The division is as follows:[7] This verse probably alludes to Zerubbabel, who returned to Jerusalem in the first wave of liberated exiles under the decree of Cyrus the Great in 538 BC.

[13] Heinrich Schütz set the psalm in a metred version in German, "Du Hirt Israel, höre uns", SWV 177, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628.

Albert Roussel composed an extended setting in English for tenor, choir and orchestra, Psaume VXXX [fr], completed in 1928 and first performed the following year.

[14] Alan Hovhaness made an unpublished setting of this psalm in 1953 titled Shepherd of Israel for tenor, recorder (or flute), trumpet ad lib.

[15] Emil Naumann composed a choral work setting the psalm in German, Du Hirte Israels, höre, published in Berlin in 2003.