Context & Key Themes Psalm 90 is the oldest psalm in the Psalter and the only one attributed to Moses. It was likely written during the long wilderness wandering, after the judgment that a generation would not enter the promised land but die in the desert. Moses had watched his people fail and watched God’s…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 89 is the longest and most emotionally complex psalm in Book Three, and it closes the book in a way that makes the reader ache. Ethan the Ezrahite opens with soaring praise of God’s faithfulness and the covenant he made with David — an eternal throne, a dynasty that will…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 88 is the darkest psalm in the Psalter — the only one that does not turn toward hope, praise, or any resolution before it ends. Attributed to Heman the Ezrahite and the Sons of Korah, it is a prayer spoken from what feels like the edge of death, addressed to…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 87 is short, strange, and surprisingly universal. The Sons of Korah write a psalm about Zion as the city where God founded his dwelling — but the vision they offer is not of Israel alone gathering at the holy mountain. It is of Rahab (Egypt), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 86 is the only Davidic psalm in Book Three — a lone voice from the shepherd-king in the middle of the Asaphite and Korahite collections. It stands out not just by authorship but by character: it is a prayer built almost entirely from the language of scripture itself, weaving together…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 85 is a prayer for revival — a psalm that looks backward at God’s past mercy toward Israel, looks inward at the present difficulty, and looks forward with expectant hope toward a restored and flourishing land. The Sons of Korah write it from a place that has experienced forgiveness before…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 84 is one of the most beloved in the entire Psalter — a psalm of longing for the presence of God so pure and so warm that it has never gone out of use in the worship of God’s people. Written by the Sons of Korah, it describes the pilgrimage…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 83 is Asaph’s final psalm and one of the most geopolitically charged in the entire Psalter. A coalition of ten named peoples has conspired to wipe Israel off the map — to cut them off from being a nation, so that the name of Israel be remembered no more. The…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 82 is one of the most unusual and theologically arresting psalms in the entire Psalter. In a single chapter, Asaph depicts a scene unlike anything else in the Psalter: God standing in the divine assembly, rendering judgment against beings he calls gods. These are not idols — they are entities…
Context & Key Themes Psalm 81 is a festival psalm — likely composed for one of Israel’s great annual feasts, perhaps Tabernacles or the Feast of Trumpets — that pivots unexpectedly from joyful invitation to divine lament. The celebration is called for: blow the trumpet, sound the tambourine, sing aloud. But then God himself speaks,…