Who wrote the Psalms?

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor standeth in the way of sinners,

nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Psalm 1:1

 

When look up a Psalm in your Bible,

you’ll usually see something like this:

While the italic headings in this example were added long after Psalms was written, the line, “A Psalm of David” was actually written in the Hebrew manuscripts. It’s kind of like the hymnals you find in churches—they give you the song’s title and the name of the guy or lady who wrote it.
The Psalms name more than seven authors, including five individuals and two families (who wrote psalms over the centuries). Here’s the spread:

• David: the God-anointed king of Israel.
• Asaph (the family): Asaph and his sons were ordained by David to lead the people in worship, and were recommissioned when Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem.
• The sons of Korah (another family): back in the book of Numbers, a man named Korah rebelled against Moses and Aaron—and God caused the earth to swallow him up. His sons survived, though (Nu 26:11), and continued to serve in the house of the Lord.
• Heman: He was a wise man who co-authored the eighty-eighth psalm with the sons of Korah. His brother Ethan (1 Ch 2:6) wrote a psalm, too.
• Solomon: this king is better known for his work in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. He’s David’s son, and inherits his father’s throne.
• Moses: he wrote more words in your Bible than any other human. Moses also wrote a psalm.
• Ethan the Ezrahite: we don’t know much about Ethan, except that he was a famous wise man. So famously wise, in fact, that the Bible makes a point to tell us Solomon was even wiser (1 Ki 4:31).

The remaining 50 “orphan psalms” aren’t credited to any one author. One nameless nobody could have written all 50, but there’s a better chance that they were written by many people over many years.

So we know David wrote the most of the psalms—73 that we’re sure of. These ones are his, specifically:

• Psalms 3–9
• Psalms 11–41
• Psalms 51–65
• Psalms 68–70
• Psalm 86
• Psalm 101
• Psalm 103
• Psalms 108–110
• Psalm 122
• Psalm 124
• Psalm 131
• Psalm 133
• Psalms 138–1The family of Asaph wrote 12 psalms:
  
  • Psalm 50
  • Psalms 73–83
  The sons of Korah wrote 11 psalms:
  
  • Psalm 42
  • Psalms 44–49
  • Psalms 84–85
  • Psalms 87-88
  Heman the Ezrahite coauthored Psalm 88 with the sons of Korah.

Solomon wrote two psalms:

• Psalm 72
• Psalm 127

Moses wrote Psalm 90.
Ethan the Ezrahite wrote Psalm 89.OverviewBible