My daughter, recently rooting around in our attic, has rediscovered some old prayer books. These slim volumes used to serve my spiritual life on a daily basis. One contains all the Psalms from the Hebrew Bible, prayers here presented to suit the needs of each day. They come with ink drawings that show the psalmist in various poses, illustrating key verses.

Since King David is traditionally the author to whom the Psalms are credited, one sketch  portrays him as a majestic figure with a sword in one hand and his harp in another.

I used to carry this little book in my pocket and, from time to time in the course of the day, especially on solitary walks, I would take it out and read parts of it. Or I would bear in my mind and heart lines from these inspired prayers and repeat them over and over. These verses would form a kind of leitmotif, a theme for each hour.

The beauty of the Psalms is their way of giving expression to a wide range of emotions and spiritual sentiments. When you feel enthused about life, they serve you by giving you words that exult; when you feel down, with everything going wrong and everybody against you , they express your heart at those times too.

My little book contains all 150 Psalms. In front it has a guide that recommends certain ones to answer current feelings.

“Are you impatient?” Psalm 30 is a good remedy: “In God I put my trust; I shall not fear.”

“Are you wanting in confidence?” Psalm 26 begins, “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?”

“Are you depressed?” In Psalm 41, the psalmist expresses great longing, “As the deer longs for the streams of water, so does my soul long for thee, O God.”

Thus one can pray in need, “O God, hear my cry, listen to my prayer./ From the ends of the earth I cry to thee, for my heart is faint.”

Or, when everything has clicked, “I will bless the Lord at all times . . . I sought the Lord and he answered me.”

Since the Psalms form such an important part of the Christian liturgy, I have never strayed far from their use. But the recovery of this little book prods me to renew daily recourse to them from now on.

Even when people have long experience with prayer, they still need the support of inspired words. Trying simply to stay in God’s presence without saying anything at all can often prove too difficult. But too many words can sometimes stifle the spirit; that’s a reason why the verses you pick and choose from the Psalms can serve your needs so well.

One psalm in particular holds a special place in my life. That’s the 23nd (or 22nd for some). “The Lord is my shepherd,” despite its frequent use, never cloys. It has survived sentimentalized illustrations and has proven its value over and over. Surprisingly enough, I owe my familiarity with it to public school. In the early grades of elementary school we used to recite the verses of this psalm often.

The lines that move me most are “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me.” This expression of confidence in divine protection even in the worst of times impels me toward a courage that I often do not feel.

I also love the prayer of Psalm 16 that says to the Lord: “Guard me as the apple of thy eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”

The use of the Psalms as daily prayer can respond to the frustration many people meet in trying to live the spiritual life. As Elizabeth Lesser, author of The New American Spirituality, writes: “Sometimes the spiritual quest feels like knocking, knocking, knocking on a closed door; like a volley of questions bouncing off the walls of our own limited capacity to reach beyond ourselves.”

The Psalms, I suggest, can help at times like those described and at other times as well. They can open closed doors and help us reach out further toward a loving God.

Richard Griffin