The Psalms

The Psalms are a collection of 150 songs and prayers that form the Book of Psalms, or Psalter, in the Old Testament. They cover the whole range of a life turned toward God: praise, thanksgiving, sorrow, repentance, trust under threat, and plain complaint. Tradition associates many of them with King David, though the collection was gathered over centuries and by many hands. The Psalter is traditionally divided into five books, an arrangement that echoes the five books of the Torah.

Two numbering traditions exist, and both are correct. The Hebrew numbering is the one most people know. The Greek Septuagint, which the Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims follow, divides some psalms differently, so from Psalm 9 onward its numbers usually run one behind. The psalm the world calls Psalm 91 is Psalm 90 in the Douay-Rheims. Nothing is missing in either tradition; the same 150 psalms are simply grouped differently. From Psalm 10 to Psalm 147, the Douay-Rheims number is usually one lower than the one used here.

In three ordinary ways. At Mass, a psalm is sung or recited as the Responsorial Psalm between the readings, so the whole assembly answers God with his own words. In the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church works through the Psalter on a repeating cycle, which is why priests and religious pray psalms every day. And privately, one psalm at a time, slowly, is among the oldest and simplest forms of Christian prayer. You need no training to begin: read it aloud, unhurried, and let one line stay with you.

Start with the one that matches where you actually are. Psalm 23 is the psalm of being led and provided for, and it is the one most people find they already half know. Psalm 91 is the psalm of shelter and protection, prayed for centuries by those who felt exposed or afraid. Psalm 121 lifts the eyes upward when help feels far off. Psalm 51 is the great psalm of repentance and a fresh start. Any of the four is a complete prayer on its own.