דרש רבי שמלאי לעולם יסדר אדם שבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא ואחר כך יתפלל
Rabbi Simlai taught: One should always set forth praise of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and then pray
It is as if before the Rabbis prayed, they prayed that they might pray. The Psukei D'zimrah is best regarded as "the prayer before the prayer." It functions as the warm-up for the morning service, a recognition that prayerfulness cannot be summoned on demand. The two morning staples, the Sh'ma and its blessings and the Amidah, are therefore introduced by the Psukei D'zimrah as a transition from the daily secular routine to the sacred act of communal prayer.
(יב) וְשִׁבְּחוּ חֲכָמִים לְמִי שֶׁקּוֹרֵא זְמִירוֹת מִסֵּפֶר תְּהִלִּים בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם מִ(תהילים קמה א) ״תְּהִלָּה לְדָוִד״ עַד סוֹף הַסֵּפֶר. וּכְבָר נָהֲגוּ לִקְרוֹת פְּסוּקִים לִפְנֵיהֶם וּלְאַחֲרֵיהֶם וְתִקְּנוּ בְּרָכָה לִפְנֵי הַזְּמִירוֹת וְהִיא בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר וּבְרָכָה לְאַחֲרֵיהֶם וְהִיא יִשְׁתַּבַּח. וְאַחַר כָּךְ מְבָרֵךְ עַל קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וְקוֹרֵא קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע:
(12) The early Sages lauded one who reads every day psalms from the Psalter, beginning with "the Psalm of David" (Psalm 145) and continuing till the end of the book. It is also settled practice to read verses before and after these Psalms. The Sages appointed a blessing to be recited before the psalms, the one beginning, "Blessed be He who spake", and a blessing to be recited after them, beginning, "Praised be Thy name." Then the blessings for the Shema are recited and the Shema is read.
In the Law and the Prophets, God reaches out to man. The initiative is God's. The message is God's. God communicates, we receive. Our God-given free will allows us to be receptive, to be accepting, to turn a deaf ear, to reject. In the Psalms, human beings reach out to God. The initiative is human. The language is human. We make an effort to communicate. God receives; God chooses to respond or not, according to God's inscrutable wisdom. God gives their assent or withholds it.
In the Psalms, the human soul extends itself beyond its confining, sheltering, impermanent house of clay. It strives for contact with the Ultimate Source of all life. It gropes for an experience of the divine Presence. The biblical psalms are essentially a record of the human quest for God.
(1) Hallelujah.
Praise God in God's sanctuary; praise God in the sky, God's stronghold.
(2) Praise God for God's mighty acts; praise God for God's exceeding greatness.
(3) Praise God with blasts of the horn; praise God with harp and lyre.
(4) Praise God with timbrel and dance; praise God with lute and pipe.
(5) Praise God with resounding cymbals; praise God with loud-clashing cymbals.
(6) Let all that breathes praise the LORD. Hallelujah.
פי‘ מורי רבינו יהודה ב“ר יצחק...וצריך להשהות קודם התפלה דאמר ר‘ יהושע בן לוי המתפלל צריך לשהות שעה אחת ואח“כ יתפלל [בבלי ברכות לב:]. ותנן חסידים הראשונים היו שוהים שעה אחת ומתפללים כדי שיכוונו את לבם לאביהם שבשמים [משנה ברכות ה:א, ל:]...כי מתוך כך נמצאנו מכוונים לבבינו כשאנו שוהים באשרי.
My teacher R. Yehuda b. Yitzchak (Paris, d. 1224) explained…And we must pause (להשהות) before prayer, as R. Yehoshua b. Levi said, “One who prays must meditate for an hour after their Prayer.” And it is taught in the Mishna, “The ancient pious one used to pause for an hour and then pray in order to intend their hearts to the Omnipresent One.”…From this we learn to intend our hearts when we pause during ashrei.
He is become my deliverance.
This is my God and I will enshrine Him;
The God of my father’s [house], and I will exalt Him.