On the value of Psalms

The Word of God is a sword. So says apostle Paul in the New Testament. The Biblical Psalms are the Word of God as David spoke them through the Holy Spirit. Psalms are widely used in the Christian and Jewish liturgies and daily prayers. They are in every prayer book. The saints said that reciting psalms chases away the devils. Psalm recitation is a fiery spiritual sword that every Christian should use. They bear in themselves incredible power and spiritual healing, which if used can bring much benefit to the soul.

Years ago, I started learning psalms by heart. Its is also a good memory training. Spend 2-3 hours to learn one psalms by heart. then repeat it next day and so the day after and again after a few days and you will have it until the rest of your life repeating once in a while. It is not hard to learn 20 or 30 psalms by heart as it seems. You just need to invest time in that. Repetition is very important to have them stay in your mind. The more often you recite a psalm the more firmly you memorize it after your learned it once. Choose the psalms you like the most. usually there is plenty of time for their recitation - you can do it while you drive a car. In some 20 minutes of driving you can recite a dozen of psalms. Wherever you are working or waiting and there is no one to to disturb you you can recite psalms. The effect is tremendous. It is far more beneficial than any anti-depression drug (luckily never had to use it in my life). Human soul needs the word of God. It is spiritual bread. It is important to glorify God on daily basis. Somewhere I read that those who dont praise God in this life will have their tongue pierced in the afterlife. We dont bring material burning sacrifices to God as they did in the old days. But praising of God is a sacrifice! It is as a well pleasing incense before God. We leave in a dangerous world. There are spiritual traps all over in modern life. We walk through the shadow of death. Life is a great challenge. Get yourself the spiritual sword. And these are the psalms that come from your heart and mouth that was created to praise God eternally.

Psalm 150 (the last one in the Book of Psalms "Praise God in His sanctuary...praise God with the sound of shofar (trumpet) is a wonderful praise of God one should recite daily. Jews recite it during every morning prayer.

I learn psalms in Ukrainian. It is my native language. I did also learn a dozen of psalms in Hebrew. In the apocalypse of St. Peter (apocrypha) it says "Hebrew is the language of God and Angels". It is a sacred language, the language of the Bible and Holy Scripture, the language of Moses of Jesus, the Son of God (Jesus did spoke Hebrew as it was the language of the temple, the Holy Writings, of prayers in His time, as it always has been a sacred language among the Jews, though in daily life they might have used other vernacular be it Aramaic or Sephardi). But unless you studied Hebrew before it will be hard for you to learn psalm in Hebrew, especially if you dont know the rules of pronunciation or accent fall. So first of all learn psalms by heart in your own native language. You need just Bible for that.

Psalm 23 "The Lord is my shepherd" (Adonai Roi) 

is one of the first psalms any Christian should learn. It is a must!

May God bless you in this effort!