Reading one Psalm a day with my morning coffee

For years I wanted a Bible reading habit that would survive real life: busy weeks, early mornings, days when I just wasn’t in the mood. What finally stuck was the simplest plan I have ever tried. One Psalm a day, with my first cup of coffee, starting at Psalm 1.

There are 150 of them, so the whole book takes about five months. Here is how I keep it from becoming one more thing on a list.

One, and only one

I read one Psalm and stop, even when I would like to keep going. Stopping while I still want more is part of what makes me come back the next morning.

Slowly, and sometimes out loud

The Psalms were written to be sung, and many of them read differently when you hear them. When the house is quiet, I read the shorter ones aloud.

One line in the margin of the day

I write down a single phrase that stood out, in a small notebook or on a sticky note that goes on the fridge. By the end of the week, the fridge door has become a little collection of reminders.

Pray it back

Before I close the book, I turn that one phrase into a short prayer in my own words. Some mornings it’s a whole paragraph; most mornings it’s a sentence.

Missed days don’t need catching up

If I skip a day, I don’t read two the next morning. I just pick up where I left off. The point is the habit, not the finish line.

Two places to slow down

Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, just two verses, and I like to linger on it. Psalm 119 is the longest, at 176 verses, so I give it a week or more and read a section or two each morning.

I read the King James at my kitchen table because I love the rhythm of its language, but the right translation to start with is the one you understand.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Psalm 5:3 (KJV)