February 4, 2026

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

Today, let us continue to talk about prayer. I would like to focus today on the Psalms. As you know, there Is an Old Testament Book of Psalms. These Psalms are an important collection of prayers; they are prayerful songs. Many of them were written by King David many years before Jesus. These Psalms were used for liturgical worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Now, in our time, these Psalms are wonderful personal prayers. They are used as Mass prayers, and they are part of the Liturgy of the Hours – the daily prayer of priests and deacons and by monks in their monasteries. Seven times each day they paused for a time of prayer. The Psalms make up much of these times of prayer.

Now, many lay men and women follow this Liturgy of the Hours for their personal prayer. So, Psalms become an important part of their prayer. Psalms are carefully crafted prayers that help to focus our attention on our God and open our hearts to the life of the Holy Spirit. Each Psalm leads in a particular way to adoration of Our God, to thanksgiving of God, to seeking God’s forgiveness of sin.

The most familiar Psalm for most of us is Psalm 23 – the Good Shepherd Psalm. Join me as we pray together the first part of this Psalm: “The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I lack./ In green pastures he makes lie down, to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul./ He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name.”
Psalm 23 has been developed into familiar religious hymns. A perfect prayer to praise God – a perfect prayer for peace.

The Psalms are often spoken of as a “School of Prayer.” They not only provide us with models to follow, but they also inspire us to voice our own deepest feelings and aspirations. Consider Psalm 1. In this prayer, a good and dedicated disciple of the Lord is described as a tree – a flourishing tree planted near streams of water, a fruitful tree, so an image of a person who is good and prosperous. Then a wicked person is like a barren or stunted tree.

Consider Psalm 5. This prayer leads us to pray for divine help. We are challenged to trust our God completely. Many Psalms are prayers of praise of God – prayers of joy and peace honoring God. Like Psalm 150, which begins like this: “Hallelujah, praise God in his holy sanctuary; give praise to the mighty dome of Heaven./ Give praise for his mighty deeds, praise him of his great majesty.”

These Psalms reflect each concern in a person’s life. Like Psalm 51; this Psalm leads us to repentance, acknowledging our sinfulness, seeking God’s forgiveness. Here is the first part of this Psalm, “Have mercy on me, Go, in accord with your merciful love;/ in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions./ Thoroughly, wash away my guilt; and from my sin cleanse me./ For I know my transgressions , my sin is always before me.”

I love Psalms. When we were ordained deacons, we were required to follow the Liturgy of the Hours. Each time of prayer, there are Psalms included in the prayers. So, there are several Psalms that are included on a regular basis. They truly became old friends. I often turn back to them, like when I am preparing a prayer service for a retreat presentation or for a parish meeting, I include one of my favorite Psalms. I hope you will find the prayers of the Psalms to be old friends for your times of prayer.