This seems simple but read the psalm in its entirety. You don’t have to study it. You don’t even have to search for deep intellectual understanding. Just read it from start to finish. Go slowly. Maybe read it more than once. Simply allow the psalm to speak on its own terms. Note the emotional tenor and the phrases that stand out or grab your heart’s attention.

Lament – a poem expressing pain, anger, or sadness over the brokenness of the world, asking God to act.

Praise – a poem of joy and celebration, celebrating the work of God in the world and lives of His people.

There are sub-categories to each of these, but in general, most psalms fall into one of these broad genres. Many psalms of lament move to praise at the end, but begin with an expression of pain, anger, or sadness.

The psalms are ancient Hebrew poetry. They don’t function like a biblical narrative (think Genesis) or like a New Testament epistle (think Romans). They don’t conform to the conventions of those literary styles or our brain’s tendency to work in a linear fashion, looking for the high point at the end. The psalms tend to put the main point in the middle, working toward it and then from it on either side, often in a parallel fashion.

All of Scripture ultimately points toward and leads us to Jesus. The book of Psalms is no different. Here are some simple ways in which a specific psalm might stir our hearts to remember, worship, and reflect on Jesus and the gospel.

Fulfillment – Is Jesus the fulfillment that the psalm is looking toward, praising, or prophesying? Do the events of the psalm foreshadow the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?

Type – Is Jesus the true and better expression of the king or help that the psalm is hoping for?

Analogy – Is there obvious congruity between what the psalm teaches and what Jesus lived and taught?

Longing – Is Jesus the answer to the longing of the psalm or the psalmist’s plea?

Finish by allowing the psalm to guide your prayers. It might be a specific verse or phrase that leads you into a time of praise, lament, or petition. It may be that the entire psalm provides an outline for your own heart’s crying out to and connecting with God. Use the psalm’s exact wording or put verses or phrases into your own words.

For example, Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd…”) might lead to praise God for His leading and provision (vs. 1-3), while also asking Him to be present with you, guide you, and protect you during a season of difficulty (vs. 4), and then to finish with a prayer that God would show you how His goodness and love are pursuing you (vs. 6).