A ba’al teshuvah (penitent) should increase in saying Tehillim at all times.
Sources and Explanations
The disciples of the Arizal wrote that the study of Sefer Tehillim is good for rectifying the blemish of the covenant (pegam habrit). Since David HaMelech, peace be upon him, prayed that the saying of Tehillim be considered like engaging in Nega’im and Ohalot, it appears that Tehillim is effective just as the study of these weighty subjects is effective.
In the sefer Yesod VeShoresh HaAvodah (Sha’ar 11, chapter 15) he writes: “Saying Tehillim is important for the atonement of one’s sins, as is known regarding the greatness of saying the mizmorim of Tehillim with kavanah.”
See what the Mishnah Berurah (581:3) writes: “It is customary on every weekday from Rosh Chodesh Elul onward, after the tefillah, to say ten mizmorim with the tzibbur … and during the Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, more than ten mizmorim are said in order to complete Tehillim a third time before Yom Kippur.”
We find similarly in Responsa Noda BiYehudah (Orach Chaim, siman 35), in the guidance he gave to a ba’al teshuvah for a very severe sin; among all the things he wrote: “That he should cleave greatly to the songs and praises of King David, peace be upon him, for this is a great thing to kindle in a person’s heart love of the Creator, blessed be He.”
In the sefer Seder HaYom (Seder HaYom HaKadosh, p. 216) he writes: “Each and every person should strive to complete Sefer Tehillim and go through all of it on this awesome day, and it is a fitting thing and a segulah (spiritual remedy) for every ba’al teshuvah and for everyone who seeks mercy to read this book, for he will find in it what he seeks, and God, may He be blessed and exalted, will answer him through it. And so King David, peace be upon him, prayed and asked for mercy for everyone who engages in his book, that he not return empty-handed; and most of his mizmorim are built and founded upon matters of teshuvah. And so I have seen many distinguished people, ba’alei nefesh (spiritually sensitive people), who read all of Sefer Tehillim on Yom Kippur, and so it is proper to do.” End quote.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 4: Laws Concerning Those Who Say Tehillim, Halacha 2 (p. 47 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
