Psalm 119 is a Psalm in the Hebrew Bible. The original Davidic authorship is unknown.
The Psalm can be divided into twenty-two sections, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 119:41 reads “Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me in Your righteousness.”
Psalm 119 is an acrostic Psalm with each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Because Psalms are songs, this Psalm also has the characteristics of poetry.
The original author/composer of Psalm 119 is unknown. However it is known that Psalm 119 was written after King David’s Psalms. Psalm 119:110-112 alludes to Psalm 109:8 and Psalm 109 is the closest Psalm in the Hebrew Bible that mentions King David by name (Psalm 55 also refers to him but does not directly name him). Psalm 111 is written as a single acrostic poem and refers to God’s Psalm by Psalm 104, Psalm 93 is Psalm 92 with Psalms 97-100 included as an introduction. Psalm 89 is also written as a single acrostic poem and Psalms 74-77 are an introduction to Psalm 78 . These facts further support that Psalm 119 was composed after King David’s Psalms.
Psalm 119:160-Waw mentions Psalm 119:38 so Psalm 38 was composed before Psalm 119. Psalms 33-37 are an introduction to Psalm 36 and Psalms 32, 42, 43, 45, 52, 54, 55, 56 and 57 are introductions to Psalms 31 and 40 . Therefore Psalm 119 was composed before Psalm 38 and Psalms 33-57. Psalms 1, 2, 10, 33-37 and 119:1-17 are Psalms of Ascent. Psalm 120-134 were written for pilgrimage festivals when Jews from the Diaspora returned to Jerusalem to keep the pilgrimage festivals in accordance with Ezra 3:5. Psalms 115-118, Psalm 136 and Psalm 137 are also pilgrimage Psalms. Psalms 114, 135 and 138-145 were written for the inauguration of Solomon’s temple which was after Psalms 1, 2, 33-57 and 119 .
