psalms

Psalms

Elements (Example Psalm 3)

1. Address

2. Complaint

3. Trust

4. Deliverance

5. Assurance

6. Praise

Elements (Example Psalm 33)

1. Call to praise

2. Reasons for praise

3. Reiteration of call to praise (sometimes)

Main Psalm types

1. Lament (communal or individual)

2. Praise (communal or individual)

- rarer categories others have proposed

1. Thanksgiving Psalms

2. Creation Psalms

3. Liturgical Psalms

4. Royal Psalms

5. Enthronement Psalms

6. Wisdom Psalms

Elements (Example Psalm 138)

1. Introduction

2. Distress

3. Appeal

4. Deliverance

5. Testimony

Literary features (discussed earlier)

1. Parallelism

2. Chiasmus

3. Inclusio

4. Merismus

Other important features

1. Another feature is that the Psalms rely very heavily on metaphor rather than simile

- e.g. the Lord is not "like" a rock, the Lord is a rock; the Lord is not "like" a shepherd, the Lord is a shepherd

2. Acrostics - Psalm 119