These psalms served to express the religious feeling of ancient Israel at its greatest depth and highest intensity. Nephi would be familiar with the psalm form as well as with many of the psalms in the Old Testament. It would be natural for him to “write the things of [his soul]” (v. 15) and the expressions of his joy and his sorrow in this highly beautiful, poetic form. An individual can experience more of what Nephi possibly intended by reading this passage aloud, trying to feel as Nephi must have felt as he wrote it, rather than trying to see whether or not the passage has the elements of good English poetry.
Sidney B. Sperry noted:
“This is a true psalm in both form and idea. Its rhythm is comparable to the noble cadence of David’s poems. It not only praises God, but lays bare to us the very depths of Nephi’s soul. A study of this psalm reveals how the scriptures delighted Nephi. The influence upon him of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and the Psalms is very apparent”
(Our Book of Mormon, p. 111).
But more important than the form of this passage is the content. Throughout this section of the Book of Mormon we have noted again and again Nephi’s great righteousness, his faithfulness in tribulation, and his overpowering dedication to God. Yet, like all of us, Nephi keenly sensed his imperfections and weaknesses, and he was moved to exclaim:
“O wretched man that I am!
Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh;
my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
I am encompassed about,
because of the temptations and the sins
which do so easily beset me”
(2 Nephi 4:17–18)
Was Nephi really that beset with sins? The answer would seem to lie in the following statement by Joseph Smith:
“The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him”
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 51).