Psalm 5 → 86

Reasoning: 7168 Output: 5584 Total: 12752

Argument

Here are ways to argue that Psalm 86 is a natural, logical sequel to Psalm 5, with the strongest links first (rarer and more exact matches, then broader form and theme). Hebrew words are cited where the identical form or root matters.

1) Exact and near-exact phraseology that repeats in both
- Twin imperatives for “hear me”: האזינה … הקשיבה
  - Ps 5:2–3 האזינה יהוה … הקשיבה לקול
  - Ps 86:6 האזינה יהוה תפלתי … והקשיבה בקול תחנונותי
  - The particular pairing האזינה/הקשיבה is relatively marked; getting both together is stronger than a single “hear” verb.
- Your way: דרכך (identical form)
  - Ps 5:9 הַיְשַׁר לְפָנַי דַּרְכֶּךָ
  - Ps 86:11 הוֹרֵנִי יְהוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ
  - Both are individual-lament requests for divinely guided conduct, using the same noun with 2ms suffix.
- Your name: שׁמך (identical form)
  - Ps 5:12 אֹהֲבֵי שִׁמְךָ
  - Ps 86:9, 11, 12 ויכבדו לשמך … ליראה שִׁמְךָ … אודך … ואכבדה שִׁמְךָ
  - The clustering of שִׁמְךָ in Ps 86 explicitly picks up Ps 5’s closing beatitude on “lovers of your name.”
- Bowing/worship with the same root: השתחוה (Hitpael of שׁחה)
  - Ps 5:8 אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל־הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ
  - Ps 86:9 וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ
  - Psalm 86 universalizes Psalm 5’s personal temple-bow (I will bow) into the nations’ bowing.
- Hesed vocabulary (same root ח־ס־ד; same form once): חסדך
  - Ps 5:8 בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ
  - Ps 86:5, 13, 15 וְרַב־חֶסֶד … חַסְדְּךָ גָּדוֹל עָלָי … וְרַב־חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
  - Psalm 86 expands the single appeal to hesed in Ps 5 into its theological center.
- “Before” with לנגד (shared preposition-root):
  - Ps 5:6 לֹא־יִתְיַצְּבוּ … לְנֶגֶד עֵינֶיךָ
  - Ps 86:14 לֹא שָׂמוּךָ לְנֶגְדָּם
  - Both define the wicked in relation to God’s face/eyes; Psalm 86 explicitly says the proud do not set God “before” them, matching Ps 5’s “cannot stand before your eyes.”

2) Tight thematic continuities that look like a narrative progression
- Morning request → all-day reliance → confidence in answer
  - Ps 5:4 בֹּקֶר תִּשְׁמַע קוֹלִי … וַאֲצַפֶּה (“morning you hear my voice … I will watch [for your answer]”)
  - Ps 86:3, 7 כָּל־הַיּוֹם אֶקְרָא … בְּיוֹם צָרָתִי אֶקְרָאֶךָ כִּי תַעֲנֵנִי (“all day I call … in the day of trouble I call you, for you answer me”)
  - Psalm 86 explicitly answers the expectation of Psalm 5’s morning vigil: the day unfolds, the calling continues, and the psalmist affirms “you answer me.”
- Guidance request → guidance pledge
  - Ps 5:9 נְחֵנִי בְצִדְקָתֶךָ … הַיְשַׁר לְפָנַי דַּרְכֶּךָ (“lead me … make your way straight before me”)
  - Ps 86:11 הוֹרֵנִי … דַּרְכֶּךָ; אֲהַלֵּךְ בַאֲמִתֶּךָ (“teach me your way; I will walk in your truth”)
  - Psalm 86 sounds like the psalmist has taken up the straightened path asked for in Psalm 5.
- Fear and name converge
  - Ps 5:8 “I will bow … in your fear”; 5:12 “lovers of your name”
  - Ps 86:11 “unite my heart to fear your name”; 86:12 “I will honor your name forever”
  - The two Psalm 5 motifs (fear, name) are fused into a single purpose clause in Psalm 86.
- Enemies in moral contrast to God’s truth
  - Ps 5:6–7, 10–11 “liars,” “deceit,” “open grave,” “smoothing tongues”
  - Ps 86:11 “walk in your truth,” 86:15 “chesed and truth,” 86:14 “proud/violent” who “do not set you before them”
  - Psalm 86 answers Psalm 5’s world of deceit with an emphasis on divine truth as the path of the petitioner.

3) Shared form and rhetoric (both are individual laments with similar architecture)
- Invocation + “hear me”: Ps 5:2–4; Ps 86:1–7
- Character appeal (who God is) grounding the petition:
  - Ps 5:5–7 God’s moral intolerance of evil
  - Ps 86:5, 10, 15 God’s goodness, uniqueness, Exod 34 creed (רחום וחנון … רב־חסד ואמת)
- Petition for guidance/protection amid enemies:
  - Ps 5:8–11; Ps 86:11, 14–17
- Vow/anticipation of praise and joy:
  - Ps 5:12–13 “let those who take refuge … rejoice … you bless the righteous”
  - Ps 86:12 “I will give thanks … I will honor your name forever”
- Temple/worship frame expanded to universal worship:
  - Ps 5:8 “I will bow toward your holy temple”
  - Ps 86:9 “All nations … will come and bow before you”

4) Lexical fields that interlock (death, protection, salvation)
- Death imagery
  - Ps 5:10 קֶבֶר פָּתוּחַ (“an open grave”)
  - Ps 86:13 מִשְּׁאוֹל תַּחְתִּיָּה (“from the lowest Sheol”)
  - Psalm 86 reads like deliverance from the death-plot implicit in Psalm 5.
- Protection and favor
  - Ps 5:12 “you cover them” (תָּסֵךְ עֲלֵימוֹ) and 5:13 “as a shield” (כַּצִּנָּה)
  - Ps 86:2, 16–17 “guard my life … give strength … make a sign for good … you have helped and comforted me”
  - Petition for shielding in Psalm 5 is matched by explicit help/comfort in Psalm 86.

5) Cultural-liturgical sequencing that makes sense in ancient Israelite life
- Daily cycle of prayer: Psalm 5 is explicitly a morning prayer (בֹּקֶר). Psalm 86 depicts the active “day of trouble” and “all day I call.” As a devotional sequence: begin the day in Psalm 5 laying out one’s case and waiting; move into Psalm 86 as the day’s conflicts intensify and God’s response is sought and affirmed.
- Temple approach to universal praise: Psalm 5’s individual approach to the sanctuary leads, in Psalm 86, to the nations joining that worship. That move from personal to universal is a common liturgical-theological development in the Psalter.

6) Additional notable ties (less rare but reinforcing)
- Address clusters: “my God” (אלֹהַי) in both (Ps 5:3; Ps 86:12), heavy use of the divine names (יהוה; אֲדֹנָי—especially in Ps 86).
- “Because/for you …” (כִּי־אַתָּה) logic: both psalms repeatedly ground requests in who God is and what he does (Ps 5:5, 13; Ps 86:5, 10, 13, 17), creating the same argumentative rhythm.
- Antithetical wicked: Ps 5’s “man of blood and deceit” vs Ps 86’s “proud/tyrants seeking my life” shows the same social setting of a pious individual opposed by violent elites.

Putting it together: If you read Psalm 86 immediately after Psalm 5, it sounds like the same suppliant continuing the same day. He starts at dawn (Ps 5), lays out his prayer, asks for a straight path, awaits an answer, and trusts God’s covenant loyalty. As the day unfolds (Ps 86), he keeps calling, asks to be taught that very way, commits to walk in God’s truth, experiences deliverance from death, and anticipates public vindication and universal worship. The repeated rare imperatives (האֲזִינָה/הַקְשִׁיבָה), identical forms (דַּרְכֶּךָ; שִׁמְךָ), shared worship verb (הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה), and matched enemy language (לְנֶגֶד; death motifs) are strong lexical anchors. The form-critical profile (individual lament → vow of praise), the morning-to-day temporal arc, and the move from temple bow to nations bow supply the logical narrative flow.

Evaluation

Score: 6.0

Evaluated at: 2025-11-15T03:41:07 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3008 Output: 6419 Total: 9427

Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10

Strong lexical correspondences (האֲזִינָה/הַקְשִׁיבָה; דרכך; שמך; אשתחוה; חסדך) and morning→day rationale. Yet these are common lament formulas; Ps 86 is pastiche; no editorial marker or adjacency. Score moderated.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 5 and Psalm 86 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 86 logically follows on from Psalm 5? 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 5:
Psalm 5
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ
        אֶֽל־
        הַנְּחִיל֗וֹת
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. אֲמָרַ֖י
        הַאֲזִ֥ינָה ׀
        יְהוָ֗ה
        בִּ֣ינָה
        הֲגִֽיגִי׃
3. הַקְשִׁ֤יבָה ׀
        לְק֬וֹל
        שַׁוְעִ֗י
        מַלְכִּ֥י
        וֵאלֹהָ֑י
        כִּֽי־
        אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָ
        אֶתְפַּלָּֽל׃
4. יְֽהוָ֗ה
        בֹּ֭קֶר
        תִּשְׁמַ֣ע
        קוֹלִ֑י
        בֹּ֥קֶר
        אֶֽעֱרָךְ־
        לְ֝ךָ֗
        וַאֲצַפֶּֽה׃
5. כִּ֤י ׀
        לֹ֤א
        אֵֽל־
        חָפֵ֘ץ
        רֶ֥שַׁע ׀
        אָ֑תָּה
        לֹ֖א
        יְגֻרְךָ֣
        רָֽע׃
6. לֹֽא־
        יִתְיַצְּב֣וּ
        הֽ֭וֹלְלִים
        לְנֶ֣גֶד
        עֵינֶ֑יךָ
        שָׂ֝נֵ֗אתָ
        כָּל־
        פֹּ֥עֲלֵי
        אָֽוֶן׃
7. תְּאַבֵּד֮
        דֹּבְרֵ֢י
        כָ֫זָ֥ב
        אִישׁ־
        דָּמִ֥ים
        וּמִרְמָ֗ה
        יְתָ֘עֵ֥ב ׀
        יְהוָֽה׃
8. וַאֲנִ֗י
        בְּרֹ֣ב
        חַ֭סְדְּךָ
        אָב֣וֹא
        בֵיתֶ֑ךָ
        אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֥ה
        אֶל־
        הֵֽיכַל־
        קָ֝דְשְׁךָ֗
        בְּיִרְאָתֶֽךָ׃
9. יְהוָ֤ה ׀
        נְחֵ֬נִי
        בְצִדְקָתֶ֗ךָ
        לְמַ֥עַן
        שׁוֹרְרָ֑י
        הושר
        הַיְשַׁ֖ר
        לְפָנַ֣י
        דַּרְכֶּֽךָ׃
10. כִּ֤י
        אֵ֪ין
        בְּפִ֡יהוּ
        נְכוֹנָה֮
        קִרְבָּ֢ם
        הַ֫וּ֥וֹת
        קֶֽבֶר־
        פָּת֥וּחַ
        גְּרוֹנָ֑ם
        לְ֝שׁוֹנָ֗ם
        יַחֲלִֽיקוּן׃
11. הַֽאֲשִׁימֵ֨ם ׀
        אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֗ים
        יִפְּלוּ֮
        מִֽמֹּעֲצ֢וֹתֵ֫יהֶ֥ם
        בְּרֹ֣ב
        פִּ֭שְׁעֵיהֶם
        הַדִּיחֵ֑מוֹ
        כִּי־
        מָ֥רוּ
        בָֽךְ׃
12. וְיִשְׂמְח֨וּ
        כָל־
        ח֪וֹסֵי
        בָ֡ךְ
        לְעוֹלָ֣ם
        יְ֭רַנֵּנוּ
        וְתָסֵ֣ךְ
        עָלֵ֑ימוֹ
        וְֽיַעְלְצ֥וּ
        בְ֝ךָ֗
        אֹהֲבֵ֥י
        שְׁמֶֽךָ׃
13. כִּֽי־
        אַתָּה֮
        תְּבָרֵ֢ךְ
        צַ֫דִּ֥יק
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כַּ֝צִּנָּ֗ה
        רָצ֥וֹן
        תַּעְטְרֶֽנּוּ׃

Psalm 86:
Psalm 86
1. תְּפִלָּ֗ה
        לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
        הַטֵּֽה־
        יְהוָ֣ה
        אָזְנְךָ֣
        עֲנֵ֑נִי
        כִּֽי־
        עָנִ֖י
        וְאֶבְי֣וֹן
        אָֽנִי׃
2. שָֽׁמְרָ֣ה
        נַפְשִׁי֮
        כִּֽי־
        חָסִ֢יד
        אָ֥נִי
        הוֹשַׁ֣ע
        עַ֭בְדְּךָ
        אַתָּ֣ה
        אֱלֹהַ֑י
        הַבּוֹטֵ֥חַ
        אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
3. חָנֵּ֥נִי
        אֲדֹנָ֑י
        כִּ֥י
        אֵלֶ֥יךָ
        אֶ֝קְרָ֗א
        כָּל־
        הַיּֽוֹם׃
4. שַׂ֭מֵּחַ
        נֶ֣פֶשׁ
        עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ
        כִּ֥י
        אֵלֶ֥יךָ
        אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י
        נַפְשִׁ֥י
        אֶשָּֽׂא׃
5. כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֣ה
        אֲ֭דֹנָי
        ט֣וֹב
        וְסַלָּ֑ח
        וְרַב־
        חֶ֝֗סֶד
        לְכָל־
        קֹרְאֶֽיךָ׃
6. הַאֲזִ֣ינָה
        יְ֭הוָה
        תְּפִלָּתִ֑י
        וְ֝הַקְשִׁ֗יבָה
        בְּק֣וֹל
        תַּחֲנוּנוֹתָֽי׃
7. בְּי֣וֹם
        צָ֭רָתִ֥י
        אֶקְרָאֶ֗ךָּ
        כִּ֣י
        תַעֲנֵֽנִי׃
8. אֵין־
        כָּמ֖וֹךָ
        בָאֱלֹהִ֥ים ׀
        אֲדֹנָ֗י
        וְאֵ֣ין
        כְּֽמַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ׃
9. כָּל־
        גּוֹיִ֤ם ׀
        אֲשֶׁ֥ר
        עָשִׂ֗יתָ
        יָב֤וֹאוּ ׀
        וְיִשְׁתַּחֲו֣וּ
        לְפָנֶ֣יךָ
        אֲדֹנָ֑י
        וִֽיכַבְּד֣וּ
        לִשְׁמֶֽךָ׃
10. כִּֽי־
        גָד֣וֹל
        אַ֭תָּה
        וְעֹשֵׂ֣ה
        נִפְלָא֑וֹת
        אַתָּ֖ה
        אֱלֹהִ֣ים
        לְבַדֶּֽךָ׃
11. ה֘וֹרֵ֤נִי
        יְהוָ֨ה ׀
        דַּרְכֶּ֗ךָ
        אֲהַלֵּ֥ךְ
        בַּאֲמִתֶּ֑ךָ
        יַחֵ֥ד
        לְ֝בָבִ֗י
        לְיִרְאָ֥ה
        שְׁמֶֽךָ׃
12. אוֹדְךָ֤ ׀
        אֲדֹנָ֣י
        אֱ֭לֹהַי
        בְּכָל־
        לְבָבִ֑י
        וַאֲכַבְּדָ֖ה
        שִׁמְךָ֣
        לְעוֹלָֽם׃
13. כִּֽי־
        חַ֭סְדְּךָ
        גָּד֣וֹל
        עָלָ֑י
        וְהִצַּ֥לְתָּ
        נַ֝פְשִׁ֗י
        מִשְּׁא֥וֹל
        תַּחְתִּיָּֽה׃
14. אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀
        זֵ֘דִ֤ים
        קָֽמוּ־
        עָלַ֗י
        וַעֲדַ֣ת
        עָ֭רִיצִים
        בִּקְשׁ֣וּ
        נַפְשִׁ֑י
        וְלֹ֖א
        שָׂמ֣וּךָ
        לְנֶגְדָּֽם׃
15. וְאַתָּ֣ה
        אֲ֭דֹנָי
        אֵל־
        רַח֣וּם
        וְחַנּ֑וּן
        אֶ֥רֶךְ
        אַ֝פַּ֗יִם
        וְרַב־
        חֶ֥סֶד
        וֶאֱמֶֽת׃
16. פְּנֵ֥ה
        אֵלַ֗י
        וְחָ֫נֵּ֥נִי
        תְּנָֽה־
        עֻזְּךָ֥
        לְעַבְדֶּ֑ךָ
        וְ֝הוֹשִׁ֗יעָה
        לְבֶן־
        אֲמָתֶֽךָ׃
17. עֲשֵֽׂה־
        עִמִּ֥י
        א֗וֹת
        לְט֫וֹבָ֥ה
        וְיִרְא֣וּ
        שֹׂנְאַ֣י
        וְיֵבֹ֑שׁוּ
        כִּֽי־
        אַתָּ֥ה
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        עֲזַרְתַּ֥נִי
        וְנִחַמְתָּֽנִי׃