Moses composed one of the psalms in this section of the Psalter (Ps. 90). David wrote two of them (Pss. 101 and 103). The remaining 14 are anonymous.
The psalmist asked God to bless His people in view of life's brevity.
The superscription attributes the authorship of this psalm to Moses (cf. Deut. 33:1). It is evidently the only one he wrote that God preserved in this book. The content suggests he may have written it during the wilderness wanderings. In any case it is probably one of the oldest of the psalms if not the oldest.
"In an age which was readier than our own to reflect on mortality and judgment, this psalm was an appointed reading (with 1 Cor. 15) at the burial of the dead: a rehearsal of the facts of death and life which, if it was harsh at such a moment, wounded to heal. In the paraphrase by Isaac Watts, O God, our help in ages past', it has established itself as a prayer supremely matched to times of crisis."159
This psalm focuses on security in life, an idea present in Psalm 90. The writer knew that God provides security. It is a psalm for danger, exposure, or vulnerability.
In this psalm the unknown writer praised God for the goodness of His acts and the righteousness of His character.
The psalmist rejoiced in the Lord's reign in this psalm. This is one of the "enthronement"or "theocratic"psalms that depict the righteous rule of God on earth (cf. Pss. 47, 95-99). They focus on God's sovereignty over His people Israel, but they also point prophetically to the future reign of David's greatest Son during the Millennium.
This psalm calls on God to avenge the righteous whom the wicked oppress unjustly. It manifests faith in the justice of God.
Here is another psalm that focuses on the reign of God. In it the psalmist called on all the earth to join Israel in honoring and rejoicing in Yahweh's sovereign rule.
The writer of this psalm saw the Lord coming to rule and reign on the earth. He exhorted his readers to prepare for that event by living appropriately in the present.
This royal psalm calls on God's people to praise Him for His holiness and because He answers prayer.
An unknown writer invited God's people to approach the Lord with joy in this popular psalm. We can serve Him gladly because He is the Creator, and we can worship Him thankfully because He is good and faithful.
"Known as the Jubilate(O be joyful'), it is a psalm much used in liturgical worship; but William Kethe's fine paraphrase, All people that on earth do dwell', has even wider currency wherever English is spoken. Finer still, but somewhat freer, is Isaac Watts' version, Before Jehovah's aweful [sic] throne'."165
David voiced his desire to maintain holiness in his personal life and in his court in this psalm.
This popular Davidic psalm reviews God's mercies and expresses confident hope in His covenant promises. Though there is no real connection between this psalm and the preceding one, this one expresses thanks for answered prayer, which Psalm 102 requested. It was the inspiration for H. F. Lyte's popular hymn, "Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven."
This psalm is quite similar to Psalm 103. Both begin and end with similar calls to bless God. However, God's dealing with people is the subject of praise in Psalm 103 whereas His creation and sustenance of the world are the theme of Psalm 104.
"The structure of the psalm is modelled fairly closely on that of Genesis 1, taking the stages of creation as starting-points for praise. But as each theme is developed it tends to anticipate the later scenes of the creation drama, so that the days described in Genesis overlap and mingle here. . . . One of our finest hymns, Sir Robert Grant's O worship the King', takes its origin from this psalm, deriving its metre (but little else) from William Kethe's 16th-century paraphrase, My soul, praise the Lord' (the Old 104th)."168
This psalm praises God for His faithful dealings with Israel. it reviews Israel's history from Abraham to the wilderness wanderings.
