Introducing the Psalter: A Guide to Prayer and Theology

On By Heart, Mind and Soul CareIn Psalms

The Psalms have been the prayer book of God’s people for three thousand years. Israel sang them in the temple and on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus prayed them, even from the cross. Monks and nuns still pray them through every week, and Reformed congregations have sung them for centuries. I have prayed them at bedsides and gravesides, and I have watched people who could no longer remember their own children still whisper along with Psalm 23.

This post opens a series on the Psalms. Before we walk through them one at a time, I want to step back and look at the book as a whole.

Where the Psalms Came From

The Psalms grew out of Israel’s worship and Israel’s life. Some were written for festivals, coronations, and pilgrimages. Others came out of sickness, betrayal, guilt, or gratitude. David’s name is attached to many of them, but we also find psalms of Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, and Moses. Over time these prayers were gathered into one collection, and the collection was shaped with care.

The Five Books of the Psalter

The Psalter is divided into five books, much like the five books of Moses. Each of the first four ends with a short doxology, a burst of praise such as “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen” (Psalm 41:13).

  • Book I (Psalms 1-41): Mostly psalms of David, many of them cries for help in trouble.
  • Book II (Psalms 42-72): Psalms of the sons of Korah and of David, ending with a prayer for the king and the note, “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended” (Psalm 72:20).
  • Book III (Psalms 73-89): Darker psalms that wrestle with the fall of Jerusalem and the seeming failure of God’s promise to David.
  • Book IV (Psalms 90-106): A turn back to God as King, beginning with “A Prayer of Moses,” reminding a shaken people that the Lord reigned before there was ever a throne in Jerusalem.
  • Book V (Psalms 107-150): Songs of thanksgiving, pilgrimage, and praise, ending with the great call, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150:6).

Read from beginning to end, the Psalter moves from lament toward praise, but it goes right through the hard middle to get there.

Jesus and the Psalms

Jesus told His disciples that “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). On the cross He prayed Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), and with His last breath He prayed Psalm 31, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46). When we pray the Psalms, we are praying the prayers our Lord prayed.

Two Traditions, One Prayer Book

The Reformed tradition has loved the Psalms as the pattern for honest prayer. John Calvin called the book “An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul,” because “there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.” Reformed churches made metrical psalm singing a central part of worship, so that God’s people would pray with God’s own words.

The Catholic tradition has woven the Psalms into the daily prayer of the Church through the Liturgy of the Hours and into every Mass through the responsorial psalm. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The Psalter is the book in which the Word of God becomes man’s prayer” (CCC 2587). It also says the Psalms are “an essential and permanent element of the prayer of the Church,” suitable “for men of every condition and time” (CCC 2597).

Both traditions agree that the Psalms are meant to be prayed and not only studied. They give us permission to bring all of ourselves to God, the grief and anger along with the joy. As the psalmist says, “pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).

Questions for Reflection

  1. What emotions do I avoid bringing to God?
  2. Which psalm best reflects my current season of life?
  3. Where do I see Christ in the Psalms?

If you have never prayed the Psalms on purpose, try this: read one psalm a day, slowly, out loud if you can. Don’t worry about understanding all of it. Just let it teach you how to pray.

For Further Reading

  • Athanasius. Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms.
  • Augustine. Expositions on the Psalms. In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8.
  • Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1970.
  • Calvin, John. Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Translated by James Anderson. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1845-1849.
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2585-2589.
  • Wright, N. T. The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential. New York: HarperOne, 2013.

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