Psalm reading guide

Here’s a simple guide for those who are interested in reading through the book of Psalms on a monthly basis, a practice many have found enriching to their prayer lives.

It’s recommended to read them aloud rather than silently, but feel free to experiment. And don’t rush. Let the feelings and images have their way with your praying imagination, even if you don’t feel like the psalmist feels or the images are strange for you.

The prayers in the Psalms are unique in the Scriptures in that they encourage you to improvise over them like a jazz soloist over a simple melody and a strong rhythm section. You can pull out a verse or a phrase or a whole psalm and riff on it in your own praying.

There’s significant freedom here. So read. And pray.

Day     Psalms
1     1-8
2     9-16
3     17-20
4     21-25
5     26-31
6     32-35
7     36-38
8     39-44
9     45-50
10     51-57
11     58-64
12     65-68
13     69-72
14     73-76
15     77-78
16     79-83
17     84-88
18     89-91
19     92-97
20     98-103
21     104-105
22     106-107
23     108-113
24     114-118
25     119:1-88
26     119:89-176
27     120-131
28     132-138
29     139-144
30     145-150

At 2,461 verses, the Psalms is by far the largest book in the Bible. Breaking that down into 30 reading days gives you approximately 82 verses per day. Other than 176-verse Psalm 119, no psalms are split between days.