means spelling out the logical progression from one verse to another. While studying a lament psalm, we must keep in mind where its ‘train of thought’ is headed. As noted above, the aim of lament psalms is to obtain something from God. How then did psalmists endeavor to achieve this? How did they argue their case before God? What arguments were considered valid in ancient Israel? To answer these questions one should apply rhetorical analysis in the purest sense of the term, as the study of argumentation.