How many people wrote the book of Psalms?
This is an interesting question in that many people think that King David wrote the book of Psalms. David did write the majority of the Psalms, nearly one half of them, but there are several other writers who have written some of the psalms. Some of the psalms are anonymous. In fact 51 of the 150 psalms are anonymous. Before we begin looking at the different authors of the book of Psalms, we might want to ask the question: What is a psalm? A psalm, as given in God’s Word, is a set piece of music, a sacred ode to the Lord written under the guidance and inspiration of the Lord.
We have instruction from King David in 1 Chronicles 16:8-10, “Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, SING PSALMS UNTO HIM, talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.” It certainly appears that the Lord enjoys singing from appreciative hearts of believers. We read in Psalms 100:1-2, “A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: COME BEFORE HIS PRESENCE WITH SINGING.”
We read in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in PSALMS and HYMNS and SPIRITUAL SONGS, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” We might ask what the differences are between these three. I believe the answer is a simple one.
* A PSALM is a spiritual ode or song that was divinely inspired and is included in the Book of Psalms.
* A HYMN is also a spiritual ode, but does not have the authority or depth of an inspired psalm.
* A SPIRITUAL SONG is a non-inspired song that sings of varying topics in a spiritual range.
With all that said, let us consider how many people actually wrote the Book of Psalms.
* David wrote 73 Psalms. Psalms 3-9; 11-32, 34-41, 51-70, 86, 101, 103, 108, 109, 110, 122, 124, 131, 133, 138-145.
* Asaph wrote 12 Psalms. Psalms 1 and Psalms 73–83.
* The children of Korah wrote 11 Psalms. Psalms 43, 44-49, 84, 85, 87 and 88.
* One by Heman the Ezrahite wrote Psalm 88.
* Ethan the Ezrahite wrote Pslam 89.
* Moses (yes, THAT Moses wrote Psalm 90.
So…we know the authorship of 99 psalms. There are 51 that have no identification of the author and are unknown.
After reading of all these human authors of the different psalms, it is vital that we understand that One person ultimately wrote ALL the psalms. We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” One psalm is not more important or vital that the other. The Lord inspired these varying men to write these books and so are all valuable. I should make one more point before closing. It cannot be said with any certainty who gathered all these psalms together into one book. We do realize that even as the Lord inspired each of these psalms, He inspired someone to gather them together into one book and to put them in the order that He desired. (276.8)