For centuries, the people of God have learned to sing and pray by using Psalms. It is the hymnbook and prayerbook of the church.
Both poetic and powerful, Psalms contains the entire range of human emotion and experience. It has tremendous value in private devotion and public proclamation.
I’ve preached sermon series through Psalms 1, 23, 27, 51, 100 and 103 at First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs. I read a psalm every Wednesday night to begin Bible study.
I pray Psalm 119:10-11 over my church every day: “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Here are resources helpful to my personal study of Psalms and useful in preparation to teach and preach.
Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Psalms volume is slim, easily read in one concentrated effort. Yet, it’s impact is disproportionate to its size.
He approaches the Psalms as a prayerbook. In the opening chapter, Bonhoeffer writes: “Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one’s heart. It means rather to find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty. No man can do that by himself. For that he needs Jesus Christ.”
He argues Jesus allows us to pray, teaches us to pray and teaches us to pray the psalms.
Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer by Eugene Peterson
My love for the writings of Eugene Peterson runs deep. As a lover of God’s word and church, his works point to the truth of Scripture and challenge us to breathe them in and live them out.
This early work of Peterson, published in 1989, focuses upon the language, story, rhythm, metaphor and liturgy of the psalms.
Peterson was the long-time pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Belair, Md., and professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is likely best known for The Message, which translates Psalm 35:1 as: “Harass these hecklers, God, punch these bullies in the nose.” This is Peterson highlighting the language of the psalms.
Open and Unafraid: The Psalms as a Guide to Life by W. David O. Taylor
David Taylor is associate professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. He dedicated this book “to Eugene and Bono”—Eugene Peterson and Bono, the front man of U2.
In Open and Unafraid, Taylor groups psalms together by themes such as honesty, sadness, anger, joy, justice, death and nations. Questions and exercises for each chapter are provided.
Taylor writes: “The Psalter opens with an invitation to the reader to walk on the way, the faithful way, the way that leads to life. The Psalter closes with an invitation to the reader to join all creation in praise.
“In the pages in between,” he continues, “the Psalter shows us both how to walk in this way and with whom we walk. We walk in faith alongside the people of God. We walk in hope in the sight of a watching world. And we walk, with our hearts open, before the face of a gracious God.”
In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms by Dane Ortlund
In each chapter, Dane Ortlund provides a psalm in the English Standard Version and roughly a page of devotional thought. The devotional thoughts never are cute stories or anecdotes. Rather, they are serious reflection upon the text.
I’m using this work as a part of my morning devotions in 2025. It already has blessed my soul. Ortlund is the senior pastor of Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Ill.
The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary by Christopher Ash
This scholarly four-volume set deals with the original language and interacts with other scholarship. Yet, it also is beautiful, thoughtful and artful. On top of all that, it is devotional. You can tell Ash loves and seeks the Lord. The work helps the reader to do the same.
The first volume provides introductory material in three parts: “Christ and the Psalms,” “Doctrine and the Psalms” and “Christian History and the Psalms.”
The subsequent three volumes tackle 50 psalms each. These volumes live up to the subtitle A Christ-Centered Commentary. Yet, nothing is forced or ripped from context. Ash walks readers through the story of redemption depicted in the Psalms and uses them to point to Jesus or echo the truth of a promised Messiah.
Ash is writer-in-residence at Tyndale House in Cambridge, England. He previously served as a pastor and church planter.
Teach the Text Commentary: Psalms by C. Hassell Bullock
I truly love the Teach the Text series. It is a shame it was discontinued before all volumes were published. I was an early backer to a subscription service that delivered each volume to my doorstep as they were released.
Bullock’s two-volume work on the Psalms is a highlight of a great series. His “Interpretive Insights” sections provide helpful interpretation with incredible brevity. This is my go-to quick reference for a question on a particular phrase in a psalm.
Bullock is Franklin S. Dyrness Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College.
NIV Application Commentary: Psalms 1-72 by Gerald Wilson
I’m not always a fan of the three-fold structure of the NIV Application Commentary: original meaning, bridging context and contemporary significance. In some volumes the divisions are forced. Yet, it works well with Psalms.
Wilson’s volume covers Psalms 1-72, and he does a tremendous job of giving each section its proper due. It does not feel as if he is writing to adhere to a predetermined format. Rather, the volume feels as if it is the natural and proper study of each Psalm.
I found his introductory material to be incredibly helpful. He has a brief discussion on the understanding of the poetic conventions in the psalms and the techniques of Hebrew poetry. I share this information on a regular basis in my teaching upon the Psalms.
Wilson was professor of Old Testament and biblical Hebrew at Azusa Pacific University.
NIV Application Commentary: Psalms 73-150 by W. Dennis Tucker and Jamie Grant
This volume covers Psalms 73-150, with Jamie Grant covering 73-106 and Dennis Tucker covering 107-150. Alongside, David Garland’s volume on Mark, this might be my favorite commentary in the NIV Application Commentaryseries.
Even though this is the second volume, the few pages of introductory matters are useful. The sections on “Theological Themes in the Book of Psalms,” “Humans in the World” and “God’s Word to Humanity, Humanity’s Word to God” are rich material for the teacher and preacher.
Like Wilson’s volume, Tucker and Grant shine in the use of the format of the NIV Application Commentary series.
Dennis Tucker is professor of Christian Scriptures at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. Jamie Grant is vice principal and tutor in biblical studies at the Highland Theological College.
Jeff Gravens is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Sulphur Springs. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. The views expressed in this resource article are those of the author.
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