UNROLL
A small wooden lyre with a few strings rests on a stone ledge in the lower part of the frame, above pale hills and blue valleys in early light, under a wide, calm, empty sky.

The Book of

Psalm Intro

A hymnbook and a prayer book: 150 poems for every hour a soul can have.

Before chapter 1≈ 2 min150 chapters

Images are artistic interpretations.

In 30 seconds

Two paths and a King.

A hunted David cries out.

The throne falls.

The LORD still reigns.

It ends in one word: Hallelujah.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Who wrote it

David

Shepherd, king, and the chief voice among many

  • Seventy-three psalms carry his name in their titles.Psalm titles
  • The New Testament reads him as their author.Acts 2:25
  • Others wrote too: Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, Heman, Ethan.Psalm titles
  • The oldest is by Moses; the book took about a thousand years to gather.Psalm 90:1

How it’s built

Five books

The gate1–2: the way and theKingBook I1–41: David’s prayersBook II42–72: the thronepressedBook III73–89: the thronefallsBook IV90–106: the LORDreignsBook V107–150: thanks andascentsHallelujah146–150, closing BookV

Whiteboard

Five books, each closed by a blessing. Read end to end, the cries slowly turn to praise.

How to read it

Before you start

Hebrew poetry rhymes ideas, not sounds.

The second line says it again and takes it further.

Read the pairs as one thought.

Big themes

Four kinds of prayer

The hard prayers

Why are these here?

Some psalms ask God to break their enemies.

They leave vengeance with Him.

They are here, and they are not softened.

Meet the cast

Voices to know

Watch for

Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.

Luke 24:44

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Question

Quick question

One thing to carry into the poems.

What does Hebrew poetry rhyme?

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