What is a…
Song of Degrees

also known as: A Song Of Ascents or A Song of Steps

Hebrew: הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת שִׁ֗יר —transliteration: mshiyr a'alah —meaning: A Song of Steps

This is a title given to each of these 15 psalms. They are sometimes called “Pilgrim Songs.”

  1. Psalm 120 — In My Distress, I Cried to the Lord
  2. Psalm 121 — I Will Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills
  3. Psalm 122 — Let Us Go to the Lord's House!
  4. Psalm 123 — To You I Do Lift Up My Eyes
  5. Psalm 124 — Our Help is in the Name of the Lord
  6. Psalm 125 — So the Lord Surrounds His People
  7. Psalm 126 — The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us
  8. Psalm 127 — Unless the Lord Builds
  9. Psalm 128 — Blessed Are All who Walk in His Ways
  10. Psalm 129 — Many Times They Have Afflicted Me
  11. Psalm 130 — Out of the Depths I Cried to You
  12. Psalm 131 — I Have Stilled My Soul
  13. Psalm 132 — Remember David and All his Affliction
  14. Psalm 133 — How Pleasant to Live Together in Unity!
  15. Psalm 134 — Praise the Lord, All You Servants

The probable origin of this name is the that these psalms came to be sung by the Israelite people on their ascents up up to Jerusalem to attend the 3 great divintely ordained festivals.

“Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread [The Passover] and at the Feast of Weeks [Pentecost] and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.” —Deuteronomy 16:16

These songs were well suited for being sung on the way due to their particular form, and from the sentiments they express. “They are characterized by brevity, by a keyword, by epanaphora [i.e, repetition], and by their epigrammatic style… More than half of them are cheerful, and all of them hopeful.”

Four of them were written by David, one (Psalm 127) by his son Solomon, and the rest are anonymous.

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Article Version: March 13, 2026