A psalm for every situation
In the 300s, St Athanasius wrote a letter about praying the Psalms. Here are 53 of the situations he named, with the psalm he gave for each one.
- 53Situations
- 78Psalms
The Letter to Marcellinus
Where this comes from
St Athanasius was the bishop of Alexandria in the 300s. His friend Marcellinus was getting over an illness and spent the time reading the Psalms. Athanasius wrote him a letter about them. In it he passed on what a studious old man had once taught him.
The old man's point was simple. You read the rest of the Bible as other people's words. You say the Psalms as your own. He called them a mirror that shows you what is going on in your own soul. Then he went through one situation in life after another and named the psalm to pray for each. He believed every part of human life is found in them.
The Church has trusted the letter ever since. One of the oldest Bibles in the world, the Codex Alexandrinus from the 400s, places it right in front of the Book of Psalms.
Below are 53 of his situations in plain words. Tap one to read its psalm in full, with his advice. The letter also names psalms for feasts, for certain days of the week and for teaching the faith.
Not sure which is yours? A few honest taps will find it.
How he said to pray them: six lessons from the letter.
When people turn against you
- Your own people have turned on you, and more and more others are rising up against you.
- People you thought were your friends are spreading lies about you, others are piling on, and it keeps going round in your head.
- Your friends and family have turned against you because you hold to the truth, and even people you know look the other way.
- You long for God with everything in you, and people keep throwing it at you: "Where is your God?"
- Someone has lied about you to a person with power over you who already means you harm, and the liar is gloating over it.
- You're being hunted, and people are informing on you because they want you handed over.
He also named Psalm 56.
- People are plotting against you, and someone has just told you.
- Someone is set on rattling you, and part of you wants to run.
- They keep trying to frighten you, lying in wait and digging up whatever they can against you.
- You've been hiding from someone who is after you, and now they've come right into your hiding place.
He also named Psalm 142.
- They're ganging up on you, more of them all the time, looking down on you as if you're nobody yet.
- People set against you have driven you out, and now you're on your own.
- The scheming against you has dragged on so long you've started to wonder if God has forgotten you.
- They won't stop trying to ruin you, and you want someone to finally judge who's in the right.
- The people scheming against you have no shame, and they've taken over your thoughts.
- It keeps coming at you, you're holding on, and you want to know what all this enduring is for.
- They're coming at you savagely, out to destroy you, and you've stopped fighting and put yourself in God's hands.
When you've done wrong, or feel the pull to
- You've done wrong, you know it, you're ashamed, and you want to come back.
- You sense a warning from God, and it's shaking you.
He also named Psalm 38.
- Wrong thoughts carried you off, you've just caught yourself, and you're sorry.
- You resolved to keep watch over yourself, and the pull has come at you harder ever since.
- You've come close to losing your footing, and you're honest enough to admit it.
When you're afraid, worn down, or longing for God
- Life has worn you down until you feel empty and listless, and you need comfort.
- Something in you is weighed down or uneasy, and it won't settle.
He also named Psalm 43.
- You're afraid, and you need something to hold on to.
- You're tired of living afraid, and you want to take heart in God, and help others take heart too.
- You long for God's house, and for the home with Him that lasts forever.
- God has slipped into the background, and you want to wake your soul up to Him again.
He also named Psalm 104.
When the world seems upside down
- People who don't care about God are doing fine, good people are suffering, and it's shaking you.
- People who do wrong are riding high and pushing the little people around, and you need to tell yourself, and others, not to envy them.
- Pride is everywhere, and it feels as if there's nothing good left among people.
- People around you mock the idea that God looks after the world, and it's starting to get to you.
He also named Psalm 53.
- Christians are being killed and their churches destroyed, and it's tearing at you.
When you need words to pray, for yourself or someone else
- You need to plead with God, and you want words to pray with.
He also named Psalm 143.
- There's something you can't work out on your own, and you want to lay it before God.
He also named Psalm 5.
- Someone you love is in trouble, and you want to comfort them and pray over them.
- People around you are going without, and you want them shown mercy.
After God has brought you through
- Your own people turned against you. You called on the Lord, He heard you, and now you want to thank Him.
He also named Psalm 75 and Psalm 116:1–9.
- People were hunting you, and you've been rescued from them.
- You fell among people who meant you harm, and you got away by keeping your wits about you.
- You ran to God, He brought you through, and you want to tell people what He did.
- You were put to the test, you can see now it was proving you, and you want to thank God that it's over.
- A time when God's anger was on you has passed, you're free again, and you want to give thanks.
He also named Psalm 126.
- You've learned that God's judgment comes with mercy, and you want to draw near to Him.
When life is good, and you want to thank Him and grow
- You can see the Lord shepherding you and guiding your way, and you're glad.
- You're marvelling at how well the world is ordered, at God's care in it, and at how good His commands are.
He also named Psalm 24.
- You want to thank God, in and through everything.
He also named Psalm 104.
- You keep seeing God's kindness, to you and to everyone, and you want to bless Him for it.
- Something new has begun in your home, and you want to give it, and yourself, to God with thanks.
He also named Psalm 127.
- You've seen someone made new, maybe yourself, and you're amazed at how much God loves us.
- You just want to sing to God.
He also named Psalm 98.
- You can feel yourself climbing: forgetting what's behind you and straining toward what's ahead.
- You want to become the kind of person who belongs with God.
What his letter doesn't name
The letter covers a great deal of life, but not all of it. Athanasius names no psalm for a death, for an illness itself, or for a hard decision, and we won't pretend he does. His friend was just getting over an illness when he wrote, and still the letter names nothing for sickness. What he does name is a psalm for what those things do to a person.
Athanasius numbered the psalms from the Greek Bible, so from Psalm 10 to Psalm 147 his number usually runs one lower than an English Bible's: his 50 is our 51. Every number here is the English one, and each psalm's page gives his as well.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek (Migne, Patrologia Graeca 27).