Old Testament · Wisdom and poetry · book 19 of 66 · 2 min read
The book of Psalms
The prayer book of a nation, and about a third of it is complaint — which is why it is the part of the Bible people return to when everything else has stopped helping.
“Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.”
At a glance
- Chapters
- 150
- Author
- Many, over centuries; roughly half are attributed to David
- Written
- Composed across several centuries; collected by the post-exilic period
- Written for
- Anyone praying, in any condition
- Themes
- lament, praise, kingship, refuge
What it is about
The Psalms are five collections in one, 150 poems written across centuries by many hands, for public worship and private use. They are the most-read part of the Bible on almost every platform that measures such things.
The most surprising fact about them for a new reader is the proportion of lament. Roughly a third are complaints — about enemies, illness, betrayal, silence from God — and several end unresolved, with no turn to praise at the finish. They were kept anyway, which is the strongest evidence in Scripture that unhappy prayer is still prayer.
They also contain the most quoted lines in the language: the shepherd, the valley, the still small hours, the God who is a refuge. Reading them in whole psalms rather than as extracted verses changes almost every one of them.
Where to start
Psalm 23 if you want the famous one whole, Psalm 88 if you want to see how far the book will go — it is the one that ends in darkness with no resolution at all.
The chapters worth knowing
- Psalms 22 — The psalm quoted from the cross, opening on abandonment and ending in praise.
- Psalms 88 — The one that ends in darkness with no turn at all, and was kept anyway.
- Psalms 119 — The longest chapter in the Bible, an acrostic of 176 verses about one subject.
What people get wrong about it
That the Psalms are mostly praise. Lament is the largest single category, and the book's willingness to keep unresolved complaints is what makes it usable on a bad night.
From this book
- Psalm 23, verse by verseThe whole of Bible Gateway's 2025 top six was this psalm, read in order. What each verse does, why the valley is walked through, and who is at the table.
- Psalm 91, and the one place the New Testament quotes itPsalm 91 has climbed past John 3:16 in the most-read lists. The one New Testament quotation of it is on the lips of the tempter, which is worth knowing before you claim it.
- Psalm 46:10, and the war it is spoken intoBe still and know that I am God is read as an invitation to quiet. In the psalm it is an order to stop fighting, addressed to nations, in the middle of a war.
- Bible verses for anxiety at nightTen passages for the hours when the worry is loudest, with a note on each — including why so many of them are about sleep specifically rather than about fear in general.
- Bible verses about peaceTen passages from the World English Bible, with a note on each — because scripture means at least three different things by peace, and mixing them up is why some disappoint.
Questions
How many psalms are there?
150, arranged in five books. Roughly half carry David's name in their headings, though the collection spans several centuries and many authors.
Which psalm should I read when I am struggling?
Psalm 13 for a short complaint that turns, Psalm 88 for one that does not, Psalm 42 for talking to yourself when prayer is not working, and Psalm 23 when you want something you already half know.