Introduction to Psalms

The Psalms are a collection of songs and poetry, much like hymnbooks today. Unlike other books of the Bible, such as Paul’s epistles, this one was written over the span of possibly 1,000 years and penned by a variety of people. The Psalms are useful today for encouragement and helping us refocus on God and His great character.

Psalms Timeline

Literary Genre of Psalms

The overall genre of the Psalms is “Poetry and Songs.” We can tell that these are songs because of the musical instructions, titles directed towards choirmasters, references connecting songs to specific events (for example, “Song of Ascents”), and the fact that the word “Psalm” translates to song or poem. The way we can tell they are also poetry is by the use of rhythm, parallelism, chiasms, puns, alliteration, and alphabetical acrostics.

Date Psalms was Written

1400 B.C.-400 B.C. Because Psalms is a compilation of songs and poetry by different authors they were written over a large span of time. The earliest Psalm was probably written by Moses and the latest one could have been written close to 400 B.C., when the finalization of the Old Testament canon is usually dated. The majority of the Psalms were written by King David around the year 1000 B.C. .

Who Wrote the Book of Psalms

The Psalms were written by a handful of authors. We know from the titles that David wrote at least 73 of them. Asaph, a priest appointed to direct praise, wrote 12. The sons of Korah, Levites who were doorkeepers for the tabernacle and later the temple, wrote 12, and Solomon maybe wrote 2. There is also the chance that those 2 Psalms were written for Solomon, not by him. Moses wrote one Psalm (Psalm 90), a lament. And the other Psalms don’t name the author.

Psalms Audience

The Psalms were composed for the Jewish people to sing to God, much like a modern hymnbook.

Themes in Psalms

• Wisdom (Psalm 1)
• Worship (Psalm 150)
• Lament or Confession (Psalm 51)
• Cries for Justice (Psalm 137)
• Prophecies of the Messiah (Psalm 110)

Key verse of Psalms

“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”
Psalm 1:3

This Psalm describes the person who delights in and meditates on God’s word. Through putting this Psalm first in the collection the compiler is telling us that these songs and prayers will make believers strong and mature.

Why should you study Psalms?

The Psalms are meant to be experienced personally and spiritually by believers. They’re prayers, poetry, and songs we can go to in the darkest of times and the best of times. They often refocus our mind on the character of God and his goodness even amidst trials.

Take our free online course on Psalms!

Ethnos360 Bible Institute offers a free course on the Psalms! It’s a seven-session overview of the different types of Psalms taught by Scot Keen. You can take the course here.

Content reworked from Jim Hansen’s Class on Wisdom Literature at Ethnos360 Bible Institute
Edited and formatted by Eliza Noel