Psalm 3 → 51
Reasoning: 11776 Output: 5103 Total: 16879
Argument
Here is a set of arguments (from strongest lexical signals to broader form and theme) that can justify reading Psalm 51 as a logical follow-on to Psalm 3. Striking lexical links (rarer/more specific items first) - The sustain verb with identical pronominal clitic: - Ps 3:6 יִסְמְכֵנִי (“he [YHWH] sustains me”) - Ps 51:14 תִסְמְכֵנִי (“may a willing spirit sustain me”) - Same root סמך, same yiqtol + 1cs suffix -ני, and the same sense “sustain.” Psalm 51 internalizes what Psalm 3 attributed directly to YHWH: in Ps 3 God sustains the king in danger; in Ps 51 that divine sustaining becomes an inner endowment (“a willing spirit”). - Salvation vocabulary and forms (ישע) used in both verb and noun: - Ps 3:3 אֵין יְשׁוּעָתָה לוֹ בֵאלֹהִים; 3:8 קוּמָה יְהוָה הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי; 3:9 לַיהוָה הַיְשׁוּעָה - Ps 51:14 הָשִׁיבָה לִּי שְׂשׂוֹן יִשְׁעֶךָ; 51:16 אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֵי תְשׁוּעָתִי - Psalm 51 explicitly answers the taunt of Psalm 3 (“no salvation for him in God”) with “God of my salvation” and a plea for the “joy of your salvation.” - Holiness lexeme with suffix: - Ps 3:5 מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ (“from his holy hill”) - Ps 51:13 וְר֥וּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ (“your Holy Spirit”) - Same lexeme קדש with pronominal suffix; Psalm 3 locates salvation at God’s holy place, Psalm 51 internalizes holiness as God’s Spirit. This is a natural theological progression. - Face/presence (פנים) with prepositional frames: - Ps 3 superscr.: בְּבָרְחוֹ מִפְּנֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם (“when he fled from the face/presence of Absalom”) - Ps 51:11 הַסְתֵּר פָּנֶיךָ מֵחֲטָאָי; 51:13 אַל־תַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי מִלְּפָנֶיךָ - The movement is from fleeing “from the face of” a human foe to pleading not to be thrust “from the face/presence” of God—again, external threat to Godward, internal concern. - Brokenness root (שבר): - Ps 3:8 שִׁבַּרְתָּ שִׁנֵּי רְשָׁעִים (“you have broken the teeth of the wicked”) – Piel perfect 2ms - Ps 51:19 לֵב נִשְׁבָּר וְנִדְכֶּה (“a broken and contrite heart”) – Niphal participle - The locus of “breaking” moves from God’s breaking of enemies to the king’s own broken heart—precisely the kind of inner sequel that would follow a military-crisis psalm. Place-theology carried forward - Psalm 3’s “holy hill” (Zion) becomes Psalm 51’s explicit Zion/Jerusalem: - Ps 3:5 מֵהַר קָדְשׁוֹ - Ps 51:20–21 הֵיטִיבָה בִרְצוֹנְךָ אֶת־צִיּוֹן; תִּבְנֶה חוֹמוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם … אָז תַּחְפֹּץ זִבְחֵי־צֶדֶק - The city/mountain of God named implicitly in 3 is elaborated in 51, ending with communal restoration and acceptable worship—an apt “next step” after a crisis. Form and stylistic continuities - Both are first-person singular laments with dense 1cs suffixes and imperatives to God, moving from petition to assurance and communal horizon: - Ps 3 ends: “Upon your people your blessing” (3:9); Ps 51 ends with Zion/Jerusalem’s good and restored sacrifices (51:20–21). - Volitive style with paragogic -ה on imperatives/requests in both: - Ps 3:8 קוּמָה … הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי - Ps 51:14 הָשִׁיבָה … 51:20 הֵיטִיבָה - Speech motif: - Ps 3:5 קוֹלִי … אֶקְרָא (“my voice… I call”) and reports of what “many say” (3:3) - Ps 51:17 אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח … פִּי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶךָ; 51:15 “then sinners will return to you” - The “many say” (denying salvation) in 3 is answered by “I will teach transgressors” and “my mouth will declare your praise” in 51. Thematic development that reads 51 naturally after 3 - From external enemies to the internal enemy: - Ps 3 focuses on hostile “many” (רַבּוּ צָרַי … רַבִּים קָמִים) and God’s protection. - Ps 51 turns to the deeper crisis—“my transgressions” (פְּשָׁעַי), “my sin” (חַטָּאתִי), “bloodguilt” (מִדָּמִים, 51:16). After being spared, the king seeks moral cleansing. - From confident survival to spiritual re-creation: - Ps 3:6 “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for YHWH sustains me.” - Ps 51:12 “Create in me a clean heart… renew a steadfast spirit within me…” - The next logical step after bodily preservation is inner renewal. - From divine action for me to divine action in me: - Ps 3: God is “shield about me,” “lifter of my head”; he “answers,” “strikes,” “breaks.” - Ps 51: God “blots out,” “washes,” “purges with hyssop,” “creates,” “renews,” “does not cast away,” “upholds by a willing spirit.” External rescue yields to internal purification and transformation. - From “no salvation for him in God” to “joy of your salvation”: - 3:3 vs 51:14–16 explicitly resolve the earlier taunt with a confessional-penitential appropriation of God’s salvation. Narrative-historical and ritual logics that support the sequence - Davidic life arc: Absalom’s revolt (Ps 3) is a known outworking of Nathan’s judgment after the Bathsheba affair (2 Sam 12:10–12). Even if the historical order is 51 → 3, it is theologically coherent to read 51 after 3 as the king’s deeper recognition and repentance in light of the consequences he has just lived through. - Israelite ritual sequence: crisis and deliverance are regularly followed by purification and worship. - Ps 3: night peril → deliverance at dawn (שָׁכַבְתִּי … הֱקִיצוֹתִי) - Ps 51: temple-language of cleansing (אֵזוֹב, “hyssop,” 51:9), inner contrition (“broken and contrite heart,” 51:19), culminating in communal restoration and acceptable sacrifice (51:20–21). This reads like the cultic “next act” after a military or civil crisis. - The plea “deliver me from bloodguilt” (51:16) fits well after a conflict scene with violence imagery (3:8), even as it also evokes David’s earlier culpability. Why these links carry weight - Several of the correspondences are not just thematic but lexical, and in some cases morphologically close: יִסְמְכֵנִי/תִסְמְכֵנִי; the concentrated ישע cluster in both verb and noun; קדש with suffix in each; פנים in prepositional constructions; and שבר applied to enemies (Ps 3) versus the heart (Ps 51). - Both psalms end by widening from the “I” to God’s people/place, so reading 51 after 3 makes structural sense: from blessing on the people (3:9) to the concrete petition for Zion/Jerusalem’s rebuilding and worship (51:20–21). In sum: Read consecutively, Psalm 3 narrates external crisis and divine deliverance; Psalm 51 then turns that deliverance inward—answering the denial of salvation with “God of my salvation,” transferring “sustaining” from God’s outward help to God’s indwelling Spirit, moving from God’s holy hill to God’s Holy Spirit and to Zion’s renewal, and shifting “breaking” from the wicked to the psalmist’s own heart. On lexical, formal, and ritual-historical grounds, 51 can plausibly be read as a logical follow-on to 3.
Evaluation
No evaluation has been recorded for this pair yet.
Prompt
Consider Psalm 3 and Psalm 51 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 51 logically follows on from Psalm 3? Consider stylistic similarities, similarities of form, similarities of vocab or ideas, shared roots (if you're doing the search in Hebrew), connections to sequences of events common in ancient Israelite life, mythology or history shared by the two psalms.
Rarer words are more significant than commoner words. Identical forms are more significant than similar forms. The same word class is more significant than different word classes formed from the same root. Identical roots are more significant than suppletive roots.
Psalm 3:
Psalm 3
1. מִזְמ֥וֹר
לְדָוִ֑ד
בְּ֝בָרְח֗וֹ
מִפְּנֵ֤י ׀
אַבְשָׁל֬וֹם
בְּנֽוֹ׃
2. יְ֭הוָה
מָֽה־
רַבּ֣וּ
צָרָ֑י
רַ֝בִּ֗ים
קָמִ֥ים
עָלָֽי׃
3. רַבִּים֮
אֹמְרִ֢ים
לְנַ֫פְשִׁ֥י
אֵ֤ין
יְֽשׁוּעָ֓תָה
לּ֬וֹ
בֵֽאלֹהִ֬ים
סֶֽלָה׃
4. וְאַתָּ֣ה
יְ֭הוָה
מָגֵ֣ן
בַּעֲדִ֑י
כְּ֝בוֹדִ֗י
וּמֵרִ֥ים
רֹאשִֽׁtי׃
5. ק֖dוֹלִי
אֶל־
יְהוָ֣ה
אֶקְרָ֑א
וַיַּֽעֲנֵ֨נִי
מֵהַ֖ר
קָדְשׁ֣וֹ
סֶֽלָה׃
6. אֲנִ֥י
שָׁכַ֗בְתִּי
וָֽאִ֫ישָׁ֥נָה
הֱקִיצ֑וֹתִי
כִּ֖י
יְהוָ֣ה
יִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃
7. לֹֽא־
אִ֭ירָא
מֵרִבְב֥וֹת
עָ֑ם
אֲשֶׁ֥ר
סָ֝בִ֗יב
שָׁ֣תוּ
עָלָֽtי׃
8. ק֘וּמָ֤ה
יְהוָ֨ה ׀
הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִי
אֱלֹהַ֗י
כִּֽי־
הִכִּ֣יתָ
אֶת־
כָּל־
אֹיְבַ֣י
לֶ֑חִי
שִׁנֵּ֖י
רְשָׁעִ֣ים
שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃
9. לַיהוָ֥ה
הַיְשׁוּעָ֑ה
עַֽל־
עַמְּךָ֖
בִרְכָתֶ֣ךָ
סֶּֽלָה׃
Psalm 51:
Psalm 51
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ
מִזְמ֥וֹר
לְדָוִֽד׃
2. בְּֽבוֹא־
אֵ֭לָיו
נָתָ֣ן
הַנָּבִ֑יא
כַּֽאֲשֶׁר־
בָּ֝֗א
אֶל־
בַּת־
שָֽׁבַע׃
3. חָנֵּ֣נִי
אֱלֹהִ֣ים
כְּחַסְדֶּ֑ךָ
כְּרֹ֥ב
רַ֝חֲמֶ֗יךָ
מְחֵ֣ה
פְשָׁעָֽי׃
4. הרבה
הֶ֭רֶב
כַּבְּסֵ֣נִי
מֵעֲוֺנִ֑י
וּֽמֵחַטָּאתִ֥י
טַהֲרֵֽנִי׃
5. כִּֽי־
פְ֭שָׁעַי
אֲנִ֣י
אֵדָ֑ע
וְחַטָּאתִ֖י
נֶגְדִּ֣י
תָמִֽיד׃
6. לְךָ֤
לְבַדְּךָ֨ ׀
חָטָאתִי֮
וְהָרַ֥ע
בְּעֵינֶ֗יךָ
עָ֫שִׂ֥יתִי
לְ֭מַעַן
תִּצְדַּ֥ק
בְּדָבְרֶ֗ךָ
תִּזְכֶּ֥ה
בְשָׁפְטֶֽךָ׃
7. הֵן־
בְּעָו֥וֹן
חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי
וּ֝בְחֵ֗טְא
יֶֽחֱמַ֥תְנִי
אִמִּֽי׃
8. הֵן־
אֱ֭מֶת
חָפַ֣צְתָּ
בַטֻּח֑וֹת
וּ֝בְסָתֻ֗ם
חָכְמָ֥ה
תוֹדִיעֵֽנִי׃
9. תְּחַטְּאֵ֣נִי
בְאֵז֣וֹב
וְאֶטְהָ֑ר
תְּ֝כַבְּסֵ֗נִי
וּמִשֶּׁ֥לֶג
אַלְבִּֽין׃
10. תַּ֭שְׁמִיעֵנִי
שָׂשׂ֣וֹן
וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה
תָּ֝גֵ֗לְנָה
עֲצָמ֥וֹת
דִּכִּֽיתָ׃
11. הַסְתֵּ֣ר
פָּ֭נֶיךָ
מֵחֲטָאָ֑י
וְֽכָל־
עֲוֺ֖נֹתַ֣י
מְחֵֽה׃
12. לֵ֣ב
טָ֭הוֹר
בְּרָא־
לִ֣י
אֱלֹהִ֑ים
וְר֥וּחַ
נָ֝כ֗וֹן
חַדֵּ֥שׁ
בְּקִרְבִּֽי׃
13. אַל־
תַּשְׁלִיכֵ֥נִי
מִלְּפָנֶ֑יךָ
וְר֥וּחַ
קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗
אַל־
תִּקַּ֥ח
מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
14. הָשִׁ֣יבָה
לִּ֭י
שְׂשׂ֣וֹן
יִשְׁעֶ֑ךָ
וְר֖וּחַ
נְדִיבָ֣ה
תִסְמְכֵֽנִי׃
15. אֲלַמְּדָ֣ה
פֹשְׁעִ֣ים
דְּרָכֶ֑יךָ
וְ֝חַטָּאִ֗ים
אֵלֶ֥יךָ
יָשֽׁוּבוּ׃
16. הַצִּ֘ילֵ֤נִי
מִדָּמִ֨ים ׀
אֱֽלֹהִ֗ים
אֱלֹהֵ֥י
תְשׁוּעָתִ֑י
תְּרַנֵּ֥ן
לְ֝שׁוֹנִ֗י
צִדְקָתֶֽךָ׃
17. אֲ֭דֹנָי
שְׂפָתַ֣י
תִּפְתָּ֑ח
וּ֝פִ֗י
יַגִּ֥יד
תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃
18. כִּ֤י ׀
לֹא־
תַחְפֹּ֣ץ
זֶ֣בַח
וְאֶתֵּ֑נָה
ע֝וֹלָ֗ה
לֹ֣א
תִרְצֶֽה׃
19. זִֽבְחֵ֣י
אֱלֹהִים֮
ר֢וּחַ
נִשְׁבָּ֫רָ֥ה
לֵב־
נִשְׁבָּ֥ר
וְנִדְכֶּ֑ה
אֱ֝לֹהִ֗ים
לֹ֣א
תִבְזֶֽה׃
20. הֵיטִ֣יבָה
בִ֭רְצוֹנְךָ
אֶת־
צִיּ֑וֹן
תִּ֝בְנֶ֗ה
חוֹמ֥וֹת
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃
21. אָ֤ז
תַּחְפֹּ֣ץ
זִבְחֵי־
צֶ֭דֶק
עוֹלָ֣ה
וְכָלִ֑יל
אָ֤ז
יַעֲל֖וּ
עַל־
מִזְבַּחֲךָ֣
פָרִֽים׃