How to Study the Psalms
How to Read the Psalms as Christian Scripture¹
The Psalms are among the most loved portions of Scripture and often among the most misunderstood. They comfort the weary, give words to grief, shape our praise, and steady our hope. Yet they are not merely a collection of religious poems or timeless devotionals. The Psalter is a carefully shaped book, given by God to form the faith, prayers, and worship of His covenant people.What follows is a set of guiding principles to help church members read the Psalms more faithfully, fruitfully, and Christ-centered.
1. Read the Psalms as a Unified Book
The Psalms are not a random anthology. They are arranged intentionally, and the opening two psalms set the agenda for everything that follows.
Psalm 1 presents the blessed man, the one who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. Psalm 2 introduces the anointed Son, God’s appointed King, opposed by the nations yet established by the Lord.
Together, these psalms teach us that true blessing flows through God’s Word and God’s King. Wisdom and kingship, obedience and promise, law and gospel are woven together from the start. Every psalm that follows echoes this opening melody.
2. Read Within Three Horizons² or Contexts
Faithful reading requires attention to context, not only what a psalm says, but where it stands in God’s unfolding revelation. One helpful way to do this is to read across three horizons or contexts.
Literary Context. Each psalm has a form and genre that matters. Lament, praise, wisdom, and royal psalms communicate meaning through poetry, not prose. Parallelism, metaphor, and repetition are not ornaments; they are the message. Each psalm must be read on its own terms and within the flow of the Psalter as a whole.
Epochal Context. The Psalms arise from Israel’s real covenant history. They give voice to obedience and rebellion, joy and exile, confidence and despair. These songs are rooted in the lived experience of God’s people and shaped by the promises God made to them.
Canonical Context. Above all, Christians read the Psalms in light of the whole Bible. Jesus Christ is the Blessed Man of Psalm 1, the Anointed Son of Psalm 2, the Righteous Sufferer of Psalm 22, and the Exalted King of Psalm 110. The Psalter is, in the deepest sense, the songbook of the Messiah.
3. Read the Psalms Within the Story of Redemption
The Psalms sing the grand storyline of Scripture: creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. They echo humanity’s exile from God’s presence and God’s promise of a coming Redeemer-King.
Across the Psalter we hear the longings of a broken world and the confidence of a faithful God. To read the Psalms rightly is to recognize that they belong to one redemptive story, centered on Christ, in whom all of God’s covenant purposes find their fulfillment.
4. Avoid Common Reading Pitfalls
Several habits can subtly distort our reading of the Psalms:
Isolation. Treating individual psalms as disconnected devotionals.
Spiritualization. Detaching them from Israel’s covenant history.
Moralization. Reducing them to general life advice.
Genre Confusion. Failing to distinguish between lament, praise, wisdom, and royal psalms.
Individualism. Forgetting that the Psalms were written for the gathered people of God.
Avoiding these pitfalls helps us hear the Psalms as God intended, not merely as private reflections, but as covenant songs.
5. Read the Psalms as the Church’s Songbook
From Israel’s temple, through the early church, and into the Reformation, God’s people have prayed and sang the Psalms together. They have shaped public worship, private devotion, and theological reflection.
To recover the Psalms is to recover Word-centered, Christ-exalting, covenantal worship. The Psalms teach us how to lament honestly, rejoice deeply, repent humbly, and hope confidently together, as the people of God.
6. Read Slowly, Prayerfully, and Christward
Poetry demands patience. The Psalms reward meditation more than speed. Let reading become reflection, reflection become prayer, and prayer become praise.
Read them as God’s Word to you and God’s Word through you, until your heart is tuned to the voice of the King who fulfills them all.
A Simple Framework for Studying the Psalms (COMA)³
When reading Hebrew wisdom literature and poetry, a simple framework can help guide careful, prayerful engagement.
Begin with Prayer (I.O.U.S.)
Incline my heart to your testimonies (Psalm 119:36)
Open my eyes to see wonderful things (Psalm 119:18)
Unite my heart to fear your name (Psalm 86:11)
Satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love (Psalm 90:14)
C — Context
Ask where the psalm fits in God’s story.
Are there clues about the circumstances in which it was written?
How does it relate to its surrounding psalms or to the book as a whole?
O — Observation
Look carefully at what the text actually says.
Are there repeated words or ideas?
What images or metaphors stand out?
What emotions shape the psalm?
Where is the emphasis?
M — Meaning
Discern what the psalm teaches about God, His people, and His world.
Are there promises, commands, or warnings?
What does this reveal about God’s character?
How does this text anticipate or point to Christ?
A — Application
Allow the psalm to shape your beliefs, desires, and actions.
What needs to change in how you think, feel, or live?
How does this call you to worship, trust, or obedience?
A Final Reading Tip
Wisdom literature and poetry invite meditation, not haste. Slow down. Read aloud when possible. Listen for rhythm and repetition. Then pray the psalm back to God.
Let the beauty of the text shape the heart of your faith, and let the church’s ancient songs teach you how to sing again in hope.
1 The helpful contents of this post are taken from a much more comprehensive essay written by pastoral resident, Nate Cure. If you would like to read more, check out his work, "The Psalms: An Introduction".
2 See Richard Lints, The Fabric of Theology: A Prolegomenon to Evangelical Theology
3 See David Helm, One-to-one Bible Reading
