Who's the audience?

I have a little pet-peeve. There are times in the Bible where the writer changes the audience right in the middle of the passage. Sometimes it drives me nuts. I have to go back to through the passage to find out who is speaking to whom, perhaps I missed something. But nope, they just switched who they were talking to. I haven't been able to figure out why the writer is talking to people, then almost mid sentence, starts talking directly to God.

I think I have a glimpse of an answer. Today one of my readings was Psalm 23. It is one of those passages that I almost don't read, more like skim it. Today, I forced myself to read it slowly, searching for something new. I found it, or I got the something new.
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

In verses one through 3, the writer (presumably David) mulls over how God takes care of Him, how God shepherds him. David reflects how God takes care of him as he, David, takes (or took) care of his sheep. David would know all about that since he was a shepherd as a boy. He'd understand how God might feel about his sheep. The sheep depend on the shepherd for everything. David feels a tenderness for the sheep. He loves them perhaps as pets, friends, etc as any pet-owner knows. As he reflects on this in verses 1 through 3, how God cares for him the same way, David suddenly feels the need to acknowledge God, not as a side note but in direct dialog. Look at verse 4 - the way it changes from reflecting on God to talking directly to God. In verses 4 and 5, David is overcome with thanksgiving and gratitude that he simply must speak to God, not just mull it over. Then in verse 6, after he has reflected on God's goodness, acknowledged his thanksgiving with overwhelming gratitude, he goes back to reflecting on God's goodness, protection and love.

see link for more on Psalm 23

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Now I get it. Maybe when the audience changes mid-verse, there is an urgency, or switch in tone or maybe even timing. Reading the verses is certainly not the same has hearing the original oral message/story/poem/song. I need to watch for the possible changes that may have occurred during the verse to cause the change in audience. That might tell me something new, like the 23rd Psalm did. David, so overcome with gratitude that he simply had to give credit where credit was due, switched from meditating and talking to himself or others outside himself to talking to God.
Thank you again, God, for revealing to me my arrogance. I simply thought the Bible writers weren't very careful in their writing. Thank You for letting me see something new in this very familiar passage. I like it when You teach me. Amen.

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