When compared with others, Psalm 27 reads like two distinct psalms: one of testimony or confidence, perhaps occasioned by military threat (vv. 1–6), and one of prayer, perhaps occasioned by false accusation (vv. 7–14). A testimony or confession of trust is usually part of a prayer psalm, but some psalms of testimony stand on their own without expressing any petition (Pss. 11; 16; 23; 62; 63; 91). It seems odd the psalm should first make confident assertions about Yahweh’s protection but then petition him repeatedly, “Do not reject me or forsake me” and “do not turn me over to . . . my foes.”

Several observations, however, should incline us to read this psalm as a unit. First, key terms and phrases appear in both sections, thus linking them together: Yahweh as “(the God of) my salvation” (H…