1. Psalms (‏תהלים‎).—The Psalms are hymns containing praises of God’s greatness, prayers for His mercy, and meditations on His wisdom, power, justice, and goodness. However various the Psalms are in form and contents, they have this in common, that they all are based on the purest and sincerest trust in God’s justice and goodness. “The mighty and proud, ‏זדים‎ who rely on their own strength and are guided by the dictates of their own will, cannot succeed for ever; the poor and humble, ‏ענוים‎ who rely on God’s mercy and are guided by the word of God, will not suffer for ever.” This is the truth which the Psalmist proclaims in his songs over and over again. Yet there is a great variety in the contents of the Psalms. Some are simply praises of God’s greatness, e.g., viii., xix., xxxii., xcii., xcv. to xcix., ciii., civ., &c. Others are the expression of gratitude, e.g., ix., xviii., xxxiv., lxvi., lxviii., &c. Many are prayers in time of trouble; in most of these the suppliant feels sure that God will accept his prayer, and is confident that help will come. Such psalms are iii., iv., v., vi., xii., xiii., &c. To this class belong also all the psalms which refer to the troubles of David during the reign of Saul, as lii., liv., lvi., lix., lxiii., &c.; some of the Asaph-psalms, lxxiii., lxxvii., lxxix., lxxx.; the penitential psalms, in which the sinner prays for mercy, as xxv., xxxii., xxxviii., li.; and those in which a longing is expressed for the House of God, e.g., xxvii., xlii., xliii., lxv., lxxxiv. Some psalms are a protest against those who rely on human force and human cunning instead of having faith in God, a protest of the ‏ענוים‎ against the view and creed of the ‏זדים‎ and ‏גאים‎ or ‏גוים‎ e.g., ix. and x., xi., xiv., xvi., xvii., &c. Some psalms are of a more didactic character, showing the way of true happiness (Ps. i.), depicting a truly pious life (xv., xxiv.), or the excellence of the word of God, as xix., cxix.; or the uselessness of sacrifice without purity of heart (xl., l., li.).