Psalms of Praise
Almost all Psalms praise God, but in Psalms of Praise, that's the whole point.
Praising God is good when your mood is joyful, but praising God will also help make your mood joyful. Psalms of Praise are about who God is even more than they are about what God has done. Spending time thinking about who God is – writing, speaking, or even singing your praise will lift your heart and remind you why you love God.
The Psalms of Praise in the Bible are Psalms 29, 47, 48, 92, 93, 97, 98, 100, 103, 113, 117, 145, 147, 149, and 150. By now you've seen that every type of Psalm includes praise, even the Laments, but these ones are simply full of joy.
These Psalms don't have a consistent form, but they do have recurring themes. I find seven key concepts running through the Psalms of Praise:
Maybe it's obvious, but these Psalms specifically call God's people to praise.
These Psalms come out of an abundance of joy and call us to joy.
These ones were obviously meant to be sung, and urge singing and playing instruments.
Many focus on the majesty and power of God.
They also focus on the goodness of God, and God's care of God's creatures.
And then they highlight aspects of God's faithfulness.
And the greatest of all these attributes is God's unfailing love.
I was surprised to discover when I made this webpage that I've been writing examples of other types of Psalms for years, but not so many Psalms of Praise. However, I've made a start, so here's a link to my Sonderjourneys blog for examples of psalms of Praise. And then I hope people will try it out and post their own examples in the comments. As it says in James, "Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise."