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How do we learn to pray? In Talking with God, Ryan Cook suggests that the Psalms help answer the disciples' request, "Teach us to pray." They give us words for talking with God through every part of life—praise, confession, fear, frustration, gratitude, sin, forgiveness, and hope.

In this episode, we finish our tour of Book One by exploring Psalms 29–41.

We begin with praise as Psalm 29 gives us powerful images of God's strength, while Psalm 30 celebrates what God has personally done for the psalmist. Mourning will not last forever. God gives chen—favor and grace—and there is hope that sorrow will once again turn to joy.

Psalms 31–33 remind us that we can rest in God when we're weary, confess our sin and know we are forgiven, and trust that God remains in control even when the world feels anything but controlled. We also see that forgiveness isn't simply a New Testament idea. Psalm 32 celebrates the blessing of confession and forgiveness and reminds us of God's chesed—His steadfast covenant love.

As we continue, watch for the "checklists" scattered throughout these psalms. What characterizes someone who follows God? What actions characterize the wicked? What does God value? Psalms 34, 36, 37, and 41 give us practical descriptions we can use to examine our own lives and even talk with our children about the kind of people we want to become.

Psalm 35 gives us words for another difficult situation: dealing with enemies. David doesn't take justice into his own hands—he asks God to deal with those who oppose him. Psalm 37 then gives us a list of what we can do while we wait: trust, delight, commit, refrain, and be still. Like Psalm 1, we're once again presented with two different ways to live.

Finally, Psalms 38–41 get deeply personal. Sin affects all of us, wealth offers false security, our days are limited, and trouble will come. Yet we can confess, ask God to guard our words, remember how He has provided in the past, and trust Him with what comes next.

As you read the Psalms for yourself, try looking for these practical "checklists" and use them to guide your prayers and actions. Or color-code each psalm according to its dominant emotion—praise, trouble, lament, gratitude, confession, or hope. The Psalms don't simply tell us about God. They teach us how to talk with Him.

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Can the Psalms help us when we're anxious, stressed, discouraged, or overwhelmed? There seems to be a psalm for nearly every season and emotion we experience. The Psalms don't ask us to ignore what we're feeling—they give us words to bring those feelings honestly before God while continually reminding us who He is.

In this episode, we tour Psalms 14–28 and discover practical ways these ancient prayers can shape our own.

We see a God who is active, watching, listening, forgiving, and responding to His people. We learn that we don't have to struggle alone—we can gather people around us who will pray with us and for us. We also continue building a picture of the righteous person introduced in Psalm 1. Being "blameless" doesn't mean being perfect; these psalms describe a life oriented toward God, where our choices and actions matter.

These chapters also give us prayers to borrow. When we're frustrated by the evil around us, we can tell God. When we're unsure where to go, we can pray, "Show me your ways." When we're afraid, we can remind ourselves that God is our shield and Savior. When everything around us feels unstable, we can declare with the psalmist, "I will not be shaken."

Along the way, we explore Psalm 19's beautiful description of God's Torah, the battle-cry language and importance of God's name in Psalms 20–21, and Psalm 22—the psalm Jesus quoted from the cross. Rather than hearing Jesus' words as an isolated quotation, we consider how His original audience may have heard the larger psalm behind them. We also notice places where the New Testament writers return to these psalms when talking about Jesus.

And once again, the Psalms give us tangible images for understanding an invisible God. He is our shield. Our Savior. Our fortress. The strong and mighty King. Instead of leaving us with abstract definitions, the Psalms give us pictures we—and our children—can remember.

Through fear, frustration, guilt, uncertainty, and hope, these psalms keep bringing us back to the same place: bring what you're experiencing to God, remember what is true about Him, and learn to desire His presence above everything else.

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We're heading back to Book One of the Psalms! Earlier in this series, we studied Psalms 1 and 2 in depth, but we hadn't yet started our "tour guide" approach. So in this episode, we're going back to tour Psalms 3–13 and notice the landmarks, repeated themes, and pictures of God we might otherwise miss.

One thing becomes obvious very quickly: there's a lot of trouble in these psalms. Enemies surround David. Wickedness seems to flourish. The psalmists wrestle with fear, anger, discipline, injustice, and the difficult question of why God doesn't seem to be acting.

But again and again, we encounter an important turn: But God...

David can sleep peacefully while surrounded by enemies because God is with him. God is his shield. God hears his cries. God sees both the righteous and the wicked. God is Judge. God remains on His throne. And even when circumstances haven't changed, the psalmist can remember God's chesed—His steadfast covenant love expressed through His faithful acts of kindness.

Throughout this episode, we encourage you to use the Psalms to build a picture of who God is. Pay attention to the tangible images they give us, like God as a shield, and ask a simple question as you read: What does this psalm teach me about God?

These chapters also give families plenty of opportunities to practice Scripture together. Psalm 3:5 can encourage a child who is afraid at night. Psalm 8 is a wonderful psalm to memorize for praise. Other psalms can help children learn what righteous and wicked behavior actually looks like, while giving them words for fear, anger, sadness, repentance, and hope.

The Psalms don't teach us to pretend everything is okay. They teach us how to bring what's wrong to God—and then remember what is true about Him.

Trouble may be real. Evil may be present. We may not understand why God hasn't acted yet.

But God is still there. But God sees. But God hears. But God is on His throne.

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Music: Tabuk by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4453-tabukLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/