- The Psalms were composed over a period of approximately 1,000 years.
- It’s the third longest Book of the Bible with 150 different Psalms in the collection (30,147 words). *The first is Jeremiah (33,002) and the second is Genesis (32,046)*
- Jesus quotes from the Book of Psalms more than from any other part of the Old Testament. Nearly half of all the direct quotes taken from the OT and quoted in the NT come from the Psalms. In fact, the Book of Psalms is either quoted from or alluded to 103 times in the Book of Revelation alone (and 149 times in the four Gospel accounts).
- With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the twentieth century, copies of the Psalms with the author’s names were included, but the authors of 48 of the remaining Psalms are still unknown.
- The key word in the Psalms is “praise” which appears 211 times (see Ps. 150).
- Psalm 88 is the only Psalm that ends without some kind of praise or hope in God.
- The word “Selah” appears 71 times throughout the Psalms. The most recognized meaning of the Hebrew word Selah is “forever.” It is often interpreted as an instruction calling for a break in the singing of the Psalm, or to pause and think about what you have read.
- Psalm 90 may be the oldest Psalm, written by Moses (around 1450 B.C.) before God’s call to liberate the Hebrew people from Egypt.
- Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm with only 2 verses, and Psalm 119 is the longest with 176!
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