Can You Finish These Old Testament Psalms?

RELIGION

By: Tasha Moore

6 Min Quiz

Image: krisanapong detraphiphat / Moment / Getty Images

About This Quiz

Gain superb holy insight from this Old Testament Psalms quiz! Does "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." sound familiar to you? If so, take your Psalms book knowledge to the next level and learn comforting poetic verses from celebrated psalmists like David and Solomon.

The book of Psalms is the third section of the Old Testament and the 19th book of the Bible. The book's verses were written to accompany music. Psalms are songs that recycle several basic themes, such as praise, lament, hope and trust in God. In addition to David and Solomon, sons of Korah authored many of the chapters you'll see in this quiz. David is the most prominent author in the book. His psalms resonate a biographical tone, as he confesses sentiments pertaining to trials, joys and concerns he experienced before and during his reign as king. 

You'll notice that some of the psalms we've gathered share words with other scriptures from Old and New Testaments. For example, Jesus refers directly to David as psalmist in three of the New Testament gospels. The Genesis creation theme makes an appearance in Psalms, and look out for mirroring from Deuteronomy and Numbers Old Testament verses.

Broaden your spiritual scope with the lyrical verses that only the Bible can gift. Sing, speak and scroll along with our pick of inspirational psalms!

"Let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire ________"?

The quoted verse is part of Psalm 70:2. In Psalm 70, David asks God to "make haste" of his deliverance from those who "seek after [his] soul." David goes on to request the humiliation of his enemies: "Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha."

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"Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, from a ________ tongue"?

This is Psalm 120:2, which is the first of 15 songs of ascent. The psalm was intended to be used during processional journeys during ritual feasts in Jerusalem. It is primarily a song of lament that highlights how the lies of the wicked torment the righteous.

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"Peace be within thy walls, and ________ within thy palaces"?

Psalm 122:7 is a song of Zion that was crafted for processional journeys during celebrations of ritual feasts in Jerusalem. Psalm 122: 1-2 make light of the holy journey: "Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem."

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"For the rod of the ________ shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous..."?

Psalm 125:3 is part of a song of Zion and is written anonymously. The essence of the psalm is the protection of the "upright" from the wicked. Psalm 125:4 identifies the righteous: "Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts."

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"For there the Lord commanded the ________, even life for evermore"?

David authored Psalm 133:3, which is one of four of his ascent psalms. The psalm's theme is unity among the righteous believers. Psalm 133:1 implicates Jesus's prayer in John 17. Psalm 133:1 states: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"

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"I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I ________?

Psalm 130:5 is primarily about God's mercy. Psalm 130:1 speaks of personal mercy: "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord." Then Psalm 130:7 expresses hope of mercy for all: "Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy..."

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"Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his ________ greatness"?

Psalm 150, the last psalm of the book, is a praise psalm and is the essence of the Hebrew word "hallelujah," which means "praise the Lord." The psalm demonstrates a repetitive style; all but one verse contain the words "praise him."

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"The Lord that made heaven and earth ________ thee out of Zion"?

Psalm 134:3 is the last of the ascent psalms and is one of the shortest psalms in the book. The psalm commands fervent worship in the "house of the Lord": "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord."

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"They that sow in ________ shall reap in joy."

Psalm 126 was devised during a period of restoration of Jerusalem after Babylonian captivity. This is verse 5. The psalm's joy-after-separation theme is apparent in the first two verses: "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter..."

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"Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people ________"?

Psalm 67:3 is also expressed as a doxology, a liturgical praise verse, in Numbers 6: 24-26. The psalm, written by an anonymous author, is classified as a psalm of praise. In Psalm 67:3, the psalmist is asking that the people be allowed to praise God.

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"He shall drink of the ________ in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head."

In Matthew 22, Mark 12 and Luke 20, Jesus identifies David as the author of Psalm 110:7, which is a psalm of divine royalty. In the New Testament, Jesus asserts that David was referring to someone greater than himself when he wrote, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand..."

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"I will lift up mine ________ unto the hills, from whence cometh my help"?

Psalm 121:1 is a declaration that God is the source of all help. Verse two continues: "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:3 demonstrates confidence in God's protection: "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul."

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"Then the ________ waters had gone over our soul"?

Psalm 124 is a song of ascent, one of four Psalms of its kind written by David. This is verse five. During journeys to Jerusalem, worshipers would recite these ritual verses. One verse magnifies God's blessing of deliverance: "Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth."

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"Thy throne is established of old: thou art from ________?

Psalm 93:2 characterizes God as royalty and emphasizes God's reign over Earth. The first verse adorns God, the creator of Earth: "he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength...the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved."

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"I will set no wicked thing before mine ________"?

David penned this psalm, which is a declaration that he will "sing of mercy and judgment [(justice)]" and "behave wisely." Psalm 101:3, quoted here, is a promise to God that he will walk a righteous path.

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"The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven ________"?

Psalm 114:3 is festive praise of Israel's rescue from Egypt. Not only does the psalm identify Israel's enemies, "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest," but it warns the earth of the power of God who delivered and "turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters."

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"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy ________, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained"?

David wrote Psalm 8:3 as a psalm of wise praise, and it considers the great significance of God's creation, as expressed in Genesis 1. David also references man as part of God's majestic creation: "Thou madest [man] to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet."

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"Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that _______ in the heavens"?

Written anonymously, Psalm 123 is an ascent psalm of lament. It is a supplication for God to focus his attention on and show mercy to his people, as illustrated in Psalm 123:3: "Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt."

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"The plowers ________upon my back: they made long their furrows."

Psalm 129:3 is written anonymously and is about lament as well as trust in God. Psalm 129:4 is an affirmation of faith in the fact that the righteous God will reign victorious: "The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked."

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"Deliver me from my persecutors; for they are ________ than I"?

David authored Psalm 142:6, crying out to God and submitting his grievances. David confirms, "I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble." In the midst of his troubles, David looks forward to God's salvation: "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name..."

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"Surely I have behaved and ________ myself..."?

Psalm 131:2 is about trust in God and was written by David. The author expresses humility in Psalm 131:1: "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty..." Then, he symbolizes the essence of his trust in God to be "as a child that is weaned of his mother."

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"It is ________ for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows..."

Solomon authored this psalm of ascent which chastises personal vanities. Psalm 127:5 encourages believers to favor endeavors that God glorifies: "Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed..."

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"I will freely ________ unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good."

David penned Psalm 54:6, which is a psalm of sorrow. The prayer's answer is found in Psalm 54:7: "For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies."

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O praise the Lord, all ye ________: praise him, all ye people"?

Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm in the book and it is written anonymously. Praise is the main theme of the psalm. The first verse is a call for praise, and the second verse gives reasons to praise God.

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"Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his ________ with singing"?

Thanksgiving and praise are the gist of Psalm 100, which specifically commands joint praise: "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands." The phrase "the Lord he is God" in Psalm 100:3 mirrors the confession expressed in Deuteronomy 6:4, which reads, "The Lord our God is one Lord."

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"His ________ is in the holy mountains"?

Temple musicians Sons of Korah wrote Psalm 87:1, which characterizes Jerusalem as the "city of God." The Lord speaks through Psalm 87:4: "I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me..."

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"Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all ________"?

Wisdom is the theme of Psalm 82:2, written by the Levite Asaph who was responsible for praise service. In Psalm 6, God issues judgment over the wise men among the people, the judges: "Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High."

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"They are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, ________"?

The quoted verse is Psalm 53:3, which David wrote to define fools and the corrupt. David says that "the fool hath saith in his heart, There is no God," and David associates the fool with the corrupt, who "have abominable iniquity."

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"For I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my ________"?

The Sons of Korah, who were assistants and musicians of the temple, penned Psalm 43. Psalm 43:5 explicitly states that the verse, quoted in this question, is about "hope in God." The preceding question further suggests a renewed hope: "why art thou disquieted within me?"

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"Lord, lift thou up the ________ of thy countenance upon us"?

David penned Psalm 4 to express confidence in God's acknowledgement of the troubles he experienced at the time. Psalm 4:6, referenced in the question, bears resemblance to Numbers 6:26, which reads, "The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

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"The Lord is my _______; I shall not want"?

David, who was a shepherd as a youth, is the psalmist of Psalm 23:1, a very popular psalm among Christians. David portrays himself as a sheep and God his shepherd. Psalm 23:2 exemplifies the symbolic relationship: "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters."

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"Lord, who shall abide in the tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy ________?

Psalm 15:1 is about the proper way to worship God. The psalm first poses the question which it then answers in the following verse: "He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart."

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"But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy ________"?

David authored Psalm 13:5. This fifth verse quoted here is about faith in the midst of trials. This psalm verse holds similar faith and salvation themes as Psalm 142:7: "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name..."

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"In the Lord put I my trust: How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to ________?

David wrote Psalm 11:1 as a psalm about trust. The psalm's first verse is an affirmation of trust in God. Psalm 11 considers the assaults of the wicked that might test a believer's trust in God: "Upon the wicked shall rain snares ... this shall be the portion of their cup."

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"Many there be which say of my soul, There is no ________ for him in God. Selah"?

David was escaping from his son Absalom (a story explained in 2 Samuel 15) when he penned Psalm 3:2, which expresses lament. In spite of his trials, David remains faithful in Psalm 3:3: "But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head."

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