66 Love Letters - PSALMS

The Book of Psalms may well be the most cherished book of the Old Testament. As much as I'd love to wax poetic on my own personal experiences about this God-filled book of the Bible, I thought I'd let a saint share her words on this chunk of scripture.

Henrietta C. Mears (October 23, 1890 – March 19, 1963) was a godly woman whose Bible teaching and love of the Lord influenced thousands to give their hearts to Christ.Literally hundreds of men and women came out of her Sunday School program into full-time Christian service. Among the many she influenced were Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ) and his wife Vonette, and Billy Graham. Her book, What the Bible is All About, has sold over three million copies.


Some have called it the solid gold of Christian experience. Slip in wherever you will and you find a treasure. Every Psalm is a direct expression of the soul's consciousness of God.  The Hebrew title of this book is "praise," or the "Book of Praises," which indicates that the main contents of the book are praise, prayer and worship. The name "Psalms" comes from the Greek. We find that the early Christian fathers called it the "Psalter."

The Psalms is the national hymnbook of Israel. It contains 150 poems to be set to music for worship. Worship is the central idea. The Psalms magnify and praise the Lord, exalt His attributes, His names. His Word and His goodness.

The Psalms are full of Christ. They describe the whole program of His suffering and death. Let us look and see!  We have Christ's own warrant for looking for Him in the Psalms. He said, "All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the...psalms, concerning me." (Luke 24:44)

We speak of the psalms as the Psalms of David. He has been considered the principal writer. But there were other authors besides him. Seventy-three of the 150 Psalms are assigned to him; fifty are anonymous. Psalm 90 was written by Moses. Two are written by Solomon-Psalms 72 and 127.

It is the book for all who are in need, the sick and suffering, the poor and needy, the prisoner and exile, the person in danger, the persecuted. It is a book for the sinner, telling him or her of God's great mercy and forgiveness. It is a book for the child of God, leading him or her into new experiences with the Lord. It tells of God's law in its perfection and pronounces blessings upon the one who will keep it. - Henrietta C. Mears