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15]] is placed after Psa 16:1-11, because just like the latter (cf. Psa 11:7) it closes with the hope of a blessed and satisfying vision of God. In other respects also the two Psalms have many prominent features in common: as, for instance, the petition שׁמרני, Psa 16:1; Psa 17:8; the retrospect on nightly fellowship with God, Psa 16:7; Psa 17:3; the form of address in prayer אל, Psa 16:1; Psa 17:6; the verb תּמך, Psa 16:5; Psa 17:5, etc. (vid., Symbolae p. 49), notwithstanding a great dissimilarity in their tone. For Psa 16:1-11 is the first of those which we call Psalms written in the indignant style, in the series of the Davidic Psalms. The language of the Psalms of David, which is in other instances so flowing and clear, becomes more harsh and, in accordance with the subject and mood, as it were, full of unresolved dissonances (Psa 17:1; Psa 140:1; Psa 58:1; Psa 36:2, cf. Psa 10:2-11) when describing the dissolute conduct of his enemies, and of the ungodly in general. The language is then more rough and unmanageable, and wanting in the clearness and transparency we find elsewhere. The tone of the language also becomes more dull and, as it were, a dull murmur. It rolls on like the rumble of distant thunder, by piling up the suffixes mo , āmo , ēmo, as in Psa 17:10; Psa 35:16; Psa 64:6, Psa 64:9, where David speaks of his enemies and describes them in a tone suggested by the indignation, which is working with his breast; or in Psa 59:12-14; Psa 56:8; Psa 21:10-13; Psa 140:10; Psa 58:7, where, as in prophetic language, he announces to them of the judgment of God. The more vehement and less orderly flow of the language which we find here, is the result of the inward tumult of his feelings.