The Book of Psalms is inseparably connected to music.
Since Old Testament times, believers have prepared to connect with God by singing and listening to psalms—and we can do the same today.
Here’s an easy way to incorporate sacred songs as you study Psalms.
Harmonizing Your Study with Hymns
The current hymnbook has nearly 80 hymns that reference Psalms.
To support your study, the Church has a convenient index for finding songs connected to specific books of scripture. You can access this resource in Gospel Library under “Music” > “Hymn Helps” > “Using the Hymnbook” > “Scriptures.” While the list isn’t comprehensive, it gathers every scripture verse referenced at the end of the hymns in one place.
As we cover passages from Psalms in Come, Follow Me, try a few of these ideas to bring the hymns into your daily devotions:
- Listen to a hymn on Gospel Library before reading the referenced verses.
- Do a mini meditation by listening to a Tabernacle Choir or conference arrangement and allowing your breath to sync with the music.
- Learn a hymn’s chords on an instrument or sing the lyrics a capella.
- Handwrite a hymn’s lyrics to display in your home and memorize.
- Sing a hymn as a family after dinner or before family prayer.
- Play a hymn in the car for your kids on the way to school.
Author and podcast host Tammy Uzelac Hall recently shared this idea for teaching about Psalms:
“If I [were] teaching this in seminary, … I’d move all the desks to the outside of the room. And when my students walked in, I would say, ‘Backpacks in the back. Phones in the back. You can’t have anything with you.’ …
“[Then,] I would say, ‘Everybody lay down. I’m going to play some psalms for you.’
“And I would choose all the psalms that I could, different arrangements, and I would have so much fun with that—just letting the kids hear the lyrics to all these psalms.”
Playlist: 10 Psalms to Ponder
To help get you started, here are 10 hymns that reference at least 2 passages from Psalms.
You might pick just a few songs to focus on this week, or you could select one or two different hymns for each day of the week.
1. “Sweet Is the Peace the Gospel Brings,” no. 14
2. “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” no. 31
3. “Raise Your Voices to the Lord,” no. 61
Raise Your Voices to the Lord
4. “Sing Praise to Him,” no. 70
5. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” no. 72
6. “From All That Dwell below the Skies,” no. 90
7. “For the Beauty of the Earth,” no. 92
8. “Lead, Kindly Light,” no. 97
9. “Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord,” no. 110
Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord
10. “God’s Daily Care,” no. 306
God’s Daily Care
Check out the articles below for more ideas to deepen your testimony with sacred music:
▶ This hauntingly beautiful hymn might become a new Church favorite
▶ Kids will love this catchy new song about the Book of Mormon
▶ This Latter-day Saint hymn led my entire family to join the Church
