What Is a Psalm? The Meaning of the Word Psalm

A psalm is a sacred song or poem, and the Book of Psalms in the Bible holds 150 of them. The English word comes from the Greek psalmoi, which Wikipedia's Psalms article glosses as instrumental music, and by extension the words that go with it. The book's Hebrew title, Tehillim, means praises. The psalms praise, pray, complain, give thanks and teach. The shortest, Psalm 117, has 2 verses. The longest, Psalm 119, has 176.

Psalms is a book of the Old Testament, placed after Job and before Proverbs. Every one of the 150 psalms has its own page on this site, with the full text and notes on its key verses. This page explains the word and the book as a whole.

A psalm is a song meant to be sung, usually with music. Wikipedia's Psalms article traces the English title to the Greek psalmoi, meaning instrumental music, and by extension the words that went with it. The book's Hebrew name, Tehillim, means praises. The psalms also name themselves. 116 of the 150 have a heading, and many of those headings call the poem a Psalm, a Song or a Prayer. Psalm 17, Psalm 90 and Psalm 102 are headed as prayers. Psalms 120 to 134 are each headed as a song. So a psalm can be praise, but it can also be a plea, a complaint or a lesson, set in words for singing.

Both are correct, for different things. Psalms, plural, is the name of the book, because it holds 150 separate poems. Psalm, singular, is one of them. So you read the Book of Psalms, and within it you read Psalm 23. The New Testament uses both forms. In Luke 20:42 Jesus speaks of "the book of Psalms", and in Acts 13:33 Paul quotes "the second psalm". When citing a verse, both styles are in use. The World English Bible's own cross references write "Psalms 24:1", while this site writes Psalm 23:1 for a verse in a single psalm. Either will be understood.

The psalms cover most of what a person might say to God. Some praise, like Psalm 150, which ends by calling everything that has breath to praise the LORD. Some lament, like Psalm 13, which opens by asking "How long, LORD?" Some teach, like Psalm 1, which sets two ways of life side by side. Some ask for forgiveness, like Psalm 51. Some speak of a king, like Psalm 2. Many move from trouble to trust within a few verses. The headings add context. 73 of them name David, and 13 of those tie the psalm to a moment in his life, such as Psalm 3, whose heading reads "when he fled from Absalom his son."

Psalms is a book of the Old Testament. In the World English Bible it comes after Job and before Proverbs. In the Hebrew Bible, Wikipedia's Psalms article places it as the first book of the third section, the Writings, or Ketuvim. The book is divided into five smaller books. Psalm 41 closes the first of them with a blessing: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen and amen." The New Testament treats the psalms as scripture. In Luke 24:44 Jesus speaks of what is written "in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms".