Praying the Psalms provides a wonderful guide to praying biblical prayers. The Psalms express a wide variety of human emotions, and there are certainly psalms for each celebration or challenge we face. What Psalms should we pray?  Pray the ones that resonate in our heart and within our spirit.  Each of us will find different Psalms to be more effective at different times in our lives.  The memorization and reciting is a part of what St Theophan calls “bodily prayer.”  Other saints whose lives displayed the gift of true prayer called this the “prayer rule.”  The rule was to begin their time of prayer with Psalms and written prayers that had been considered and given thought.  When we read or recite from memory prayers and Psalms of spiritual depth and meaning it helps us to pray while focusing our thoughts and keeping our memory from wandering and browsing, which ultimately distracts and keeps us from true prayer.  A good place to begin would be Psalm 51, “Have mercy on me, O God.” 

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 51

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; According to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, So that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts, you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out my iniquity. Create in me, a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.“

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 103

“Praise the Lord O my soul; and all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord O my soul, and forget all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with love and compassion,  who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel; The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He stay angry forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.  As for man his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, 

And its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep His covenant and remember to keep His precepts.  The Lord has established His throne, and His kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord O my soul.”

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 146

“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is He whose help is the Lord God of Jacob, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and give food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, and the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion for all generations. Praise the Lord.”

Praying the Psalms – Psalm 23

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet water, He restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.“

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