(Of Asaph) A praise for the majestic ways of God. He Himself fights for His own. [See II Kings 19:25.]

(Of Asaph) In distress, God's ways of old are remembered and His faithfulness is seen. God will not forget another in his day.

(Of Asaph) God's judgment against the disobedient Covenant breakers of old is called into remembrance as encouragement for present day faith and obedience.

(Of Asaph) As judgment upon Judah's sin, enemies have subdued them. Jerusalem and her Temple are overrun with strangers. A prayer for His mercy.

(Of Asaph) Prayer for God's renewed mercies after His judgment upon Israel for their national apostasy.

(Of Asaph) A call to remembrance of God's deliverance from Egypt and their Covenant soon forgotten in their inheritance, thus turning Him against them. Their obedience would have secured their permanence.

(Of Asaph) Israel's unjust judges condemned. They will be disbarred and brought low, and The Supreme Judge will judge all alike and rule every nation.

(Of Asaph) A prayer for His intercession against those who conspire against His people that men may know their God, JE-HO-VAH, reigns supreme.

(Of Korah) Absent from God's fellowship within His Tabernacle, the soul cries out from its hunger. Blessed is the man who seeks and walks the paths to its courts! God shall meet him in the way.

(Of Korah) A prayer for God's renewed post-captivity mercies, remembering His former goodness.

(Of David) David appeals to God's strength from his weaknesses. Man's acquired strength and status will never supplant his need of God's. With men some things are achievable, but with God all things possible.

(Of Korah) The city of God. Blessed are its citizens, for He dwells there!

(Of Korah) Persistent prayer from a much distressed soul afflicted by its physical infirmities. God will not forget forever.

I Chr.15:19) [Messianic Psalm. key vs.19.] God's chosen seed established forever in His covenant with David, II Sam.7:14-26. Know this: Though the seed sin and enemies come, God will not cast off forever! [See #132.]

(Of Moses. Possibly the first Psalm ever written. See Ex.15 and Deu.32 for others.) Man's limited days and God's unsearchable ways are to be remembered. May His work in man be accomplished.

(Author unknown. Jewish tradition ascribes #s 91-100 also to Moses.) The ever-protecting shadow of God's divine wings for his children.

(Author unknown) The created's praise to its Creator.

(Author unknown) The unchangeable nature and majesty of God.

(Author unknown) A call of vengeance upon the unrighteous from a holy God. Man should learn from God's chastening to live justly with others.

(Author unknown) A call to worship and a warning for resistance.

(Author unknown) A call to renewed worship from the heart afresh.

(Author unknown) A call to universal praise for God's evident glory and holiness.

(Author unknown) A call for a new song from the saints for God's marvelous salvation! [See Rev.5:9.]

(Author unknown) A call to universal reverence for a holy God.

(Author unknown) A call to thanksgiving for the goodness of God.

(Of David) David's vow to God for a just rule.

(Author unknown) An afflicted soul poured out to God.

(Of David) A blessing from a satisfied soul to a caring Father.

(Author unknown) A blessing for the providential care of God.

(Author unknown) A call to thanksgiving for and testimony to God's works among men, especially His people redeemed from Egypt.

(Author unknown) A continuation of the theme of #105.

(Author unknown) A call for the testimony of the redeemed.

(Of David) David's praise of God, claiming His promise in battle.

(Of David) David's appeal for God's assistance against his adversaries.

(Of David) [Messianic Psalm. key vs.1,4. One most evident of all.] The eternal reign of Zion's King.

(Author unknown) A call to congregational worship.

(Author unknown) Blessed is the man that fears (reverences) God.

(Author unknown) A series of Passover songs through #118. #113 and #114 sung at the meal's beginning giving Him due praise.

(Author unknown) As #113. God's deliverance is remembered.

(Author unknown) Sung at meal's end. Invoking God's blessings that His glory be seen in them as a testimony to Him.

(Author unknown) As #115. A thanksgiving for God's careful eye and ear given to His redeemed.

(Author unknown) As #115. A universal call to God's merciful kindness. [See Rom.15:8-13.]

(Author unknown) [Messianic Psalm. key vs.22.] As #115. Final song following Passover meal. (Sung by our Lord at His final before going into the garden to pray.) A prayer of trust in God.

(Author unknown) An acrostic Psalm using the Hebrew alphabet containing 22 stanzas, each with 8 lines, all mentioning in some form God's word which is cherished by the redeemed.

(Author unknown) [A series of songs follows through #134 called songs of Ascent, likely sung on pilgrimage en route to Jerusalem.] Afar from Jerusalem, a prayer for God's protection among greater numbers of the wicked, key vs.6.

(Author unknown) Looking toward Jerusalem, possibly within sight of the city, continued prayer for safety in a holy pilgrimage.

(Of David) Now with Jerusalem and its Temple on the threshold, great peace is seen within her walls. Pray that it ever be so! The joy of David and all the redeemed who stand within Jerusalem's streets and her Temple courts! God dwells in Zion among His people! Where He is, there peace for the weary is found.

(Author unknown) Now standing in the court of prayer, eyes lift with reverence to look for His holy communion. [See Mk.11:15-17; Jn.2:18]

(Of David) A prayer of praise and thanksgiving for protection against their enemies is forthcoming.

(Author unknown) Secure within Zion, a sense of peace now flooding the worshiper's soul, God's hedge about the righteous is seen more sure than the mountains surrounding Jerusalem. Peace lies within His wings! [See Mat.23:37.]

(Author unknown) With crescendo building, the joy of once again returning to Zion is like a dream in the heart of the worshiper, seeming too good to be true, but to their delight, it is. Tears of absence turned to joy in His salvation. The incense of worship rising stronger as the heart of the worshiper grows ever gladder!

(Of Solomon) Safe within Zion, at worship with family, all is well with the soul. May each of one's own be redeemed into the family of God, thus fulfilling God's plan for both family and man. Man sowing and watering, taking rest in his work, while God gives the increase! Fulfillment of the first commission.

(Author unknown) Building on #127, a blessing is offered in worship for a family united in God dwelling in Zion.

(Author unknown) It is remembered that the enemies of the happy families of Zion are perpetual and many, but none can penetrate the defenses of the walls of His protecting abiding love! [See Jn.10:28-29; Rom.8:31-39.]

(Author unknown) Though the child of God may sin, He will forgive all who seek Him in genuine repentance. [See I Jn.1:9.]

(Of David) Therefore, ever conscious of his position with God, the heart of the genuine child of God is not swelled with the vanity of men.

(Author unknown) [Messianic Psalm. key vs.17.] The eternal promise of the blessings of God's covenant with David and His anointed seed is recalled and claimed by the worshiper. The child of God (of the seed of Christ), of the seed of David, of the seed of Abraham, circumcised of heart, joint heirs in all his kingdom -- A child of the king! The thought causes the heart in worship to skip like a roe! [See #89 and Rom.2:28-29; 4:1-25.]

(Of David) The congregation now all present and thoroughly united in praise, each family seeing the entire family of God as one, is ecstatic in brotherly union. Love flows from breast to breast, now made one in the object of their collective worship. This is worship. [See Jn.13:34-35; I Jn.3:14-24; I Jn.4:20-21; Prov.6:19.]

(Author unknown) Reaching its zenith, the worship overflows with a call for all, even the night watchmen, to join in great adulation for such a wonderful God in Zion! And so ends again the song of Degrees (Ascent).

(Author unknown) A song of thanksgiving. Great is the Lord to be praised by His redeemed.

(Author unknown) An invocational song at Passover and special occasions. Continuing as #135. Many thanks for God's never diminishing eternal mercies. [See II Chr.7:3; Ezra 3:11.]

(Author unknown) Captive in Babylon, their harps hung by the roadside in their departure from Jerusalem, they are unable to respond to their captor's request. Rather a prayer for divine intercession.

(Of David) In response to answered prayer (vs.3), David is grateful for his Lord's careful watch over him and will forever be thankful. Would that all men everywhere did so! But the wicked are blind.

(Of David) David's praise of God's omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.

(Of David) Another prayer for deliverance from his ever-present enemies.

(Of David) David's prayer for carefulness in his ways that he not sin against God.

(Of David) With a sense of abandonment, David seeks refuge in his eternal Friend and Lord.

(Of David) Persecuted by his enemies, David pleads his case to a merciful and just God.

(Of David) David's acknowledgment for God's careful guidance and provisions in life. A blessed man is he who has such a God to serve!

(Of David) David's final recorded song of his gratefulness for a great and gracious God. May His name be forever blessed!

(Author unknown) [#'s 146 and following are called Hallelujah hymns, since each one begins and ends with the word which translated means, "Praise the Lord." God, who alone has been eternal, is worthy of man's trust.

(Author unknown) The God who communes with His stars and lovingly and faithfully tends to His garden is worthy of praise from those redeemed by His hand in Zion.

(Author unknown) He is worthy of praise from all His creatures, both in heaven and on Earth. He alone is excellent!

(Author unknown) Let all the redeemed of Zion sing unto the Lord a new song.

(Author unknown) A final Hallelujah chorus, with every verse rising in crescendo to a final praise by all that has breath. Praise the Lord!

* Because Psalms are songs collected to be sung, only a short synoptical theme is given for each, with its ascription wherever possible. The reader is encouraged to allow the intent of the Psalmist, through the power of God's Spirit, capture and flood the soul in the light of his or her own illumination for worship. These should be experienced in total, not in summary.