Religion and Theology

The psalms in the Bible is essentially a collection of religious or devotional songs or poems attributed to (King) David though scholars have learned this is not entirely true and only half of them are attributed to him while the rest are credited to groups of temple singers such as Sons of Korah and Sons of Asaph.

The psalms are grouped according to the purpose or message it evokes.  One category is psalms that praise God, another one for thanksgiving and the third contains lamentations, usually invoked during times of adversity.  The first group is for the purpose of praising God.  Hebrews believed that God always wants to be given attention and needs to be pleased and that the Israelites ought to be grateful to Him since He has intervened for them several times when they needed it the most, whether it is personal or societal. Thus, He deserves to be recognized for it conversely, the Israelites should acknowledge the things God has given to them in the form of thanksgiving as well (Harris, 239-241). 

But there is also a group of psalms made that serve to complain to God for any calamity or misfortune that would befall anyone. While this serves as a grievance to God, the ones reciting it implore for succor or help from God, which implies that they need Him which is exactly what God wants as He wants all His children to turn to Him always (Harris, 241-242).

In conclusion, psalms, though not containing any historical value still serve a prpose in the Bible.  It actually does give one a clue on the history of early worshippers on how they worship God and the psalms serve that purpose.  The psalms are also the source of wisdom and enlightenment set into song or poetry which could be considered appealing to simple folks as in the ancient times, not everyone was as gifted as a high priest, a sage and prophet who were authorized to provide moral guidance to the people and were Gods intermediaries. What makes psalms special is that it can be directly absorbed by anyone without going through those authorities and can also be a source of personal meditation which is a way for an individual to establish a meaningful relationship with God.