Harbour Lake Baptist Church
“Through The Bible In One Year”
Introduction to “The Book of Psalms”
1. When the collection of Psalms was brought together as one book, the Hebrew title for the collection was
Tehillim, meaning “praise songs”. The Greek translators gave it the title “Psalmoi”, meaning “songs to
the accompaniment of a stringed instrument”.
2. The Book of Psalms is the largest and perhaps the most widely used book in the Bible. It explores the full
range of human experience in a very personal and practical way. Its 150 “songs” run from the Creation
through the patriarchal, theocratic, monarchical, exilic, and postexilic periods. The tremendous breadth of
subject matter in the Psalms includes diverse topics such as jubilation, war, peace, worship, judgment,
messianic prophecy, praise, and sorrow. The Psalms were set to the accompaniment of stringed
instruments and served as the temple hymnbook and devotional guide for the Jewish people.
3. The Central Message of The Book of Psalms is: “Praise Through Prayer”.
4. The book of Psalms can be divided into five major books:
a. Book One: (Psalm 1 through Psalm 41)
1) Worship Theme: “Adoring Worship”
2) Authors: “Mainly David”
3) Doxology: Psalm 41:13
b. Book Two: (Psalm 42 through Psalm 72)
1) Worship Theme: “Wondrous Worship”
2) Authors: “Mainly David & Korah”
3) Doxology: Psalm 72:18-19
c. Book Three: (Psalm 73 through Psalm 89)
1) Worship Theme: “Ceaseless Worship”
2) Authors: “Mainly Asaph’s”
3) Doxology: Psalm 89:52
d. Book Four: (Psalm 90 through Psalm 106)
1) Worship Theme: “Submissive Worship”
2) Authors: “Mainly Anonymous”
3) Doxology: Psalm 106:48
e. Book Five: (Psalm 107 through Psalm 150)
1) Worship Theme: “Perfected Worship”
2) Authors: “Mainly David”
3) Doxology: Psalm 150:6
5. Almost half of the Psalms (73) are accredited to David (3-9; 11-32; 34-41; 51-65; 68-70; 86; 101;
103; 108-110; 122; 124; 131; 133; and 138-145). Twelve Psalms were authored by Asaph, a priest who
headed up the service of music (50; 73-83). Ten Psalms were authored by Korah, a guild of singers and
composers (42; 44-49; 84; 85; 87). Two Psalms were authored by Solomon (72; 127). One Psalm was
written by Moses (90); one Psalm was written by Heman (88); and one Psalm was written by Ethan (89).
The remaining 50 Psalms are anonymous (1; 2; 10; 33; 43; 66; 67; 71; 91-100; 102; 104-107; 111-121;
123; 125; 126; 128-130; 132; 134-137; and 146-150).
6. The Psalms cover a wide time span from Moses (1410 B.C.) to the postexilic community under Ezra and
Nehemiah (430 B.C.).
7. The book of Psalms can also be broken down into major themes:
a. Instructional or Didatic (Psalms 1, 5, 7, 15, 50, 73, 94, 101)
b. Israel’s History (Psalms 78, 105, 106, 136)
c. Confession (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143)
d. Supplication (Psalm 86)
e. Thanksgiving (Psalms 16 and 18)
f. Messianic, which are prophecies concerning Christ
(Psalms 2, 8, 16, 20-24, 31, 35, 40-41, 45, 50, 55, 61, 68-69, 72, 89, 96-98, 102, 109-110, 118, 132)
g. Imprecatory (i.e. Cursing) Psalms (35, 52, 58, 69, 83, 109, 137, 139, 140)
h. The Word of God (Psalms 19 and 119)