How do you read Psalms if you have little experience with poetry?

Images and repetition are part of the form

The NBG points out, among other things, parallelism and imagery in the Psalms. Rules can complement, reinforce or oppose each other. An image evokes something that does not fit into a literal description.

Therefore, read a few lines together. If you take one sentence loose from a poem, you can miss the movement to the next line. Reading aloud can help you hear rests and repetition, even when the translation does not rhyme.

Make room for the voice of the text

As you read, ask: Is the speaker addressing God, other people, or himself? Are people thanking, complaining, asking or looking back? Different movements can occur within one psalm.

You do not have to have the expressed feeling at that moment. A complaint can show how someone is expressing distress while you are having a quiet day. Conversely, you don't have to push away sadness to fit a song of gratitude. Listening to the text first may be enough.

A small exercise with two lectures

Read the entire psalm once. Then choose two lines that seem to belong together and describe their connection in your own words. Read again and see if your first impression changes. Save a question for later when an image remains unclear.

Our choice: use a publication in which the lines of the poem are clearly laid out and compare a second translation for a difficult passage. Check out the translation comparator. If you want to understand why a product is called “with psalms”, read on the difference between the Bible book and the song appendix. For more detailed background one can study bible help, as long as you first leave room for the poem itself.

Frequently asked questions

Do psalms have to rhyme?

Not in a Dutch Bible translation. A psalm rhyme for singing is a different form than the translated Bible text.

Do I need to understand a psalm right away?

No. Rereading and retaining one specific question can yield more than quickly capturing meaning.