The Psalms are often called “the heart of the Old Testament.” This is not only because if you open your Bible to the middle (the “heart” of it), you will likely open to a psalm, but also because it works on our hearts. John Calvin said of the Psalms, “I have been wont to call this book not inappropriately, an anatomy of all parts of the soul; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.” The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems that express a wide variety of emotions, including: love and adoration toward God, sorrow over sin, dependence on God in desperate circumstances, the battle of fear and trust, walking with God even when the way seems dark, thankfulness for God’s care, devotion to the word of God, and confidence in the eventual triumph of God’s purposes in the world. From tearful laments to triumphant thanksgivings, these expressions of emotion serve as patterns to shape the emotions and actions of the godly of every age.

—Douglas Sean O’Donnell

Source: Content taken from Psalms: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Douglas Sean O’Donnell. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Jesus taught us to read our Bibles with him in mind—“everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44 ESV). “The Psalms” or “the Writings,” which includes the book of Psalms and other books, bear witness to Jesus (John 5:39) and can “make [us] wise for salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15 ESV). The Psalms are quoted by the New Testament authors more than any other Old Testament book. When Paul quotes from the Old Testament, one-fifth of his citations are from the Psalms. And in Paul’s sermons in Acts, he often quotes from the Psalms.

—Douglas Sean O’Donnell

Source: Content taken from Psalms: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Douglas Sean O’Donnell. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

In Hebrew poetry the most distinctive and pervasive organizing form of poetic art is parallelism. The three principal kinds are synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic. In a synonymous parallel the second half-line is identical or similar to the first. In an antithetic parallel the second half-line is opposite the first. In a synthetic parallel the second half-line imitates but also adds to the first. All three forms carry forth the thought of the first. Look at Psalms 3:1; 7:10; and 18:27. These are three examples of the three types of parallelisms—synonymous (echoes), antithetic (contrasts), and synthetic (completes).

—Douglas Sean O’Donnell

Source: Content taken from Psalms: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Douglas Sean O’Donnell. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

The Psalms show us how to express our varied feelings; but, more than that, they reorder our disordered affections so that we feel deeper desires for what we ought to desire, more urgent aversion to that from which we need to flee, and a greater longing for the honor of God in the health of Christ’s church. The Psalms form within us a richer palette of rightly directed emotions. It is not so much that the Psalms resonate with us as they shape us so that we most deeply resonate with the God-given yearnings they so movingly express.

—Christopher Ash

Source: Psalms for You in the God’s Word for You Series by Christopher Ash, copyright 2020 by The Good Book Company, used by kind permission.

There are different voices in the Psalms. Sometimes we hear a voice of authority speaking “down” to us from God on high. At other times we hear a human being speaking “upwards” to God on high, speaking by the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Christ. And then again we sometimes hear the people of God speaking together, in prayer or praise, or to one another.

—Christopher Ash

Source: Psalms for You in the God’s Word for You Series by Christopher Ash, copyright 2020 by The Good Book Company, used by kind permission.

The Psalms are unlike any other portion of Scripture. This is the one book of the Bible written to God. We are taught in many other places in Scripture how to pray. Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15). Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV). But the Psalms are themselves prayers. In this way the Psalms are uniquely suited to foster communion with God. The Psalms give voice to our hearts.

—Dane Ortlund

Source: Content taken from In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions Through the Psalms © 2021 by Dane Ortlund. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

God is behind everything. This is the great difference between the Psalms of Scripture and the laments, complaints, and sorrows of the world. For the psalmists, God is a rock-solid, unshakeable, undeniable, omnipotent Reality. Their emotional experiences get their meaning not by denying him or his power or his wisdom, but by dealing with him as he is: absolutely sovereign. “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135:6 ESV). This was the psalmists’ unshakeable conviction—all of them: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalm 115:3 ESV). … If God is God, then all emotional life is lived in his presence. He makes sense of it. Or there is no sense.

This is an invitation. God wants our hearts. He will take them as he finds them. And then, with the healing balm of the Psalms, he will shape them. Accept his invitation to come. On the front door, he has promised, Enter here. Find your delight in lingering here in meditation. 

—John Piper

Source: By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org. Quoted from his article “God Wants to Shape Your Wants.” 

The book of Psalms begins with the word “blessed.” This word is multiplied many times over in this book. The book seems to be built around this first word. Probably no other book has so largely influenced turning points in people’s lives, given expression to their deepest experiences and woven itself into every fiber of their characters.  

Hold your Bible in your hand and turn to the middle of the book. Most often you will open to the book of Psalms. Not merely is this true physically, but it also signifies a deeper truth: The psalms are central in human experience.  

This book has been and still is used by Hebrews and Christians alike. Many of the psalms were, in fact, specifically meant to be used in the temple. They were all written to reflect the heart of the worshiper of God; and they are for all who are in need: the sick and suffering, the poor and needy, the prisoner and exile, the person in danger, the persecuted. Or, if you have an abounding joy, the words are there for you, too. When you find yourself in deep need, you can always find a psalm that expresses your inner-most feeling.  

The book of Psalms is for the sinner, telling him or her of God’s great mercy and forgiveness. It is a book for the child of God, leading him or her into new experiences with the Lord. It is a book that tells of God’s perfect law and pronounces blessings upon the one who will keep it.  

—Henrietta Mears

This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 

The Psalms teach us why singing is important, showing us what to sing about, each song like a diamond revealing the many facets of God’s character. Worship comes as a response to the revelation of God, and he has revealed himself to us in different ways.

—Kristyn Getty

Source: Content adapted from the ESV Women’s Study Bible. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission. 

The Psalms are much more than poetry. Many of them bear the title, Maskil, or teaching psalm. They are thus intended to instruct the mind as well as to encourage the heart. They are designed not only to reflect a mood, but to show us also how to handle that mood; how to escape from depression or how to balance exaltation with wisdom. 

—Ray Stedman

Source: Stedman, Ray C. Folk Psalms of the Faith. Regal Books, 1973. Quote retrieved from AZ Quotes at azquotes.com.

An imprecation is a curse that invokes misfortune upon someone. Imprecatory psalms are those in which the author imprecates; that is, he calls down calamity, destruction, and God’s anger and judgment on his enemies. This type of psalm is found throughout the book. The major imprecatory psalms are Psalms 5, 10, 17, 35, 58, 59, 69, 70, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137, and 140.

—Got Questions

Source: “What Are the Imprecatory Psalms?,” Got Questions Ministries, accessed May 25, 2023, [https://www.gotquestions.org/imprecatory-psalms.html]

These prayers are emotional. The psalmists didn’t just say they were suffering; they sought words describing their distress. Their words help us feel their anguish, countering our tendency to think our suffering is unique. Even if we don’t find our exact griefs in the psalms, we find anguish at least as deep…these petitioners risked theological incorrectness in order to give breath to their true feelings: “Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever” (Psalm 44:23 NLT; cf. 35:22–23). 

They dared such transparency because they knew that God knew what was festering in their hearts (see Psalm 44:21; 139:1–4; cf. Hebrews 4:13). They knew they would damage their relationships with him by trying to hide the truth (see Psalm 32:1–6), so they spoke what they felt—and thus they coach us to keep calling on God, to keep addressing him, even if that means complaining or protesting. In short, we must keep breathing.  

This shows that biblical faith is not mere mindless acquiescence. Read Psalms 44, 88, and 89, noting how bleakly each ends. These psalmists expressed their sorrows, perplexities, and complaints to God as honestly as they could. Their faith inspired them to be remarkably free in baring their hearts to him. These laments—along with others scattered throughout the Old Testament—should encourage us to do the same. 

Yet we are not only free to bare our hearts to God when we are suffering; we need to cry out to him. God promises to answer when we call (see Psalm 50:15; 91:15). As David learned, even well-intended silence can make things worse (see Psalm 39, especially vv. 1–3, 9–13). We need to be thorough and tell God all our troubles (see Psalm 142:1–2, 5–7 NLT).  

—Mark Talbot 

Source: Content adapted from When the Stars Disappear © 2020 by Mark Talbot. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. 

I want to persuade you that Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of the Psalms, that Jesus Christ is the subject and singer of the Psalms, that the true meaning of the Psalms is found in him and that only those in Christ can sing, speak, pray the Psalms in a way that respect their true and original meaning. 

—Christopher Ash  

Source: Christopher Ash, quoted from his video “Christopher Ash – How Can Christians Sing the Psalms? | Gheens Lecture 1.” YouTube video. Posted by “Southern Seminary,” September 18, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWbX20ePo1U.