The Book of Psalms, commonly referred to simply as Psalms, the Psalter or “the Psalms,” is the first book of the Ketuvim, the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. These are sacred poems meant to be sung. The Psalms are for the most part a book of prayer and praise. In it, faith speaks to God in prayer and of God in praise. But there are also psalms that are explicitly didactic (instructional) in form and purpose (teaching the way of godliness).