32 GreGOrY T.K. WOnG In this chiastic arrangement, the psalmist begins in vv. 1-3 with a declaration of God’s goodness, contrasts it with his own near fall, and discloses the cause of that near fall as the apparent prosperity of the wicked. Then after recounting his struggle and subsequent break- through in vv. 4-26, in vv. 27-28 the psalmist concludes by summaris- ing the new insight he gained about God’s dealing with the wicked, contrasts it with new insight about his own relationship with God, and finally ends with a declaration of trust and a vow to praise as respons- es that flow from these new insights. In so doing, the psalmist has reversed the “God-I-they” trajectory of vv. 1-3 with a “they-I-God” trajectory in vv. 27-28, thus bringing the end of the psalm back to where he first began: a reaffirmation of God’s goodness. Based on these logical, syntactic, and structural-rhetorical consid- erations, it seems clear, therefore, that the introductory and concluding sections of the psalm are intricately joined to each other both linguis- tically and in sense, thus satisfying one of the foremost requirements of a ring composition. 2. The Turning Point As has been pointed out earlier, a ring composition should also be characterised by a well-marked turning point in the middle that demonstrates significant correspondences both verbally and themati- cally with the beginning and the end, so that the whole composition displays close interconnections. Does such a turning point exist in Psalm 73? That a turning point exists within the psalm at v. 17 is recognised by the majority of scholars 55. Although this identification is based mostly on logic and content, structural support can also be cited. It has already been pointed out that when the psalm is broken down into six major sections, the introductory and concluding sections are the only two that feature all three main characters within the psalm: God, the psalmist, and the wicked. Although in the earlier analysis v. 17 is provisionally regarded as part of vv. 13-17, where first person subjects and verb forms dominate, v. 17 is also the only verse in the psalm where reference is made to the entire trio of main charac- 55 CrenshAW, “Psalm 73”, 104; KrAšOveC, Antithetic Structure, 41; BrueGGe- MAnn – MILLer, “Psalm 73”, 47; L.C. ALLen, “Psalm 73: Pilgrimage from Doubt to Faith”, BBR 7 (1997) 1-10, here 6; KArTJe, Wisdom, 91, 100-105, are among those who have explicitly identified v. 17 as the turning point (also referred to as “pivot”, “inversion”, or “shift”).