The author of the Sixteenth Psalm is a person who can sing in the face of adversity. One of the Hebrews forcibly dispersed among the Gentiles following the Exile, he is a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by enemies and under constant threat of death. Subject to attack from every side, he is being pressured to engage in pagan practices. Nor can he escape the pressure, since fanaticism possesses no limits. Individuals in every age have been martyred for their faith, and the poet knows only too well that at any time he may meet the same fate. Thus, understandably, he begins his song with an appeal for divine protection.

Preserve me, O God, for in
thee I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, Thou art my Lord;
I have no good apart from thee. (Psalm 16:1-2)

Yet, even as the psalmist petitions …