Psalms · Chapter 57

Verse 1. Be merciful unto me] To show David’s deep earnestness, he repeats this twice; he was in great danger, surrounded by implacable enemies, and he knew that God alone could deliver him. My soul trusteth in thee] I put my life into thy hand; and my immortal spirit knows no other portion than thyself.

In the shadow of thy wings] A metaphor taken from the brood of a hen taking shelter under her wings when they see a bird of prey; and there they continue to hide themselves till their enemy disappears. In a storm, or tempest of rain, the mother covers them with her wings to afford them shelter and defence. This the psalmist has particularly in view, as the following words show: “Until these calamities be overpast.”

Verse 1. Be merciful unto me, O God — Thus the psalmist prays, and looks to God for help, when surrounded with enemies: and he repeats his petition because of the greatness of his danger, and through the fervency of his spirit in his request, withal implying that his whole hope and trust was in God’s mercy. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings — In thy almighty protection; will I make my refuge — Will I still depend, as I have hitherto done, for defence and preservation; until these calamities be overpast — Or the time of these calamities, which I know will soon have an end: or till this danger be past, which is now impending over me, and threatens to destroy me.

1. Be merciful… be merciful—The repetition springs from a soul in agony. Shadow of thy wings—The metaphor denotes protection and tenderness. Psalm 94:1, 4; Matthew 23:37. Until these calamities be overpast—The plural noun with a singular verb denotes that it is to be taken distributively—until every one of these calamities shall pass.

Verse 2. I will cry unto God most high] He is the Most High; and therefore far above all my enemies, though the prince of the power of the air be at their head.

Unto God, lal lael, unto the strong God, one against whom no human or diabolic might can prevail. David felt his own weakness, and he knew the strength of his adversaries; and therefore he views God under those attributes and characters which were suited to his state. This is a great secret in the Christian life; few pray to God wisely; though they may do it fervently.

That performeth all things for me.] Who works for me; rmg gomer, he who completes for me, and will bring all to a happy issue.

Verse 2. I will cry unto God — For succour and relief; most high — To whom there is none superior or equal; and unto whom, therefore, I will continually commend myself; unto God that performeth all things for me — Hebrew, yl[ rmg, gomer gnali, that perfecteth, or finisheth, as this word properly signifies; that is, will certainly perform or finish, for, or, toward, or, concerning me. He does not express what God performed or perfected, (the words all things not being in the Hebrew,) but leaves it to be understood by the reader. He performeth, or perfecteth, all that he hath promised; he engages himself to finish what he hath begun, or what is yet to be completed. His words imply, that God is not like men, who make large promises, but, either through inability, or carelessness, or unfaithfulness, do not perform them; but that he will certainly be as good as his word.

2. Unto God that performeth all things for me—The verb for “performeth” signifies to bring to an end, as Psalm 7:9; also, to complete; and in the judicial sense, to bring to a righteous determination. David expresses his confidence that God will adjudge and bring to a righteous termination all things concerning him, whether promises to himself or threatenings upon his enemies. See the same word in Psalm 138:8, and compare, doctrinally, Philippians 1:6.

V. 3. Send forth-Will discover them, by affording his gracious help in pursuance of his promises.

Verse 3. He shall send from heaven, and save me] Were there no human agents or earthly means that he could employ, he would send his angels from heaven to rescue me from my enemies. Or, He will give his command from heaven that this may be done on earth.

Selah] I think this word should be at the end of the verse. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.] Here mercy and truth are personified. They are the messengers that God will send from heaven to save me. His mercy ever inclines him to help and save the distressed. This he has promised to do; and his truth binds him to fulfil the promises or engagements his mercy has made, both to saints and sinners.

Verse 3. He shall send from heaven — Either his angels, as Daniel 3:28, or his power and help in some less extraordinary way. As if he had said, There are greater armies in heaven than those that here surround me; and rather than I should perish, he will send them for my deliverance; and save me from the reproach of him, &c. — From that shameful destruction which Saul designs to bring upon me. The Hebrew, however, ypav ãrj, cheereeph shoapi, may be properly rendered, as in the margin, he reproacheth, or hath reproached, that is, he will certainly put to shame, or reproach him that would swallow me up, by disappointing his expectation, and delivering me from his rage. God shall send forth his mercy and truth — Shall discover them by their proper fruits, namely, by affording his gracious help in pursuance of his promises. “The reader will observe, that mercy and truth are here poetically represented as ministers of God, standing in his presence, ready to execute his pleasure, and employed by him in the salvation of his people.” — Dodd.

3. He shall send from heaven—David steadfastly refused to take vengeance into his own hands against Saul and his evil counsellors, but left the questions of his vindication and of his promised accession to the throne wholly with God. The reproach—The slander of his enemies was the keenest edge of his sufferings. Swallow me up—See on Psalm 56:1, 2. Mercy and… truth—See on Psalm 25:10, and compare “light and truth,” Psalm 43:3, 4. David asked and desired no mercy which was against truth; but in the triumph of these lay all his hope.

V. 4. Lions-Fierce and bloody men. I lie-I have my abode. On fire-From hell. Who are mere fire-brands, breathing out wrath and threatenings, and incensing Saul against me.

Verse 4. My soul is among lions] לבאם Ëwtb bethoch lebaim. I agree with Dr. Kennicott that this should be translated, “My soul dwells in parched places,” from bal laab, he thirsted. And thus the Chaldee seems to have understood the place, though it be not explicit. I lie even among them that are set on fire] I seem to be among coals. It is no ordinary rage and malice by which I am pursued: each of my enemies seems determined to have my life.

Verse 4. My soul is among lions — I live in the midst of a generation of fierce and bloody men; I lie — That is, I have my abode; among them that are set on fire — Namely, of, or from hell, James 3:6, who are mere firebrands and incendiaries, that are continually breathing out their wrath and threatenings. Even the sons of men — Whereby he explains what he meant by lions, and tells us that they were beasts in the shape of men; whose teeth — With which they gnash upon me, and with which they would, as it were, tear me to pieces, or eat me up; are spears and arrows — Fitted for mischiefs and murders; and their tongue — With which they wound my reputation, and load me with their curses, is a sharp sword — To cut and give deadly wounds.

4. Among lions— “Saul and his courtiers are here ‘lions’ to David, as were the kings of Asshur and Babel afterwards to Israel, (Jeremiah 1:17,) the Roman emperor to Paul, (2 Timothy 4:17,) and all wicked rulers over the poor people, (Proverbs 28:15.)”—Ainsworth. The imagery of this verse is not unusual to David. I lie—That is, I lie down to sleep. Among them that are set on fire—Men inflamed with jealousy, envy, and malice. To lie down for rest in sorrow and fear was the emblem of calamity, (Job 7:4; Isaiah 50:11,) and the opposite of peace and happiness, (Leviticus 26:6; Job 11:19; Proverbs 3:24.) Sharp sword—Malicious words cut deeper than the flesh.

V. 5. Excited-Glorify thy power, and goodness, and justice, and faithfulness, by my deliverance. Above, &c.-To the highest degree possible.

Verse 5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens] Let the glory of thy mercy and truth be seen in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath. Several of the fathers apply what is said above to the passion of our Lord, and what is said here to his resurrection.

Verse 5. Be thou exalted above the heavens — That is, higher than the heavens, or to the highest degree possible. Glorify thy power and goodness, thy justice and faithfulness, by my deliverance; all which attributes are exposed to censure and reproach while thou sufferest the ungodly to oppress and triumph over the righteous, who put their trust in thee. Let thy glory be above all the earth — Above all men upon earth, some of whom do now audaciously lift up themselves against thee, and act as if they thought themselves above thee, and able to counteract thy designs. Or, through all the earth, as the Hebrew may be rendered. Spread the fame of thy glorious perfections through all nations. Display thy glory, not only among thy own people, but in such a manner that even the heathen may be forced to acknowledge and admire it.

5. Be thou exalted, O God—The cause of David was the cause of God. The manifested glory of God as supreme, implied David’s deliverance, and either implied the defeat of his enemies. His prayer against his enemies was, therefore, at once a prayer for deliverance and for the honour of God. The dawn of David’s deliverance appears in this verse, and fully breaks forth in verse 8.

Verse 6. They have prepared a net for my steps] A gin or springe, such as huntsmen put in the places which they know the prey they seek frequents: such, also, as they place in passages in hedges, &c., through which the game creeps.

They have digged a pit] Another method of catching game and wild beasts. They dig a pit, cover it over with weak sticks and turf. The beasts, not suspecting danger where none appears, in attempting to walk over it, fall through, and are taken. Saul digged a pit, laid snares for the life of David; and fell into one of them himself, particularly at the cave of En-gedi; for he entered into the very pit or cave where David and his men were hidden, and his life lay at the generosity of the very man whose life he was seeking! The rabbins tell a curious and instructive tale concerning this: “God sent a spider to weave her web at the mouth of the cave in which David and his men lay hid. When Saul saw the spider’s web over the cave’s mouth, he very naturally conjectured that it could neither be the haunt of men nor wild beasts; and therefore went in with confidence to repose.” The spider here, a vile and contemptible animal, became the instrument in the hand of God of saving David’s life and of confounding Saul in his policy and malice. This may be a fable; but it shows by what apparently insignificant means God, the universal ruler, can accomplish the greatest and most beneficent ends. Saul continued to dig pits to entrap David; and at last fell a prey to his own obstinacy. We have a proverb to the same effect: Harm watch, harm catch. The Greeks have one also: JH te kakh boulh tw bouleusanti kakisth, “An evil advice often becomes most ruinous to the adviser.” The Romans have one to the same effect:— Neque enim lex justior ulla est

Quam necis artificem arte perire sua.

“There is no law more just than that which condemns a man to suffer death by the instrument which he has invented to take away the life of others.”

Verse 6. They have prepared a net for my steps — In which to take me, that I might not again escape out of their hands. My soul is bowed down — Hebrew, yvpn ãpk, he hath bowed down my soul; referring to Saul at the head of his troops, pursuing David to his ruin. They have digged a pit before me — Hebrew, before my face: not in my sight, for that would have been in vain, Proverbs 1:17, but in my way, where they thought I would go; into the midst whereof they are fallen — This was fulfilled in Saul, who, by pursuing David, fell into his hands, 1 Samuel 24:3.

6. They have prepared a net—He returns to the artful designs of his enemies, which he illustrates by an eastern method of catching wild animals by snares and pitfalls. See Isaiah 24:17, 18. Into the midst whereof they are fallen—By faith David sees the retributive justice of God meeting out to them the evil they had plotted against himself. Saul had fallen into David’s hands, not David into Saul’s. Comp. 1 Samuel 24:2, 8. The selah, or pause, which to the reader is a call to meditation on the import of what is said, and is nearly equal to the amen, closes this first division of the psalm, which otherwise might be ended with the refrain of verse 5.

V. 7. Fixed-In a stedfast belief of thy promises.

Verse 7. My heart is fixed] My heart is prepared to do and suffer thy will. It is fixed—it has made the firmest purpose through his strength by which I can do all things.

Verses 7-11. My heart is fixed — Hebrew, ˆwkn, nachon, prepared, or, established; namely, in a full assurance of obtaining thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, but now I have, through thy grace, conquered my fears, and am fixed in a steadfast belief of, and confidence in thy promises. Or, my heart is prepared to sing and give praise, as it follows. Awake up, my glory, &c. — My tongue, wherewith I ought to glorify thee, shall be no longer silent; nor shall any instrument of music be wanting to accompany my hymns. I myself will awake right early — I will rouse up, and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth thy praises. And I will do it so early, that I will prevent the rising sun. I will praise thee among the people — In the great congregations, among the Israelites of all tribes, who are called by thy name, (Deuteronomy 33:19,) and among the heathen, as I shall have occasion. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens — Is most evident, and greatly exalted.

7. My heart is fixed, O God— “Fixed,” here, may take the sense either of established or of prepared. He was established in his faith and purposes not to be moved by any adversity; or, he was prepared for all the will of God. The Septuagint gives the latter, (etoimh,) “my heart is ready.” Thus he was one with God, and would rejoice in this consciousness.

V. 8. My glory-My tongue, the instrument of singing. Awake-I will employ all the powers of my soul and body.

Verse 8. Awake up, my glory] Instead of ydwbk kebodi, “my glory,” one MS., and the Syriac, have yrwnk kinnori, “my harp.” Dr. Kennicott reads yrwbk kebori, which he supposes to be some instrument of music; and adds that the instrument used in church-music by the Ethiopians is now called rbk kaber. I think the Syriac likely to be the true reading: “Awake up, my harp; awake, psaltery and harp: I will awake early.” Such repetitions are frequent in the Hebrew poets. If we read my glory, it may refer either to his tongue; or, which is more likely, to his skill in composition, and in playing on different instruments. The five last verses of this Psalm are nearly the same with the five first verses of Psalm 108:1-5. The reason of this may be, the notes or memoranda from the psalmist’s diary were probably, through mistake, twice copied. The insertion at the beginning of the 118th Psalm seems to bear no relation to the rest of that ode.

Rabbi Solomon Jarchi tells us that David had a harp at his bed’s head, which played of itself when the north wind blew on it; and then David arose to give praise to God. This account has been treated as a ridiculous fable by grave Christian writers. I would however hesitate, and ask one question: Does not the account itself point out an instrument then well known, similar to the comparatively lately discovered Æolian harp? Was not this the instrument hung at David’s bed’s head, which, when the night breeze (which probably blew at a certain time) began to act upon the cords, sent forth those dulcet, those heavenly sounds, for which the Æolian harp is remarkable? “Awake, my harp, at the due time: I will not wait for thee now, I have the strongest cause for gratitude; I will awake earlier than usual to sing the praises of my God.”

Verses 7-11. My heart is fixed — Hebrew, ˆwkn, nachon, prepared, or, established; namely, in a full assurance of obtaining thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, but now I have, through thy grace, conquered my fears, and am fixed in a steadfast belief of, and confidence in thy promises. Or, my heart is prepared to sing and give praise, as it follows. Awake up, my glory, &c. — My tongue, wherewith I ought to glorify thee, shall be no longer silent; nor shall any instrument of music be wanting to accompany my hymns. I myself will awake right early — I will rouse up, and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth thy praises. And I will do it so early, that I will prevent the rising sun. I will praise thee among the people — In the great congregations, among the Israelites of all tribes, who are called by thy name, (Deuteronomy 33:19,) and among the heathen, as I shall have occasion. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens — Is most evident, and greatly exalted.

8. Awake up, my glory—Arouse, my soul. ydbk, (kebodee,) here rendered glory, is sometimes used for the soul as the most honourable and excellent part of man. It is used synonymously with vpn, (nephesh,) soul, by the law of parallelism, (Genesis 49:6; Psalm 7:5,) and in the text it answers to I, myself. In verse 6 his soul is “bowed down,” now he calls upon himself to “awake,” arouse. See notes on Psalm 16:9 and 30:12. Awake early—Literally, I will awake the dawn. See on Psalm 63:1, where this is fulfilled while David was in the same region. This preceding the literal daybreak was not only helpful to praise and worship, but evidence of a willing and joyful heart.

V. 9. The people-Among the Israelites, and among the Heathens, as I shall have occasion.

Verse 9. Among the people] The Israelites.

Among the nations.] The Gentiles at large. A prophecy either relating to the Gospel times, Christ being considered as the Speaker: or a prediction that these Divine compositions should be sung, both in synagogues and in Christian churches, in all the nations of the earth. And it is so: wherever the name of Christ is known, there is David’s known also.

Verses 7-11. My heart is fixed — Hebrew, ˆwkn, nachon, prepared, or, established; namely, in a full assurance of obtaining thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, but now I have, through thy grace, conquered my fears, and am fixed in a steadfast belief of, and confidence in thy promises. Or, my heart is prepared to sing and give praise, as it follows. Awake up, my glory, &c. — My tongue, wherewith I ought to glorify thee, shall be no longer silent; nor shall any instrument of music be wanting to accompany my hymns. I myself will awake right early — I will rouse up, and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth thy praises. And I will do it so early, that I will prevent the rising sun. I will praise thee among the people — In the great congregations, among the Israelites of all tribes, who are called by thy name, (Deuteronomy 33:19,) and among the heathen, as I shall have occasion. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens — Is most evident, and greatly exalted.

9. People… nations—In each place the original word is the same. The repetition is for emphasis, and the plural (peoples, nations) must be understood of the Gentile nations. David’s deliverance should be so great, and its effects so public and glorious, that the nations around would be led to recognise the hand of God and to fear him. The psalmist suddenly rises to the sublime conception of the triumph of theocratic principles, which is the common stepping stone, as here, for an anticipation of the gathering of the nations by the gospel.

Verse 10. Thy mercy is great unto the heavens] It is as far above all human description and comprehension as the heavens are above the earth. See the notes on Psalm 36:5, 6, where nearly the same words occur.

Verses 7-11. My heart is fixed — Hebrew, ˆwkn, nachon, prepared, or, established; namely, in a full assurance of obtaining thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, but now I have, through thy grace, conquered my fears, and am fixed in a steadfast belief of, and confidence in thy promises. Or, my heart is prepared to sing and give praise, as it follows. Awake up, my glory, &c. — My tongue, wherewith I ought to glorify thee, shall be no longer silent; nor shall any instrument of music be wanting to accompany my hymns. I myself will awake right early — I will rouse up, and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth thy praises. And I will do it so early, that I will prevent the rising sun. I will praise thee among the people — In the great congregations, among the Israelites of all tribes, who are called by thy name, (Deuteronomy 33:19,) and among the heathen, as I shall have occasion. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens — Is most evident, and greatly exalted.

10. Unto the heavens… clouds—See on Psalm 36:5.

Verse 11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens] The same sentiments and words which occur in Psalm 57:5. See Clarke’s note there, “Psalm 57:5”.

David was not only in a happy state of mind when he wrote this Psalm, but in what is called a state of triumph. His confidence in God was unbounded; though encompassed by the most ferocious enemies, and having all things against him except God and his innocence. David will seldom be found in a more blessed state than he here describes. Similar faith in God will bring the same blessings to every true Christian in similar circumstances.

Verses 7-11. My heart is fixed — Hebrew, ˆwkn, nachon, prepared, or, established; namely, in a full assurance of obtaining thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, but now I have, through thy grace, conquered my fears, and am fixed in a steadfast belief of, and confidence in thy promises. Or, my heart is prepared to sing and give praise, as it follows. Awake up, my glory, &c. — My tongue, wherewith I ought to glorify thee, shall be no longer silent; nor shall any instrument of music be wanting to accompany my hymns. I myself will awake right early — I will rouse up, and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth thy praises. And I will do it so early, that I will prevent the rising sun. I will praise thee among the people — In the great congregations, among the Israelites of all tribes, who are called by thy name, (Deuteronomy 33:19,) and among the heathen, as I shall have occasion. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens — Is most evident, and greatly exalted.

11. The daydawn of triumph, which opened in verse 5, is here brought forward as a closing refrain.