Of all the books in the Bible the book of Psalms most vividly represents the faith of individuals in the Lord. Many psalms are the prayers of individuals to the Lord, and are a collection of the responses of saints to God’s revelation of himself in the law and history and prophecy. Many of them were written in response to a trying situation in their lives. I have searched for the historical background for the psalms. Recently I learned that the subtitles over the psalms were a part of the original manuscript and can be trusted. We can check out the situation. The center column reference gives the reference and location of the story behind the psalm, and can give us the historical background for the psalm. The story behind the psalm helps us understand the psalm better. The subtitle also sometimes says, “to the tune of” and then gives the name of the song. We were not given a musical score with the notes so we can not play it on our pianos. Evidently when the psalm was first written people knew the tune and could sing it to that tune. Many of the psalm sound like proverbs. A proverb is a generally true statement but is not an iron clad promise. David and the other authors were a part of the nation of Israel not a part of the church. We Christians cannot say I waited on the Lord so now I will inherit the land . 37:34 Paul waited on the Lord but he did not become the Emperor of the Roman Empire. He was beheaded by the Emperor, but his life did not end there. We Christians “will inherit the land” in the next life. The Psalms contain some of the personal struggles of the authors who were trying to figure out life and how they were to live it. They looked at the circumstances they were living in and the way things were turning out and asked, God, Where are you? Their li ves w ere not supposed to be the way they were , and life was not turning out as they hoped. David had many personal struggles, and for 13 years he was on the run trying to stay alive. David had been anointed by Samuel to be king s ometime in the future . Samuel told Saul that because of his disobedience God was going to replace him, but he never told Saul that David was his replacement. Somehow Saul figured that out. David sometimes hid in cave s hiding from king Saul who was trying to kill him. Some p salms start with the author expressing his disagreement with God and how God was running his world. He did not like what he saw happening about him. He asked, “Why do the heathen rage?” Psa. 2:1 The p salms were the hymnal of the temple. They were the display or religious expressions of the personal religious feelings of the saints. Because Israel was a nation of farmers and herders and often involved in war those aspects formed the backdrop of many p salms. For example David was a shepherd, and so he made a comparison and said, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Psalm 23:1 David was also a warier and said, “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid. . . Though a host should encamp against me my heart shall not fear.” Psa. 27:1-3 There are 150 Psalms. David was the author of at least 62. Some are attributed to the sons of Korah. Some to Asaph and one to Moses. Some do not have the author above the p salm. Down through the ages the saints have appreciated and learned from these prayers and struggles of other people. They are used for the edification of all saints. In this book I have quoted many other verses from different parts of the Bible. Those verses throw light upon the situation. I have added some pictures which artist have painted to show how they saw things.