The above analysis results in laying forth the logical stages of development of lament psalms. A psalmist encounters distress. He interprets that distress. He formulates an appeal appropriate to that interpretation. The process of exegesis I propose will thus try to trace each lament psalm through its stages of composition: from the distress to the interpretation of the distress to the appeal. This approach aims to take the exegete step by step through the whole process of experience that a lament