THE PSALMS

RediFacts: The Psalms

First, some housekeeping.

• The Psalms is a book of the Bible in the Old Testament.
• There are 150 individual psalms in the book of Psalms.
• When you refer to the book you say Psalms indicating a plurality of poems.
• When you refer to an individual psalm, you do not use the plural.
• Psalms 119 is incorrect because there is only one such psalm.
• It is correct to say Psalm 119 but never Psalms 119.
• The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119.
• The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117.
• The center chapter in the Bible is Psalm 115.
• There are 594 chapters before Psalm 115.
• There are 593 chapters after Psalm 115.
• Psalm 115 plus 594 chapters before and 593 after equals 1188, the total number of chapters in the Bible
• Thus, approximately speaking, Psalm 115:1 is the center of the Bible with reference to the number of chapters into which the Bible is divided.
• Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”
• Finding the true center of the Bible is not as simple as this because the number of verses in each chapter varies significantly.
• With regard to verses, there are 31,173 verses in the Old and New Testaments. The middle verse would be the second half of the 15,586th verse or Psalm 104:14b (not a particularly inspiring verse).
• There are 116 direct quotations from the Psalms in the New Testament.
• The Psalms were composed over a span of almost one thousand years.
• The Psalms are quoted more frequently in the New Testament than any other book of the Old Testament.
• The Psalms is one of the most beloved books in the Bible. It brings to us conviction, correction, comfort and courage, plus a whole lot more.
• Bible expositor A. C. Gabelein used to say, “A psalm a day keeps the devil away.”