Write Your Own Psalm

A HANDY HOW-TO GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS

You say you’ve always wanted to be a psalmist but don’t know where to begin? Fortunately for you writing psalms is easier than you think. Just follow the simple steps in this tutorial and you’ll be writing biblical quality psalms in no time!

I. TECHNIQUE

Maybe you’ve read an article about the techniques of Hebrew poetry and thought, “I could never do that. It’s too complicated!” But you’re in luck. Most of those difficult techniques don’t translate well anyway. There is really only one technique that you have to master: parallelism.

    Parallelism is repeating the same idea
      in different words.
   Using diverse vocabulary to restate
      the same thought--that’s parallelism.

    Parallelism is easy and fun.
    It is simple and enjoyable.

   Do you get the idea?
   Do you grasp the concept?

Good! I told you it was easy!

All it takes to master the technique of parallelism is practice and a good thesaurus.

II. COMPOSITION

Now you are ready to begin writing your psalm. But what will you write about? Most psalms contain one or more of these four elements: Complaint, Cry for Help, Thanksgiving, and Praise.

A. Complaint

We all have things to complain about. Psalmists usually complain about their health and/or their enemies.

If you choose to complain about your health, be graphic. Describe your fevers, chills, sore feet, falling hair, halitosis, poor eyesight, and seeping pustules in detail. If at all possible mention “the Pit” as in, “I am going down to the Pit.”

If you decide to complain about enemies, use animal imagery: bulls, jackals, and dogs are good choices.

You may, if you wish, complain about both your health and your enemies:

    I am a mass of boils;
    I am covered with seeping sores.
    Enemies surround me;
    Dogs encircle me
       As I go down to the Pit.

Your complaints don’t have to be personal. You may also complain on behalf of your entire community. In this case you will probably focus on enemies rather than illness.

B. Cry for Help

Now it’s time to ask YHWH to help you. Don’t be afraid to grovel. Abject pleading may be called for. Be sure to tell God why he should help you. For example:

    You have always helped us before.

    I won’t be able to praise you if I go down to the Pit.

    I’ve always been a good person.

    People will laugh at you if you don’t help us.

    Etc.

Note: If you are writing a Penitential Psalm, ask the Lord to save you from your own bad self.

C. Thanksgiving

If God gives you the help you desire, be sure to say thanks. If God hasn’t given you help yet, say thanks in advance. Promise to do something in return. For example:

    Offer a sacrifice

    Pour out a libation

    Give praise in the midst of the assembly

    Help the poor

    Instruct the foolish

 If you aren’t going to offer an animal sacrifice, you may want to mention that God doesn’t really want one anyway:

    Bulls and rams you do not desire
    You turn up your nose at lambs and goats.

D. Praise 

Tell God how wonderful he is. Invite others to join in. For example:

    Your friends and neighbors

    Other nations

    Plants and animals

    Mythological creatures: Leviathan, Behemoth,
      Unicorns

    Heavenly creatures: Seraphim, Cherubim, Angels

    Stars and Planets

After you’ve written a few psalms using the steps outlined above, you’ll be ready to try your hand at more advanced psalms: Wisdom Psalms, Songs of Zion, Royal Psalms, and Songs of Ascents.









Although I wrote this with tongue, I hope obviously, in cheek, there are some serious points to be made. Parallelism is a common and important technique of ancient Hebrew poetry. The elements of Complaint, Cry for Help, Thanksgiving, and Praise are themes of many of the psalms and, according to Walter Bruggemann in his book An Unsettling God, programmatic for much of the Old Testament narrative.