The Book of Psalms is a gold mine of wisdom, faith and hope. The 150 psalms point God’s people to Him from every conceivable circumstance of life.
David is referred to as a man after God’s own heart. He wrote the majority of the Psalms through the course of his life. He wrote in good times and bad. But they always point to God as the source of his hope.
All of the Psalms were written as poetry, set to music, and passed down from generation to generation. This was all long before most people were able to read and write. A few interesting facts about the Psalms:
Shortest Chapter in the Bible
Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the entire Bible. It consists of only two verses. It calls on all mankind to praise the Lord regardless of nationality or race. It assurs one and all of His merciful kindness, and that His truth will endure forever.
The Apostle Paul quoted verse 1 in Romans 15:11 as he assured the Gentiles of their part in the Gospel. Long before the Gospel of John, Psalm 117 assured that God so loved the world.
Longest Chapter in the Bible
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. The twenty-two stanzas correspond to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Within each stanza are eight verses for a total 176 verses. This unique format no doubt helped the God’s people to commit this treasure to memory.
The entire Psalm expresses the Psalmist’s deep, overwhelming love and appreciation of the Word of God. Each of the twenty-two stanzas reflects a particular attribute, promise, blessing or treasure to be found in God’s Word.
The more one intently studies this Psalm, the more appreciation there is for the intricate, meticulous craftsmanship. It was once described by C. S. Lewis as “embroidery, stitch by stitch.”
The Middle Chapter of the Bible
Psalm 118, placed between the shortest and the longest chapters of Scripture, is the central chapter of most Bibles. With 1,189 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are 724 chapters before and after Psalms 118.
How appropriate that this Psalm as the centerpiece of the Bible focuses on the Lord as the chief cornerstone that the builders rejected!
The Middle Verse of the Bible
Psalm 118:8 is the central verse of most Bibles. With 31,174 verses in the Bible, this is verse 15,587. The Bible was written over a period of roughly 1,500 years by some 40 different authors.
It is amazing that the central verse would fall into the central chapter. If the central theme of all Scripture were to be succinctly put into one verse, could it be better said than:
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” —Psalm 118:8