The Psalms were the “hymnbook” of the Old Testament. Israel used them to worship God, sing His praises, learn His ways, and confess their faith. In addition, the Psalms are a collection of prayers; heart wrenching prayers for all kinds of hardships are included throughout the Psalms. Of the most prominent are prayers for forgiveness. There are seven Psalms that are called Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143), and they teach us about repentance, sorrow over our sin, and the sure and certain hope of the forgiveness of all of our sins. Psalm 51 is one of those Penitential Psalms.