It was previously noted that principal dialogue is repeated twice. The similarity between these two exclamations is clear. In both cases the words are spoken in the first person; both testify to the speaker’s faith in God, and both feature the phrase, “hashem machsi” (God is my refuge).

However, the most significant difference between the two exclamations by the disciple is that the first is not a direct appeal to God while the second one is. Thus, the direct exclamation is a result and development of the dialogue between the teacher and the student in the first half of the psalm.

As the student comes closer to God, so too do the words of the teacher adapt to this new stage. In the first half the teacher tells the student how he will be protected from various dangers, while in the second half there are no dangers about which to worry due to an intimate relationship with God.

The salvation of the person who trusts in God, from all of the various enemies and dangers described in the first half, is a passive matter, while in the second half, we find an active victory of the man who trusts in God.

Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion