The book of the Psalms is the best loved book in the Old Testament. It contains 150 poems to be set to music for worship, both privately and in public worship services. Its magnificence and significance are evident from the fact that of the 283 times the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament, 116 times they are quoting from the Psalms.
It is difficult to summarize what the Psalms say. They cover the spectrum of human experience with God and with man. In short, they reflect the realities of life, expressed in poetry, one of literature's most expressive forms. The Psalms speak of love and hate, fear and security, danger and security, pain and joy. There are confessions and repentance, demands for justice, pleas for mercy, declarations of loyalty, and expressions of devotion to God and his word.
W. E. Gladstone has said, "All the wonders of Greek Civilization heaped together are less wonderful than is this simple Book of the Psalms" (quoted in Henry H. Halley, HALLEY'S BIBLE HANDBOOK, 24th edition [Zondervan, 1965], p. 248).
