Psalm 144, which follows Psalm 133 in the exquistie reproduction offered here by Biblical Reproductions, is marked “of David.” Seventy-three psalms altogether are thus identified in the Bible by a similar superscription (“of David,” “a psalm of David,” “of David. A Maskil,” ‘To the Leader. A psalm of David,” etc.) , confirming the classical Jewish tradition that King David wrote the book of Psalms. This view is shared in the New Testament by references to six psalms ( Psalms 2, 16, 32, 69, 95, and 110) as specifically composed by David, references to be found in Matthew (22:44), twice in the book of Acts (2:31 and 4:25), twice in the letter of Paul to the Romans (4:6; and 11:9) and once in his letter to the Hebrews (4:7).
Modern scholarship does not accept this opinion. Nor indeed does the
Book of Psalms itself contend that David wrote them all. There is a line
added to the end of Psalm 72 that says specifically that “the prayers of
David son of Jesse are ended.” The universal consensus, therefore, is
that the various psalms were composed over a long period of time and
under varying circumstances. There may be some agreement as to which are
earlier and which later, but beyond that their authorship is unknown.
Author: Walter Zanger