I attempted to write a psalm of complaint. Attempt being the key word here. I am not a psalmist, nor am I a poet who doesn't know it. I am not a poet and I am gravely aware of my limited abilities.
After the readings, the lectures, and the hangout about the Book of Psalms this week, I am convinced we should all do a little more complaining to God. If we believe God knows our hearts anyway, this wouldn't be shocking for God to actually hear our cries. I think, like Bruggeman, we need to bring back the complaints. There is a lot to complain about: the cost of a Starbucks latte, the lack of wine in my house, the amount of fracking taking place in the Midwest, racism still abounds, and the dress I really want to wear is a size too small. So, I ATTEMPTED to write a Complaint Psalm.
This genre of psalms is identifiable by its elements. Dr. Lester listed the elements that each complaint psalm will have:
A. Address to God
B. Complaint
C. Statement of Trust in God
D. Petition for God's Intervention
E. Vow of Thanksgiving
They also take advantage of the other psalm styles using couplets, alliteration, metaphor, and simile. They are beautiful poems that stay true to the experience of being a human, so that means there are a wide array of psalm genres. Maybe life is super perfect, there's a psalm for that. Look at some of the thanksgiving psalms (maybe psalm 100). Or, maybe God has blessed you and you need a psalm of praise like psalm 33 to sing.
What do you think? What psalm is speaking to your life this week?
Wow! Have you ever written poetry before? This was really, really good! My favorite lines are "You are a deliverer of peace/You are a mighty God." and "My enemies mock me./They laugh while procreating." The lines about mocking and then procreating are so powerful!
ReplyDeleteI especially like that you've explained the elements that were included (and that are included in each complaint Psalm), and then also gave some other Psalms to look for when life is great, or a praise Psalm is needed.
Also, on a side note, I like that your poem is side-by-side with your explanation. I like the looks of it!
Thank you for sharing!
I agree with Melissa- The whole "poet and don't know it" fact seems to be true upon reading your writings. I loved it!
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the simile of the shunned dog. You created a comparison to convey the true emotion and that is something we often see in our Biblical Psalms.
I agree with Melissa again in that I liked the way you laid out all the elements that compose a lament psalm.
A wonderful job! Thanks for sharing it!
Lori
My favorite line, and will probably use it a lot, " Destroy those who act like pricks". Awesome!
ReplyDeleteI can agree that in the midwest we do complain a lot about nothing. Social media seems to be full of this. Having grown up in the midwest though, it can be a bit unsettling knowing that it is ok and freeing to bring our complaints and frustrations to God.
I however can get caught up in the complaining and forget about the vow of Thanksgiving.
Great blog! Thank you for sharing your heart
Steven Wiseman
It's too bad you aren't an actual OT Psalmist, because I think you've really got a feel for this. In fact, I can't help but suspecting you were slightly hampered by your need to use seminary-appropriate language in your Psalm. This is always a problem in OT studies; the Hebrew is frequently rude and crude and scatological, and the English versions tidy it up.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, to your "destroy those who act like pricks" I say, Amen, so be it. Selah.
Your Psalm does a great job of being universal. I don't know you at all and I found myself cheering on your cause, especially the line about the pricks! :) I wrote one too and found the process slightly exhausting but cathartic. Was this process uncomfortable for you? I found myself fighting the cultural Christian norm not to put it out there. You too?
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate how emotion you put into this just like those that wrote the Psalms. It is something that I have always enjoyed about the Psalms. You were also very real in both the Psalm and the rest of the post as well. Keep up the amazing work! It was inspiring!
ReplyDelete