they reflect on life and God’s law (Psalms 1, 37, 119). Songs of Ascents: Psalms 120 to 134, sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the feasts.
Hebrew poetry
The Psalms are poetry, and Hebrew poetry has its own features. The most important is parallelism: a second line repeats, expands or contrasts the idea of the first. For example: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1). Some psalms are acrostics: each verse or stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet; Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses, has 22 stanzas, one for each letter. The mysterious word Selah, which appears 71 times, probably indicated a pause or musical interlude.
Jesus and the Psalms
The Psalms are the Old Testament book most quoted in the New. Jesus quoted them to teach about himself: he asked how the Messiah could be David’s son if David calls him “Lord” (Psalm 110:1). On the cross he prayed Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, and committed his spirit with Psalm 31:5. The gospels see many details of the Psalms fulfilled in his passion and resurrection, and after rising Jesus explained to his disciples what was written about him “in the psalms” (Luke 24:44).
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Psalm 1:1-3
Psalms for every moment
In distress: Psalms 46, 91 and 121. In sadness: Psalms 42 and 43. To ask forgiveness: Psalms 32 and 51. To give thanks: Psalms 100, 103 and 136. In fear: Psalms 23, 27 and 56. To praise: Psalms 8, 145 and 150. To know yourself before God: Psalm 139. To meditate on the Word: Psalms 1, 19 and 119. For the family: Psalms 127 and 128. In old age: Psalms 71 and 92. In the face of death: Psalms 23 and 90. You can open any of them with the selector above.
How to pray with the Psalms
Read slowly, aloud if possible: the Psalms were written to be sung. Make them your own: apply the psalmist’s “I” to your own situation and bring your circumstances to God. Don’t fear the difficult psalms: laments and complaints teach us that we can bring our whole reality to God honestly. Read one a day: in five months you will have read all 150; or follow the ancient custom of reading five psalms a day and finishing the book in a month. Memorise key verses, such as Psalm 23 or Psalm 121, to have them at hand in hard times. Also read Prayers for every moment of our lives.
Interesting facts
Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, with just two verses. Psalm 119 is the longest. Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd”, is probably the best-known Bible text in the world. Psalm 90, attributed to Moses, would be the oldest. And Psalm 150, inviting “every thing that hath breath” to praise the Lord, closes the book with an explosion of joy.
The Psalms in the history of the Church
From the earliest centuries the Psalms have been the Church’s prayer book. The desert monks recited them from memory as they worked. In medieval monasteries all 150 were prayed every week in the Liturgy of the Hours, a practice that continues today in many Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican communities. Martin Luther called the Psalter “a little Bible”, because it sums up in the form of prayer all that Scripture teaches. John Calvin promoted the Genevan Psalter, which set all 150 psalms to music for congregational singing. In the twentieth century the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned for opposing Nazism, called the Psalms “the prayerbook of the Bible” and found strength in them to the end of his life.
The Psalms and music
The Psalms were born as songs, and to this day they inspire musicians around the world. Many classic hymns are paraphrases of psalms, such as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, based on Psalm 46, and “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”, Isaac Watts’s version of Psalm 90. Composers such as Bach, Handel and Mendelssohn set their verses to music, and countless contemporary worship songs spring from them. Singing a psalm is a simple way to memorise it and to pray from the heart.
Psalm 23, verse by verse
“The Lord is my shepherd”: God is not a distant being, but one who personally cares for his own. “I shall not want”: it does not mean having everything we desire, but everything we need. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”: God gives rest. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me”: faith does not remove the dark valley, but it assures us of company in it. “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”: the final hope is to live for ever in his presence. Jesus presented himself as the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep (John 10:11). Few texts have comforted so many people at hospital bedsides and funerals.
Pray it slowly today, one line at a time, and let each phrase become your own prayer.