Imagine illness grips your frame. The heat of fever weakens your body and you long for relief. Comfort. Desperate, you beg your companions to draft a series of favorite scriptures on sheets of paper and then hang them on the wall within eyesight. Your eyes caress each word. The verses linger on your tongue. Then, you release a final breath and enter His holy presence.
Would you choose the seven penitential Psalms as your silent companions during the last days of your life? According to St. Augustine’s biographer, Possidius, the renowned church father did. The bishop wept, prayed, and meditated on the songs for ten days—his last moments focused on the Lord’s mercy and faithfulness.
What about the penitential Psalms impacted St. Augustine and what should today’s Christians know about them?
Also known as Songs of Confession, the penitential Psalms reflect themes of contrition, repentance, and reconciliation with God. They are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.
Incorporated into worship since ancient times, Jewish followers sang the lyrics of these and other Psalms while worshipping in the temple—a practice popularized during David’s reign. God’s people also recited them during personal times of prayer and devotion.
Following the pattern of temple worship, Paul urged the church to engage in “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” (Ephesians 5:19) Were the penitential Psalms included as part of the liturgy? Perhaps. Regardless, scripture communicates an expectation that Christ’s followers were familiar with all scripture.
By the late Roman period, influential Christians like St. Augustine promoted the value of the seven Psalms–an act that ensured their widespread use within church services.
The canticles maintained their popularity into the Middle Ages across Europe when the Book of Hours, a devotional, was published. The work featured the poems of repentance with each linked to one of seven deadly sins. These included pride (Psalm 6), greed (Psalm 32), envy (Psalm 38), wrath (Psalm 51), lust (Psalm 102), gluttony (Psalm 130), and slothfulness (Psalm 143).
Time fanned the believer’s love for the penitential Psalms. During the Reformation, men and women devoted themselves to their study, propagation, and expression. John Calvin and Martin Luther, for example, drafted commentaries focused on the seven Songs of Confession while other theologians translated the Psalms into English and French. Musicians set the penitential Psalms to music–often Gregorian chant. Soon, people throughout Christendom read, accessed, and sang them at church and home.
The Songs of Confession remained embedded in the church culture for hundreds of years. Poets, playwrights, and composers–including Bach, Mozart, and Mendelssohn–represented the ancient words in sonnets, paraphrased productions, and musical compositions.
Today, the Eastern Orthodox Church includes each of the penitential Psalms at various times throughout the year while Catholic parishioners recite or pray these scriptures on Ash Wednesday and during Lent. They are less commonly known as penitential prayers among Evangelical Christians.
The first of the penitential Psalms and one of four penned by King David, Psalm 6 expresses the musician’s deep suffering. Commentator Matthew Henry even draws a parallel between Jeremiah and David—claiming both lived as “weeping prophets.”
Although people suffer for a variety of reasons, David intimates that he deserves and suffers from the Lord’s hand of correction. Humbled, he pleads for mercy, healing, and reconciliation. Verses 2-3 (NKJV) reveal David’s distress:
Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled.
Lessons Learned from Psalm 6
Unconfessed sin damages our relationship with the Lord.Sinful choices often lead to physical or emotional pain.Because of the Lord’s mercy, we can seek forgiveness.David, author of Psalm 32, trumpets the joy of living forgiven. Labeled a maskil, or song of contemplation, David instructs the listener to consider the blessedness of the one who receives forgiveness.
This sacred poem affirms that, despite his special anointing, wealth, and power, David recognized these things' inability to fulfill a person’s deepest need. Consider Psalm 32:1-2 (NKJV):
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not [b]impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Lessons Learned From Psalm 32
Hidden sin leads to suffering.God’s forgiveness produces gratitude and spiritual joy.Prayer fosters our connection with the Lord.Not unlike Psalm 6, this song records David’s sorrow and grief for committing an unnamed sin. Aware that his faults led to painful consequences–debilitating illness, abandonment, and death threats–David beseeches the Lord for comfort and healing. Verse 4 sheds light on the leader’s desperate situation, “My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.” Perhaps the most difficult part of David’s circumstances? He endured the chastening of God.
For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down. (38:2 NKVJV)
Does your sin trouble you? There is good news!
Practical Application From Psalm 38
Like David, we can draw near to the Father even when sin, sickness, or suffering plunge us into painful circumstances.Jesus chose the agony of the Father’s full disapproval on the cross. He bore our sin that we might be free.Faith maintains hope in Yahweh even when emotion and events seem to contradict the truth.Charles Spurgeon called Psalm 51 the Sinner’s Guide which maintains the position of the most well-known of the penitential Psalms. David outlined the route of repentance and forgiveness after Nathan, a prophet, rebuked him for his sin. The song reveals David’s grief as he finally recognizes the wayward nature of his choices that included adulterous behavior with Bathsheba and her husband’s murder.
Lamenting his sin, David asks the Lord for forgiveness--begging for inner transformation. Psalm 51:7 (NIV):
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
The filth of sin once marred us, as well. But those who know Jesus live within the framework of daily transformation.
Lessons Learned From Psalm 51
God is serious about sin. No matter the dark nature of our transgressions, He abounds in “tender mercies” (Psalm 51:2 NIV) toward us.Humility and recognition of need precede forgiveness.
The unknown writer conveys distress, hope, and expectancy throughout this psalm. Given the description of the ruins of Jerusalem, some theologians contend that this “prayer of an afflicted person” expresses the thoughts of Jeremiah, Nehemiah, or Daniel before Jerusalem’s restoration. Others believe the poem reflects both the psalmist’s and Jerusalem’s spiritual conditions.
We may never know who penned this Song of Confession, but its words paint a picture of an emaciated, desperate man approaching the throne of grace. His plea? Personal relief and national healing. (verses 1-2 NIV):
Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
Can you relate to the Psalmist’s words? Have you dealt with such painful circumstances that your life seemed to shatter? Perhaps you are in that sort of situation now. Or, maybe you ache because of the wayward nature of a world that needs Christ.
This Psalm offers encouragement for every Christian.
Lessons From Psalm 102
God waits for us to release our burdens into His loving hands. The Lord attends to the prayers of His people.We can trust the Promise-Keeper, who “endures forever,” to fulfill His promises.
Psalm 130, also considered a “song of ascents,” served as one of fifteen sacred melodies recited on the route to the temple—a tri-annual pilgrimage. Worshippers drew nearer to the Lord as they climbed the steep hill. Christy Tennant clarifies the tradition’s meaning as a “deliberate process of moving further up towards God and further in our relationship with Him.”
The sacred verses begin with David’s request that Yahweh respond to his plea from “the depths.” The author acknowledges his sin, reflects on the Lord’s forgiveness, and declares hope in scripture as he awaits an answer. The final words move from individual supplication to exhorting all of Israel to discover hope in God’s merciful traits. Consider the encouraging words of verses 7-8 (NIV),
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Do you feel far from the Lord? Are you burdened for your community? This sacred piece reminds us of God’s grace-filled nature. We can trust Him to forgive and extend mercy to both the believer and nation that turns to him in repentance.
Lessons Learned From Psalm 130
The word of the Lord renews our hope.Prayer sometimes requires a posture of patience.God’s extravagant grace redeems us from sin.
Hunted by an enemy, David appeals to the only One able to protect and rescue him. Perhaps David penned these words of desperation as Saul tracked his steps–determined to annihilate the “man after God’s own heart. Maybe he scribbled this song after fleeing from Absalom, the traitorous son set on deposing David from the throne.
Do you understand despair? This passionate prayer provides a pattern anyone can imitate. What does the template entail? Humility, reliance on the Lord, and meditating on His previous faithfulness and holy nature. David shares in verse 5:
I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
Practical Lesson Learned From Psalm 143
Only God is righteous.Cultivate a thirst for God and seek His presence in peaceful and painful seasons.Pray for wisdom as the Lord guides and directs you through every circumstance and situation.The seven penitential Psalms, though less familiar to modern Christians, abound with theology, comfort, and direction for everyday life. Whether we incorporate the Songs of Confession into personal study, corporate worship, or during times of fasting and reflection, they will enrich our spiritual lives. I wonder if St. Augustine treasured them for these reasons.
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
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