Q: #589. How many of the Psalms do we not know the author's name?
A: Of the 150 Psalms, 50 do not list the author’s name. However, we learn in the New Testament that two of the Psalms with no author named belong to David: Psalm 2 (Acts 4:25), and Psalm 95 (Heb 4:7). Therefore, we don’t know the authorship of 48 Psalms.
There are books apart from the Bible that credit David with 88 Psalms (the Bible says 75), and Moses with 11 (the Bible says only Psalm 90). In addition, men such as Jeremiah, Haggai, and Zechariah have been credited with writing a Psalm. However, I am sticking with ONLY the Bible here. Therefore, I am going to list the 48 Psalms whose authorship we do not know.
Here are these Psalms:
Chapters 1, 10, 33, 43, 66 – 67, 71, 91-94, 96-100, 102, 104-107, 111-121, 123, 125-126, 128-130, 132, 134-137, 146-150
If you are wondering who wrote the other Psalms: David wrote 75 (Half!), Asaph wrote 12, the Sons of Korah wrote 10, Solomon wrote 2, and Moses, Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman the Ezrahite each wrote 1. (***Heman co-wrote Ps 88 with the Sons of Korah.)
The 48 Psalms whose authorship we do not know are sometimes called the “orphan Psalms.”
Related: What does the word “Selah” mean?