Psalm 3/Participant Analysis/Notes
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
- The psalmist alternates from addressing YHWH in the second person (vv. 2-4, 8, 9b) to speaking about him in the third person (vv. 5-6, 9a). The clearest instance of such person shifting is in v. 9, where the first half mentions "YHWH" in the third person, and the second half addresses him in the second person ("your"). This kind of person shifting is common in Hebrew poetry and also occurs in prose, e.g., when someone is speaking to a king (see e.g., Esth 3:8-9; Ps 45:2). When the psalmist says something about YHWH in the third person, it does not necessarily imply that he is no longer speaking to YHWH (cf. Pss 7; 18).