Psalm 6 → 138

Reasoning: 9920 Output: 3595 Total: 13515

Argument

Here is a compact case that Psalm 138 can be read as the logical sequel (thanksgiving/fulfillment) to Psalm 6 (lament/petition). I note the strongest links first (rarer or more exact matches), then broader formal and thematic ties.

Lexical and root “catchwords” (identical forms or the same root)
- ידה Hifil “to give thanks/praise”: Ps 6:6 מי יודה־לך “who will give you thanks [in Sheol]?” → Ps 138:1–2 אודך… ואודה את שמך “I will give you thanks… I will thank your name.” Identical root, same binyan, same addressee “to you,” explicitly fulfilling the logic of Ps 6:6.
- ישע Hifil “save”: Ps 6:5 הושיעני “save me” → Ps 138:7 ותושיעני “you save me.” Same root and person/object (2ms → 1cs).
- חסדך “your steadfast love”: Ps 6:5 למען חסדך “for the sake of your steadfast love” → Ps 138:2 על חסדך…; 138:8 יהוה חסדך לעולם “your steadfast love endures forever.” Identical form with 2ms suffix, moved from ground of petition to ground of praise.
- אויבי “my enemies”: Ps 6:11 כל־אויבי → Ps 138:7 על אף אויבי. Same lexeme with 1cs suffix; the petition about enemies in Ps 6 finds its answer in Ps 138 (God’s hand against them; right hand saves).
- נפשי “my soul”: Ps 6:4–5 ונפשי נבהלה מאד; חלצה נפשי → Ps 138:3 תרהיבני בנפשי עז. Same noun and suffix; the “dismayed soul” becomes the “emboldened soul.”
- Root צרר: Ps 6:8 בכל־צוררי “because of all my oppressors” → Ps 138:7 בקרב צרה “in the midst of trouble.” Same root links the personal oppressors (צוררי) with the condition of “trouble” (צרה) from which God revives.
- שמע “to hear”: Ps 6:9–10 שמע יהוה… “the LORD has heard” → Ps 138:3 ביום קראתי ותענני “on the day I called, you answered me”; 138:4 כי שמעו אמרי־פיך “for they have heard the words of your mouth.” In Ps 6, YHWH hears the plea; in Ps 138 the hearing results in answer, and even kings “hear.”
- Death vs life vocabulary: Ps 6:6 כי אין במות… בשאול מי יודה־לך → Ps 138:7 תחייני “you give me life.” The “no thanks in death/Sheol” argument is answered by revival.
- Name/remembrance: Ps 6:6 “in death there is no remembrance (זכרך) of you” → Ps 138:2 “I will thank your name (שמך).” The “remembrance” YHWH would lose in death becomes public thanksgiving to his Name.

Antithetic transformations (problem in Ps 6 → resolution in Ps 138)
- Languishing/dismay vs courage/strength: Ps 6:3–4 אֻמְלַל אני… נפשי נבהלה מאד → Ps 138:3 תרהיבני בנפשי עז “you made me bold with strength in my soul.”
- Night of weeping vs day of answer: Ps 6:7 כל־לילה → Ps 138:3 ביום קראתי ותענני.
- Sheol/death vs reviving/preserving: Ps 6:6–7 “death/Sheol” → Ps 138:7–8 תחייני… יגמור בעדי; חסדך לעולם.
- Enemies shamed/turned back vs God’s hand stretched out against enemies: Ps 6:11 ישובו יבושו רגע כל־אויבי → Ps 138:7 על אף אויבי תשלח ידך.

Form and setting (lament → thanksgiving; private → public)
- Genre sequence typical in Israelite worship: individual lament with petition and assurance (Ps 6 ends in vv. 9–11 with confidence that YHWH has heard) followed by public thanksgiving after deliverance (Ps 138).
- Cultic movement: Ps 6 is prayed on the sickbed (“I drench my bed with tears,” v. 7); Ps 138 is the vowed fulfillment at the sanctuary: אשתחוה אל־היכל קדשך “I bow toward your holy temple,” coupled with musical praise verbs אזמרך “I will sing to you,” matching Ps 6’s musical superscription למנצח… בנגינות.
- Vow logic explicitly fulfilled: Ps 6 argues “who will thank you in Sheol?”; Ps 138 opens “I will thank you with all my heart,” i.e., I am alive and keeping the promised praise.
- Closing petition symmetry: Ps 6 opens with “אל… תיסרני” (“do not discipline me in anger,” 6:2); Ps 138 closes with “מעשי ידיך אל־תרף” (“do not forsake the work of your hands,” 138:8). Both frame their prayers with “אל + jussive” pleas.

Covenantal frame
- Chesed/’emet: Ps 6 appeals to חסד as covenant ground for rescue (6:5). Ps 138 thanks God “על חסדך ועל אמתך” (138:2), the classic Exod 34:6 covenant pair, signaling that the rescue requested in Ps 6 has been granted in covenant faithfulness.
- Humble/exalted motif: Ps 6 depicts the suppliant as low and wasted; Ps 138:6 articulates the theology behind the rescue—כי רם יהוה ושפל יראה “though YHWH is exalted, he sees the lowly.”

From opposition to witness among the nations
- Ps 6: separation from evildoers and shaming of enemies (6:8, 11).
- Ps 138: positive overflow—“all the kings of the earth will thank you… and sing in the ways of YHWH” (138:4–5). The personal deliverance becomes public testimony.

In sum: Psalm 6 pleads for life, deliverance from enemies, and rescue “for your hesed,” arguing that only the living can give thanks. Psalm 138 is precisely that living, temple-centered thanksgiving: the soul is strengthened, preserved in the midst of trouble, enemies are neutralized by God’s hand, and the psalmist now thanks God’s name for his hesed (and ’emet). The repeated and often identical Hebrew lexemes (ידה Hifil, ישע Hifil, חסדך, אויבי, נפשי, שמע; the root צרר), the antithetical pairings (night/day, Sheol/life, dismay/courage), and the cultic arc (sickbed lament → sanctuary thanksgiving) together make a strong case that Psalm 138 can be read as the narrative and liturgical sequel to Psalm 6.

Evaluation

Score: 6.5

Evaluated at: 2025-11-22T04:05:08 (UTC)

Evaluator model: gpt-5

Evaluator version: v2

Reasoning: 3840 Output: 4427 Total: 8267

Vocabulary specificity: 4.0 / 10

Multiple accurate, verse-anchored links (יודה/אודך; הושיעני/ותושיעני; מות/שאול vs תחייני; נפשי dismay→strength), and coherent lament→thanksgiving arc. But lexemes are common, no editorial markers, far-apart placement.

Prompt

Consider Psalm 6 and Psalm 138 (reproduced below). What arguments could you make to justify that Psalm 138 logically follows on from Psalm 6? 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 6:
Psalm 6
1. לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ
        בִּ֭נְגִינוֹת
        עַֽל־
        הַשְּׁמִינִ֗ית
        מִזְמ֥וֹר
        לְדָוִֽד׃
2. יְֽהוָ֗ה
        אַל־
        בְּאַפְּךָ֥
        תוֹכִיחֵ֑נִי
        וְֽאַל־
        בַּחֲמָתְךָ֥
        תְיַסְּרֵֽנִי׃
3. חָנֵּ֥נִי
        יְהוָה֮
        כִּ֤י
        אֻמְלַ֫ל
        אָ֥נִי
        רְפָאֵ֥נִי
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כִּ֖י
        נִבְהֲל֣וּ
        עֲצָֽtמָי׃
4. וְ֭נַפְשִׁי
        נִבְהֲלָ֣ה
        מְאֹ֑ד
        ואת
        וְאַתָּ֥ה
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        עַד־
        מָתָֽי׃
5. שׁוּבָ֣ה
        יְ֭הוָה
        חַלְּצָ֣ה
        נַפְשִׁ֑י
        ה֝וֹשִׁיעֵ֗נִי
        לְמַ֣עַן
        חַסְדֶּֽךָ׃
6. כִּ֤י
        אֵ֣ין
        בַּמָּ֣וֶת
        זִכְרֶ֑ךָ
        בִּ֝שְׁא֗וֹל
        מִ֣י
        יֽוֹדֶה־
        לָּֽךְ׃
7. יָגַ֤עְתִּי ׀
        בְּֽאַנְחָתִ֗י
        אַשְׂחֶ֣ה
        בְכָל־
        לַ֭יְלָה
        מִטָּתִ֑י
        בְּ֝דִמְעָתִ֗י
        עַרְשִׂ֥י
        אַמְסֶֽה׃
8. עָֽשְׁשָׁ֣ה
        מִכַּ֣עַס
        עֵינִ֑י
        עָֽ֝תְקָ֗ה
        בְּכָל־
        צוֹרְרָֽי׃
9. ס֣וּרוּ
        מִ֭מֶּנִּי
        כָּל־
        פֹּ֣עֲלֵי
        אָ֑וֶן
        כִּֽי־
        שָׁמַ֥ע
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        ק֣וֹל
        בִּכְיִֽי׃
10. שָׁמַ֣ע
        יְ֭הוָה
        תְּחִנָּתִ֑י
        יְ֝הוָ֗ה
        תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י
        יִקָּֽח׃
11. יֵבֹ֤שׁוּ ׀
        וְיִבָּהֲל֣וּ
        מְ֭אֹד
        כָּל־
        אֹיְבָ֑י
        יָ֝שֻׁ֗בוּ
        יֵבֹ֥שׁוּ
        רָֽגַע׃

Psalm 138:
Psalm 138
1. לְדָוִ֨ד ׀
        אוֹדְךָ֥
        בְכָל־
        לִבִּ֑י
        נֶ֖גֶד
        אֱלֹהִ֣ים
        אֲזַמְּרֶֽךָּ׃
2. אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֨ה
        אֶל־
        הֵיכַ֪ל
        קָדְשְׁךָ֡
        וְא֘וֹדֶ֤ה
        אֶת־
        שְׁמֶ֗ךָ
        עַל־
        חַסְדְּךָ֥
        וְעַל־
        אֲמִתֶּ֑ךָ
        כִּֽי־
        הִגְדַּ֥לְתָּ
        עַל־
        כָּל־
        שִׁ֝מְךָ֗
        אִמְרָתֶֽךָ׃
3. בְּי֣וֹם
        קָ֭רָֽאתִי
        וַֽתַּעֲנֵ֑נִי
        תַּרְהִבֵ֖נִי
        בְנַפְשִׁ֣י
        עֹֽז׃
4. יוֹד֣וּךָ
        יְ֭הוָה
        כָּל־
        מַלְכֵי־
        אָ֑רֶץ
        כִּ֥י
        שָׁ֝מְע֗וּ
        אִמְרֵי־
        פִֽיךָ׃
5. וְ֭יָשִׁירוּ
        בְּדַרְכֵ֣י
        יְהוָ֑ה
        כִּֽי־
        גָ֝ד֗וֹל
        כְּב֣וֹד
        יְהוָֽה׃
6. כִּי־
        רָ֣ם
        יְ֭הוָה
        וְשָׁפָ֣ל
        יִרְאֶ֑ה
        וְ֝גָבֹ֗הַּ
        מִמֶּרְחָ֥ק
        יְיֵדָֽע׃
7. אִם־
        אֵלֵ֤ךְ ׀
        בְּקֶ֥רֶב
        צָרָ֗ה
        תְּחַ֫יֵּ֥נִי
        עַ֤ל
        אַ֣ף
        אֹ֖dיְבַי
        תִּשְׁלַ֣ח
        יָדֶ֑ךָ
        וְת֖וֹשִׁיעֵ֣נִי
        יְמִינֶֽךָ׃
8. יְהוָה֮
        יִגְמֹ֢ר
        בַּ֫עֲדִ֥י
        יְ֭הוָה
        חַסְדְּךָ֣
        לְעוֹלָ֑ם
        מַעֲשֵׂ֖י
        יָדֶ֣יךָ
        אַל־
        תֶּֽרֶף׃