PSALMS

The Book of Hymns. Our word Psalm is the translation of two very different Hebrew words. The first, Tehillem , properly means praises , and is the title of the book. The other, Mizmor , means in strictne , a poem. Psalm is derived from a Greek verb, ψάλλω , which means to play or sing to an instrument, being very appropriate to these sacred songs, which we know from Holy Scripture were sung to harps, and other musical instruments. The Book of Psalms is a collection of hymns or sacred songs in praise of God , and consists of poems of various kinds. They are the production of different persons, but are generally called “the Psalms of David,” because a great part of them was composed by him, and David himself is distinguished by the name of the Psalmist . We cannot now ascertain all the psalms written by David, but their number probably exceeds seventy; and much le are we able to discover with any certainty the authors of the other psalms, or the occasions upon which they were composed; a few of them were written after the return from the Babylonian captivity. And the ninetieth psalm, as its title in the original in our Bible translation shows, is attributed to Moses. There is no subject upon which learned men are so much at variance as the authorship of the Psalms, and the meaning of their titles. It is clear, however, that they may be divided into the following cla es: Psalms of David; Psalms or Songs of the Sons of Korah; Psalms of Asaph; Songs of Degrees; and again into Penitential Psalms, Hallelujah Psalms, and Historical Psalms. The whole collection of psalms, usually divided into five books, is eminently prophetical of the Me iah . The first book begins with the 1st and ends with the 41st psalm, and the Hebrew word LeDavid , ( of or concerning David , or by David ,) occurs before almost every psalm. The 2nd book begins with the 42nd psalm, the 3rd with the 73rd psalm, the 4th with the 90th psalm, and is continued to the 106th. The 5th and last book opens with the 107th. The seven penitential psalms are, 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143. These are appointed to be read in our Church on Ash-Wednesday. For many ages they had been used in the Western churches in token of special humiliation. (See Alphabetical or Acrostical Psalm, and Songs of Degrees ; Korah, Psalms of ; Asaph, Psalms of ; and Hallelujah .)