Psalms has 150 chapters that scholars typically divide into five “books”:
- Book One covers Psalms 1-41
- Book Two, Psalms 42-72
- Book Three, Psalms 73-89
- Book Four, Psalms 90-106
- Book Five, Psalms 107-150
As for authorship, 74 of the 150 Psalms are attributed to King David; 12 to Asaph, David’s choir director; 11 to the Sons of Korah [Numbers 16:3, 26:11]; 1 to Heman [1 Chronicles 25]; 2 to Solomon; and 1 each to Ethan and Moses; 46 of the Psalms are anonymous.
Authorship was viewed very differently in ancient writings. “A Psalm of David” can mean one of three things: it was written by David, it was written in the style of David, or it was dedicated to David.
Be sure to take a look at The Bible Project’s video, in which the hosts narrate – and illustrate – their overview of Psalms in just under 9 minutes!