I don’t want to write an article about the book of Psalms that’s boring—like listing for you benefits of reading the Psalms as if they’re some sort of medication. I’m not telling you to read the Psalms as if it is assignment you’ve missed.

I want, instead, to describe for you what will happen if you do read the Psalms. The hope is that when you finish this article, you won’t be able to resist going and finding out for yourself if it’s true. But first, I’ll explain what the Psalms are. Then, I’ll clarify what I mean by wanting you to read the Psalms.

What Are the Psalms?

Every bit of Scripture is precious (2 Timothy 3:16). But not every bit of Scripture is alike. God gave us different forms of revelation because he is kind, creative, and wise. In his love, God gave us the book of Psalms.

A psalm is a kind of song or poem. There are one hundred and fifty psalms in the book of Psalms in the Bible. In his kindness, creativity, and wisdom, God gave you this collection of 150 song lyrics. Each one of these songs is equally inspired by God, precious, purposeful, and fits an occasion, moment, or a season in your life. Each one is like a different melody on your playlist—each composed for a time.

Many of the Psalms are also prayers. Most of the Bible communicates God’s thoughts to us; but in this part of the Bible, the Holy Spirit teaches us to share our thoughts with God. What an incredible gift—that God’s own Word would take the form of prayers to help us know how to relate to him!

So, the Psalms are a collection of 150 poems that God has given through people just like you for a dual purpose—to help you express your heart to him and to reveal himself to you.

What Do I Mean by “Read the Psalms”?

When I say I want you to read the Psalms, you may think that I just want you to have read all 150 psalms, like you might read any other book. When I say to read the Psalms, I do not mean take up the book of Psalms and read it once through, so that you can say you have read it.

Like songs, psalms are more like places that become precious to you over time. The more you visit one, the more precious it becomes.

When I say read the Psalms, I mean for you to familiarize yourself with them—that’s an awfully dry way of saying you should return to them like a song you’re trying to learn to sing, or read them over and over like a poem written for you by a friend. Listen through several psalms like a new album by your favorite artist, and open them up late at night as a source of comfort when all you can think to do is cry.

I won’t tell you how to start reading them, but I’ll tell you how I got to know them, and maybe you’ll be inspired to try the same methods to become familiar with the Psalms.

Ideas for How to Read the Psalms

In elementary school, my mom would read to me and my four brothers either Psalm 23 or Psalm 34 every morning at breakfast. From a young age, I could recite both these psalms. They go with me into hospital rooms, onto the track at college, into conversations I have with friends, and into every fearful circumstance where I will need them, because they are now written on my mind.

In college, I tried reading one psalm—Psalm 27, 40, and 63—every night. In reality, I read it every night I remembered to do so, 4-5 evenings a week, for a quarter or a semester. I knew that by the end, I would have the psalm memorized, or nearly memorized. It would begin to shape what I prayed to God, and the truth of it would slowly steep into my soul and transform my thoughts, relationships, and emotional horizon.

You can choose one psalm and pause there as long as you like. Or, you can journey through all the Psalms, in hopes of discovering one to settle on.

Here’s a popular way to journey through the Psalms. If you read five psalms a night for a month, you’ll have read all of them. It was through reading many psalms regularly that I encountered just the right psalm for the season I was in. By reading many psalms together, I also started to learn which psalms talked about what. Through reading them all, you realize that the ones in the 100s are typically joyful, and the ones in the 70s are written by the songwriter Asaph, and the ones in the 40s-50s are often a bit teary. In this way, you become acquainted with the message of each psalm, because in reading many at once, you will notice their differences.

Perhaps a personal comment will give you with one last idea for how to read the Psalms and ignite in you a desire to start reading. I flipped through my ESV Psalms Scripture Journal in preparation to write this article for you. In it were notes scribbled out past midnight and dates next to verses that matched my experience. In it were poems in the margins, and names of my friends who needed the psalmist’s prayers written there. In it were tear-stained pages and hastily scrawled prayers of distress, which I felt welcomed to voice because of the cries I heard coming through those psalms. The Psalms, I hope you see, are not something to read, but a place to go, and a gift to be treasured.

Read the Psalms, friend. And here is why I want you to read them.

In the Psalms You Will Meet God

Through the Psalms, God cares for your soul.

As previously mentioned, I have found the Psalms to be a world. They are not just poems; they are a place where we experience the hospitality of the Holy Spirit. They’re a place created, tilled, tended, erected, and hewn by the Holy Spirit, where he cares for our souls as he cared for the souls who wrote each psalm long ago. His care is mediated through words, the words of these songs.

Some psalms feel like a long and tight hug from the Holy Spirit that welcome us to shout our distress past his shoulder through hot tears (Psalm 31). Sometimes a psalm will cover us with a peace that surpasses understanding as we surrender to God all we cannot understand (Psalm 131). Sometimes a psalm will minister to us like a friend taking us by the shoulders and speaking eye-to-eye about the things we have forgotten or failed to believe (Psalm 42). 

This place that God the Holy Spirit has created for your soul will be at various times a pillow to rest your head on, a shelter in the rock when arrows fly by, a hard stone floor to pour out your tears, or a haven looking out on a horizon flooded with sunrise when your heart is full of joy.

The Psalms are God’s provision for the soul. They are a place for you to go in real life—as close as the book at your bedside. They’re a place for your soul to go (in whatever state you find yourself) to find God.

These poems aren’t magical incantations, but they are supernatural, because they’re prayers that God fashioned in the hearts of his servants long ago, inspired them to write, and preserved in his Word for you. The God who knit you together, longs to commune with you, and has provided the Psalms as a precious meeting place.

You will find that the Psalms sing the very thoughts of your own soul.

You will read a psalm and think how ever did that ancient writer know the thoughts of my heart?! I remember crying for the second or third night in a row, feeling no relief from my trouble, and reading, “Come quickly Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens” (Psalm 143:7 NLT). Yes, that’s exactly how I feel—my depression deepens. But then the psalm led me into prayer I could not have thought of while my mind was fogged up by sorrow.

As you read the Psalms you will find that they read you, and not only identify for you the thoughts of your heart, but also interpret them, and lead you to share your bare soul with the Lord. The Psalms cover every emotion and experience known to the human soul. Here in the Psalms, you will find your heart at home.

You will come to know God as you read the Psalms.

The God revealed in the Psalms is the true God. As the Psalms teach you to pray, they will also tell you much about the God you are praying to. They will tell you of his tenderness, his power, his enduring love, his discipline, his holiness, his justice, his joy, and his kindness. They tell you that he’s not afraid to hear your honest, impassioned cries (Psalm 22:1), that he counts your tears (Psalm 56:8), that sometimes he seems silent (Psalm 28:1), that he knows you better than you know yourself (Psalm 139), and that he is the Lord of all creation (Psalm 135:6).

We know that every bit of the Bible is about Jesus to some degree (Luke 24:27). And so as you read the Psalms, you will come to know your Savior. He is the main theme of this collection of poetry. You will know him as your Shepherd (Psalm 23), as the King of the nations (Psalm 2), as a Warrior who rescues (Psalm 18), as the one under whose wings you find refuge (Psalm 91), as the Person more delightful than any other (Psalm 16), as the one who suffered God-forsakenness for you (Psalm 22), and as the resurrected King whose reign is our happily ever after (Psalm 45). You will know your Savior and Lord better as you read the Psalms.

Why I Want You to Read the Psalms

Dearest friend, I want you to read the Psalms, because I want you to know God, not as a concept, but as a person to be cherished, confided in, adored, honored, praised, loved, and known. There is a little world in your Bible he has created where your heart can meet his. It is called the Psalms, and if you enter that world, you will find many places that will become especially precious to you.

I hope you’ve read something that’s sparked enough interest to move you to keep a Bible by your bedside with a bookmark in the Psalms.

Endnote:

At my bedside is a book that I will unashamedly plead with you to buy. It’s the Psalms ESV Scripture Journal. No one has told me to tell you to buy this, nor will we get any profit from you doing so, I promise. I sincerely think every follower of Jesus or every person interested in God would be greatly benefitted by owning one.

A Note to Moms: 

My mom gave me the ESV Scripture Journal (this pretty one) my third year of college. And you heard in the article how she read me the Psalms daily before I was old enough to understand what a gift I was receiving. In reality, this article is the fruit of her sowing God’s Word into my life. So moms—as you discover the Psalms, I encourage you to share them with your kids! You will be giving them a tremendous gift!