Using Psalms for Mental Health

Ellen 0:04

At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. Our goal is to help you delight in God’s Word and thrive in Christian living. Each week we talk to subject matter experts who broaden your biblical understanding, encourage you in hard times and provide life-building tips to enhance your Christian walk. We are so glad you have joined us. Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. This is Ellen, your host, and today we are going to discuss how the book of Psalms can help our mental health and emotional well-being.Ellen 0:42

You know, the Psalms encompass such a wide range of human emotions, from joy and gratitude all the way to sorrow and despair, and they provide this means for us to express feelings that might be difficult to articulate otherwise. And they’re also just a source of deep spiritual insight. They contain prayers, praises and reflections that can deepen one’s understanding and relationship with God. In addition, they contain practical wisdom and moral teachings that you can apply to your everyday life. They offer guidance on living a righteous and faithful life. And you know, ultimately the Psalms encourage such deep reflection and meditation, and they invite readers to pause, to ponder and to engage with profound spiritual truths. And today I have the privilege of welcoming back a very dear friend of mine, rachel Schlesinger, and she is going to share with us her experience of adventuring through the book of Psalms. So please welcome Rachel.Rachel 2:01

Thank you, ellen, great to be here.Ellen 2:04

Thank you, ellen. Great to be here. I’m so excited to have you back on. We will put a link in our show notes because I had the opportunity to talk with Rachel one other time and you will love that podcast as well. But, rachel, for this one, let’s start back to the year that you and I were in Bible study together, to the year that you and I were in Bible study together and it was time for our summer break.Rachel 2:33

Share with us how you came to spend your summer studying the Psalms and how you went about doing that. Yeah, so I don’t know if your memory is any better than mine. I was trying to place the year on this and so I feel like it might have been about 2013, around that time, and one of the reasons I think I even know that is the little journal book that was given to us by you that summer had a copyright date of 2013 on it, so I’m thinking that’s about the time that it was. But, yeah, we had this challenge and it was to glean. That was that word to glean through the Psalms. And I still have everything, and it’s such a joy to look back on that. And so I have that little paper that encouraged us to read one Psalm a day, in any order you wanted, and just to write down what you learned about God’s character and his ways, or write down a verse or summarize part of that passage. And that is where it started.Rachel 3:32

And for me, when I started to look back on this, ellen, I was like Psalms was my first love, and you know what they say you never forget your first love, and that’s really where it started down to me, and so I ended up like writing all because you know you got to pick any order and so then I was losing track of where I was. So I’d write down, like on the back of my paper, every chapter and mark them off when I had been done and kind of see where my time was. Did I have a lot of time to read a bigger one? Or, you know, not enough time and read a smaller one? But you know, I can still picture that time in my life.Rachel 4:12

I lived in my townhome at the time. I can picture the chair I sat in to read those. My oldest was, I think, about two at that time. So I’d have to wake up, you know, before he him and try to time that and guess what that would be. But that was the start of it all and you know we’ll get through some of it on this podcast. But anytime we’ve been in conversation or I’ve been in conversation with friends, psalms always comes back up Because, like I said, you just never forget that first love.Ellen 4:47

And I will never forget, rachel, the look on your face when we met then the next year and I remember you saying oh Ellen, I’m so glad we, you know, had that summer challenge to read through Psalms and it was just. I could tell from just the look on your face how you had gleaned so much from it. Well, as you were going through it, what recurring themes related to emotional well-being did you notice throughout the Psalms? Because so many people right now are challenged with emotional well-being, and what can we take from what you’ve learned that might help someone?Rachel 5:44

Yeah, we take from what you’ve learned that might help someone. Yeah, when I was thinking about the themes of the Psalms, I kind of put it into three basic, basic categories. And it’s that God’s in control, he greatly loves us and there’s a period of waiting, and so you know God talks about that. He is our dwelling place, he’s near to us to seek him when we’re troubled. He hears, he knows, he answers us. That’s prevalent through all these Psalms and so there’s even time that you know he addresses there about feeling like we’ve been forgotten. Did God forget about me? Does God know what I’m going through? And that even when you’re in those times, that he’s still worthy of trust and praise, and to look back at what he has been faithful in, to know he will be faithful in the future. And so that’s that part of God is in control and thank goodness that he holds us in his hand through that. The other part is just the love. You know that his love endures forever. There’s nothing we can do right or wrong to earn or to lose that love. And that there’s this yearning. You know, in Psalm 84, it talks about yearning to be with him, yearning to be home, and this love. That’s just not complete without God. And so there’s times we have those yearnings in our life.Rachel 7:15

You know, that’s this theme that God’s talking about to us in the Psalms, and basic truth is that I’m loved, I’m dearly loved, I’m wanted by him, and so, and then to you know the waiting, and um, there’s so many times that he gives examples of this. You know, psalm 40, verse one, talks about I waited patiently for the Lord. That means I had to wait and we didn’t like it. There’s all that through there. Psalm 27, 14, talks about wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart, but wait for the Lord.Rachel 7:55

And so, when it turns of mental health or mental, emotional wellbeing, that safety net that we crave is control controlling the circumstances, controlling the outcome, controlling the future, the unknown, the things we don’t know that will happen. And, um, you know, the Psalms really just brings those themes together that God is in control, that he loves you, and there’s a waiting piece to this. There’s a little more. I want to cover back into this later too, but there was a point in time when I kind of just surmised what I learned through all of that, and I think these really go strong with these themes and that’s do not fear. Concentrate on trusting God. Just do what needs to be done. Relax in his sovereignty. Remember that he goes before me and he will bring good.Ellen 9:45

Those are such powerful themes that every one of us can have experienced that. We can latch on to that. You know God in his word and his faithfulness. It’s so hard though in the moment, isn’t it Like when we’re just in the depths of not knowing, like you said, feeling out of control, not knowing what the future holds or in some specific situation that you’re in. But I love how, in the Psalms, it always draws you back and, like you said, looking back on God’s faithfulness helps you get through. It really is our I can say our only hope. It’s what does get you from point A to point B when you’re in such a hard state oftentimes.Rachel 10:40

Yeah, and if I can just expand kind of on mental health, what is mental health, mental wellbeing? Our mental health is tied to these themes that are all throughout the Psalms. Our mental health as people is tied to our sense of security, our sense of place and belonging, our sense of confidence, our sense of self-worth. You know, that’s a big part of our mental health piece. And it’s also mental health is tied to your surroundings, your environment, your basic needs, how busy you are, and when you’re in those times your mental health can suffer because of noise.Rachel 11:18

You can’t hear God with these voices, these sounds, this noise. You know, and so you know such a common or popular Psalm, psalm 46, 10, just be still. That’s my anthem Always be still and know that I am God. Well, why is he saying that? Because God can and does speak in loud ways. However, I believe most of the time he’s speaking to us in this still soft voice.Rachel 11:49

And so you know, I’m a health and PE teacher, as you know, and we have this lesson that we go through each year about the ear and we study that and we study hearing and decibels, and so there’s this lesson that we talk about 80 decibels is kind of this threshold of where noise starts to become uncomfortable and over long term periods of exposure to noise and chaos, at even just 80 decibels it can cause damage and that noise can continue to increase and all these louder and bigger sounds, and you know, going from just like a backfire sound or a fire truck sound all the way to like a building collapsing and explosion freight train, those types of sounds. Well, anyway, collapsing and explosion freight train, those types of sounds. Well, anyway, the more those decibels go up, the less you can hear individual voice. You cannot decipher the different noises that cause chaos together and that leads to stress, that leads to anxiety, and that can just be from an environmental hearing point of view. So when you start to equate that to mental health, it’s so blatant that when we have too much noise we cannot hear. God, you know.Rachel 13:08

And what’s noise? It’s too many. We say this with my coworker all the time. Too many tabs are open, right, I got all these tabs open in my mental computer and I haven’t closed any of them. That’s noise. Too many yeses in our life, that’s noise. Social media, all those things, opinions, even of family and friends, that dynamic busyness, scheduling, and so when you have that extreme noise? How do you heal the ear? What would you do after you went to a loud concert for a long time? Amazing concert. You enjoyed the noise, yet you felt this reverberation in your ears after you would be still.Rachel 13:50

You would be quiet. And so what can we do to be still and to be quiet? We can physically be still and quiet, but we can soak in the Psalms, you know, and that’s for me in that time, in my life too, of these themes back to God’s in control. He loves us and we have to wait for him, and we have to be quiet to hear his voice.Ellen 14:14

That’s such an important reminder. I know I really need that today and I loved all the tabs open. I feel like sometimes it does get out of control the number of tabs for everything that you say yes to, and we do need to be very conscientious and make good decisions on how busy and noisy our lives can get. Well, Rachel, how did your knowledge of God change and expand from reading the Psalms related to finding comfort and hope specifically?Rachel 14:55

Well, I can remember back to the beginning of our time in Bible study thinking, you know, people always talk about read the Bible. You need to read your Bible. Well, how do you read your Bible? Do you just thumb through the pages and stop where it stops? You know, do you just pick one of the books and you know, just kind of struggling with, like how do you actually do it? And I just know that this challenge is what changed for me to just write down what I’ve learned about God. That was so easy and so that baby step.Rachel 15:31

When I look back on the journal that I had of Psalms, it is literally just those things. It’s passages, it’s passages, it’s just short summaries. I really had this need for structure. So I made sure I never went over one page because I knew I needed to save space in the journal. And you know it’s nothing more than a summary of God. But then when I pick up the journal of the next book I did which for me was Proverbs Like wow, well, I did the same thing, but there’s these short prayers I wrote at the bottom and I started to write some of those things back to God, you know, in there. And then I pick up the next one. I did. I think I started Ephesians after that and then I realized, well, I need another journal just for the prayers I’m writing, and so just to see how this baby step of knowledge expanded and grew with every book, every stage, every storm, every step that I took has grown into where I am now and who I am now. And so you know, I just see that thread throughout.Rachel 16:39

But also, really, what the Psalms taught me was to dwell with him and what that meant. You know, when I started this I was a first time young mom, and there is no more taxing time on your mental and emotional health than going from independent, self-sufficient, selfish woman to needed, covered, exhausted, selfless mother, and that’s draining and that’s very taxing on the mental health and that’s very taxing on the mental health. And so I think that time that God put this in my life, just let me fill my bucket. Not enough that I needed, but he let that time fill the bucket overflowing, because he knew I needed more than what I had, just for myself. So I feel like that I had extra to give during that season of life when you’re so drained because I filled.Rachel 17:42

The other thing too is when you go through these storms and how did this expand from the Psalms is that you’re building this rock, this foundation that you don’t know you’re going to need later, and to step every day through these things the routine, the mundane, the missed days, the days you got it on and you feel like you did it right.Rachel 18:07

Those are building blocks to stand on. You know when the storm comes, and so this way that we organized it again just write down what you know about God turned into me in one storm in my life where I started to prove God was there with me in the storm, because I wanted to be able to look back and put little check marks in my writing where he had shown up. And that might’ve been as simple as a timing hey, I have this going on, this going on and this needs to happen in this tiny window I don’t control it, that’s my prayer and you know, covered with a hundred other prayers. But to go back and be like, oh my gosh, that phone call did happen when I needed to, you miss those opportunities to see his presence. And so I just think that when you document is what Psalms really taught me to do.Ellen 19:06

When you document, you can go back and see his evidence, and you can go back and see your growth, and that’s such a beautiful thing and you can go back and see your growth, and that’s such a beautiful thing it is, and I love how you pointed out that it is such a simple thing and I think so many people are so busy that this is something simple that they can do. And, rachel, I was just thinking of my daughter, ashley. She just had a baby. He’s four weeks old now and it brings me back thinking back about what it was like and how hard it is and how you have just such minimal amounts of time, and that definitely is something that you can do while you’re nursing even is just pick a psalm and reflect on who God is and what you learn about his character.Rachel 20:12

Yeah, and really quick, ellen, just to say too about that. And that stage is this idea again of dwell. Dwelling with him may look so different and feel so different when you have a four-week-old baby. It may look so different when you have kids that are older. It may look so different when you’re single. You know when your career is busy, when your career is not busy and all these things. And so to know that, to not measure it against someone else and to be, I think, if we’re thinking about mental health and emotional security, to be okay when, in your mind, you failed. I was going to get up early, I was going to do this then, or I was going to do this in bed after I put baby to bed and then you fell asleep, or then they woke up, or then this happened. It’s okay. These dwelling just means there’s not a number, there’s not a checklist, you don’t have to get through everything in a certain timeline, you just have to dwell when you can dwell with him.Ellen 21:12

Yes, yes, excellent, excellent point, good reminder for all of us. Let’s talk a little bit about King David, because he was a prominent writer of the Psalms. What did you learn from how David reflected, how he meditated on the Psalms, and what have you sort of been able to use to improve mental health related to that?Rachel 21:42

Well, david is such an amazing example because he probably had every range of emotion and situation in Psalms. So it is a smorgasbord for everyone, whatever you’re feeling, wherever you’re at, if you’re feeling great, if you’re feeling terrible. If youord for everyone, whatever you’re feeling, wherever you’re at, if you’re feeling great, if you’re feeling terrible, if you’re feeling persecuted, if you’re feeling you know, sent by God, he’s been all those things, and so what I really think that David teaches is that anyone, from anywhere, can be used by God. They are loved by God. You can be loved by God. You can sin against God. He feared God. David doubted God and he was still identified as someone, as a man after God’s own heart.Rachel 22:32

And so I just am thankful for this example. If you don’t know a lot about David, if you don’t know a lot about the Psalms, you think he’s this perfect example. But yet what he teaches through that is you don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to have all the answers. To be loved by God and to have a heart for God, you’re going to make mistakes, you’re going to mess up. You have to seek him for forgiveness, to free yourself of guilt, to free yourself of these things, and David had to do that. David went from being a son and a brother to being a best friend, to being someone that was being persecuted, to being this great king, to being this adulterer, you know, to being this great king, this father and this whole gamut of the spectrum of life. And what David did throughout all those seasons was just love God.Rachel 23:35

And I think back to that word dwell. You know, dwelling is the gift that we get right now from God, for the hope that we have in the gift. Later, when we’re in heaven, we dwell with him for eternity. And so, to know, dwelling is this gift. It can make these other things in your life seem a little less significant or carry a little less weight when our perspective is long-term, this indescribable gift we’re getting later.Rachel 24:08

When we focus too much on right here and now and forget our main goal, our main purpose, we get weighed down in that. And so, you know, god’s got a plan for me. All I have to do is have a heart for it. It will find me. I cannot outrun out, hide out sin, you know, make this mistake that will ruin this plan that God has for me. His purpose is going to be fulfilled, no matter what, and so I just think that David reminds us of that. His pedestal is not his circumstances and his leadership, it’s his heart, it’s his humility, it’s his vulnerability in sin, you know. And he struggled with things many people struggle with.Ellen 24:59

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, one thing that you said reminded me of just I think one thing that weighs us down, our mental health down, is when we don’t forgive ourselves. And the fact that David, in that sort of whole debacle with Bathsheba I mean having his, her husband, killed, I mean these were very grave sins and he greatly repented for them, but you see him throughout the Psalms being able to forgive himself, knowing that God forgives him and being able to move on with his life and not to say that there weren’t consequences, because there definitely were. But forgiveness is is so important.Ellen 25:56

Yeah, we you know in our house.Rachel 25:57

We have this chalkboard right at our garage door for when we leave and I thought I would change it over time and I’ve decided to not, because it just is such a stark reminder of my unworthiness as a human, my sin, and that God is more. And it says God can use me in spite of my flaws, and that just sits there when we leave because I mess up, I sin, I see my sin. Sometimes I think I’m better than my sin, all these things, and yet God is bigger than that and I just find that to be such a free forgiveness when we’re so hard on ourselves.Ellen 26:42

Yes, and what a great lesson as well for your kids, right? Because they get frustrated with themselves too when they know they goof up yeah.

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Rachel 26:55

And you can take that on as an identity, right, and that’s the thing with the Psalms, like your identity can be found in these pages, and when your identity says, well, I’m a troublemaker or I am not good at this, or I’m that, that’s this lie to who we really are. And so trying to really ground your identity in God, in what he says about you and who you are in him, yeah, so so important.Ellen 28:09

Well, for those of you that don’t know, Rachel, she mentioned that she is a teacher. You’re also an incredible wife, mother, friend. How have you relied on the Psalms to face different situations in your life, in these different roles that you have, and that would encourage someone who’s listening today, who is so many things to so many people.Rachel 28:40

Well, yeah, I mean, like I said, you’d never forget your first love, and Psalms laid this foundation in me that I had no way of predicting or knowing. We just become a part of who I am in my life. And I mentioned, you know, how it carried over in these other books. And so the joy again of documenting is that this daily plodding along in the regular seasons of life grew so beautifully that you know I struggled, praying out loud originally and just remembering what I was saying and I get sidetracked and all of this. But when I write my prayers down I can slow my brain down, and so to see that grow, it’s such a direct line from the Psalms and when those storms came, they’re what I came back to. And so I even think you know this little book from, oh, so many years ago with all the Psalms.Rachel 29:49

There’s so many times that I have come back to this and maybe it’s because something was going on in my life, or maybe I heard a sermon and I was like, oh, psalm 93. I wonder what I thought about Psalm 93, you know, and to kind of go into that and look, and to kind of go into that and look. It just was a joy to have this when I needed to go back and see what he said to me about all that was going on. And two, when there’s different types of storms that come in your life and really, I think, the ones that hit you the hardest about the whole purpose that God has for us, and when is when it’s life and death right, and when we get this perspective of death rocked with that. The Psalms are what I drew back to, because they’re this portrait of this yearning again, this home going, that we’re going to.Rachel 30:58

And so for me, you know, most recently, you know, the hardest thing that I went through was the death of my grandfather, and you know we had. He was diagnosis to death in 30 days and I’m just so grateful to God because I got our family, got a gift that I just don’t think anyone else gets the benefit of, and because we knew this day was coming for him. We had this like goodbye weekend our whole entire family gathered and we worked together with him his last week and he was alive, where we could, you know, tell stories, sing songs. We sang songs together and pray together and pray together. But I really felt led back to the Psalms during that time during this time of lament and grief and hope.Rachel 31:57

And so you know my grandfather. He was this faith-filled rock in our family and I always like to introduce him by saying he was the greatest example of God’s love to me on this earth. And so I during that time just felt God nudging on my heart about the Psalms, and so I was drawn to Psalm 84. And I even have it like just written in my Bible that this is the Psalm that I read as a prayer to him and my entire family when we were going through that. And why? Because to pray back these words that God has for us is just this depth of feeling known by him. You know, psalm 84 says how lovely is your dwelling place, o Lord Almighty. My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has a home and the swallow a nest for herself where she may have her young, a place near your altar, o Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are ever praising you. You know it continues on.Rachel 33:12

But to in the crux of that, to feel like the Psalms are what draw that strength of being known and seen and what God says is true. He can be trusted for the step that we don’t know. The greatest anxiety we as humans really face is what he said true, when I die. Is this all real? Is this all true? And the Psalms?Rachel 33:41

are this rock that you can go to to be trusted. And so you know that’s my most recent, greatest example where they’ve showed up in my life. But, ellen, you know we’ve walked this path together a while in friendship and there’s just been so much. You know my fast highlights for people going through different situations. You know there was a time where I was witnessed to a major car accident you remember this story and I had to get out and help someone hurt and I just was drawn to them in prayer and asking to pray over them while we waited. I mean that’s the Psalms rooted in me. You know a big pain, a big hurt in my life, that 16 years I held on to God walked me through forgiveness in the most powerful, incredible way. I wouldn’t have had that without the Psalms.Rachel 34:28

My dear friend, her brother’s passing was this horrible thing for all of us and we walked. That month that we knew for him was coming with, sending Psalms to his wife, prayers daily, and times in my own family when crisis, medical crisis, has occurred. Medical crisis doesn’t actually happen when it’s convenient in your own life, when you have time. A lot of times stuff like these things happen when you do not have time and that’s overwhelming. But to come back to this, this little step that you can take by pulling these truths about who God is will show up for you in these major ways. And just to kind of wrap it around, you know how dear my grandparents are to me, and my grandmother died this past year and it was very hard for her, since my grandpa had passed and she was struggling to say the prayers she had in her heart. She could not get them out, and so I would write these prayers for her and I would send them to her like on paper.Rachel 35:35

And she had this cardinal prayer box I got for her to keep them in, and again they were Psalms, you know. And so it’s just from birth through death, all that we face and see, these are the words that God has for us with. He’s in control, he loves us and there’s waiting that we may not like, but he’s in control and he loves us.Ellen 36:06

That’s so beautiful and thank you for sharing some of those examples with us, because it really does demonstrate how God’s word is active and alive, how it is sharper than a two-edged sword, how it is something that, once we can put deep in our heart, we can treasure it. We can use it for our own circumstances, we can use it to help other people. I know the one thing I would just encourage any of our listeners is, if you have the opportunity to memorize one of the Psalms, to have it so that you can just pull it out. I know for me that’s Psalm 23. I pull it out in all different circumstances and it’s amazing how God can just use that one Psalm, or the different verses of it, to encourage and strengthen and comfort me in different ways in various different situations. So try to get that, pick a psalm and get that tucked into your heart.Ellen 37:17

You know, rachel, I also read through the psalms that summer and summer, and the feedback that I had received from you and from other people in our group inspired me so much that I encouraged the Coffee and Bible Time team to actually write a Psalms devotional, which we came out with at the beginning of this past year, and it’s a 30-week devotional that covers all 150 psalms and it has both guided prompts and self-study, so you can do exactly what we’re talking about here. You have the opportunity to read it, to reflect, to be prompted to think about things. So I want to thank you so much publicly just for taking that Psalms challenge and providing the feedback, and I wanted everyone to know that that has inspired and encouraged us here at Coffee and Bible Time so much.Rachel 38:25

Well, thank you. Thank you, Ellen. You know, psalms has just been my greatest teacher, when I really think about it, and it’s where my deep intimacy with the Lord began and that’s where it was born and it just started, step by step, with some ups and downs and slow and steady, and that’s all you need. You know, wherever you’re at, with whatever you’re coming through, just show up and he can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine.Ellen 38:54

Beautiful. Wow, what an awesome way to wrap up our discussion of the Psalms here. But, rachel, before we go, I have to ask you about some of our favorite Bible study tool questions. What Bible is your go-to Bible and what translation is it?Rachel 39:14

Well, my go-to Bible actually kind of coincides with the Psalms and my journey into motherhood right after my anniversary, right after my son was born. My son was born in June and my anniversary was July, so my husband had gotten me, um, a mom’s devotional Bible, and it’s a new international version, um, and so I just feel like this Bible has grown with me. Um, I loved the insight I needed and the little devotionals in there for motherhood and the different stages of it, and so it’s just been awesome to grow in my confidence as a Bible reader, confidence as a mom and confidence as the daughter of the King.Ellen 40:04

Yeah, okay, excellent. Do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study time?Rachel 40:14

I love a beautiful journal. It has to be a beautiful journal. A fresh one gets me so excited, it’s motivating to me, and so right now, my current favorites are the Rifle Paper Company journals. They’re just so beautiful.Rachel 40:32

I have some flower and bug ones, so they feel summery. So those are great, because then too, I associate each study or each point in my season. I’m like I know what journal that was that was the, that was the leather one, or that was the flower tree one, or that was this one. The other thing, ellen, this was a gift from you, and so now I still use them is these post-it tabs.Rachel 40:58

You remember these post-it tabs so you could just write on these clear tabs and I use this all the time for scripture references or you know some. I have tabbed. That said what I learned, different things that I can use, so I have found these to be a really great tool. And the last thing that always accompanies my Bible and my journals and my notes and all that is coffee. Isn’t that the theme here? Coffee and Bible time they go so well together. Isn’t that the theme here?Ellen 41:29

coffee and Bible time. They go so well together. You better believe it. Okay, awesome, Okay. Lastly, what is your favorite?Rachel 41:38

app or website for Bible study tools Right now, currently I’m not using any specific app. You know I’ve used Blue Letter, Bible and different things like that before, so actually I’m really into, just currently, the power of Google, and I say that because I just finished just I was so drawn into the book of Acts, just finished Acts, and the history behind it and the growth of the Christian church and the faith and separate, you know, from Judaism to all of this. And so I, when I would hear these historical referent things, I would sometimes would just look them up and just started to become like a researcher, I guess. And so you know, I’m in Romans now, so it’s a little bit different, but I didn’t use to do that, you know, if I wasn’t sure about a location or something like that. So never underestimate the power of just looking up something if you don’t know what it is yes, Great recommendation.Ellen 42:34

Absolutely Well, Rachel. Thank you so much for being here, for sharing your experience of being in the Psalms in such an effective way that I hope people listening out there are encouraged as it relates to their mental health and emotional well-being. So thank you so much.Rachel 42:56

Thank you so much for having me. What a wonderful thing to talk about with you, my dear friend.Ellen 43:01

Yeah, all right, and for our listeners, we hope you feel encouraged to start studying the Psalms. Today we are offering a special coupon Psalms Podcast. So that’s P-S-A-L-M-S-P-O-D-C-A-S-T to get 10% off of our Psalms devotional that you can find on Coffee and Bible Time. We will have all of that information in our show notes. We love you all. We thank you for listening. Have a blessed day.

Rachel:
Thank you, Ellen.

Ellen:
Great to have you here again! I’m so excited to have you back on.

Rachel, for this episode, let’s go back to the year we were in Bible study together. It was time for our summer break. Can you share with us how you came to spend your summer studying the Psalms and how you went about doing that?

Using Psalms for Mental Health by Writing Psalms

Rachel:
Yeah. I don’t know if your memory is any better than mine—I was trying to place the year, and I feel like it might have been around 2013. One of the reasons I think I even know that is because the little journal book you gave us that summer had a copyright date of 2013, so I’m guessing that’s about the time it was.

We had this challenge—to “glean” through the Psalms. That was the word: “glean.” I still have everything from that time, and it’s such a joy to look back. I have that little piece of paper that encouraged us to read one Psalm a day, in any order we wanted, and just write down what we learned about God’s character and His ways, or note a verse, or summarize part of the passage. That’s where it started.

When I looked back on this, Ellen, I thought—Psalms was my first love. You know what they say—you never forget your first love. That’s really where it all started for me.

I ended up writing everything down—because you could pick any order, I started losing track of which ones I’d already read. So I wrote down, on the back of my paper, every chapter and marked them off as I went. I’d also look at how much time I had that day—did I have enough time to read a longer one, or would I read a shorter one?

I can still picture that time in my life. I was living in my townhome, and I can picture the chair I sat in to read. My oldest was about two years old, so I had to wake up before him and try to time that right. But that was the start of it all.

We’ll get into more of it in this podcast, but anytime I’m in conversation—whether with friends or anyone—the Psalms always come back up. Like I said, you never forget your first love.

Using Psalms for Mental Health by seeing Themes in the Psalms for Mental Health

Ellen:
I’ll never forget the look on your face when we met again the next year. I remember you saying, “Oh Ellen, I’m so glad we had that summer challenge to read through Psalms.” I could tell just by the look on your face how much you had gleaned from it.

As you were going through them, what recurring themes related to emotional well-being did you notice throughout the Psalms? So many people right now are struggling with emotional well-being. What can we take from what you’ve learned that might help someone?

Rachel:
When I was thinking about the themes in the Psalms, I kind of put them into three basic categories:

1. God is in control.
2. He greatly loves us.
3. There is a period of waiting.

God talks about being our dwelling place, about being near to us, encouraging us to seek Him when we’re troubled. He hears, He knows, He answers us. That’s prevalent throughout the Psalms.

Even when we feel forgotten—like, “Did God forget about me? Does He know what I’m going through?”—the Psalms remind us that He is still worthy of trust and praise. They encourage us to look back on how He’s been faithful, so we know He’ll be faithful again.

That’s the “God is in control” part. Thank goodness He holds us in His hand.

Then there’s the love—His love endures forever. There’s nothing we can do—right or wrong—to earn or lose that love. Psalm 84 talks about yearning to be with Him, to be home with Him. There’s this love that just isn’t complete without God. It speaks to that deep yearning in our lives.

The basic truth: I’m loved. I’m dearly loved. I’m wanted by Him.

Then the waiting. There are so many examples. Psalm 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord.” Which means—you had to wait, and we don’t like that! Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

When it comes to mental health or emotional well-being, we crave a sense of safety. That often means control—control over circumstances, outcomes, the future, the unknown. The Psalms bring these themes together: God is in control. He loves you. And there is waiting.

There’s more I want to say about that later, but I once summarized what I learned from all of it with this list:

• Do not fear.
• Concentrate on trusting God.
• Just do what needs to be done.
• Relax in His sovereignty.
• Remember that He goes before me and He will bring good.

Ellen:
Those are such powerful themes that all of us have experienced. We can latch onto that—God, His Word, His faithfulness.

But it’s so hard in the moment, isn’t it? When we’re in the depths of not knowing—feeling out of control, unsure about the future, or just overwhelmed in a specific situation. I love how the Psalms always draw us back, and like you said, looking back at God’s faithfulness helps us move forward. It really is our only hope. It’s what gets you from point A to point B when you’re in such a hard state, oftentimes.

Silencing Mental Noise by Using Psalms for Mental Health

Rachel:
Yeah, and if I can just expand on that—mental health, or mental well-being—what is it really? Our mental health is so closely tied to the themes we see throughout the Psalms. It’s connected to our sense of security, our sense of place and belonging, our confidence, our self-worth. That’s a big part of it. It’s also connected to our environment—our surroundings, whether our basic needs are met, how busy we are. When we’re in a noisy, chaotic season, our mental health can suffer.

You can’t hear God when there’s so much noise—voices, sounds, distractions. That’s why a verse like Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God,” is so powerful. That’s my anthem. Be still. God can speak loudly, but I believe He most often speaks in a still, soft voice.

As you know, I’m a health and PE teacher, and each year we have a lesson on hearing and decibels. We talk about how 80 decibels is where noise starts to become uncomfortable, and over time, prolonged exposure—even at just 80 decibels—can cause hearing damage. As the volume increases, we lose the ability to distinguish individual voices. It all blends into chaos, and that leads to stress and anxiety.

When you relate that to mental health, it becomes obvious: too much noise drowns out God’s voice. Noise is all the open mental tabs we’re juggling. My coworker and I say this all the time: “Too many tabs are open!” Whether it’s saying yes to too many things, social media, opinions from others, or just the pace of life—it all becomes noise.

And how do you recover from that? After a loud concert, what do you do? You rest your ears. You’re still. You’re quiet. The same goes for your spiritual ears. That’s where soaking in the Psalms comes in. For me, during a difficult time in my life, the Psalms reminded me that God is in control, He loves us, and we have to wait quietly for Him to speak.

Ellen:
That’s such an important reminder. I really needed that today. And I loved the analogy about all the open tabs—it really does feel overwhelming at times. We do have to be intentional about how busy and noisy our lives get. So, Rachel, how did your knowledge of God change and grow through reading the Psalms, particularly when it comes to finding comfort and hope?

Using Psalms for Mental Health:A Simple Way

Rachel:
I remember at the start of our Bible study, I thought, “People always say read your Bible—but how do you actually do that?” Do you just flip through and stop somewhere? Pick a random book? I was struggling with that. But what helped me was simply writing down what I was learning about God. That felt manageable—it was a baby step.

Looking back through my Psalms journal, it’s just passages and short summaries. I needed structure, so I limited myself to one page per Psalm. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a record of who God is. When I moved on to Proverbs, I did the same thing, and then started writing short prayers at the bottom of the pages. Eventually, I began a separate journal just for prayers. So, with every book, every step, and every storm, my understanding grew.

What the Psalms really taught me was how to dwell with God. When I started this, I was a new mom—exhausted, overwhelmed, and emotionally drained. That transition from independent woman to selfless mother takes a toll on mental health. But during that time, God filled my bucket—more than I thought I needed—so I could keep giving even when I felt empty.

Also, when you go through storms, you’re building a foundation without even realizing it. Every missed day, every routine day, every “I did it right” day—it’s all part of building that rock to stand on. In one particular storm, I started going back through my notes and marking all the places God had shown up. Little things—like a perfectly timed phone call—became proof of His presence. That’s what the Psalms taught me: document, so you can go back and see His evidence and your growth.

Ellen:
That’s so good. I love that you pointed out how simple it can be. Everyone’s busy, but this is something small you can do. It even makes me think of my daughter Ashley—she just had a baby four weeks ago. During those early weeks, time is scarce, but even while nursing, she could pick a Psalm and reflect on who God is.

Rachel:
Exactly. And I’d add that “dwelling” looks different in every season. When you have a newborn, when your kids are older, when you’re single, when work is overwhelming—it all shifts. We have to give ourselves grace and not compare our walk with others’. You might plan to get up early and read your Bible, or read after the baby is asleep—but then life happens. It’s okay. Dwelling doesn’t have a checklist. You don’t have to complete something to a certain standard. Just dwell when and how you can.

Emotional Healing: David’s Example by Using Psalms for Mental Health

Ellen:
Yes, excellent reminder. Let’s talk a little bit about King David, who wrote many of the Psalms. What did you learn from how he reflected and meditated, and how has that helped your mental health?

Rachel:
David is such a rich example. He experienced every emotion and situation—joy, sorrow, betrayal, confidence, doubt. Wherever you’re at—feeling great, lost, hurt, or victorious—David’s been there. And what he teaches us is that anyone can be used and loved by God. David sinned, feared, doubted—and yet he was called a man after God’s own heart.

His story reminds us that perfection isn’t the goal. It’s about having a heart for God. David was a son, brother, best friend, fugitive, king, adulterer, father—he lived the full spectrum. Through all of it, he loved God. His identity wasn’t in what he did or didn’t do—it was in his humility and vulnerability.

And when I think of “dwell,” I’m reminded that it’s a gift. We get to dwell with God now, and one day we’ll dwell with Him forever in heaven. That long-term view can help us carry the weight of today more lightly. God’s purpose will prevail, no matter what we’ve done. David’s pedestal wasn’t his success—it was his heart.

Ellen:
That’s so true. And something you said really struck me—how one of the biggest weights on our mental health is the inability to forgive ourselves. David committed serious sins, yet he repented and moved forward. There were consequences, but he accepted God’s forgiveness and didn’t stay stuck.

In our home, we have a chalkboard by the garage door that says, “God can use me in spite of my flaws.” I thought I’d change it eventually, but it’s stayed because it’s such a powerful reminder of grace.

Rachel:
Yes! And it’s such a great lesson for our kids too. When they mess up, they’re tempted to internalize it as identity. That’s what the Psalms help combat. They anchor us in who we are in God—not in our mistakes. When your identity is in Him, you don’t get stuck in lies like “I’m not good at this,” or “I’m a troublemaker.”

Using Psalms for Mental Health to Deal with Grief

Ellen:
Absolutely. And for those who don’t know—Rachel, you’re also a wife, mom, friend, and teacher. How have you relied on the Psalms in all these different roles?

Rachel:
Psalms really laid the foundation for me. It’s where my deep relationship with God began. It became part of who I am. I struggled with praying out loud at first—I’d lose my train of thought. Writing my prayers helped me slow down and stay focused, and that habit started with the Psalms.

Over the years, I’ve returned to my little Psalms journal so many times—during hard seasons, or just because I heard a sermon and wanted to revisit a passage. The Psalms have been my anchor through some of the hardest things—grief, crisis, fear.

The most recent example was losing my grandfather. From diagnosis to death, it was only 30 days. But God gave us the gift of time. We had a “goodbye weekend” as a family—telling stories, singing, praying. During that time, I felt led to Psalm 84. I read it aloud as a prayer for my grandfather and our family. It was such a comfort:

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty… Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”

When we face death, we confront the biggest question: Is all of this really true? The Psalms give us that assurance and hope. They remind us that God sees us, knows us, and can be trusted—even with the unknown.

Ellen:
That’s so beautiful, Rachel. Thank you for sharing. It really shows how God’s Word is alive and active, how it sustains us in every season. I encourage everyone listening—pick one Psalm to memorize. For me, it’s Psalm 23. It comes to mind in so many situations. Just having it tucked in your heart is a gift.

And I want to thank you, Rachel. Your experience with the Psalms inspired us at Coffee and Bible Time to create our Psalms devotional—a 30-week guide through all 150 Psalms with both prompts and self-study. Your feedback was a huge part of that. Thank you!

Rachel:
Thank you, Ellen. The Psalms have been my greatest teacher. My deep relationship with the Lord began there. It started small—just one step at a time. But if you show up, He’ll do more than you can ask or imagine.