A penitential psalm is a psalm in which the psalmist, conscious of his own sin and its consequences, cries out to God in contrition for mercy, forgiveness, and restoration.

Here are the seven traditional penitential psalms, recognized in the church since at least the time of Cassiodorus in the sixth century:

Psalm 6 — A cry for mercy under divine chastening, pleading with the Lord to relent from His anger and heal the psalmist's anguished body and soul.

Psalm 32 — A wisdom-psalm celebrating the blessedness of forgiveness while warning that unconfessed sin wastes the body and soul until the sinner breaks silence before God.

Psalm 38 — A lament in which the psalmist, overwhelmed by physical suffering he recognizes as the fruit of his own sin, begs God not to forsake him.

Psalm 51 — David's great penitential prayer after the Bathsheba affair, pleading for cleansing, a new heart, and the restoration of the joy of salvation.

Psalm 102 — The prayer of an afflicted man pouring out his complaint before the Lord, contrasting his own frailty and fading days with the Lord's eternal faithfulness to Zion.

Psalm 130 — The classic De Profundis, a cry from the depths for forgiveness, grounded in the conviction that with the Lord there is steadfast love and plenteous redemption.

Psalm 143 — A final plea for deliverance and guidance in which the psalmist appeals to God's faithfulness and righteousness while confessing that no living person is justified before Him.

Book Four of the Psalms (Psalms 90–106) is a collection that turns Israel’s attention from the apparent collapse of the Davidic kingdom to the enduring kingship of the Lord—confessing human frailty and sin, yet finding hope in God’s eternal reign, covenant faithfulness, and power to restore and redeem.