meaning of psalm

A “psalm” is a sacred song or poem used in the worship and praise of God, especially those found in the Bible’s Book of Psalms.

Basic meaning

• In everyday religious use, a psalm is a song or poem directed to God, often expressing praise, prayer, lament, or thanksgiving.

• In the Bible, “Psalms” is the name of a whole book made up of 150 of these songs, traditionally used in Jewish and Christian worship.

Word origins

• English “psalm” comes through Latin from Greek “psalmos,” meaning a song sung to the music of plucked strings (like a harp or lyre).

• In biblical Hebrew, a common related term is “mizmor,” from a root meaning “to pluck,” again pointing to stringed-instrument music.

In the Bible and worship

• The Book of Psalms has been called Israel’s hymnbook: it collects prayers and songs used in temple and later synagogue and church worship.

• These texts range from joyful praise to raw lament and doubt, giving voice to nearly every human emotion before God.

How people use the word today

• “Psalm” can mean one specific biblical song (e.g., “Psalm 23”) or any similar sacred song patterned after the biblical style.

• Many modern hymns and worship songs are described as “psalm-like” when they echo this poetic, prayerful style with or without instruments.

TL;DR: A psalm is a sacred song or prayer-poem, originally meant to be sung with stringed instruments, best known from the Bible’s Book of Psalms and still central in Jewish and Christian worship.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.