Psalm 57 commentary

PSALM 57 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do ot
Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When he had
fled from Saul into the cave.
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "TITLE. To the Chief Musician. So glad a song as this becomes ere it
closes, should be in the keeping of the most skilled of all the temple minstrels.
Altaschith, i.e., DESTROY OT. This petition is a very sententious prayer, as full as
it is brief, and well worthy to be the motto for a sacred song. David had said,
"destroy not, "in reference to Saul, when he had him in his power, and now he takes
pleasure in employing the same words in supplication to God. We may infer from
the spirit of the Lord's prayer, that the Lord will spare us as we spare our foes.
There are four of these "Destroy not" Psalms, namely, the 57th, 58th, 59th, and
75th. In all of them there is a distinct declaration of the destruction of the wicked
and the preservation of the righteous, and they all have probably a reference to the
overthrow of the Jews, on account of their persecution of the great Son of David:
they will endure heavy chastisement, but concerning them it is written in the divine
decree, "Destroy them not." Michtam of David. For quality this Psalm is called
golden, or a secret, and it well deserves the name. We may read the words and yet
not know the secret joy of David, which he has locked up in his golden casket. When
he fled from Saul in the cave. This is a song from the bowels of the earth, and, like
Jonah's prayer from the bottom of the sea, it has a taste of the place. The poet is in
the shadow of the cave at first, but he comes to the cavern's mouth at last, and sings
in the sweet fresh air, with his eye on the heavens, watching joyously the clouds
floating therein.
DIVISIO S. We have here prayer, Psalms 57:1-6, and praise, Psalms 57:7-11. The
hunted one takes a long breath of prayer, and when he is fully inspired, he breathes
out his soul in jubilant song.
ELLICOTT, "This psalm offers a good example of the way in which hymns were
sometimes composed for the congregation It is plainly the work of a man with a fine
poetic sense. The imagery is striking, and the versification regular and pleasing. A
refrain divides it into two equal pieces, each falling into two stanzas of six lines. Yet
it is plainly a composition from older hymns. (Comp. especially Psalms 36:5-6;
Psalms 56:2-3; Psalms 7:15; Psalms 9:15.) The second part has itself in turn been

used by another compiler. (See Psalms 108)
Title.—See Psalms 4, 16, title, and comp. titles of Psalms 58, 59, 75
Al-taschith—i.e., destroy not, the first words of some song to the tune of which this
was to be sung.
COKE, "Title. ‫אל‬ ‫תשׂחת‬ Al-taschith— Destroy not. This psalm is thus intitled,
because some of David's men, observing the advantage that he had over Saul, would
fain have dispatched him, if David had not forbidden the person who was ready to
strike the blow, saying, Destroy not. The same title is prefixed to the two following,
and to the 76th psalm, most probably to shew that they were to be sung to the same
tune. See the history referred to 1 Samuel 24.
1 Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
BAR ES, "Be merciful unto me, O God - The same beginning as the former
psalm - a cry for mercy; an overwhelming sense of trouble and danger leading him to
come at once to the throne of God for help. See the notes at Psa_56:1.
For my soul trusteth in thee - See the notes at Psa_56:3. He had nowhere else to
go; there was no one on whom he could rely but God.
Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge - Under the protection
or covering of his wings - as young birds seek protection under the wings of the parent
bird. See the notes at Psa_17:8. Compare Psa_36:7.
Until these calamities be overpast - Compare Job_14:13, note; Psa_27:13, note;
also at Isa_26:20, note. He believed that these calamities “would” pass away, or would
cease; that a time would come when he would not thus be driven from place to place. At
present he knew that he was in danger, and he desired the divine protection, for under
“that” protection he would be safe.

CLARKE, "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 evemy disappears. In a storm, or tempest of rain, the mother covers
them with her wings to afford them shelter and defense. This the psalmist has
particularly in view, as the following words show: “Until these calamities be overpast.”
GILL, "Be merciful unto me, O God,.... Or "be gracious to me" (k); which words are
repeated by him. "Be merciful", or "gracious, unto me"; to show the greatness of his
distress, the eagerness, vehemency, and importunity he used in prayer; his case
requiring a speedy answer, and immediate relief; and that he expected only from the
mercy and grace of God; See Gill on Psa_56:1;
for my soul trusteth in thee; or "in thy word"; as the Targum; and in thee only, both
as the God of providence and the God of grace; and a great act of faith this was to trust in
the Lord in such circumstances; and it was not a bare profession of trust, but it was
hearty and sincere; his "soul" trusted in the Lord; he trusted in him with all his heart and
soul, and trusted him with his soul or life: and this he makes a reason or argument for
mercy; seeing, as the mercy of the Lord is an encouragement to faith and hope; so the
Lord has declared, that he takes pleasure in those that hope and trust in it; wherefore
mercy may be expected by such;
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge; or "I will hope" (l); the
meaning is, that he would betake himself to the power and protection of God, and make
him his refuge from the enemy: the allusion is either to the hen, or any other bird
covering its young with its wings, when a bird of prey is near, till that is gone; or to the
cherubim, whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat, between which the glory of God
dwelt; and so the Targum,
"in the shadow of thy Shechinah, or glorious Majesty, will I trust;''
which agrees with his applying to the mercy seat, or to God on a throne of grace and
mercy: and here he determines to abide,
until these calamities be overpast; the storm of them was over, which was very
black and threatening. The Targum is,
"until the tumult is over;''
and so the Syriac version; until Saul and his men were gone, of whom he was afraid. The

Septuagint version, and those that follow it, render the words "until sin passeth away";
the cause of these troubles; unless sin is put for sinful men; and so the sense is as before;
see Isa_26:20.
HE RY, "The title of this psalm has one word new in it, Al-taschith - Destroy not.
Some make it to be only some known tune to which this psalm was set; others apply it to
the occasion and matter of the psalm. Destroy not; that is, David would not let Saul be
destroyed, when now in the cave there was a fair opportunity of killing him, and his
servants would fain have done so. No, says David, destroy him not, 1Sa_24:4, 1Sa_24:6.
Or, rather, God would not let David be destroyed by Saul; he suffered him to persecute
David, but still under this limitation, Destroy him hot; as he permitted Satan to afflict
Job, Only save his life. David must not be destroyed, for a blessing is in him (Isa_65:8),
even Christ, the best of blessings. When David was in the cave, in imminent peril, he
here tells us what were the workings of his heart towards God; and happy are those that
have such good thoughts as these in their minds when they are in danger!
I. He supports himself with faith and hope in God, and prayer to him, Psa_57:1, Psa_
57:2. Seeing himself surrounded with enemies, he looks up to God with that suitable
prayer: Be merciful to me, O Lord! which he again repeats, and it is no vain repetition:
Be merciful unto me. It was the publican's prayer, Luk_18:13. It is a pity that any should
use it slightly and profanely, should cry, God be merciful to us, or, Lord, have mercy
upon us, when they mean only to express their wonder, or surprise, or vexation, but God
and his mercy are not in all their thoughts. It is with much devout affection that David
here prays, “Be merciful unto me, O Lord! look with compassion upon me, and in thy
love and pity redeem me.” To recommend himself to God's mercy, he here professes,
1. That all his dependence is upon God: My soul trusteth in thee, Psa_57:1. He did not
only profess to trust in God, but his soul did indeed rely on God only, with a sincere
devotion and self-dedication, and an entire complacency and satisfaction. He goes to
God, and, at the footstool of the throne of his grace, humbly professes his confidence in
him: In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, as the chickens take shelter
under the wings of the hen when the birds of prey are ready to strike at them, until these
calamities be over-past. (1.) He was confident his troubles would end well, in due time;
these calamities will be over-past; the storm will blow over. Non si male nunc et olim sic
erit - Though now distressed, I shall not always be so. Our Lord Jesus comforted
himself with this in his sufferings, Luk_22:37. The things concerning me have an end.
(2.) He was very easy under the divine protection in the mean time. [1.] He comforted
himself in the goodness of God's nature, by which he is inclined to succour and protect
his people, as the hen is by instinct to shelter her young ones. God comes upon the wing
to the help of his people, which denotes a speedy deliverance (Psa_18:10); and he takes
them under his wing, which denotes warmth and refreshment, even when the calamities
are upon them; see Mat_23:37. [2.] In the promise of his word and the covenant of his
grace; for it may refer to the out-stretched wings of the cherubim, between which God is
said to dwell (Psa_80:1) and whence he gave his oracles. “To God, as the God of grace,
will I fly, and his promise shall be my refuge, and a sure passport it will be through all
these danger.” God, by his promise, offers himself to us, to be trusted; we by our faith
must accept of him, and put our trust in him.
JAMISO , "Psa_57:1-11. Altaschith - or, “Destroy not.” This is perhaps an
enigmatical allusion to the critical circumstances connected with the history, for which

compare 1Sa_22:1; 1Sa_26:1-3. In Moses’ prayer (Deu_9:26) it is a prominent petition
deprecating God’s anger against the people. This explanation suits the fifty-eighth and
fifty-ninth also. Asaph uses it for the seventy-fifth, in the scope of which there is allusion
to some emergency. Michtam - (See on Psa_16:1, title). To an earnest cry for divine aid,
the Psalmist adds, as often, the language of praise, in the assured hope of a favorable
hearing.
my soul — or self, or life, which is threatened.
shadow of thy wings — (Psa_17:8; Psa_36:7).
calamities — literally, “mischiefs” (Psa_52:2; Psa_55:10).
CALVI , "1.Be merciful unto me, O God! The repetition of the prayer proves that
the grief, the anxiety, and the apprehension, with which David was filled at this
time, must have been of no common description. It is noticeable, that his plea for
mercy is, his having hoped in God. His soul trusted in him; and this is a form of
expression the force of which is not to be overlooked: for it implies that the trust
which he exercised proceeded from his very innermost affections, — that it was of
no volatile character, but deeply and strongly rooted. He declares the same truth in
figurative terms, when he adds his persuasion that God would cover him with the
shadow of his wings. The Hebrew word ‫,חסה‬ chasah, which I have translated to
hope, signifies occasionally to lodge, or obtain shelter, and in this sense it may be
understood with great propriety in the passage before us, where allusion is made to
the shadow of wings. David had committed himself, in short, entirely to the
guardianship of God; and now experienced that blessed consciousness of dwelling in
a place of safety, which he expresses in the beginning of the ninetieth psalm. The
divine protection is compared to the shadow of wings, because God, as I have
elsewhere observed, the more familiarly to invite us to himself, is represented as
stretching out his wings like the hen, or other birds, for the shelter of their young.
The greater our ingratitude and perversity, in being so slow to comply with such an
endearing and gentle invitation! He does not merely say, in general, that he would
hope in God, and rest under the shadow of his wings, but, particularly, that he
would do so at the time when wickedness should pass over him, like a storm or
whirlwind. The Hebrew word ‫,הוה‬ hovah, which I have rendered wickedness, some
translate power. Be that as it may, it is evident he declares that God would prove his
refuge, and the wings of God his shelter, under every tempest of affliction which
blew over him. There are seasons when we are privileged to enjoy the calm sunshine
of prosperity; but there is not a day of our lives in which we may not suddenly be
overtaken by storms of affliction, and it is necessary we should be persuaded that
God will cover us with his wings. To hope he adds prayer. Those, indeed, who have
placed their trust in God, will always direct their prayers to him; and David gives
here a practical proof of his hope, by showing that he applied to God in his
emergencies. In addressing God, he applies to him an honorable title, commending
him as the God who performed whatsoever he had promised, or (as we may
understand the expression) who carries forward to perfection the work which he
has begun. (339) The Hebrew word ‫גמר‬ , gomer, here employed, would seem to be
used in the same sense as in Psalms 138:8, the scope of both passages being the same.

It materially confirms and sustains our hope to reflect that God will never forsake
the workmanship of his own hands, — that he will perfect the salvation of his
people, and continue his divine guidance until he have brought them to the
termination of their course. Some read, to God, who rewards me; but this fails to
bring out the force of the expression. It would be more to the purpose, in my
judgment, to read, God, who fails me; in which case the sentence would, of course,
require to be understood adversatively: That though God failed him, and stretched
not out his hand for his deliverance, he would still persist in crying to him. The
other meaning, which some have suggested, I will cry to God, who performs, or
exerts to the utmost, his severity against me, is evidently forced, and the context
would lead us to understand the word as referring to the goodness of God, the
constancy of which in perfecting his work when once begun, should ever be present
to our remembrance,
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. Urgent
need suggests the repetition of the cry, for thus intense urgency of desire is
expressed. If `he gives twice who gives quickly, 'so he who would receive quickly
must ask twice. For mercy the psalmist pleads at first, and he feels he cannot
improve upon his plea, and therefore returns to it. God is the God of mercy, and the
Father of mercies, it is most fit therefore that in distress he should seek mercy from
him in whom it dwells.
For my soul trusteth in thee. Faith urges her suit right well. How can the Lord be
unmerciful to a trustful soul? Our faith does not deserve mercy, but it always wins it
from the sovereign grace of God when it is sincere, as in this case where the soul of
the man believed. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness."
Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. ot in the cave alone would
he hide, but in the cleft of the Rock of ages. As the little birds find ample shelter
beneath the parental wing, even so would the fugitive place himself beneath the
secure protection of the divine power. The emblem is delightfully familiar and
suggestive. May we all experimentally know its meaning. When we cannot see the
sunshine of God's face, it is blessed to cower down beneath the shadow of his wings.
Until these calamities be overpast. Evil will pass away, and the eternal wings will
abide over us till then. Blessed be God, our calamities are matters of time, but our
safety is a matter of eternity. When we are under the divine shadow, the passing
over of trouble cannot harm us; the hawk flies across the sky, but this is no evil to
the chicks when they are safely nestling beneath the hen.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Title. This Psalm was composed, as the title notes, by David prayer wise, when he
hid himself from Saul in the cave, and is inscribed with a double title, Altaschith,
Michtam of David. Altaschith refers to the scope, and Michtam to the dignity of the
subject matter. The former signifies destroy not, or, let there be no slaughter; and
may either refer to Saul, concerning whom he gave charge to his servants not to
destroy him; or rather it hath reference to God, to whom in this great exigence he
poured out his soul in this pathetic ejaculation; Altaschith, destroy not. The latter
title, Michtam, signifies a golden ornament, and so is suited to the choice and
excellent matter of the Psalm, which much more deserves such a title than

Pythagoras' golden verses did. John Flavel (1627-1692), in "Divine Conduct, or the
Mystery of Providence."
Title. A Psalm composed when David fled from Saul in the cave, which is referred to
in Psalms 143:1-12, and which, because it is without any other distinction called
"the cave, "is probably that celebrated cave where David with his six hundred
followers lay concealed when Saul entered and David cut off the skirt of his robe.
The king, accompanied by three thousand followers, chased him to the loftiest
alpine heights--"to the sheepcotes, "where the cattle were driven in the hottest
summer months only--to hunt him in every hiding place. There was a cave, in the
darkened cool of which David and his men were hid. Such caves in Palestine and the
East are frequently enlarged by human hands, and so capacious that they
accommodate thousands of people. This song of complaint was written during the
hours of suspense which David spent there, to wait until the calamity was overpast
(Psalms 57:2); in which he only gradually gains a stout heart (Psalms 57:8). His life
was really suspended by a hair, if Saul or any of his attendants had espied him!
Agustus F. Tholuck.
Title. The cave. There appear good grounds for the local tradition which fixes the
cave on the borders of the Dead Sea, although there is no certainty with regard to
the particular cave pointed out. The cave so designated is at a point to which David
was far more likely to summon his parents, whom he intended to take from
Bethlehem in to Moab, than to any place in the western plains... It is an immense
natural cavern, the mouth of which can be approached only on foot along the side of
the cliff. Irby and Mangles, who visited it without being aware that it was the
reputed Cave of Adullam, state that it "runs in by a long, winding, narrow passage,
with small chambers or cavities on either side. We soon came to a large chamber
with natural arches of great height; from this last there were numerous passages,
leading in all directions, occasionally joined by others at right angles, and forming a
perfect labyrinth, which our guides assured us had never been perfectly explored--
the people being afraid of losing themselves. The passages are generally four feet
high by three feet wide, and were all on a level with each other." ...It seems probable
that David as a native of Bethlehem, must have been well acquainted with this
remarkable spot, and had probably often availed himself of its shelter, when out
with his father's flocks. It would, therefore, naturally occur to him as a place of
refuge when he fled from Gath. John Kitto (1804-1854), in "A Cyclopaedia of
Biblical Literature."
Whole Psalm. Mystically this hymn may be construed of Christ, who was in the days
of his flesh assaulted by the tyranny both of spiritual and temporal enemies. His
temporal enemies, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and people of Israel,
furiously raged and took counsel together against him. The chief priests and princes
were, saith Hierome, like lions, and the people like the whelps of lions, all of them in
a readiness to devour his soul. The rulers laid a net for his feet in their captious
interrogatories, asking (Matthew 22:17), "Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or
not?" and (John 8:5) whether the woman taken in the very act of adultery should be
stoned to death or no. The people were "set on fire, "when as they raged against
him, and their teeth and tongues were spears and swords in crying, "Crucify him,
crucify him." His spiritual enemies also sought to swallow him up; his soul was
among lions all the days of his life, at the hour of his death especially. The devil in

tempting and troubling him, had laid a snare for his feet; and death, in digging a pit
for him, had thought to devour him. As David was in death, so Christ the Son of
David was in the grave. John Boys, 1571-1625.
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God, etc. This excellent Psalm was composed by
David when there was enough to discompose the best man in the world. The
repetition notes both the extremity of the danger, and the ardency of the supplicant.
Mercy! Mercy! othing but mercy, and that exerting itself in any extraordinary
way, can now save him from ruin. The arguments he pleads for obtaining mercy in
this distress are very considerable.
1. He pleads his reliance upon God as an argument to move mercy. My soul trusteth
in thee, etc. This his trust and dependence upon God, though it be not
argumentative in respect of the dignity of the act; yet it is so in respect both of the
nature of the object, a compassionate God who will not expose any that take shelter
under his wings, and in respect of the promise, whereby protection is assured to
them that fly to him for sanctuary. Isaiah 26:3.
2. He pleads former experiences of his help in past distresses, as an argument
encouraging hope under the present strait (Psalms 57:2). John Flavel.
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me. According to the weight of the burden that grieveth us,
is the cry that comes from us. How do poor condemned prisoners cry to their judges,
"Have pity upon us, have pity upon us!" David, in the day of his calamities doubles
his prayer for mercy: Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul
trusteth in thee, etc., Until these calamities be overpast. It was not a single calamity,
but a multitude of calamities which compassed David, and therefore he compasseth
the Lord about with petitions. His spirit being up in prayer, like a bell that rings
out, he strikes on both sides, Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me.
Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me. The first clause contains the prayer itself in a very
forcible word ygnx, properly, "Show thy most tender affection to me, "such as
animals, with a humming sound, show to their young. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 1. For my soul trusteth in thee. The best reason with God, who "taketh
pleasure in those that hope in his mercy." Psalms 147:11. Poole's Synopsis.
Ver. 1. Soul. His soul trusted in God; and this is a form of expression the force of
which is not to be overlooked; for it implies that the trust which he exercised
proceeded from his very innermost affection--that it was of no volatile character,
but deeply and strongly rooted. He declares the same truth in figurative terms, when
he adds his persuasion that God would cover him with the shadow of his wings.
John Calvin.
Ver. 1. In the shadow of thy wings I will trust; properly, I will seek for protection.
The very delightful figure here employed, is taken from the chicken lying safely hid
under the mother's wings; at the same time it seems to have reference to the wings of
the cherubim, by which the mercyseat was covered. Simon de Muis, 1587-1644.
Ver. 1. The shadow of thy wings. Compare Ps 17:8 61:4; and Matthew 23:37; and
the Apocalyptic imagery, describing the church fleeing from the dragon in the
wilderness; and "to her are given the two wings of the great eagle, "and she is
delivered from the dragon, who desires to swallow her up. See Revelation 12:6;
Revelation 12:15-16. Christopher Wordsworth, 1868.
Ver. 1. Until these calamities be overpast. He compares his afflictions and calamity

to a storm that cometh and goeth; as it is not always fair weather with us in this life,
so not always foul. Athanasius said of Julian furiously raging against the Lord's
Anointed, " ubecula est, cito transibit, "he is a little cloud; he will soon pass away.
Man is born to labour and dolour, to travail and trouble; to labour in his actions, to
dolour in his passions; and so, "Great are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord
delivereth him out of all." If we put our trust in him and cast all our care upon him,
he will in his good time bring it to pass, that all our afflictions shall overpass. He will
either take them from us or us from them, and then we shall assuredly know that
the troubles of this life present are not worthy of the glory which in the life to come
shall be showed unto us. For as the globe of the earth, which improperly for his
show of bigness we term the world, and is, after the mathematician's account, many
thousand miles in compass; yet, being compared unto the greatness of the starry
sky's circumference, is but a centre or little prick: so the travail and affliction of this
life temporal, in respect of the joys eternal in the world to come, bear not any
proportion, but are to be reputed in comparison a very nothing, as a dark cloud that
cometh and goeth in a moment. John Boys.
Ver. 1-3. In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be
overpast, etc. As if he had said, Lord, I am already in the cave and in the holds, and
in the shadow of it, but yet for all that I think not myself safe indeed, till I have
made my refuge in the shadow of thy wings: that is therefore the course I resolve
and build upon. It was wisely done of him: and mark what course he takes to do it,
Psalms 57:2, I will cry unto God most high, I will by prayer put myself under the
shadow of God's wings: and mark what success should follow, Psalms 57:3, He shall
send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. When we send prayers up to heaven,
God will send help down from heaven. But yet David prays to God, as well as trusts
in God. And unless we pray as well as trust, our trust will fail us, for we must trust
to God for that we pray for. Jeremiah Dyke, 1620.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:1 « To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when
he fled from Saul in the cave. » Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:
for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge,
until [these] calamities be overpast.
Al-taschith] i.e. Destroy not; µη διαφθειρης (Sept.). David being in imminent danger
of destruction in the cave, might send up this short request as it were in a fright,
before he uttered this ensuing prayer. Al-taschith in such an exigent might well be
an effectual prayer; as was the woman of Canaan’s Lord, help me, and the sick
man’s Abba, Father; or these might now be his words (to Abishai, or some other of
his servants, whose fingers even itched to be doing with Saul), as afterwards they
were upon a like occasion, 1 Samuel 26:9. Destroy not Saul. See thou do it not.
Michtam of David] See Psalms 16:1, title.
When he fled from Saul in the cave] 1 Samuel 24:1, or, into the cave for shelter; and

where, when he might have cut Saul’s throat, he cut his coat only, and was inwardly
checked for it; nevertheless the Spirit came upon him, which was no small comfort,
as Aben Ezra here observeth, and he said,
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful] q.d. ow or never help at a dead
lift. Bis, pro more rogantium, ad corroborandum, saith Kimchi. Other Jewish
doctors give this reason of the repetition of his petition: "Be merciful," &c., lest
either I fall into Saul’s hands, or Saul into mine; lest desire for revenge prick me on
to kill him. Or, have mercy on me, that I sin not; or if I do sin, that I may repent
(Midr. Tillin.)
For my soul trusteth in thee] An excellent argument, so it comes from the soul, so it
be heart-sprung.
Yea, in the shadow of thy wings, &c.] As the little chicken in danger of the kite
hovereth, and covereth under the hen.
Until these calamities be over past] For long they will not continue. ubecula est,
cito transibit, said Athanasius of the Arian persecutions, which for present were
very sharp. So Master Jewel, about the beginning of Queen Mary’s reign,
persuading many to patience, said often, Haec non durabunt setatem, This sharp
shower will soon be over.
BE SO , "Psalms 57:1. 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.
WHEDO , "1. Be merciful… be merciful—The repetition springs from a soul in
agony.
Shadow of thy wings—The metaphor denotes protection and tenderness. Psalms
94:1; Psalms 94:4; 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.
COFFMA , "PRAYER FOR DELIVERA CE A D THA KSGIVI G TO GOD

THE SUPERSCRIPTIO : FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIA ; SET TO ALTASHETH.
A PSALM OF DAVID. MICHTAM; WHE HE FLED FROM SAUL I THE
CAVE.
Set to Altasheth. This, or course, was the tune to which the psalm was to be sung;
but no one has the slightest idea what that tune was. Delitzsch tells us that "There
were three of the Davidic psalms set to this tune, namely, Psalms 57; Psalms 58; and
Psalms 59, and also one of the Psalms accredited to Asaph, Psalms 75."[1] Following
the Douay Version of the Old Testament, Spurgeon, translated the name of this
tune, as "Destroy ot."
He commented that, "David had said, `Destroy ot,' in reference to Saul, when he
had him in his power; and now he takes pleasure in the employment of the same
words in his supplications to God. We may thus infer from the spirit of the Lord's
Prayer, that God will spare us if we spare our foes."[2]
When he fled from Saul in the cave. "This occasion was either David's stay in the
cave of Adullum (1 Samuel 22:1), or the incident in the cave of Engedi (1 Samuel
24:3); but there is no direct reference in the psalm to either."[3]
A Psalm of David. It is customary for liberal commentators to reject these
superscriptions; but they are all we have as identification of authors and of the
occasions when certain psalms were written. Their comments that, "we don't know"
casts no reflection whatever upon these ancient words in the superscriptions. Until
valid objections and intelligent reasons are brought forth in refutation of what is
written in them, we shall continue to respect them; although, of course, no one
claims to be able "to prove" their reliability. " o valid reasons can be urged against
these statements (in the superscription)."[4] "Many interpreters recognize that in
this instance, the heading (in the superscription) may be regarded as historically
valid."[5]
In the previous Psalms 56, we mentioned the fact of that psalm and this being called,
`twins.' There are indeed some remarkable similarities.
(1) Both psalms begin with exactly the same words. (2) In both, a refrain divides the
psalm into two paragraphs. (3) The distressing situation is the same in both (Psalms
56:1 and Psalms 57:3). (4) The ends of the earth ("nations," "Gentiles," or
"peoples") in both are envisioned as ultimately concerned with David's deliverance
(Psalms 56:7, and Psalms 57:9). It is also of interest that verses 7-11 are repeated
(with slight variations) in Psalms 108:7-11. That fact, of course, has led to screams
of "disunity" by some; but as Leupold noted, "We lack evidence for such
claims."[6]
o one can be unaware of the constant repetition throughout the Book of Psalms,
repetition of themes, laments, imprecations, praises, etc., and the constant

recurrence of stereotyped phrases, sentences and conceptions. "In this psalm, we
have the familiar truths that God hears prayers, punishes the wicked and justifies
the righteous. Faith in God does not keep us from trials but enables us to triumph
over them."[7]
The title we have placed at the head of this chapter is taken from Kyle Yates.[8] The
paragraphing is suggested by the placement of the refrains in Psalms 57:5 and
Psalms 57:11.
Psalms 57:1-5
"Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me;
For my soul taketh refuge in thee:
Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge,
Until these calamities be overpast.
I will cry unto God Most High,
Unto God that performeth all things for me.
He will send from heaven, and save me,
When he that would swallow me up reproacheth; (Selah)
God will send forth his lovingkindness and his truth.
My soul is among lions;
I lie among them that are set on fire,
Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword."
"In the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge" (Psalms 57:1). This metaphor
reminds us of the words of Jesus, "How often would I have gathered thy children
together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not"
(Matthew 23:37).
"Until these calamities be overpast" (Psalms 57:1). "The word here rendered
`calamities' may also be translated as `wickednesses,' or `malignities.' That they
would indeed pass the psalmist was certain; but what he needed was support while
they endured."[9]

"Unto God who performeth all things for me" (Psalms 57:2). "This indicates that
already the psalmist's confidence in God's deliverance begins to be felt."[10]
Perhaps this confidence may spring in part from the titles of God here, which are
"[~'Elohiym], [~'Elyon], Almighty God, Most High."[11]
"When he that would swallow me up reproacheth" (Psalms 57:3). These were
nothing other than "people eaters" who were attacking David. The use of mixed
figures of speech in Psalms 57:4, which speaks of both wild beasts (`lions'), and
spears and arrows, "Along with the traditional phrases and stereotyped images
make it difficult to reconstruct the personal circumstances of the psalmist. Was he
being physically attacked, or falsely accused?"[12]
Spurgeon took the view that it was the vicious tongues of these "people eaters"
which constituted the principal trouble. He spoke to the gossips of his church as
follows:
<SIZE=2>"You eat men up; you eat their souls, the finest part of men. You are
more than glad if you can whisper a word that is derogatory to a neighbor, or his
wife, or his daughter. The morsel is too exquisite to be lost. Here is the soul of a
person, his hope in this life and his hope of heaven; and you have it on your fork,
and you can't refrain from eating it and asking others to taste it.[13] (Spurgeon then
quoted Henry Ward Beecher).
"You are cannibals, eating men's honor and rejoicing in it; and that too when
ninety-nine times out of a hundred the probabilities are there's not a word of truth
in it. - Beecher."SIZE>
"Among lions ... and the sons of men whose teeth are like spears and arrows"
(Psalms 57:4). The IV has "tongue" instead of "teeth" here. Ash stated that, "The
mixed metaphor of the `lions' and the `military' show how precarious the situation
was. Deliverance would have been hopeless without God."[14]
"Them that are set on fire" (Psalms 57:4). "These were they whose hearts were on
fire with enmity and hatred and who spoke words which were as sharp as military
weapons."[15]
EBC, "THIS psalm resembles the preceding in the singer’s circumstances of peril
and in his bold faith. It has also points of contact in the cry, "Be gracious," and in
the remarkable expression for enemies, "Those that would swallow me up." It has
also several features in common with the other psalms ascribed by the
superscriptions to the time of the Sauline persecution. Like Psalms 7:1-17 are the
metaphor of lions for enemies, that of digging a pit for their plots, the use of glory as
a synonym for soul. The difficult word rendered "destructions" in Psalms 57:1
connects this psalm with Psalms 55:11, dated as belonging to the time of Saul’s
hostility, and with Psalms 5:9; Psalms 38:12, both traditionally Davidic. There is
nothing in the psalm against the attribution of it to David in the cave, whether of
Adullam or Engedi, and the allusions to lying down among lions may possibly have

been suggested by the wild beasts prowling round the psalmist’s shelter. The use in
Psalms 57:1 of the picturesque word for taking refuge derives special
appropriateness from the circumstances of the fugitive, over whose else defenceless
head the sides of his cave arched themselves like great wings, beneath which he lay
safe, though the growls of beasts of prey echoed round. But there is no need to seek
for further certainty as to the occasion of the psalm. Baethgen thinks that it can only
have been composed after "the annihilation of the independence of the Israelite
state," because the vow in Psalms 57:9 to make God’s name known among the
nations can only be the utterance of the oppressed congregation, which is sure of
deliverance, because it is conscious of its Divine call to sing God’s praise to heathens.
But that vow is equally explicable on the assumption that the individual singer was
conscious of such a call.
There is no very sharp division of parts in the psalm. A grand refrain separates it
into two portions, in the former of which prayer for deliverance and contemplation
of dangers prevail, while in the latter the foe is beheld as already baffled, and
exuberant praise is poured forth and vowed.
As in Psalms 54:1-7 and often, the first part begins with an act of faith reaching out
to God, and strengthening itself by the contemplation of His character and acts.
That energy of confidence wins assurance of help, and only after that calming
certitude has filled the soul does the psalmist turn his eye directly on his enemies.
His faith does not make him oblivious of his danger, but it minimises his dread. An
eye that has seen God sees little terror in the most terrible things.
The psalmist knows that a soul which trusts has a right to God’s gracious dealings,
and he is not afraid to urge his confidence as a plea with God. The boldness of the
plea is not less indicative of the depth and purity of his religious experience than are
the tender metaphors in which it is expressed. What truer or richer description of
trust could be given than that which likens it to the act of a fugitive betaking himself
to the shelter of some mountain fastness, impregnable and inaccessible? What
lovelier thought of the safe, warm hiding place which God affords was ever spoken
than that of "the shadow of Thy wings"? Very significant is the recurrence of the
same verb in two different tenses in two successive clauses (Psalms 57:1 b, c). The
psalmist heartens himself for present and future trust by remembrance of past days,
when he exercised it and was not put to shame. That faith is blessed, and cannot but
be strong, which is nurtured by the remembrance of past acts of rewarded faith, as
the leaves of bygone summers make rich mould for a new generation of flowers.
When kites are in the sky, young birds seek protection from the mother’s wing as
well as warmth from her breast. So the singer betakes himself to his shelter till
"destructions are gone by." Possibly these are likened to a wild storm which sweeps
across the land, but is not felt in the stillness of the cave fortress. Hidden in God, a
man "heareth not the loud winds when they call," and may solace himself in the
midst of their roar by the thought that they will soon blow over. He will not cease to
take refuge in God when the stress is past, nor throw off his cloak when the rain
ceases; but he will nestle close while it lasts, and have as his reward the clear
certainty of its transiency. The faith which clings to God after the tempest is no less

close than that which screened itself in Him while it raged.
PETT, "Verses 1-3
Heading (Psalms 57:1 a).
‘For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when he
fled from Saul, in the cave.’
This is one of many Psalms dedicated to the Choirmaster or Chief Musician. It may
simply indicate Psalms put at his disposal. It is set to the tune Al-tashheth (‘Do not
destroy’), and is one of the ‘Psalms of David’. Michtam is probably to be seen as a
plea for protection Its provenance is said to be ‘when he fled from Saul in the cave’,
which probably refers to his exploits in the wilderness of Engedi, near the Dead Sea,
rather than to his time in the Cave of Adullam. There is nothing in the Psalm which
excludes Davidic authorship.
It commences in the same way as the previous Psalm and in the same way speaks of
those who would ‘swallow him up’ (Psalms 57:3). It continues the theme of God’s
protection from his enemies, and from those who speak against him (Psalms 57:4),
forecasting the downfall of his enemies (Psalms 57:6). There is thus some
relationship between the two Psalms.
The Psalm can be divided into three parts:
· A Call For God’s Favour And Protection In The Face Of His Enemies
(Psalms 57:1-3).
· A Description Of His Enemies And Their Fate (Psalms 57:4-6).
· An Expression Of Praise And Thanksgiving For God’s Intervention On His
Behalf (Psalms 57:7-11).
Psalms 57:1-3
A Call For God’s Favour And Protection In The Face Of His Enemies (Psalms 57:1-
3).
He calls for God’s favour to be shown towards him because he has taken refuge
under the shadow of His wings until all danger is past, and because he looks to Him
to save him from the reproaches of his enemy.
Psalms 57:1
‘Show favour to me, O God, show favour to me,
For my person takes refuge in you,
Yes, in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge,
Until these calamities are overpast.’
He twice calls on God to show him favour in the midst of his calamities, confident
that at some stage they will pass, as they must do in the face of God’s promises to
him. He reminds Him that at His word he has taken refuge in him, and that he will

continue to take refuge under the shadow of His wings. God has called him and he
looks to Him to protect him. The picture is of nestlings sheltering under the wings of
the mother bird, secure from all that is happening around including storms and
tempests, not emerging until all is safe. It was a favourite illustration of David, see
Psalms 17:8; Psalms 36:7; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 63:7. Compare also Psalms 91:4;
Ruth 2:12; Matthew 23:37.
K&D 1-5, "By means of the two distinctive tense-forms the poet describes his
believing flight to God for refuge as that which has once taken place (‫ה‬ָ‫י‬ ָ‫ס‬ ָ‫ח‬ from ‫ה‬ ָ‫ס‬ ָ‫ח‬ = ‫י‬ ַ‫ס‬ ָ‫ח‬
out of pause, like the same forms in Psa_73:2; Psa_122:6), and still, because it is a living
fact, is ever, and now in particular, renewed (‫ה‬ ֶ‫ס‬ ֱ‫ֽח‬ ֶ‫.)א‬ The shadow of the wings of God is
the protection of His gentle, tender love; and the shadow of the wings is the quickening,
cordial solace that is combined with this protection. Into this shadow the poet betakes
himself for refuge now as he has done before, until ‫ּות‬‫וּ‬ ַ‫,ה‬ i.e., the abysmal danger that
threatens him, be overpast, praeteriverit (cf. Isa_26:20, and on the enallage numeri
Psa_10:10, Ges. §147, a). Not as though he would then no longer stand in need of the
divine protection, but he now feels himself to be specially in need of it; and therefore his
chief aim is an undaunted triumphant resistance of the impending trials. The effort on
his own part, however, by means of which he always anew takes refuge in this shadow, is
prayer to Him who dwells above and rules the universe. ‫ּון‬‫י‬ ְ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ע‬ is without the article, which
it never takes; and ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ּמ‬ (Psa_57:3) is the same, because it is regularly left out before the
participle, which admits of being more fully defined, Amo_9:12; Eze_21:19 (Hitzig). He
calls upon God who accomplisheth concerning, i.e., for him (Est_4:16), who carrieth out
his cause, the cause of the persecuted one; ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬ָ is transitive as in Psa_138:8. The lxx
renders τᆵν εᆒεργετήσαντά µε, as though it were ‫עלי‬ ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ּמ‬ (Psa_13:6, and frequently); and
even Hitzig and Hupfeld hold that the meaning is exactly the same. But although ‫גמל‬ and
‫גמר‬ fall back upon one and the same radical notion, still it is just their distinctive final
letters that serve to indicate a difference of signification that is strictly maintained. In
Psa_57:4 follow futures of hope. In this instance “that which brings me deliverance” is to
be supplied in thought to ‫ח‬ ַ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ִ‫י‬ (cf. Psa_20:3) and not ‫ּו‬‫ד‬ָ‫י‬ as in Psa_18:17, cf. Psa_144:7;
and this general and unmentioned object is then specialized and defined in the words
“His mercy and His truth” in Psa_57:4. Mercy and truth are as it were the two good
spirits, which descending from heaven to earth (cf. Psa_43:3) bring the divine ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׁוּע‬ְ‫י‬ to an
accomplishment. The words ‫י‬ ִ‫פ‬ ֲ‫ּא‬‫שׁ‬ ‫ף‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ח‬ sdro standing between a and c have been drawn by
the accentuators to the first half of the verse, they probably interpreting it thus: He
(God) reproacheth my devourers for ever (Sela). But ‫ף‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ח‬ always (e.g., Isa_37:23) has
God as its object, not as its subject. ‫שׁאפי‬ ‫חרף‬ is to be connected with what follows as a
hypothetical protasis (Ges. §155, 4, a): supposing that he who is greedy or pants for me
(inhians mihi) slandereth, then Elohim will send His mercy and His truth. The music that
becomes forte in between, introduces and accompanies the throbbing confidence of the
apodosis.
In Psa_57:5, on the contrary, we may follow the interpretation of the text that is
handed down and defined by the accentuation, natural as it may also be, with Luther and

others, to take one's own course. Since ‫ים‬ ִ‫א‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ (has Zarka (Zinnor) and ‫ים‬ ִ‫ט‬ ֲ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ Olewejored,
it is accordingly to be rendered: “My soul is in the midst of lions, I will (must) lie down
with flaming ones; the children of men - their teeth are a spear and arrows.” The
rendering of the lxx, of Theodotion, and of the Syriac version accords with the
interpunction of our text so far as both begin a new clause with ᅚκοιµήθην (‫,ודמכת‬ and I
slept); whereas Aquila and Symmachus (taking ‫,נפשׁי‬ as it seems, as a periphrastic
expression of the subject-notion placed in advance) render all as afar as ‫להטים‬ as one
clause, at least dividing the verse into two parts, just as the accentuators do, at ‫.להטים‬
The rendering of Aquila is ᅚν µέσሩ λεαινራν κοιµηθήσοµαι λάβρων; that of Symmachus: ᅚν
µέσሩ λεόντራν εᆒθαρσራν ᅚκοιµήθην; or according to another reading, µεταξᆷ λεόντων
ᅚκοιµήθην φλεγόντων. They are followed by Jerome, who, however, in order that he may
be able to reproduce the ‫,נפשׁי‬ changes ‫אשׁכבה‬ into ‫:שׁכבה‬ Anima mea in medio leonum
dormivit ferocientium. This construction, however, can be used in Greek and Latin, but
not in Hebrew. We therefore follow the accents even in reference to the Zarka above
‫ים‬ ִ‫א‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫ל‬ (a plural form that only occurs in this one passage in the Psalter, = ‫ים‬ִ‫י‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ‫.)ל‬ In a
general way it is to be observed that this ‫לבאים‬ in connection with ‫ה‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְⅴ ְ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫א‬ is not so much
the accusative of the object as the accusative of the place, although it may even be said to
be the customary local accusative of the object with verbs of dwelling; on ‫שׁכב‬ cf. Rth_
3:8, Rth_3:14, and Psa_88:6; Mic_7:5 (where at least the possibility of this construction
of the verb is presupposed). But in particular it is doubtful (1) what ‫ים‬ ִ‫ט‬ ֲ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ signifies. The
rendering “flaming ones” is offered by the Targum, Saadia, and perhaps Symmachus.
The verb ‫להט‬ obtains this signification apparently from the fundamental notion of licking
or swallowing; and accordingly Theodotion renders it by ᅊναλισκόντων, and Aquila most
appropriately by λάβρων (a word used of a ravenous furious longing for anything). But
‫להט‬ nowhere means “to devour;” the poet must, therefore, in connection with ‫,להטים‬ have
been thinking of the flaming look or the fiery jaws of the lions, and this attributive will
denote figuratively their strong desire, which snorts forth as it were flames of fire. The
question further arises, (2) how the cohortative ‫אשׁכבה‬ is meant to be taken. Since the
cohortative sometimes expresses that which is to be done more by outward constraint
than inward impulse-never, however, without willing it one's self (Ew. §228, a) - the
rendering “I must,” or “therefore must I lie down,” commends itself. But the contrast,
which has been almost entirely overlooked, between the literal beasts of prey and the
children of men, who are worse than these, requires the simple and most natural
rendering of the cohortative. We need only picture to ourselves the situation. The verb
‫שׁכב‬ here has the sense of cubitum ire (Ps 4:9). Starting from this ‫אשׁכבה‬ we look to Psa_
57:9, and it at once becomes clear that we have before us an evening or nightly song.
David the persecuted one finds himself in the wilderness and, if we accept the testimony
of the inscription, in a cave: his soul is in the midst of lions, by which he means to say
that his life is exposed to them. Here bold in faith, he is resolved to lie down to sleep,
feeling himself more secure among lions than among men; for the children of men, his
deadly foes both in word and in deed, are worse than beasts of prey: teeth and tongue are

murderous weapons. This more than brutal joy at the destruction of one's neighbour
(Note: Cf. Sir. 25:15, in the Hebrew: ‫אויב‬ ‫חמה‬ ‫מעל‬ ‫חמה‬ ‫ואין‬ ‫פתן‬ ‫ראשׁ‬ ‫מעל‬ ‫ראשׁ‬ ‫אין‬ (no
poison exceeds the poison of the serpent, and no wrath exceeds the wrath of an
enemy).)
which prevails among men, urges him to put forth the prayer that God, who in Himself
is exalted above the heavens and the whole earth, would show Himself by some visible
manifestation over the heavens above as the exalted One, and the prayer that His glory
may be, i.e., may become manifest (or even: exalted be His glory, ‫רוּם‬ָ‫,)י‬ over the whole
earth beneath, - His glory which to His saints is a health-diffusing light, and to the
heartless foes of men and God a consuming fire, - so that the whole world shall be
compelled to acknowledge this glory in which His holiness manifests itself, and shall
become conformed to it after everything that is hostile is overthrown.
BI 1-11, "Be merciful unto me, O God.
Spiritual experimentalism
I. A blessed religious exercise.
1. Praying. “Be merciful unto me,” etc. An epitome of all true prayer. Mercy is what
we need; to remove our sense of guilt, to break our moral chains, to clear our
spiritual vision, to quicken and harmoniously develop all the powers of our higher
nature.
2. Trusting. “My soul trusteth in Thee.” This implies—
(1) A knowledge of the trustworthiness of God.
(2) A supreme love for the excellency of God.
3. Resolving. “Yea, in the shadow,” etc. God is the natural Protector of souls.
4. Hoping (Psa_57:3). All godly souls are in a waiting attitude.
II. A wretched social condition. Among savage, crafty and deadly enemies (Psa_57:4;
Psa_57:6). That men should feel thus to their fellow-men argues two things.
1. That morally they are in an abnormal condition.
2. That sin is essentially malignant. Sin, when it enters the soul, scorches all
benevolent sympathy. Sin never fails to make its subject a tormenting devil.
III. A happy moral state. Moral fixation, or godly decision of soul, “My heart is fixed.” In
our unregenerate state the heart is unsettled, divided, distracted, and herein is its
misery. This fixation originates—
1. High happiness. “I will sing and give praise. Awake, psaltery and harp,” etc.
2. High worship. “I will praise Thee, O Lord,” etc. (Homilist.)
Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing
The writer begins in deep distress; but he prays himself out of the pit; and in the end he
rises to a sunny height of security and faith, where he praises the God who has delivered
him.

I. The art of prayer (Psa_57:1-6). Here he, first, clearly and fully describes his trouble.
This is part of the art of prayer. It is often because we have nothing definite to pray about
that our devotions are unsatisfactory. God is as interested in the trials of His people to-
day as He was in those of David. Next, he argues his ease. And this also is part of the art
of prayer. God likes us to put our intellect as well as our feeling into our prayers. His first
argument is that he is trusting in God (Psa_57:1): he is trusting, he says, as the
fledgeling cowers beneath the wing of the mother bird. Can God leave in the lurch any
one who is thus depending on Him? But in Psa_57:2 he uses a still stronger argument:
he appeals to God’s character, calling Him “God that performeth”—or rather
perfecteth—“all things for me.” God the Perfecter, who, when He has begun a good work,
must finish it—how can He leave the career of His servant in its broken and incomplete
condition? This is an argument we can all use, and it is one which cannot fail with God.
He has now raised himself to complete confidence that God will deliver him; and to this
he gives exquisite expression in the third verse, describing Mercy and Truth as two
angels, whom God will send forth to rescue him from his necessities. In the same way in
the 23rd psalm Goodness and Mercy are represented as attendants, following a good
man all the days of his life, watching over his footsteps and always at his service.
II. The art of praise (Psa_57:7-11). First, praise begins with the fixing of the heart—“My
heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” The flutter of excitement is over, and he is able
to collect his powers in perfect repose. But, secondly, they are not to go to sleep, though
they are in repose; for he says, “Awake up, my glory; awake psaltery and harp; I myself
will awake early.” “My glory” is a name in Scripture for the soul, and surely a very fine
one; the soul is the glory of man. But it needs to be awaked to engage in God’s praise.
There is music in it, as there is in a piano when it is shut; but the instrument must be
opened and the keys touched. The music in our souls is allowed to slumber too much.
The words, “I myself will awake early,” ought rather to read, “I will awake the dawn.”
David was to be so early astir at his devotions that, instead of the dawn awaking him, he
would awake it: he would summon it to arise out of the east and help him to praise his
Maker. But it is not Nature alone he would inspire with his enthusiasm: so full is he of
joy in God that he wishes to communicate his emotions to all his fellow-creatures (Psa_
57:9). How marelously has this wish been fulfilled! The Psalter has been translated into
scores of languages, and wherever it has been known it has been loved. Finally he gives
the reasons for praise (Psa_57:10), “For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and Thy
truth unto the clouds.” These will always be the reasons for praise that is truly hearty—to
know the mercy that is as far above our sins as the dome of heaven is above the earth,
and to know the faithfulness which, having begun a good work in us, will complete it
unto the day of Christ. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge.—
Christ our refuge
What a beautiful illustration is the city of refuge of olden time of Christ as our Refuge!
We have heard the solemn words, “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” How can we escape
from death? There is a Refuge, even Jesus; and we can hide in Him and be safe.
1. The cities of refuge were so scattered over the country that one of them could be
easily reached from any part. “Kedesh” in the north, and “Hebron” in the south,
while “Shechem” lay midway. “Bezer” was situated in the flat country, while
“Ramoth” and “Golan” were on elevated ground. So our Refuge is easily reached by
any one, it is “whosoever believeth in Him,” and “him that cometh unto Me I will in

no wise cast out.” It is the simple coming to Him and the taking Him at His word.
2. The gates of the cities of refuge were open day and night, that the man-slayer
might enter at any time. And we, too, may go to our Refuge at any time. He is ever
ready to hear our cry and to rescue us, and to save us; but let us not delay.
3. Any one might flee thither, the stranger as well as the Israelite. So it is with Christ:
all may come to Him, of whatever nationality (Gal_3:28).
4. When the man-slayer reached the city of refuge, he had to plead his cause to the
elders of that city, and then, if necessary, before the congregation of the children of
Israel; and it was only when his innocence of the crime of murder had been proved
that he was allowed to take refuge there; otherwise he was delivered up to the
avenger of blood to be slain. But in Christ the murderer may take refuge, and find
pardon and peace; the worst of sinners have found refuge there.
5. Then we read that the man-slayer who had fled for refuge should stay in that city,
for if he went out of the gate at any time the avenger of blood might slay him, and his
blood would be upon his own head. He should have remained in the city whither he
had fled. So with us; if we are not in Christ the Refuge, we are out at our own risk. (L.
Shorey.)
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who vindicates me.
BAR ES, "I will cry unto God most high - The idea is - God is exalted above all
creatures; all events are “under” him, and he can control them. The appeal was not to
man, however exalted; not to an angel, however far he may be above man; it was an
appeal made at once to the Supreme Being, the God to whom all worlds and all creatures
are subject, and under whose protection, therefore, he must be safe.
Unto God that performeth all things for me - The word used here, and rendered
“performeth” - ‫גמר‬ gâmar - means properly to bring to an end; to complete; to perfect.
The idea here is, that it is the character of God, that he “completes” or “perfects,” or
brings to a happy issue all his plans. The psalmist had had experience of that in the past.
God had done this in former trials; he felt assured that God would do it in this; and he,
therefore, came to God with a confident belief that all would be safe in his hands.

CLARKE, "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, ‫לאל‬ lael, unto the strong Good, 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; ‫גמר‬ gomer, he who
completes for me, and will bring all to a happy issue.
GILL, "I will cry unto God most high,.... To remember him in his low estate, and
who is higher than the highest, than Saul and his mighty men with him. This epithet
David no doubt made use of, to encourage his faith in the Lord, who is above all, and can
do all things; as follows;
unto God that performeth all things for me; in a providential way, having made
him, upheld him in being, fed and clothed him, preserved him, and followed him with
his goodness all his days; and in a way of grace he performed all his purposes concerning
him, all his promises unto him, and was performing and would perfect the work of grace
in him; see Psa_138:8. The Targum adds a fable by way of paraphrase on the text,
"who commanded, or prepared a spider, to perfect in the mouth of the cave a web for
me;''
so it is in the king's Bible; as if, when he was in the cave, God so ordered it in his
providence, that a spider should spin a web over the month of it, which prevented his
persecutors from searching for him in it; but the Scripture is silent in this matter. Such a
story is reported of Felix, bishop of Nola, in ecclesiastical history (m).
HE RY, ". That all his desire is towards God (Psa_57:2): “I will cry unto God most
high, for succour and relief; to him that is most high will I lift up my soul, and pray
earnestly, even unto God that performs all things for me.” Note, (1.) In every thing that
befalls us we ought to see and own the hand of God; whatever is done is of his
performing; in it his counsel is accomplished and the scripture is fulfilled. (2.) Whatever
God performs concerning his people, it will appear, in the issue, to have been performed
for them and for their benefit. Though God be high, most high, yet he condescends so
low as to take care that all things be made to work for good to them. (3.) This is a good
reason why we should, in all our straits and difficulties, cry unto him, not only pray, but
pray earnestly.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. I will cry. He is quite safe, but yet he prays, for faith is never
dumb. We pray because we believe. We exercise by faith the spirit of adoption
whereby we cry. He says not I do cry, or I have cried, but I will cry, and indeed, this

resolution may stand with all of us until we pass through the gates of pearl; for
while we are here below we shall still have need to cry.
Unto God most high. --Prayers are for God only; the greatness and sublimity of his
person and character suggest and encourage prayer; however high our enemies, our
heavenly Friend is higher, for he is Most high, and he can readily send from the
height of his power the succour which we need.
Unto God that performeth all things for me. He has cogent reason for praying, for
he sees God performing. The believer waits and God works. The Lord has
undertaken for us, and he will not draw back, he will go through with his covenant
engagements. Our translators have very properly inserted the words, "all things,
"for there is a blank in the Hebrew, as if it were a carte blanche, and you might
write therein that the Lord would finish anything and everything which he has
begun. Whatsoever the Lord takes in hand he will accomplish; hence past mercies
are guarantees for the future, and admirable reasons for continuing to cry unto him.
Ver. 2. Unto God that performeth all things for me. God's favours already received
are a pledge that he will complete his work of love "upon le me." The beginning is
the earnest of the completion. His word is a guarantee for the performance of "all
things" that I need. (Compare Ps 57:3 56:4 1Sa 2:9 3:12 1Sa 23:17 24:21 Ps 128:8
Job 10:3,8 14:15 Philippians 1:6, Isaiah 26:12). A. R. Fausset.
Ver. 2. God that performeth all things for me. Hebrew, that performeth (or
perfecteth, or finisheth, as this word is rendered, Psalms 138:8; i.e., will certainly
perform or finish), for, or towards, or concerning me. He doth not express what he
performeth, or perfecteth, or fulfileth, but leaveth it to be understood, as being easy
to be understood. He performeth or perfecteth, to wit, all that he hath promised;
engages himself to perform what he hath begun to do, or what is yet to be
performed; it being usual in the Hebrew language to understand a verbal noun after
the verb. He implies that God is not like men, who make large promises, but either
through inability, or carelessness, or unfaithfulness, do not perform them, but will
certainly be as good as his word. Matthew Poole, 1624-1679.
Ver. 2. (last clause). The word which we translate performeth comes from a root
that signifies both to perfect and to desist or cease. For when a business is
performed or perfected, the agent then ceases and desists from working: he puts to
the last hand when he finishes the work. To such a happy issue the Lord hath
brought all his doubtful and difficult matters before; and this gives him

encouragement that he will still be gracious, and perfect that which concerneth him
now, as he speaks, Psalms 138:8, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."
The Septuagint renders it by ton euergetm sonta me, who profits or benefits me.
And it is a certain truth, that all the results and issues of providence are profitable
and beneficial to the saints. But the supplement in our translation well conveys the
importance of the place; "who performeth all things; and it involves the most strict
and proper notion of providence, which is nothing else but the performance of
God's gracious purposes and promises to his people." And therefore Vatablus and
Muis supply and fill up the room with the conciseness of the original leaves, with
quae promisit: I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth the things
which he hath promised. Payment is the performance of promises. Grace makes the
promise, and providence the payment. Piscator fills it with benignitatem et
misericordiam suam; "unto God that performeth his kindness and mercy." But still
it supposes the mercy performed to be contained in the promise, and much more so
in the providential performance of it to us. John Flavel.
Ver. 2. (last clause). David even then when he fled from Saul in the cave he looks
upon God as having performed all things for him. The word is, he hath perfected all
things; and it is observable that David uses the same expression of praising God
here when he was in the cave, hiding himself to save his life, as he did when he
triumphed over his enemies--Psalms 6:1-10 and Psalms 108:1-13. Jeremiah
Burroughs, 1599-1646.
Ver. 2. (last clause). The Targum curiously paraphrases this clause: "Who ordered
the spider that wrought the web, on my account, at the mouth of the cave; "applying
a later historical fact, which, however, may have had its prototype in David's
history. Andrew A. Bonar, in "Christ and his Church in the Book of Psalms, "1859.
HI TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Ver. 2. Prayer to the performing God. He performs all his promises, all my
salvation, all my preservation, all needed between here and heaven. Here he reveals
his omnipotence, his grace, his faithfulness, his immutability; and we are bound to
show our faith, patience, joy, and gratitude.
Ver. 2. Strange reasons.
I. The psalmist in the depth of distress, cries to God,
because he is most high in glory. Surely this thought
might well paralyse him with the fear of divine
inaccessibility, but the soul quickened with
suffering, sees through and beyond the metaphor,
rejoices in the truth, "Though the Lord be high, yet
hath he respect unto the lowly."
II. He cries to God for help, because God is
performing all things for him. Why urge him then?
Prayer is the music to which "the mighty man of war"
goes forth to battle. R. A. G.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth [all
things] for me.

Ver. 2. I will cry unto God most high] Who can easily overtop Saul, as high as he is,
and all his complices; against whom I have this comfort, that in the thing wherein
they deal proudly God is above them, Exodus 18:11.
Unto God that performeth all things for me] And in me, Isaiah 26:12; doth not his
work to the halves, but is both author and finisher of my faith, and other affairs,
Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 1:6, Psalms 138:8. Here are the two props of David’s
prayer: First, God’s sufficiency, he is the most high. Secondly, His efficiency, he
perfectly accomplisheth all things for me.
BE SO , "Psalms 57:2. 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, ‫עלי‬ ‫,גמר‬ 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.
WHEDO , "2. Unto God that performeth all things for me—The verb for
“performeth” signifies to bring to an end, as Psalms 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 Psalms 138:8, and compare, doctrinally, Philippians 1:6
COKE, "Psalms 57:2. Unto God, that performeth all things for me— To the
Divinity that completely covereth me all over: literally, that perfecteth all over, or
around me: "That completely shelters me all around, namely, under his wing:"
Mudge: and compare Psalms 138:8. Dr. Chandler observes, that the word ‫גמר‬
gomeir rendered performeth, signifies to perfect and consummate, or to do every
thing necessary for a person in his particular station and character. Thus in the
Syriac version of the ew Testament the word is used of Christ's being made perfect
by sufferings; Hebrews 12:2 and this rendering well suits the place before us. "It is
God who effectually doth every thing concerning me: that is, which is necessary to
my safety."
EBC, "Hidden in his shelter, the psalmist, in Psalms 57:2 tells himself the grounds
on which he may be sure that his cry to God will not be in vain. His name is "Most
High," and His elevation is the pledge of His irresistible might. He is the "God" (the
Strong) who accomplishes all for the psalmist which he needs, and His past
manifestations in that character make His future interventions certain. Therefore

the singer is sure of what will happen. Two bright angels-Lovingkindness and Troth
or Faithfulness their names-will be despatched from heaven for the rescue of the
man who has trusted. That is certain, because of what God is and has done. It is no
less certain, because of what the psalmist is and has done; for a soul that gazes on
God as its sole Helper, and has pressed, in its feebleness, close beneath these mighty
pinions, cannot but bring down angel helpers, the executants of God’s love.
The confidence expressed in Psalms 57:2 is interrupted by an abrupt glance at the
enemy. "He that would swallow me up blasphemes" is the most probable rendering
of a difficult phrase, the meaning and connection of which are both dubious. If it is
so rendered, the connection is probably that Which we have expressed in the
translation by inserting "For." The wish to destroy the psalmist is itself blasphemy,
or is accompanied with blasphemy; and therefore God will surely send down what
will bring it to nought. The same identification of his own cause with God’s, which
marks many of the psalms ascribed to the persecuted David, underlies this sudden
reference to the enemy, and warrants the conclusion drawn, that help will come.
The Selah at the end of the clause is unusual in the middle of a verse; but it may be
intended to underscore, as it were, the impiety of the enemy, and so corresponds
with the other Selah in Psalms 57:6, which is also in an unusual place, and points
attention to the enemy’s ruin, as this does to his wickedness.
PETT, "Psalms 57:2-3
‘I will cry to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.
He will send from heaven, and save me,
When he who would swallow me up reproaches. [Selah
God will send forth his covenant love and his truth.’
He declares that his cry is to God Most High (Elohim Elyon), the God Who is above
all things, and Whom he knows will perform all things that are necessary for him.
He is confident that God will send from heaven and deliver him from the reproaches
of ‘him who would swallow him up’. This last can only be Saul, who began so well,
but failed in the end through disobedience. As we know David was innocent of the
charges of being a traitor that were laid against him. So David’s confidence lies in
the fact of the God Who will send forth His covenant love and truth. He will be
faithful to His promises given in the covenant, revealing His love towards those who
walk in it, and establishing them in truth. Or ‘truth’ may be a description of God’s
own faithfulness. He is true to those who look to Him. Compare Psalms 57:10 where
he again exalts God’s covenant love and truth.
As in Psalms 55 the selah appears in mid theme. It is drawing attention to God’s
intervention on David’s behalf. ote that David expects His help ‘from heaven’, not
from Zion. He is aware that God is over all. He is God Most High.
This is the only use of the title God Most High by David, although he does refer to
Him as YHWH Most High in Psalms 7:17. It is used in a Maschil of Asaph in Psalms
78:56. YHWH Most High is also used by the sons of Korah in Psalms 47:2. When

used it is therefore significant.
3 He sends from heaven and saves me,
rebuking those who hotly pursue me—[c]
God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
BAR ES, "He shall send from heaven - That is, from himself; or, he will
interpose to save me. The psalmist does not say “how” he expected this interposition -
whether by an angel, by a miracle, by tempest or storm, but he felt that help was to come
from God alone, and he was sure that it would come.
And save me from the reproach ... - This would be more correctly rendered, “He
shall save me; he shall reproach him that would swallow me up.” So it is rendered in the
margin. On the word rendered “would swallow me up,” see the notes at Psa_56:1. The
idea here is, that God would “rebuke” or “reproach,” to wit, by overthrowing him that
sought to devour or destroy him. God had interposed formerly in his behalf Psa_57:2,
and he felt assured that he would do it again.
Selah - This seems here to be a mere musical pause. It has no connection with the
sense. See the notes at Psa_3:2.
God shall send forth his mercy - In saving me. He will “manifest” his mercy.
And his truth - His fidelity to his promise; his faithfulness to those who put their
trust in him. He will show himself “true” to all the promises which he has made.
Compare Psa_40:11.
CLARKE, "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 fulfll the promises or engagements his mercy has made, both to

saints and sinners.
GILL, "He shall send from heaven, and save me,.... His angel, as the Targum
adds; or his angels, as Kimchi; who are ministering spirits, sent forth by him, to encamp
about his people, and guard them, as they did Jacob when in fear of Esau, Gen_32:1; or
to deliver them out of trouble, as Peter when in prison, Act_12:7; or rather the sense may
be, that David did not expect any help and deliverance in an human way, by means of
men on earth; but he expected it from above, from heaven, from God above, and which
he believed he should have; and he might have a further view to the mission of Christ
from heaven to save him, and all the Lord's people; and which he may mention, both for
his own comfort, and for the strengthening of the faith of others in that important
article;
from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Meaning Saul; see Psa_
56:1. The Targum renders it,
"he hath reproached him that would swallow me up for ever;''
and to the same sense the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac
versions; disappointed them, and filled them with reproach, shame, and confusion.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa_3:2.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth; shall manifest and display the glory
of these his perfections, his mercy and grace, his truth and faithfulness, in his
deliverance and salvation; and which are remarkably glorified in salvation by Christ
Jesus; and who himself may be called "his grace and his truth" (n), as the words may be
rendered; he being the Word of his grace, and truth itself, and full of both; and by whom,
when sent forth, grace and truth came, Joh_1:14; it may also intend a constant supply of
grace, whereby God would show forth the truth of his promises to him.
HE RY, " That all his expectation is from God (Psa_57:3): He shall send from
heaven, and save me. Those that make God their only refuge, and fly to him by faith and
prayer, may be sure of salvation, in his way and time. Observe here, (1.) Whence he
expects the salvation - from heaven. Look which way he will, in this earth, refuge fails,
no help appears; but he looks for it from heaven. Those that lift up their hearts to things
above may thence expect all good. (2.) What the salvation is that he expects. He trusts
that God will save him from the reproach of those that would swallow him up, that
aimed to ruin him, and, in the mean time, did all they could to vex him. Some read it, He
shall send from heaven and save me, for he has put to shame him that would swallow
me up; he has disappointed their designs against me hitherto, and therefore he will
perfect my deliverance. (3.) What he will ascribe his salvation to: God shall send forth
his mercy and truth. God is good in himself and faithful to every word that he has
spoken, and so he makes it appear when he works deliverance for his people. We need
no more to make us happy than to have the benefit of the mercy and truth of God, Psa_
25:10.

JAMISO , "from ... swallow me up — that pants in rage after me (Psa_56:2).
mercy and ... truth — (Psa_25:10; Psa_36:5), as messengers (Psa_43:3) sent to
deliver him.
CALVI , "3He shall send from heaven, and save me. David, as I have repeatedly
had occasion to observe, interlaces his prayers with holy meditations for the comfort
of his own soul, in which he contemplates his hopes as already realised in the event.
In the words before us, he glories in the divine help with as much assurance as if he
had already seen the hand of God interposed in his behalf. When it is said, he shall
send from heaven, some consider the expression as elliptical, meaning that he would
send his angels; but it seems rather to be an indefinite form of speech, signifying
that the deliverance which David expected was one not of a common, but a signal
and miraculous description. The expression denotes the greatness of the
interposition which he looked for, and heaven is opposed to earthly or natural
means of deliverance. What follows admits of being rendered in two different ways.
We may supply the Hebrew preposition ‫,מ‬ mem, and read, He shall save me from
the reproach; or it might be better to understand the words appositively, He shall
save me, to the reproach of him who swallows me up. (340) The latter expression
might be rendered, from him who waits for me. His enemies gaped upon him in
their eagerness to accomplish his destruction, and insidiously watched their
opportunity; but God would deliver him, to their disgrace. He is said to strike his
enemies with shame and reproach, when he disappoints their expectations. The
deliverance which David anticipated was signal and miraculous; and he adds, that
he looked for it entirely from the mercy and truth of God, which he represents here
as the hands, so to speak, by which his assistance is extended to his people.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. He shall send from heaven. If there be no fit instruments on
earth, heaven shall yield up its legions of angels for the succour of the saints. We
may in times of great straits expect mercies of a remarkable kind; like the Israelites
in the wilderness, we shall have our bread hot from heaven, new every morning;
and for the overthrow of our enemies God shall open his celestial batteries, and put
them to utter confusion. Wherever the battle is more fierce than ordinary, there
shall come succours from headquarters, for the Commander in chief sees all.
And save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. He will be in
time, not only to rescue his servants from being swallowed up, but even from being
reproached. ot only shall they escape the flames, but not even the smell of fire shall
pass upon them. O dog of hell, I am not only delivered from thy bite, but even from
thy bark. Our foes shall not have the power to sneer at us, their cruel jests and
taunting gibes shall be ended by the message from heaven, which shall for ever save
us.
Selah. Such mercy may well make us pause to meditate and give thanks. Rest,
singer, for God has given thee rest!
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. He asked for mercy, and truth came

with it. Thus evermore doth God give us more than we ask or think. His attributes,
like angels on the wing, are ever ready to come to the rescue of his chosen.
Ver. 3. Him that would swallow me up. If I were to take you to my house, and say
that I had an exquisite fat man, and wished you to join me in eating him, your
indignation could be restrained by nothing. You would pronounce me to be crazy.
There is not in ew York a man so mean that he would not put down a man who
should propose to have a banquet off from a fellow man, cutting steaks out of him,
and eating them. And that is nothing but feasting on the human body, while they
will all sit down, and take a man's soul, and look for the tender loins, and invite
their neighbours in to partake of the little titbits. They will take a man's honour and
name, and broil them over the coals of their indignation, and fill the whole room
with the aroma thereof, and give their neighbour a piece, and watch him, and wink
as he tastes it. You all eat men up... You eat the souls, the finest elements of men.
You are more than glad if you can whisper a word that is derogatory to a
neighbour, or his wife, or his daughter... The morsel is too exquisite to be lost. Here
is the soul of a person, here is a person's hope for this world and the world to come,
and you have it on your fork, and you cannot refrain from tasting it, and give it to
some one else to taste. You are cannibals, eating men's honour and name and
rejoicing in it--and that, too, when you do not always know that the things charged
against them are true; when in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the probabilities
are that they are not true. Henry Ward Beecher, 1870.
Ver. 3. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth, viz., to save me. That is to say,
God, to manifest his mercy, and vindicate the truth of his promises, will save me.
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. Samuel Chandler.
Ver. 3. His mercy and his truth. He need not send down angels, he need send but
mercy and truth down, which elsewhere it is said he prepares in the heavens. Psalms
61:7. He prepares commissions for them, and sends them down with them for
execution. Thomas Goodwin.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:3 He shall send from heaven, and save me [from] the reproach
of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his
truth.

Ver. 3. He shall send from heaven and save me] Rather than fail, I shall have an
angel to rescue me; for although the Lord usually worketh by means, yet he can
work by miracles, and will do it if there be a just occasion; howsoever, his mercy
and his truth he will be sure to send, and that is enough, He will be seen in the
mount, he will repent for his servants when he seeth their power is gone,
Deuteronomy 32:36, when there is dignus vindice nodus, an extremity fit for Divine
power to interpose.
BE SO , "Psalms 57:3. 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, ‫חר‬ Š ‫,שׁאפי‬ 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.
WHEDO , "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 Psalms 56:1-2.
Mercy and… truth—See on Psalms 25:10, and compare “light and truth,” Psalms
43:3-4. David asked and desired no mercy which was against truth; but in the
triumph of these lay all his hope.
COKE, "Psalms 57:3. He shall send from heaven, and save me, &c.— He will send
from heaven, and save me: He defieth him who cometh upon me with open mouth:
God shall send forth his favour and truth: though I lie with my soul among lions:
Psalms 57:4. The sons of men are all on fire: their teeth spears, &c. Mudge. Others
read, He hath put to shame him who would swallow me up, &c. Psalms 57:4. My
soul, I lie among lions: the sons of men are set on fire, their teeth are spears, &c.
compare Psalms 59:7. 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.

4 I am in the midst of lions;
I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
BAR ES, "My soul is among lions - That is, among people who resemble lions;
men, fierce, savage, ferocious.
And I lie even among them that are set on fire - We have a term of similar
import in common use now, when we say that one is “inflamed” with passion, referring
to one who is infuriated and enraged. So we speak of “burning” with rage or wrath - an
expression derived, perhaps, from the inflamed “appearance” of a man in anger. The
idea here is not that he “would” lie down calmly among those persons, as Prof. Alexander
suggests, but that he actually “did” thus lie down. When he laid himself down at night,
when he sought repose in sleep, he was surrounded by such persons, and seemed to be
sleeping in the midst of them.
Even the sons of men - Yet they are not wild beasts, but “men” who seem to have
the ferocious nature of wild beasts. The phrase, “sons of men,” is often used to denote
men themselves.
Whose teeth are spears and arrows - Spears and arrows in their hands are what
the teeth of wild beasts are.
And their tongue a sharp sword - The mention of the tongue here has reference,
probably, to the abuse and slander to which he was exposed, and which was like a sharp
sword that pierced even to the seat of life. See the notes at Psa_55:21.
CLARKE, "My soul is among lions - ‫לבאם‬ ‫בתוך‬ bethoch lebaim. I agree with Dr.
Kennicott that this should be translated, “My soul dwells in parched places,” from ‫לאב‬
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.
GILL, "My soul is among lions,.... Not literally understood; though such there might
be in the wildernesses where he sometimes was; but figuratively, men comparable to
lions, for their stoutness, courage, strength, fierceness, and cruelty; meaning not his own
men, as some think, who were fierce, and of keen resentment against Saul, and would
fain have killed him when he was in the cave, had they not been restrained by David,
1Sa_24:4; but Saul, and those with him, who were three thousand chosen men, stout,
courageous, fierce, and furious. It is usual in scripture to describe powerful princes, and
especially persecuting ones, by the name of lions, Pro_28:15. Achilles, in Homer (o), is
compared to a lion for his cruelty. The soul of Christ was among such, when he was
apprehended by the band of men that came with Judas to take him; when he was in the
high priest's hall buffeted and spit upon; and when he was in the common hall of Pilate,
surrounded by the Roman soldiers; and when he was encircled on the cross with the
crowd of the common people, priests and elders, Mat_26:55; and so the souls of his
people are often among lions, persecuting men, and Satan and his principalities, who is
compared to a roaring lion, 1Pe_5:8; and among whom they are as wonderfully
preserved as Daniel in the lion's den;
and I lie even among them that are set on fire; of hell, as the tongue is said to be
in Jam_3:6; by the devil, who stirred up Saul against David, filled him with wrath and
fury, so that he breathed out nothing but flaming vengeance, threatening and slaughter,
against him; and by wicked men his courtiers, who kindled and stirred up the fire of
contention between them; among these incendiaries, as Junius renders the word (p),
David was, who inflamed the mind of Saul against him, which he suggests in 1Sa_24:10;
even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows; whose words,
formed by means of their teeth, were very devouring ones, Psa_52:4; were very piercing
and wounding; calumnies, detractions, and backbitings, speaking against him when
absent and at a distance, may be meant; see Pro_30:14;
and their tongue a sharp sword; See Gill on Psa_52:2; and there was a sort of
swords called "lingulae", because in the shape of a tongue (q).
HE RY, ". He represents the power and malice of his enemies (Psa_57:4): My soul is
among lions. So fierce and furious was Saul, and those about him, against David, that he
might have been as safe in a den of lions as among such men, who were continually
roaring against him and ready to make a prey of him. They are set on fire, and breathe
nothing but flame; they set on fire the course of nature, inflaming one another against
David, and they were themselves set on fire of hell, Jam_3:6. They were sons of men,
from whom one might have expected something of the reason and compassion of a man;
but they were beasts of prey in the shape of men; their teeth, which they gnashed upon
him, and with which they hoped to tear him to pieces and to eat him up, were spears
and arrows fitted for mischiefs and murders; and their tongue, with which they cursed
him and wounded his reputation, was as a sharp sword to cut and kill; see Psa_42:10. A
spiteful tongue is a dangerous weapon, wherewith Satan's instruments fight against
God's people. He describes their malicious projects against him (Psa_57:6) and shows

the issue of them: “They have prepared a net for my steps, in which to take me, that I
might not again escape out of their hands; they have digged a pit before me, that I
might, ere I was aware, run headlong into it.” See the policies of the church's enemies;
see the pains they take to do mischief. But let us see what comes of it. 1. It is indeed some
disturbance to David: My soul is bowed down. It made him droop, and hang the head, to
think that there should be those that bore him so much ill-will. But, 2. It was destruction
to themselves; they dug a pit for David, into the midst whereof they have fallen. The
mischief they designed against David returned upon themselves, and they were
embarrassed in their counsels; then when Saul was pursuing David the Philistines were
invading him; nay, in the cave, when Saul thought David should fall into his hands, he
fell into the hands of David, and lay at his mercy.
JAMISO , "
The mingled figures of wild beasts (Psa_10:9; Psa_17:12) and weapons of war (Psa_
11:2) heighten the picture of danger.
whose ... tongue — or slanders.
CALVI , "4.My soul is among lions. He again insists upon the cruelty of his
enemies as a plea to prevail with God for his speedier interposition. He compares
them to lions, speaks of them as inflamed with fury or implacable hatred, and likens
their teeth to spears and arrows. In what he says of their tongue, he alludes to the
virulent calumnies which are vended by the wicked, and which inflict a deeper
wound than any sword upon the innocent party who suffers from them. David, as is
well known, encountered no heavier trial than the false and calumnious charges
which were levelled against him by his enemies. When we hear of the cruel
persecution of different kinds which this saint was called upon to endure, we should
account it no hardship to be involved in the same conflict, but be satisfied so long as
we may bring our complaints to the Lord, who can bridle the false tongue, and put
an arrest upon the hand of violence.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. My soul is among lions. He was a very Daniel. Howled at,
hunted, wounded, but not slain. His place was in itself one of extreme peril, and yet
faith made him feel himself secure, so that he could lie down. The cave may have
reminded him of a lion's den, and Saul and his band shouting and yelling in their
disappointment at missing him, were the lions; yet beneath the divine shelter he
finds himself safe.
And I lie even among them that are set on fire. Perhaps Saul and his band kindled a
fire in the cavern while they halted in it, and David was thus reminded of the fiercer
fire of their hate which burned within their hearts. Like the bush in Horeb, the
believer is often in the midst of flames, but never consumed. It is a mighty triumph
of faith when we can lie down even among firebrands and find rest, because God is
our defence.
Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp
sword. Malicious men carry a whole armoury in their mouths; they have not
harmless mouths, whose teeth grind their own food as in a mill, but their jaws are as

mischievous as if every tooth were a javelin or an arrow. They have no molars, all
their teeth are canines, and their nature is canine, leonine, wolfish, devilish. As for
that busy member the tongue, in the case of the malicious, it is a two edged, keen,
cutting, killing sword. The tongue, which is here compared to a sword, has the
adjective sharp added to it, which is not used in reference to the teeth, which are
compared to spears, as if to show that if men were actually to tear us with their
teeth, like wild beasts, they could not thereby wound us so severely as they can do
with their tongues. o weapon is so terrible as a tongue sharpened on the devil's
grindstone; yet even this we need not fear, for " o weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment thou shalt
condemn."
Ver. 4. My soul is among lions. This may also be construed of the church, and that
both in respect of her spiritual enemies and temporal. As for her ghostly foes, the
devil is a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), and our sins are the whelps of lions, ready to
devour us. And concerning outward enemies, the church in this world is like Daniel
in the lion's den, or as "the sucking child playing upon the hole of the asp." Isaiah
11:8. She hath here no visible power or outward help to fly to for succour, all her
trust is in the Lord, and "under the shadow of his wings is her refuge, till this evil is
overpast."... And surely, beloved, if the church had not any other enemies, but only
these monstrous Antichrists of Rome, yet she might truly complain with our prophet
here, My soul is among lions. Eleven popes had that name, whereof all, excepting
two or three, were roaring lions in their Bulls, and ravening lions in seeking after
their prey. Leo the tenth so pilled (Pill--peel, to pillage, plunder, strip) and polled
(Poll, used synonymously with peel) the goodly nations of Germany with his
unpardonable pardons and merciless indulgences, as that his insupportable cruelty
gave the first occasion of the Reformation of religion in that country. John Boys.
Ver. 4. (first clause). Mudge translates literally, I lie with my soul amidst lionesses.
This agrees with the opinion of Bochart, who thinks that the animals here intended
are lionesses, properly, when giving suck to their young, a time when they are
peculiarly fierce and dangerous, "nor need we wonder, "he observes, "that the
lioness is reckoned among the fiercest lions; for the lioness equals, or even exceeds,
the lion in strength and fierceness; "and this he proves from the testimonies of
ancient writers. James Anderson's ote to Calvin in loc, 1846.
Ver. 4. And I lie even among them that are set on fire. The whole pith lies in the
word hbkva, I will recline, which denotes a tranquil and secure condition of body
and mind, like a man reclining and sleeping, as Psalms 3:5; I laid me down and
slept, I awaked; and lived composedly; Ps 4:9; I will both lay me down in peace, etc.
Hermann Venema.
Ver. 4. The horrors of a lion's den, the burning of a fiery furnace, and the cruel
onset of war, are the striking images by which David here describes the peril and
wretchedness of his present condition. John Morison.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:4 My soul [is] among lions: [and] I lie [even among] them that
are set on fire, [even] the sons of men, whose teeth [are] spears and arrows, and
their tongue a sharp sword.

Ver. 4. My soul is among lions] And so is a lively picture of the Church in all ages.
Would any man take the Church’s picture, saith Luther? then let him paint a silly
poor maid sitting in a wood or wilderness, compassed about with hungry lions,
wolves, boars, and bears, &c. Talis est ecclesia in hac vita, sicut et in historia
Danielis pingitur.
And I lie even among them that are set on fire] sc. With rage and hellish hatred.
Others expound it actively, of those Ardeliones aulici, those court incendiaries, who
enraged Saul and the nobles against David, as a traitor and pest. See 1 Samuel
24:10.
Even the sons of men] i.e. Carnal men, that, being in their pure naturals, have no
goodness at all in them.
Whose teeth are spears and arrows] Such was Doeg, that dead dog, and others void
of the Spirit, which is neque mendax, neque mordax.
BE SO , "Psalms 57:4. 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 — amely, 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.
WHEDO , "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.
EBC, "The description of the psalmist’s circumstances in Psalms 57:4 presents

considerable difficulty. The division of clauses, the force of the form of the verb
rendered I must lie down, and the meaning and construction of the word rendered
"those who breathe out fire," are all questionable. If the accents are adhered to, the
first clause of the verse is "My soul is among lions." That is by some-e.g., Delitzsch-
regarded as literal description of the psalmist’s environment, but it is more natural
to suppose that he is applying a familiar metaphor to his enemies. In Psalms 57:4 b
the verb rendered above "I must lie down" is in a form which has usually a
cohortative or optative force, and is by some supposed to have that meaning here,
and to express trust which is willing to lie down even in a lion’s den. It seems,
however, here to denote objective necessity rather than subjective willingness.
Hupfeld would read lies down (third person), thus making "My soul" the subject of
the verb, and getting rid of the difficult optative form. Cheyne suggests a further
slight alteration in the word, so as to read, "My soul hath dwelt"-a phrase found in
Psalms 120:6; and this emendation is tempting. The word rendered "those who
breathe out fire" is by some taken to mean "those who devour," and is variously
construed, as referring to the lions in a, taken literally, or as describing the sons of
men in c. The general drift of the verse is clear. The psalmist is surrounded by
enemies, whom he compares, as the Davidic psalms habitually do, to wild beasts.
They are ready to rend. Open mouthed they seem to breathe out flames, and their
slanders cut like swords.
The psalmist’s contemplation of his forlorn lair among men worse than beasts of
prey drives him back to realise again his refuge in God. He, as it were, wrenches his
mind round to look at God rather than at the enemies. Clear perception of peril and
weakness does its best work, when it drives to as clear recognition of God’s help,
and wings faithful prayer. The psalmist, in his noble refrain, has passed beyond the
purely personal aspect of the desired deliverance, and wishes not only that he may
be shielded from his foes, but that God would, in that deliverance, manifest Himself
in His elevation above and power over all created things. To conceive of his
experience as thus contributing to God’s world wide glory seems presumptuous; but
even apart from the consideration that the psalmist was conscious of a world wide
mission, the lowliest suppliant has a right to feel that his deliverance will enhance
the lustre of that Glory; and the lowlier he feels himself, the more wonderful is its
manifestations in his well-being. But if there is a strange note in the apparent
audacity of this identification, there is a deep one of self-suppression in the fading
from the psalmist’s prayer of all mention of himself, and the exclusive
contemplation of the effects on the manifestation of God’s character, which may
follow his deliverance. It is a rare and lofty attainment to regard one’s own well-
being mainly in its connection with God’s "Glory," and to desire the latter more
consciously and deeply than the former.
PETT, "Psalms 57:4
‘My person is among lions,
I lie among those who are set on fire,
Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.’

He describes his enemies as being ‘like lions’, on the prowl for their prey (compare
Psalms 7:2; Psalms 10:9; Psalms 17:12. He was very familiar with the depredations
of lions (1 Samuel 17:34). And as being like ‘those who are set on fire’. This may
signify those who are inflamed against him, having been stirred on by Saul. Or it
may even have in mind an attempt, not spoken of elsewhere, to smoke him out of his
hideout. Both descriptions bring out he fierce intent of his enemies. But he lies down
without fear among them, unafraid of their teeth or their fiery flames.
His life in the wilderness of Engedi was one of almost unceasing pursuit, as men
sought to hunt him down and to envelop him in their flames. But along with his men
he lay at rest in the midst of his searching foes, because he knew that God was with
him. His enemies might bare their teeth like lions on the prowl, or seek to strike him
down with their tongues, but they did not disturb his peace one wit. Indeed, he was
not only unafraid, but entered his enemy’s camp at night, in order to demonstrate
that had he wanted to he could have slain Saul out of hand (1 Samuel 26:4 ff.).
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
BAR ES, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens - Compare Psa_8:1. The
language here is that of a man who in trouble lifts his thoughts to God; who feels that
God reigns; who is assured in his own soul that all things are under his hand; and who is
desirous that God should be magnified whatever may become of himself. His prime and
leading wish is not for himself, for his own safety, for his own deliverance from danger;
it is that “God” may be honored - that the name of God may be glorified - that God may
be regarded as supreme over all things - that God may be exalted in the highest possible
degree - an idea expressed in the prayer that he may be exalted “above the heavens.”
Let thy glory be above all the earth - The honor of thy name; thy praise. Let it be
regarded, and be in fact, “above” all that pertains to this lower world; let everything on
earth, or that pertains to earth, be subordinate to thee, or be surrendered for thee. This
was the comfort which David found in trouble. And this “is” the only true source of
consolation. The welfare of the universe depends on God; and that God should be true,
and just, and good, and worthy of confidence and love - that he should reign, - that his
law should be obeyed - that his plans should be accomplished, - is of more importance to
the universe than anything that merely pertains to us; than the success of any of our own

plans; than our health, our prosperity, or our life.
CLARKE, "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.
GILL, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,.... That is, show thyself to be
God, that sittest in the heavens, and art higher than they, by saving me, and
disappointing mine enemies; that I, and those that are with me, may magnify the Lord
and exalt his name together. The Targum is,
"be thou exalted above the angels of heaven, O God;''
let thy glory be above all the earth; that is, above all the inhabitants of the earth, as
the Chaldee paraphrase: let the glory of God in my deliverance be seen by all that dwell
upon the earth; for by how much the lower and more distressed his case and condition
were, by so much the more would the glory of God be displayed in bringing him out of it.
Nothing lies nearer the hearts of the people of God than his glory; this is more desirable
than their own salvation: David breathes after the one, when he says nothing of the
other, that being uppermost; though his meaning is, that the one might be brought
about by the other.
HE RY, " He prays to God to glorify himself and his own great name (Psa_57:5):
“Whatever becomes of me and my interest, be thou exalted, O God! above the heavens,
be thou praised by the holy angels, those glorious inhabitants of the upper world; and let
thy glory be above or over all the earth; let all the inhabitants of this earth be brought to
know and praise thee.” Thus God's glory should lie hearer our hearts, and we should be
more concerned for it, than for any particular interests of our own. When David was in
the greatest distress and disgrace he did not pray, Lord, exalt me, but, Lord, exalt thy
own name. Thus the Son of David, when his soul was troubled, and he prayed, Father,
save me from this hour, immediately withdrew that petition, and presented this in the
room of it, For this cause came I to this hour; Father, glorify thy name, Joh_12:27,
Joh_12:28. Or it may be taken as a plea to enforce his petition for deliverance: “Lord,
send from heaven to save me, and thereby thou wilt glorify thyself as the God both of
heaven and earth.” Our best encouragement in prayer is taken from the glory of God,
and to that therefore, more than our own comfort, we should have an eye in all our
petitions for particular mercies; for this is made the first petition in the Lord's prayer, as
that which regulates and directs all the rest, Father in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
JAMISO , "This doxology illustrates his view of the connection of his deliverance
with God’s glory.

CALVI , "To him we find David appealing in the words that follow, Exalt thyself,
O God! above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. To perceive the
appropriateness of this prayer, it is necessary that we reflect upon the height of
audacity and pride to which the wicked proceed, when unrestrained by the
providence of God, and upon the formidable nature of that conspiracy which was
directed against David by Saul, and the nation in general, all which demanded a
signal manifestation of divine power on his behalf. or is it a small comfort to
consider that God, in appearing for the help of his people, at the same time advances
his own glory. Against it, as well as against them, is the opposition of the wicked
directed, and he will never suffer his glory to be obscured, or his holy name to be
polluted with their blasphemies. The Psalmist reverts to the language of complaint.
He had spoken of the cruel persecution to which he was subjected, and now bewails
the treachery and deceit which were practiced against him. His soul he describes as
being bowed down, in allusion to the crouching of the body when one is under the
influence of fear, or to birds when terrified by the fowler and his nets, which dare
not move a feather, but lie flat upon the ground. Some read, He has bowed down my
soul But the other is the most obvious rendering, and the verb ‫,כפף‬ caphaph, is one
which is frequently taken with the neuter signification. Although the Hebrew word
‫,נפש‬nephesh, rendered soul, is feminine, this is not the only place where we find it
with a masculine adjunct.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. This is the chorus
of the Psalm. Before he has quite concluded his prayer the good man interjects a
verse of praise; and glorious praise too, seeing it comes from the lion's den and from
amid the coals of fire. Higher than the heavens is the Most High, and so high ought
our praises to rise. Above even the power of cherubim and seraphim to express it,
the glory of God is revealed and is to be acknowledged by us.
Let thy glory be above all the earth. As above, so below, let thy praises, O thou great
Jehovah, be universally proclaimed. As the air surrounds all nature, so let thy
praises gird the earth with a zone of song.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; [let] thy glory
[be] above all the earth.
Ver. 5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens] That is, saith the Chaldee, above
the angels.
And let thy glory be above all the earth] That is, above the inhabitants of the earth.
There are, saith Kimchi, that think thou either wilt not, or else canst not, save; oh,
let thy power appear for the conviction of all such who now lift up themselves, and
seem at least to touch the heaven with one finger.
BE SO , "Psalms 57:5. 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.
WHEDO , "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 Psalms 57:8
COFFMA , "Verse 5
THE REFRAI
"Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let thy glory be above all the earth."
This refrain is the equivalent of the ew Testament expression, "Hallowed be thy
ame." "As used here it is both a weapon against the enemy and a victory within
itself."[16] "The thought here is not that God might do something whereby he
would become exalted, but that God already deserves to be exalted for what he has
already done."[17]
COKE, "Psalms 57:5. Be thou exalted, O God, &c.— "Manifest thyself to be the
Lord of heaven and earth, by delivering me from this imminent danger." The verse
may be rendered, Exalt, O God, above the heavens, above all the earth, thy glory.
EBC, "It has been proposed by Hupfeld to transpose Psalms 57:5-6, on the ground
that a recurrence to the description of dangers is out of place after the refrain, and
incongruous with the tone of the second part of the psalm. But do the psalmists
observe such accuracy in the flow of their emotions? and is it not natural for a
highly emotional lyric like this to allow some surge of feeling to run over its
barriers? The reference to the enemies in Psalms 57:6 is of a triumphant sort, which
naturally prepares for the burst of praise following, and worthily follows even the
lyrical elevation of the refrain. The perfects seem at first sight to refer to past
deliverances, which the psalmist recalls in order to assure himself of future ones.
But this retrospective reference is not necessary, and the whole description in
Psalms 57:6 is rather to be taken as that of approaching retribution on the foes,
which is so certain to come that the singer celebrates it as already as good as done.
The familiar figures of the net and pit by both of which wild animals are caught,
and the as familiar picture of the hunter trapped in his own pitfall, need no

elucidation. There is a grim irony of events, which often seems to delight in showing
"the engineer hoised with his own petard"; and whether that spectacle is
forthcoming or not the automatic effects of wrongdoing" always follow, and no man
digs pits for others but somehow and somewhen he finds himself at the bottom of
them, and his net wrapped round his own limbs. The Selah at the end of Psalms 57:6
calls spectators to gather, as it were, round the sight of the ensnared plotter, lying
helpless down there. A slight correction of the text does away with a difficulty in
Psalms 57:6 b. The verb there is transitive, and in the existing text is in the singular,
but "He has bowed down my soul" would be awkward, though not impossible,
when coming between two clauses in which the enemies are spoken of in the plural.
The emendation of the verb to the third person plural by the addition of a letter
brings the clauses into line, and retains the usual force of the verb.
PETT, "Psalms 57:5
‘Be you exalted, O God, above the heavens,
Let your glory be above all the earth.’
He makes clear that his courage does not just arise from within himself, but that it is
because his trust is in God. Thus he calls on the God to exalt Himself above the
heavens as He steps in on his behalf. And he prays that in the same way His glory
might be above all the earth. His main desire in what he does is for the glory of God.
He knows that God’s purposes surmount all earthly situations. And this is why he
can lie at peace among his enemies.
6 They spread a net for my feet—
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path—
but they have fallen into it themselves.
BAR ES, "They have prepared a net for my steps - A net for my goings; or,

into which I may fall. See the notes at Psa_9:15.
My soul is bowed down - The Septuagint, the Vulgate, and Luther render this in
the plural, and in the active form: “They have bowed down my soul;” that is, they have
caused my soul to be bowed down. The Hebrew may be correctly rendered, “he pressed
down my soul,” - referring to his enemies, and speaking of them in the singular number.
They have digged a pit before me ... - See Psa_7:15-16, notes; Psa_9:15, note;
Job_5:13, note.
CLARKE, "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, etc., 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 tbrough, 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: ᅯ τε κακη βουλη τሩ βουλευσαντι
κακιστη, “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.”
GILL, "They have prepared a net for my steps,.... They laid snares for him, as the
fowler does for the bird, in order to take him. It denotes the insidious ways used by Saul
and his men to get David into their hands; so the Pharisees consulted together how they
might entangle Christ in his talk, Mat_22:15;
my soul is bowed down; dejected by reason of his numerous enemies, and the crafty
methods they took to ensnare and ruin him; so the soul of Christ was bowed down with
the sins of his people, and with a sense of divine wrath because of them; and so their

souls are often bowed down; or they are dejected in their spirits, on account of sin,
Satan's temptations, various afflictions, and divine desertions. The Targum renders it,
"he bowed down my soul;''
that is, the enemy; Saul in particular. The Septuagint, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions,
"they bowed down my soul"; the same that prepared a net for his steps; everyone of his
enemies; they all were the cause of the dejection of his soul: the Syriac version leaves out
the clause;
they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen
themselves; contriving and seeking to find out the places where David's haunt was,
Saul got into the very cave where he and his men were; and had his skirt cut off, when
his life might as easily have been taken away, 1Sa_23:22. See Psa_7:15.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa_3:2.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. They have prepared a net for my steps. The enemies of the
godly spare no pains, but go about their wicked work with the coolest deliberation.
As for each sort of fish, or bird, or beast, a fitting net is needed, so do the ungodly
suit their net to their victim's circumstances and character with a careful craftiness
of malice. Whatever David might do, and whichever way he might turn, his enemies
were ready to entrap him in some way or other.
My soul is bowed down. He was held down like a bird in a trap; his enemies took
care to leave him no chance of comfort.
They have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.
He likens the design of his persecutors to pits, which were commonly dug by hunters
to entrap their prey; these were made in the usual path of the victim, and in this
case David says, before me, i.e., in my ordinary way. He rejoices because these
devices had recoiled upon themselves. Saul hunted David, but David caught him
more than once and might have slain him on the spot. Evil is a stream which one day
flows back to its source.
Selah. We may sit down at the pit's mouth and view with wonder the just
retaliations of providence.
Ver. 6. et. ot having fire arms, the ancients were much more skilful than the
moderns in the use of snares, nets, and pits for capturing wild animals. A large class
of Biblical figures and allusions necessarily presuppose this state of things. W. M.
Thomson.
Ver. 1,4,6-7. ote the varying condition of the same heart, at the same time. My soul
trusteth in thee... My soul is among lions... My soul is bowed down... My heart is
fixed.
Ver. 6. (first clause).
I. Who are they?
1. Those who lead us into sin.
2. Who argue from worldly philosophy.

3. Who proclaim priestly and sacramental superstition.
4. Who decoy us from the church of God.
5. Who teach Antinomian doctrine. II. How shall we escape them?
1. Keep out of their way.
2. Keep to God's way.
3. Trust daily in the Lord.
Ver. 6. My soul is bowed down.
I. The prostration.
1. Caused by enemies, weakness, fear, pain.
2. Deep, agonizing, self revealing.
3. Common to the Head and the members. II. The consolation.
1. Bowed down, but not condemned.
2. Hoping in the promise.
3. Trusting in God.
4. Expecting a blessing from the trial.
ELLICOTT, "(6) A net.—For this image, so common in Hebrew hymns, see Psalms
9:15, &c, and for that of the pit, Psalms 7:15, &c
My soul is bowed down.—The verb so rendered is everywhere else transitive. So
LXX. and Vulg. here, “And have pressed down my soul.” Despite the grammar,
Ewald alters “my soul” into “their soul.” But no conjecture of the kind restores the
parallelism, which is here hopelessly lost. We expect,
They have prepared a net for my steps;
They are caught in it themselves.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed
down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen
[themselves]. Selah.
Ver. 6. They have prepared a net for my steps] So that I can hardly keep foot out of
snare. I dare not lift up one foot till I find sure footing for the other; and that is hard
to do. See Saul’s charge to the Ziphites, 1 Samuel 23:22.
My soul is bowed down] I am glad to shrink in myself (as fearful people use to do),
that I may shun those gins and snares that they have set to maim and mischief me.
They have digged a pit, &c.] They have forced me into this subterranean cave; and,
behold, Saul himself is cast into mine hands, in this mine hiding hole.
Oι αυτω κακα τευχει ανηρ, αλλω κακα τευχων.

BE SO , "Psalms 57:6. 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, ‫כפ‬ Š ‫,נפשׁי‬ 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.
WHEDO , "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; 1 Samuel 24:8. 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 Psalms 57:5
COFFMA , "Verse 6
"They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down:
They have digged a pit before me;
They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves. (Selah)
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises.
Awake, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp:
I myself will awake quite early.
I will give thanks unto the Lord, among the peoples:
I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
For thy lovingkindness is great unto the heavens,
And thy truth unto the skies."
"They ... prepared ... a net ... and digged a pit. They are fallen into the midst
thereof" (Psalms 57:6). The sight so commonly witnessed in history was granted to

the psalmist. The wickedness of the enemies fell back upon themselves; they fell into
the pit of their own making, a common Biblical thought.[18]
It may be remembered that Haman was hanged on the very gallows that he had
constructed for the purpose of hanging Mordecai (Esther 7:9).
"Awake ... awake ... I will awake right early." (Psalms 57:8). The meaning here is
that, "I will awaken the Dawn (personified) instead of letting the Dawn wake
me."[19]
"Among the peoples ... among the nations" (Psalms 57:9). What a wonderful vision
was that of David! Here he was hiding from enemies in a cave; but his mind
encompasses the entire world; and he promises to sing the praises of God among the
`nations,' that is, `the Gentiles,' or `the peoples' of the whole world. And indeed, is it
not true? Has it not come to pass? These Psalms of David are surely sung all over
the inhabited earth; and this has been true for centuries and millenniums of time!
(See our comment on Psalms 56:7).
"Great unto the heavens ... unto the skies" (Psalms 57:10). That the lovingkindness
and truth of God should extend to the heavens, or the skies, "Is only an earthly
conception of their infinity."[20]
COKE, "Psalms 57:6. They have prepared a net for my steps— The syntax here is
thought to be irregular; but the literal rendering is, They have prepared a net for
their steps: he boweth down my soul; referring to Saul, at the head of his troops,
pursuing David to his ruin. This makes the construction regular; and the sense in
connection will be, "They have prepared a net for me, that he (namely, Saul) may
bow down my soul: may cause me to fall into the snare which is laid for me."
Chandler.
PETT, "Psalms 57:6
‘They have prepared a net for my steps,
My person is bowed down,
They have dug a pit before me,
They are fallen into the midst of it themselves. [Selah
But he is not deceived. he knows that he has to be wary. He knows that his enemies
have spread a net in order to entrap him, and have dug a pit for him to fall into.
They are using all their wiles as hunters. And it has bowed him down. He finds
being constantly on the run and having to watch all the time for what his enemies
plot against him very wearing. But he is not afraid, and is assured in his heart that
in the end they will fall into their own pit. For God is on his side.
K&D 6-11, "In this second half of the Psalm the poet refreshes himself with the
thought of seeing that for which he longs and prays realized even with the dawning of
the morning after this night of wretchedness. The perfect in Psa_57:7 is the perfect of
certainty; the other perfects state what preceded and is now changed into the

destruction of the crafty ones themselves. If the clause ‫י‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫פ‬ַ‫נ‬ ‫ף‬ ַ‫פ‬ ָⅴ is rendered: my soul was
bowed down (cf. ‫ל‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫,ח‬ Psa_109:22), it forms no appropriate corollary to the crafty laying
of snares. Hence kpp must be taken as transitive: he had bowed down my soul; the
change of number in the mention of the enemies is very common in the Psalms relating
to these trials, whether it be that the poet has one enemy κατ ʆ ᅚξοχήν before his mind or
comprehends them all in one. Even the lxx renders καᆳ κατέκαµψαν τᆱν ψυχᆱν µου, it is
true, as though it were ‫,וכפפו‬ but can scarcely have read it thus. This line is still
remarkable; one would expect for Psa_57:7 a thought parallel with Psa_57:7, and
perhaps the poet wrote ‫נפשׁו‬ ‫,כפף‬ his (the net-layer's) own soul bends (viz., in order to fall
into the net). Then ‫כפף‬ like ‫נפל‬ would be praet. confidentiae. In this certainty, to express
which the music here becomes triumphantly forte, David's heart is confident, cheerful
(Symmachus ᅚδραία), and a powerful inward impulse urges him to song and harp.
Although ‫ּון‬‫כ‬ָ‫נ‬ may signify ready, equipped (Exo_34:2; Job_12:5), yet this meaning is to
be rejected here in view of Psa_51:12, Psa_78:37, Psa_112:7 : it is not appropriate to the
emphatic repetition of the word. His evening mood which found expression in Psa_57:4,
was hope of victory; the morning mood into which David here transports himself, is
certainty of victory. He calls upon his soul to awake (‫י‬ ִ‫ּוד‬‫ב‬ ְⅴ as in Psa_16:9; 30:13), he calls
upon harp and cithern to awake (‫ּור‬ ִ‫כ‬ְ‫ו‬ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ב‬ֵ ַ‫ה‬ with one article that avails for both words, as
in Jer_29:3; Neh_1:5; and ‫ה‬ ָ‫עוּר‬ with the accent on the ultima on account of the coming
together of two aspirates), from which he has not parted even though a fugitive; with the
music of stringed instruments and with song he will awake the not yet risen dawn, the
sun still slumbering in its chamber: ‫ה‬ ָ‫יר‬ ִ‫ע‬ፎ, expergefaciam (not expergiscar), as e.g., in
Son_2:7, and as Ovid (Metam. xi. 597) says of the cock, evocat auroram.
(Note: With reference to the above passage in the Psalms, the Talmud, B.
Berachoth 3b, says, “A cithern used to hang above David's bed; and when midnight
came, the north wind blew among the strings, so that they sounded of themselves;
and forthwith he arose and busied himself with the Tôra until the pillar of the dawn
(‫השׁחר‬ ‫)עמוד‬ ascended.” Rashi observes, “The dawn awakes the other kings; but I, said
David, will awake the dawn (‫השׁחר‬ ‫את‬ ‫מעורר‬ ‫)”.)אני‬
His song of praise, however, shall not resound in a narrow space where it is scarcely
heard; he will step forth as the evangelist of his deliverance and of his Deliverer in the
world of nations (‫ים‬ ִ ַ‫ֽע‬ ָ‫;ב‬ and the parallel word, as also in Psa_108:4; Psa_149:7, is to be
written ‫ים‬ ֻ‫ע‬ ְ‫ֽל‬ ַ with Lamed raphatum and Metheg before it); his vocation extends beyond
Israel, and the events of his life are to be for the benefit of mankind. Here we perceive
the self-consciousness of a comprehensive mission, which accompanied David from the
beginning to the end of his royal career (vid., Psa_18:50). What is expressed in v. 11 is
both motive and theme of the discourse among the peoples, viz., God's mercy and truth
which soar high as the heavens (Psa_36:6). That they extend even to the heavens is only
an earthly conception of their infinity (cf. Eph_3:18). In the refrain, v. 12, which only
differs in one letter from Psa_57:6, the Psalm comes back to the language of prayer.
Heaven and earth have a mutually involved history, and the blessed, glorious end of this
history is the sunrise of the divine doxa over both, here prayed for.

7 My heart, O God, is steadfast,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
BAR ES, "My heart is fixed, O God - Margin, as in Hebrew, “prepared.”
Compare the notes at Psa_51:10. The word “suited” or “prepared” accurately expresses
the sense of the Hebrew, and it is so rendered in the Septuagint, (ᅛτοίµη hetoimē); in the
Vulgate, “paratum;” and by Luther, “bereit.” The word is used, however, in the sense of
“standing erect,” Psa_9:7; to “establish” or “strengthen,” Psa_89:4; Psa_10:17; and
hence, to be erect; to be firm, steady, constant, fixed. This seems to be the meaning here,
as it is expressed in our common version. His heart was firm and decided. He did not
waver in his purpose, or lean now to one side and then to the other; he was not “swayed”
or “moved” by the events that had occurred. He felt conscious of standing firm in the
midst of all his troubles. He confided in God. He did not doubt his justice, his goodness,
his mercy; and, even in his trials, he was ready to praise him, and was “resolved” to
praise him. The repetition of the word “fixed” gives emphasis and intensity to the
expression, and is designed to show in the strongest manner that his heart, his purpose,
his confidence in God, did not waver in the slightest degree.
I will sing and give praise - My heart shall confide in thee; my lips shall utter the
language of praise. In all his troubles God was his refuge; in all, he found occasion for
praise. So it should be the fixed and settled purpose of our hearts that we will at all times
confide in God, and that in every situation in life we will render him praise.
CLARKE, "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.
GILL, "My heart is fixed, O God,.... Firm and sure, trusting in the Lord, believing
that he should be saved by him out of his troubles; see Psa_101:1. So, in a spiritual sense,
a heart fixed and established, or that is firm and sure, is one that is assured of its
salvation by Christ, rooted and grounded in the love of God, firmly built on the

foundation, Christ, and has its affections set on him; and is unmoved, from the hope of
the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, by whatsoever it meets with in the world. It may be
rendered, "my heart is prepared", or "ready" (r); that is, according to some, to receive
good or evil, prosperity or adversity, at the hand of God; to which sense is Jarchi's note,
"my heart is faithful with thee in the measure of judgment, and it is faithful with thee in
the measure of mercy.''
That is, whether I am chastised with judgments, or followed with mercies, my heart is
firm and true to God. The Targum is,
"my heart is prepared for thy law, O Lord; my heart is prepared for thy fear;''
that is, it is prepared for the worship and service of God; it is ready to every good work;
it is prepared to pray unto him, and to wait for an answer, which are both from the Lord,
Pro_16:1; and particularly to sing praise unto him, as follows;
my heart is fixed; this is repeated, to show the vehemency of his spirit, and the
certainty of the thing;
I will sing and give praise; for the salvation wrought for him, and which he was sure
of; and before he had finished this psalm, or while he had composed it, did enjoy it.
HE RY, "How strangely is the tune altered here! David's prayers and complaints, by
the lively actings of faith, are here, all of a sudden, turned into praises and
thanksgivings; his sackcloth is loosed, he is girded with gladness, and his hallelujahs are
as fervent as his hosannas. This should make us in love with prayer, that, sooner or later,
it will be swallowed up in praise. Observe,
I. How he prepares himself for the duty of praise (Psa_57:7): My heart is fixed, O God!
my heart is fixed. My heart is erect, or lifted up (so some), which was bowed down, Psa_
57:6. My heart is fixed, 1. With reference to God's providences; it is prepared for every
event, being stayed upon God, Psa_112:7; Isa_26:3. My heart is fixed, and then none of
these things move me, Act_20:24. If by the grace of God we be brought into this even
composed frame of spirit, we have great reason to be thankful. 2. With reference to the
worship of God: My heart is fixed to sing and give praise. It is implied that the heart is
the main thing required in all acts of devotion; nothing is done to purpose, in religion,
further than it is done with the heart. The heart must be fixed, fixed for the duty, fitted
and put in frame for it, fixed in the duty by a close application, attending on the Lord
without distraction.
JAMISO , "I will ... praise — both with voice and instrument.
CALVI , "7.My heart is prepared, O God! (344) Some read fixed, or confirmed,
and the Hebrew word ‫,נכון‬nacon, bears that signification as well as the other. If we
adopt it, we must understand David as saying that he had well and duly meditated
upon the praises which he was about to offer; that he did not rush into a hurried
and perfunctory discharge of this service, as too many are apt to do, but addressed

himself to it with steadfast purpose of heart. I prefer, however, the other translation,
which bears that he was ready to enter upon the service with all cheerfulness and
cordiality. And although, wherever this spirit is really felt, it will lead to
steadfastness of religious exercise, it is not without importance that the reader
should be apprised of the force of the word which is here employed in the Hebrew.
The ready heart is here opposed by David to the mere lip-service of the hypocrite,
on the one hand, and to dead or sluggish service, on the other. He addressed himself
to this voluntary sacrifice with a sincere fervor of spirit, casting aside sloth, and
whatever might prove a hinderance in the duty.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 7. My heart is fixed. One would have thought he would have
said, "My heart is fluttered; "but no, he is calm, firm, happy, resolute, established.
When the central axle is secure, the whole wheel is right. If our great bower anchor
holds, the ship cannot drive.
O God, my heart is fixed. I am resolved to trust thee, to serve thee, and to praise
thee. Twice does he declare this to the glory of God who thus comforts the souls of
his servants. Reader, it is surely well with thee, if thy once roving heart is now
firmly fixed upon God and the proclamation of his glory.
I will sing and give praise. Vocally and instrumentally will I celebrate thy worship.
With lip and with heart will I ascribe honour to thee. Satan shall not stop me, nor
Saul, nor the Philistines, I will make Adullam ring with music, and all the caverns
thereof echo with joyous song. Believer, make a firm decree that your soul in all
seasons shall magnify the Lord.
"Sing, though sense and carnal reason
Fain would stop the joyful song:
Sing, and count it highest treason
For a saint to hold his tongue."
Ver. 7. My heart is fixed, O God, etc. The psalmist knowing that it is the order and
work of God, first to prepare the heart for communion, and then to incline his own
ear to hear his people, and to entertain communion with them in ordinances, he
doth observe this order, and follow it with a practice suitable to it in his daily
address to God, that is thus, wheresoever he doth find his heart put into a fitted and
prepared frame for communion with God, he doth not let it die again, and go out of
frame by a slothful neglect of such a disposition of heart. o, but he immediately
sets himself to duty, to worship God, and to the acts of his worship, in his
ordinances, as he expresses himself in Psalms 57:7; viz., thus--ybl nwkg myhla ybl
nwkg, achon libbi Elohim, nachon libbi (there is the first; he finds his heart fitted
and prepared for communion with God): "My heart, "saith he, "is fitted or
prepared" (for the word nwkg nachon is the passive conjugation niphal, signifying,
he is fitted or prepared, from the root nzb, chun, he fitted or prepared, in the active;
and so it is rather to be rendered prepared or fitted, then "fixed, "thus ykl, libbi, my
heart; nwkg, nachon, is fitted or prepared), "O God, my heart is fitted or prepared"
for communion with thee. Well, what follows? He presently sets himself upon that
great duty and ordinance of communion with God, in the praising of his name and
singing forth those praises, as in the words immediately following in the same verse,

thus: My heart is prepared, O God, my heart is prepared; therefore, hrmzaw,
ashidah va-azamerah, "I will sing and give praise." William Strong, in
"Communion with God, "1656.
Ver. 7. My heart is fixed, O God, etc. Fitness for duty lies in the orderly temper of
body and mind, making a man willing to undertake, and able to finish his work with
comfortable satisfaction. If either the body or mind be distempered, a man is unfit
for such an undertaking; both must be in a suitable frame, like a well tuned
instrument, else there will be no melody: hence when David prepared himself for
praises and worship, he tells us his heart was ready and fixed, and then, his tongue
was ready also (Psalms 45:1), so was his hand with psaltery and harp; all these were
awakened into a suitable posture. That a man is or hath been in a fit order for
service may be concluded from
(1.) His alacrity to undertake a duty.
(2.) His activity in the prosecution.
(3.) His satisfaction afterward. Right grounds and principles in these things being
still presupposed. Richard Gilpin (1625-1699,1700), in "Daemonologia Sacra."
Ver. 7. I will sing. It should alarm the wicked that they are contending with a people
who sing and shout on the battle field. Yea, they never sing louder than when most
distressed and afflicted. Whether saints conquer or are conquered they still sing on.
Blessed be God for that. Let sinners tremble at contending with men of a spirit so
heavenly. William S. Plumer.
Ver. 7. Sincerity makes the Christian sing, when he hath nothing to his supper.
David was in none of the best case when in the cave, yet we never find him merrier:
his heart makes sweeter music than ever his harp did. William Gurnall.
Ver. 7-8. That worship that is performed with a sleepy, drowsy body, is a weak
worship, but the psalmist here makes the awakening of the body to be the fruit and
effect of the preparation of the heart; Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and
harp: I myself will awake early. Why so? My heart is prepared. The heart prepared
and thereby awaked, will awake the body. To worship God therefore without a
prepared heart, is to worship him with a drowsy body, because with a drowsy heart,
and therefore weakly. John Angier, in "An Help to Better Hearts, for Better Times,
" 1647.
Ver. 1,4,6-7. ote the varying condition of the same heart, at the same time. My soul
trusteth in thee... My soul is among lions. My soul is bowed down... My heart is
fixed.
Ver. 7. (first clause). It is implied that the heart is the main thing required in all acts
of devotion; nothing is done to purpose in religion further than it is done with the
heart. The heart must be fixed; fixed for the duty, fitted and put in frame for it;
fixed in the duty by a close application; attending on the Lord without distraction.
Matthew Henry.
Ver. 7.
I. What is fixed? the heart, not the mind merely, but
the will, the conscience, the affections, which draw
the mind after them: My heart is fixed --
found an anchorage, a resting place, not therefore at
the mercy of every gale, etc.

II. The objects upon which it is fixed.
1. Upon God.
2. Upon his word.
3. Upon his salvation.
4. Upon heaven. III. The fixedness of the heart upon these objects, denotes--
1. Singleness of aim.
2. Uniformity of action.
3. Perseverance to the end. G. R.
Ver 7-9.
1. He that will be thankful must treasure up in his heart and memory the courtesy
that is done him; so had David done, and therefore he mentions his heart; and to
make it more emphatic, he names it again, My heart.
2. After he remembers it, he must be affected with it, and resolve upon it; so doth
David: My heart is ready, or else, My heart is fixed; confirmed I am in it to be
thankful, and I cannot be altered.
3. It is not enough that a man carry about with him a thankful heart he must
anunciare, tell it abroad, and make it known publicly what God hath done for him;
yea, and do it joyfully too: I will, saith David, sing and give praise.
4. He must use all means he can to make it known-- "tongue, ""psaltery, "and
"harp, "all are little enough. Whence, by an apostrophe, David turns to these.
Awake, my glory: i.e., Tongue, awake; lute and harp, awake; I myself will awake.
5. He must not do it in a sleepy manner, but with intention and earnestness of spirit:
"Awake, awake, I will awake."
6. He must take the first opportunity to do it, and not hang off and delay it. I will
awake early.
7. He must do it in such a place, and such an assembly as may most redound to
God's honour: I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee
among the nations. William icholson.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and
give praise.
Ver. 7. My heart is fixed, O God] I am both ready and resolute; I doubt not about
deliverance, and am well prepared to praise God. It is fit he should have the fruit of
his own planting, and that of the best too; otherwise it is no better than the
refreshing of him that standeth by a good fire, and saith, Aha, I am warm.
BE SO , "Psalms 57:7-11. My heart is fixed — Hebrew, ‫,נכון‬ 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.
WHEDO , "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, ( ετοιµη,) “my heart is ready.” Thus he was one with God, and
would rejoice in this consciousness.
COKE, "Psalms 57:7. My heart is fixed— Or, prepared, as in the Margin of our
Bibles. He says, in the conclusion of the foregoing verse, that his enemies had fallen
into the pit which they had prepared for him; as Saul, who sought his life, had fallen
in the cave into David's hands, and put his life in his power. Therefore, in the
triumph of his joy, he cries out, "My heart is fixed, and prepared to celebrate God's
goodness:" and his repeating the words adds great emphasis to them.
ISBET, "MY HEART IS FIXED
‘My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.’
Psalms 57:7
The earnestness with which these words are spoken shows that he who said them
knew what it was to have an ‘unfixed’ heart. And who has not felt the wretchedness
of an ‘unfixed’ heart?
And what is the result? As respects yourself—failure. Life has been a failure. Of
how many of you might it be said, ‘Life is a failure’? How could it be otherwise?
What can ever prosper, without ‘fixedness’? What is ‘fixedness’? And how is
‘fixedness’ to be obtained?
To make ‘fixedness of heart’ there must be four things.
I. You must, first, have a definite view of truth.—It is not many who have been at
the pains to make to themselves a clear system of their religion.
II. But it will not go the whole way; for look, secondly, there must be a distinct
principle of action, and that principle which will gather up a man, and give him
fixity, is this: ‘God is his Father. Of His own free, infinite grace, God loves me. And
He has pardoned me, and He has accepted me in Christ. Why He should have done
this, I do not know—only He chooses to do so, and so it is. And His love is one. He
has given me tokens of it, which can never deceive me. And I love Him, and I am
happy in it, and my soul is at peace; and it goes back again to Him who loved it, and
washed it, and made it His own.’
III. But, thirdly, there must be a singleness of aim.—As that which gathers itself up
to one point—by the very drawing of its parts to the common centre—grows strong
and immovable, so it is with the Christian; he has made up his mind long ago that
there is only one thing really worth living for, and upon that one thing he is centring

all he is and all he has. What is it? What is that one high scope, where all desires
meet, beyond the world, far away in eternity?—The glory of God. ‘I am living for
the glory of God; I am living for Him who lived and died for me.’
IV. And then, as the moving principle is one, and as the guiding aim is one, so the
path becomes one, for there must be straightness of course.
And these four elements—a definite view—a distinct principle of action—a single
aim—a straight course—these make in a man’s mind that state to which his
conscience can bear him witness, and say, ‘My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is
fixed.’
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
‘The fixed and stable heart, like the Eddystone Lighthouse amid the tumultuous sea,
is only possible when it is welded to the eternal rock. Oh, that our hearts may be
ever fixed on the glory of God, waking up all that is within us to sing and give
praise! What exuberant ecstasy there is here! Can this be the harried soul which a
little while ago was crying for the shelter of God’s wings? Waking with the dawn, it
awakes the sleeping music of psaltery and harp, as when one bird in the spring
woodland starts its morning lay and sings until the copse is one great orchestra. The
happy soul makes its joy contagious.’
MACLARE , "THE FIXED HEART
Psalms 57:7.
It is easy to say such things when life goes smoothly with us. But this Psalmist,
whether David or another, says this, and means it, when all things are dark and
frowning around him. The superscription attributes the words to David himself,
fleeing from Saul, and hiding in the cave. Whether that be so or no, the
circumstances under which the Psalmist sings are obviously those of very great
difficulty and oppression. But he sings himself into confidence and good cheer. In
the dark he believes in the light. There are some flowers that give their perfumes
after sunset and are sweetest when the night dews are falling. The true religious life
is like these. A heart really based upon God, and at rest in Him, never breathes
forth such fragrant and strong perfume as in the darkness of sorrow. The repetition
of ‘My heart is fixed’ adds emphasis to the expression of unalterable determination.
The fixed heart is resolved to ‘sing and give praise’ in spite of everything that might
make sobs and tears choke the song.
I. ote the fixed heart.
The Hebrew uses the metaphor of the ‘heart’ to cover a great deal more of the
inward self than we are accustomed to do. We mainly mean thereby that in us which
loves. But the Old Testament speaks of the ‘thoughts and intents’ as well as the
‘affections’ of the heart. And so to this Psalmist his ‘heart’ was not only that in him
which loved, but that which purposed and which thought. When he says ‘My heart

is fixed’ he does not merely mean that he is conscious of a steadfast love, but also
and rather of a fixed and settled determination, and of an abiding communion of
thought between himself and God. And he not only makes this declaration as the
expression of his experience for the moment, but he mortgages the future, and in so
far as any man dare, he ventures to say that this temper of entire consecration, of
complete communion, of fixed resolve to cleave to God, which is his present mood,
will be his future whatever may wait his outward life then. The lesson from that
resolve is that our religion, if it is worth anything, must be a continuous and
uniformly acting force throughout our whole lives, and not merely sporadic and
spasmodic, by fits and starts. The lines that a child’s unsteady and untrained hand
draws in its copy-book are too good a picture of the ‘crooked, wandering ways in
which we live,’ in so far as our religion is concerned. The line should be firm and
straight, uniform in breadth, unvarying in direction, like a sunbeam, homogeneous
and equally tenacious like an iron rod. Unless it be thus strong and uniform, it will
scarcely sustain the weights that it must bear, or resist the blows that it must
encounter.
For a fixed heart I must have a fixed determination, and not a mere fluctuating and
soon broken intention. I must have a steadfast affection, and not merely a fluttering
love, that, like some butterfly, lights now on this, now on that, sweet flower, but
which has a flight straight as a carrier pigeon to its cot, which shall bear me direct
to God. And I must have a continuous realisation of my dependence upon God, and
of God’s sweet sufficiency, going with me all through the dusty day. A firm
determination, a steadfast love, a constant thought, these at least are inculcated in
the words of my text. ‘My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed.’
Ah, brethren! how unlike the broken, interrupted, divergent lines that we draw!
Our religious moments are not knit together, and touching one upon the other, but
they are like the pools in the bed of a half dried up Australian stream-a pond here,
and a stretch of white, blistering pebbles there, and then a little drop of water, and
then another reach of dryness. They should all be knit together by one continuous
flow of a fixed love, desire, and thought. Is our average Christianity fairly
represented by such words as these of my text? Do they not rather make us burn
with shame when we think that a man who lived in the twilight of God’s revelation,
and was weighed upon by distresses such as wrung this psalm out of him, should
have poured out this resolve, which we who live in the sunlight and are flooded with
blessings find it hard to echo with sincerity and truth? Fixed hearts are rare
amongst the Christians of this day.
II. otice the manifold hindrances to such a uniformity of our religious life.
They are formidable enough, God knows, we all know it, and I do not need to dwell
upon them. There is, for example, the tendency to fluctuation which besets all our
feelings, and especially our religious emotions. What would happen to a steam-
engine if the stoker now piled on coals and then fell asleep by the furnace door? One
moment the boiler would be ready to burst; at another moment there would be no
steam to drive anything. That is the sort of alternation that goes on amongst hosts of
Christians to-day. Their springtime and summer are followed certainly by an
autumn and a bitter winter. Every moment of elevation has a corresponding
moment of depression. They never catch a glimpse of God and of His love brighter
and more sweet than ordinary without its being followed by long weariness and

depression and darkness. That is the kind of life that many of you are contented to
live as Christian people.
But is there any necessity for such alternations? Some degree of fluctuation there
will always be. The very exercise of emotion tends to its extinction. Varying
conditions of health and other externals will affect the buoyancy and clear-
sightedness and vivacity of the spiritual life. Only a barometer that is out of order
will always stand at set fair. The vane which never points but to south is rusty and
means nothing.
But while there cannot be absolute uniformity, there might and should be a far
nearer approach to an equable temperature of a much higher range than the
readings of most professing Christians give. There is, indeed, a dismally uniform
arctic temperature in many of them. Their hearts are fixed, truly, but fixed on earth.
Their frost is broken by no thaw, their tepid formalism interrupted by no disturbing
enthusiasm. We do not now speak of these, but of those who have moments of
illumination, of communion, of submission of will, which fade all too soon. To such
we would earnestly say that these moments may be prolonged and made more
continuous. We need not be at the mercy of our own unregulated feelings. We can
control our hearts, and keep them fixed, even if they should wish to wander. If we
would possess the blessing of an approximately uniform religious life, we must
assert the control of ourselves and use both bridle and spur. A great many religious
people seem to think that ‘good times’ come and go, and that they can do nothing to
bring or keep or banish them. But that is not so. If the fire is burning low, there is
such a thing on the hearth as a poker, and coals are at hand. If we feel our faith
falling asleep, are we powerless to rouse it? Cannot we say ‘I will trust’? Let us
learn that the variations in our religious emotions are largely subject to our own
control, and may, if we will govern ourselves, be brought far nearer to uniformity
than they ordinarily are.
Besides the fluctuations due to our own changes of mood, there are also the
distracting influences of even the duties which God lays upon us. It is hard for a
man with the material task of the moment that takes all his powers, to keep a little
corner of his heart clear, and to feel that God is there. It is difficult in the clatter of
the mill or in the crowds on ‘Change, to do our work as for and in remembrance of
Christ. It is difficult; but it is possible. Distractions are made distractions by our
own folly and weakness. There is nothing that it is our duty to do which an honest
attempt to do from the right motive could not convert into a positive help to getting
nearer God. It is for us to determine whether the tasks of life, and this intrusive
external and material world, shall veil Him from us, or shall reveal Him to us. It is
for us to determine whether we shall make our secular avocation and its trials, little
and great, a means to get nearer to God, or a means to shut Him out from us, and us
from Him. There is nothing but sin incompatible with the fixed heart, the resolved
will, the continual communion, nothing incompatible though there may be much
that makes it difficult to realise and preserve these.
And then, of course, the trials and sorrows which strike us all make this fixed heart
hard to keep. It is easy, as I said, to vow, ‘I will sing and give praise,’ when flesh is
comfortable and prosperity is spreading its bright sky over our heads. It is harder to
say it when disappointment and bitterness are in the heart, and an empty place
there that aches and will never be filled. It is harder for a man to say it when, like

this Psalmist, his soul is ‘amongst lions’ and he ‘lies amongst them that are set on
fire.’ But still, rightly taken, sorrow is the best ladder to God; and there is no such
praise as comes from the lips that, if they did not praise, must sob, and that praise
because they are beginning to learn that evil, as the world calls it, is the stepping-
stone to the highest good. ‘My heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise’ may be the
voice of the mourner as well as of the prosperous and happy.
III. Lastly, let me say just a word as to the means by which such a uniform
character may be impressed upon our religious experience.
There is another psalm where this same phrase is employed with a very important
and illuminating addition, in which we read, ‘His heart is fixed, trusting in the
Lord.’ That is the secret of a fixed heart-continuous faith rooted and grounded in
Him. This fluttering, changeful, unreliable, emotional nature of mine will be made
calm and steadfast by faith, and duties done in the faith of God will bind me to Him;
and sorrows borne and joys accepted in the faith of God will be links in the chain
that knits Him to me.
But then the question comes, how to get this continuous faith? Brethren! I know no
answer except the simple one, by continually making efforts after it, and adopting
the means which Christ enjoins to secure it. A man climbing a hill, though he has to
look to his feet when in the slippery places, and all his energies are expended in
hoisting himself upwards by every projection and crag, will do all the better if he
lifts his eye often to the summit that gleams above him. So we, in our upward
course, shall make the best progress when we consciously and honestly try to look
beyond the things seen and temporal, even whilst we are working in the midst of
them, and to keep clear before us the summit to which our faith tends. If we lived in
the endeavour to realise that great white throne, and Him that sits upon it, we
should find it easier to say, ‘My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed.’
But be sure of this, there will be no such uniformity of religious experience
throughout our lives unless there be frequent times in them in which we go into our
chambers and shut our doors about us, and hold communion with our Father in
secret. Everything noble and great in the Christian life is fed by solitude, and
everything poor and mean and hypocritical and low-toned is nourished by continual
absence from the secret place of the Most High. There must be moments of solitary
communion, if there are to be hours of strenuous service and a life of continual
consecration.
We need not ask ourselves the question whether the realisation of the ideal of this
fixedness in its perfect completeness is possible for us here on earth or not. You and
I are a long way on this side of that realisation yet, and we need not trouble
ourselves about the final stages until we have got on a stage or two more.
What would you think of a boy if, when he had just been taught to draw with a
pencil, he said to his master, ‘Do you think I shall ever be able to draw as well as
Raphael?’ His teacher would say to him, ‘Whether you will or not, you will be able
to draw a good deal better than now, if you try.’ We need not trouble ourselves with
the questions that disturb some people until we are very much nearer to perfection
than any of us yet are. At any rate, we can approach indefinitely to that ideal, and
whether it is possible for us in this life ever to have hearts so continuously fixed as
that no attraction shall draw the needle aside one point from the pole or not, it is
possible for us all to have them a great deal steadier than in that wavering,

fluctuating vacillation which now rules them.
So let us pray the prayer, ‘Unite my heart to fear Thy name,’ make the resolve, ‘My
heart is fixed,’ and listen obediently to the command, ‘He exhorted them all that
with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord.’
PETT, "An Expression Of Praise And Thanksgiving For God’s Intervention On His
Behalf (Psalms 57:7-11).
Even in the midst of his trials David was able to sing and compose Psalms, for his
delight was in his God, and he now calls on himself to wake early in order to do so.
He wants all peoples and nations to be aware of God’s goodness and of His covenant
love and faithfulness. He wants God’s glory to be above all the earth (Psalms 57:5).
Psalms 57:7
‘My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed,
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.’
He assures God that his heart is fixed on one thing, the praise and glory of God. And
to that end he will sing, yes, he will sing praises. Hunted he may be but his spirit is
free.
8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
BAR ES, "Awake up, my glory - By the word “glory” here some understand the
tongue; others understand the soul itself, as the glory of man. The “word” properly refers
to that which is weighty, or important; then, anything valuable, splendid, magnificent.
Here it seems to refer to all that David regarded as glorious and honorable in himself -
his noblest powers of soul - all in him that “could” be employed in the praise of God. The
occasion was one on which it was proper to call all his powers into exercise; all that was
noble in him as a man. The words “awake up” are equivalent to “arouse;” a solemn
appeal to put forth all the powers of the soul.
Awake, psaltery and harp - In regard to these instruments, see the notes at Isa_

5:12. The instrument denoted by the word “psaltery” - ‫נבל‬ nebel - was a stringed
instrument, usually with twelve strings, and played with the fingers. See the notes at
Psa_33:2. The “harp” or “lyre” - ‫כנור‬ kinnôr - was also a stringed instrument, usually
consisting of ten strings. Josephus says that it was struck or played with a key. From
1Sa_16:23; 1Sa_18:10; 1Sa_19:9, it appears, however, that it was sometimes played with
the fingers.
I myself will awake early - That is, I will awake early in the morning to praise God;
I will arouse myself from slumber to do this; I will devote the first moments - the early
morning - to his worship. These words do not imply that this was an evening psalm, and
that he would awake on the morrow - the next day - to praise God; but they refer to what
he intended should be his general habit - that he would devote the early morning
(arousing himself for that purpose) to the praise of God. No time in the day is more
appropriate for worship than the early morning; no object is more worthy to rouse us
from our slumbers than a desire to praise God; in no way can the day be more
appropriately begun than by prayer and praise; and nothing will conduce more to keep
up the flame of piety - the life of religion in the soul - than the habit of devoting the early
morning to the worship of God; to prayer; to meditation; to praise.
CLARKE, "Awake up, my glory - Instead of ‫כבודי‬ kebodi, “my glory,” one MS.,
and the Syriac, have ‫כנורי‬ kinnori, “my harp.” Dr. Kennicott reads ‫כבורי‬ 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 ‫כבר‬ 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
differentt instruments. The five last verses of this Psalm are nearly the same with the
Psa_108:1-5 of Psa_108:1-13. 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 108th 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 Aeolian
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 Aeolian 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.”
GILL, "Awake up, my glory,.... Meaning his soul, whom Jacob calls his honour,
Gen_49:6; it being the most honourable, glorious, and excellent part of man; is the
breath of God, of his immediate production; is a spirit incorporeal and immortal; is

possessed of glorious powers and faculties; had the image of God stamped upon it,
which made man the glory of God, 1Co_11:7; and has the image of Christ on it in
regenerated persons; and is that with which God and Christ are glorified; and is, upon all
accounts, of great worth and value, even of more worth than the whole world: and this
sometimes in the saints is as it were asleep, and needs awaking; not in a literal sense; for
it is incapable of natural sleep, being incorporeal; but in a figurative and spiritual sense,
as when grace is dormant, and not in exercise; when the soul is backward to and slothful
in duty, unconcerned about divine things, and lukewarm and indifferent to them; which
is occasioned by prevailing corruptions and worldly cares; and sometimes it becomes
dull, and heavy, and inactive, through an over pressure by sorrows and troubles, as the
disciples of Christ were found sleeping for sorrow, Luk_22:45; which seems to have
been the case of the psalmist here; he had been in great distress, his soul was bowed
down, Psa_57:6; he had hung his harp upon the willow, and could not sing one of the
Lord's songs in the place and circumstances be was in; but now he calls upon his soul,
and arouses all the powers and faculties of it, and stirs up himself to the work of praise,
just as Deborah did, Jdg_5:12; some by his glory understand his tongue, as in Psa_16:9
compared with Act_2:26; and so may design vocal singing here, as instrumental music
in the next clause:
awake, psaltery and harp; which, by a prosopopoeia, are represented as persons; as
if they were animate, sensible, and living: these had been laid aside for some time as
useless; but now the psalmist determines to take them up and employ them in the
service of praising God: these are fitly put together, because psalms were sung to harps;
and so with the Greeks a psalm is said to be properly the sound of the harp (s);
I myself will awake early; in the morning, when salvation and joy come; and so soon
cause his voice to be heard, as in prayer, so in praise; or "I will awaken the morning": so
Jarchi; be up before the sun rises, the morning appears, or day dawns: this is taking the
wings of the morning, and even preventing that. The Targum is,
"I will awake to the morning prayer.''
HE RY, " How he excites himself to the duty of praise (Psa_57:8): Awake up my
glory, that is, my tongue (our tongue is our glory, and never more so than when it is
employed in praising God), or my soul, that must be first awakened; dull and sleepy
devotions will never be acceptable to God. We must stir up ourselves, and all that is
within us, to praise God; with a holy fire must that sacrifice be kindled, and ascend in a
holy flame. David's tongue will lead, and his psaltery and harp will follow, in these
hymns of praise. I myself will awake, not only, “I will not be dead, and drowsy, and
careless, in this work,” but, “I will be in the most lively frame, as one newly awakened
out of a refreshing sleep.” He will awake early to this work, early in the morning, to
begin the day with God, early in the beginnings of a mercy. When God is coming towards
us with his favours we must go forth to meet him with our praises.
JAMISO , "Hence — he addresses his glory, or tongue (Psa_16:9; Psa_30:12), and
his psaltery, or lute, and harp.
I myself ... early — literally, “I will awaken dawn,” poetically expressing his zeal and

diligence.
CALVI , "8.Awake up, my tongue David here expresses, in poetical terms, the
ardor with which his soul was inspired. He calls upon tongue, psaltery, and harp, to
prepare for the celebration of the name of God. The word ‫,כבוד‬ cabod, which I have
translated tongue, some have rendered glory; but although this is its more common
signification, it bears the other in the sixteenth psalm, and in numerous places of
Scripture. The context proves this to be its signification here, David intimating that
he would celebrate the praises of God both with the voice and with instrumental
music. He assigns the first place to the heart, the second to declaration with the
mouth, the third to such accompaniments as stimulate to greater ardor in the
service. It matters little whether we render the verb ‫,אעירה‬ airah, I will be awaked,
or transitively, I will awake myself by dawn of day. (345) But one who is really
awaked to the exercise of praising God, we are here taught will be unremitting in
every part of the duty.
“Oft listening how the hound and horn
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn.”
SPURGEO , "Ver. 8. Awake up, my glory. Let the noblest powers of my nature
bestir themselves: the intellect which conceives thought, the tongue which expresses
it, and the inspired imagination which beautifies it --let all be on the alert now that
the hour for praise has come.
Awake, psaltery and harp. Let all the music with which I am familiar be well
attuned for the hallowed service of praise.
I myself will awake early. I will awake the dawn with my joyous notes. o sleepy
verses and weary notes shall be heard from me; I will thoroughly arouse myself for
this high employ. When we are at our best we fall short of the Lord's deserts, let us,
therefore, make sure that what we bring him is our best, and, if marred with
infirmity, at least let it not be deteriorated by indolence. Three times the psalmist
calls upon himself to awake. Do we need so much arousing, and for such work?
Then let us not spare it, for the engagement is too honourable, too needful to be left
undone or ill done for want of arousing ourselves.
Ver. 7-8. See Psalms on "Psalms 50:7" for further information.
Ver. 8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
We must prevent God by early praise as well as prayer: "The God of my mercy
shall prevent me, "sings David; and every child of David must prevent God again
with his songs. Jehoshaphat delighted God with instruments of music before his
deliverance. Faith must tune an epinikion, a psalm of victory, before the triumph.
Praise is the ingenious mother of future mercies; as the Virgin Mary sang at Hebron
before the birth of her son at Bethlehem. Oh, heavenly contention between mercy
and duty! Samuel Lee, 1625-1691.
Ver. 8. Awake up, my glory, etc. We must sing with excited grace. ot only with

grace habitual, but with excited and actual: the musical instrument delights not but
when it is played upon. In this duty we must follow Paul's advice to Timothy (2
Timothy 1:6), anazwpurein, stir up the grace that is in us, and cry out as David,
Awake love, awake delight., Psalms 57:8. The clock must be wound up before it can
guide our time; the bird pleaseth not in her nest, but in her notes; the chimes only
make music when they are going. Let us therefore beg the Spirit to blow upon our
garden, that the spices thereof may flow out, when we set upon this joyous service.
God loves active grace in duty, that the soul should be ready trimmed when it
presents itself to Christ in any worship. John Wells, in "Morning Exercises, "1674.
Ver. 8. I will awake early. Literally, `I will awake the dawn.' a bold figure of poetry,
as if the writer had said, --The morning shall not awake me to praise; but in my
songs I will anticipate the dawn. R. T. Society's otes.
Ver. 8. It will answer our purpose to take notice, first, of the terms David uses, and
then, secondly, press the exhortation. Of the terms he uses:
1. My glory. That is my soul (say some) because the spirit of a man is the glory of a
man, whereby he is dignified and raised so much above the brutes, as to be but a
"little lower than the angels, "nay, to be akin to God himself, "the Father of
spirits." My musical skill, say others, the glory of the artist above the unskilful; and
that wherein David had the glory of excelling, as Jubal had of the first invention.
My tongue, say others; for this is also the glory of a man above the dumb creatures,
and the glory of a wise man above a fool. And as the tongue is the glory of a man, so
the glory of the tongue is to glorify God. Praise is the glory of all other uses to which
the tongue is employed; and the tongue is, in the body, that "temple of the Holy
Ghost, "what the silver trumpet was in the temple of Solomon; to sound the high
praises of God, and express the raised affections of our souls.
2. Awake, psaltery and harp. The one for a psalm, the other for a spiritual song or
hymn; that is to say, all my musical instruments and skill I will employ in and
consecrate to the glory of him who "puts new songs into my mouth." He first
teaches my fingers to fight, and then to play the epinikion, or song of triumph.
Sound, then, my psaltery and harp, emulous of those that are around the throne
above; your melody can soften my cares, lay my fears, and turn my cave into a
choir. As to these instruments in the worship of God, they were doubtless allowed to
David, and to the church in his time. They were agreeable to the state of that church
and people, who were led very much by their senses; and whose infant and less
discerning condition made it needful for the natural man to have something to
fasten upon and be entertained with in the worship of God and to sweeten and take
off from the labour and burden of that service. But as the gospel worship and
appointments are a more spiritual, pleasant, and reasonable service, and need them
less, so in the gospel institution we find no footsteps of them; and we know who first
brought them into the church, as well as who first brought them into the world. It is
not my business here to dispute this matter; and he must at any time do it but
indifferently, whose inclination is against him all the while, and whose genius tempts
him to wish himself solidly confuted in all he can advance. But since I find these
instruments in my text, and since the sound of such texts as these is made use of to
turn the public worship so frequently into concerts of music, I shall leave them with
this remark: that to let them alone, especially in public worship, though one thought
them tolerable, has a much better grace with it than to declare them "sorely

displeasing to God, and that they filthily defile his holy house and place of prayer."
3. I myself will awake early. And without this, all the rest have been an empty
sound; there would have been no melody to the Lord, whatsoever good music he
might have made to himself. He would not put God off with a sacrifice of mere air.
He summons the attendance of all his powers. Himself is the offering; and his music
plays to the sacrifice, as it goes up in holy affections and spiritual joys; and unless
these accompany the song, the mere breath of an organ, or the trembling of the
strings of an harp is as good devotion and less offensive to God. Consider the nature
and excellency of the duty. Singing psalms is a compound of several other duties. It
contains prayer to a very great advantage: the stretch of the voice does humour and
lead on the earnest reaching of the mind after the desired blessing. It is the very
element and breath of praise; and the apostle tells us that "teaching and
admonishing one another" is performed in singing "psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs." For when we sing of judgment, it is awakening to sinners; and when we sing
of mercy, it is comforting to all. Meditation cannot have a better help. The solemn
movement of the time gives room for the mind to compass the full sense of the
matter, and to impress it deep; and while the tongue is making the pause, the heart
may make the elevation. In short, it gives an accent to all duty; it is the music of all
other ordinances; it is adapted and suited to all circumstances; as appears from the
psalms composed upon all occasions and subjects, doctrinal, prophetical, oratory,
and historical; of praise and prayer, of grief and joy, in the penitential and
complaining, in the triumphal and rejoicing; as if singing of psalms could stand for
everything, and, like the manna in the wilderness, gives a taste of all the other food
we enjoy in the house of God.
Benjamin Grosvenor, D.D. (1675-1758), in "An Exhortation to the Duty of Singing,
" Eastcheap Lectures, 1810.
Ver. 8. The psaltery was a stringed instrument, usually with twelve strings, and
played with the fingers. The harp or lyre was a stringed instrument, usually
consisting of ten strings. Josephus says that it was struck or played with a key. It
appears, however, that it was sometimes played with the fingers. Albert Barnes.
ELLICOTT, "(8) My glory.—See ote, Psalms 7:5.
I myself will awake early.—Perhaps, rather, I will rouse the dawn. Comp Ovid. Met.
xi. 597, where the cock is said evocare Auroram; and Milton, still more nearly:
“Oft listening how the hounds and horn,
Cheerily rouse the slumbering morn”—L’Allegro.)
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I [myself]
will awake early.
Ver. 8. Awake up, my glory] He rouseth himself out of his natural drowsiness, as
Samson once went forth and shook himself.

I myself will awake early] Or, I will awaken the morning, as the cock, by his early
crowing, is said to do.
on vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris
Evocat auroram - (Ovid. Metam. lib. 11).
WHEDO , "8. Awake up, my glory—Arouse, my soul. ‫,כבדי‬ (kebodee,) here
rendered glory, is sometimes used for the soul as the most honourable and excellent
part of man. It is used synonymously with ‫,נפשׁ‬ (nephesh,) soul, by the law of
parallelism, (Genesis 49:6 ; Psalms 7:5,) and in the text it answers to I, myself. In
Psalms 57:6 his soul is “bowed down,” now he calls upon himself to “awake,”
arouse. See notes on Psalms 16:9; Psalms 30:12.
Awake early—Literally, I will awake the dawn. See on Psalms 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.
COKE, "Verse 8
Psalms 57:8. Awake up, my glory, &c.— My tongue, Psalms 16:9; Psalms 30:12. The
Psalmist, in the next clause, by an elegant figure, calls upon his psaltery, or harp, as
if they were endued with life, to awake with him; and, as it were, of themselves to
join with him in making melody to God, and resounding his praise.—So Horace
applies to his lyre:
——Age, dic Latinum, Barbite, carmen. Od. b. i. 32.
Come, and to Latian song, my lyre, adapt thy sound.
The reader will observe how suitable this psalm is to the circumstances of David
which gave occasion to it. When he represents himself as encompassed with lions, or
merciless men inflamed with rage, seeking his destruction, and laying snares for his
ruin; in such a situation we cannot fail to admire the firmness of his hope in God,
and full assurance of his deliverance, and can scarcely refrain from joining with him
in the triumph of his gratitude, when his distresses were overpast; My heart is
ready, O God, my heart is ready; I will sing and give praise. or can we avoid being
pleased with the images of taking refuge under the shadow of God's wings; of God's
making truth and mercy the ministers of salvation to his people; of his address to his
psaltery and harp; and his representation of God's dominion, extending to the
heavens and the earth. See Chandler. The last clause of the verse may be rendered, I
will awake the morning.
REFLECTIO S.—1st, We might have thought that David, when hunted as a
partridge in the mountain, would have little time for prayer and praise, and that his
harp would be hung on the willows; but when forced to fly to a cave for shelter, his

soul more ardently fled to God for help and hope.
1. He describes his enemies as lions, such were Saul and his forces, furious and
raging to swallow him up. ote; (1.) The tongue of secret slander is more hurtful
than the sword of an open enemy. (2.) They who now in raging lusts and passions
are set on fire of hell, must shortly burn there. (3.) The blessed Jesus was thus beset
when seized by his bloody persecutors; and his people still, in many circumstances
of opposition and temptation, can often with feeling propriety adopt these words,
My soul is among lions.
2. His recourse is ever to God under his wants, and to him he never seeks in vain; he
was bowed down, his calamities great; therefore he pleads that God would shew him
mercy, and manifest his own glory in his protection, and the disappointment of his
enemies; and, as he resolved to persevere in his supplications, he expected
continually an answer of peace. ote; (1.) While we are praying for the mercies that
we need, it becomes us to have an eye ever to God's glory, as what should be dearer
to us than our own safety. (2.) Ceaseless prayer on earth is our duty; in heaven it
will be exchanged for everlasting praise.
3. He cheerfully in faith commits his body and soul to God's sure keeping. The
shadow of his wings was his refuge; under them he trusted he should be hid, till
every storm was overpast. The Most High was able to preserve him, he had
committed himself to his care, and expected the performance of his promises; while
his enemies, exposed to deserved wrath, would fall into the pit which they had
digged, and God would be magnified in the just judgments executed upon them.
ote; (1.) The promise of God is a surer defence than a shield of adamant. (2.) They
who have a heart to trust God, will ever find him faithful that hath promised. (3.)
Whatever reproach lights on us upon earth, if we have the favour of God, we need
not fear the revilings of men. (4.) The wicked, through God's just judgment, often
perish in the snare which they laid for others.
2nd, Rising as it were from his knees, the Psalmist's believing heart, enraptured,
bursts into a song of praise. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart it fixed, or
prepared, fixed in confident dependance, prepared for every danger; my troubles
vanish, and songs of gratitude and love flow from my heart. I will sing and give
praise; awake up my glory, arise my soul, shake off dull sloth, and leave thy sorrows
far behind; awake psaltery and harp, no longer mute, your swelling notes shall join
my joyful song. I myself will awake early, prevent the dawn of day, eager to
proclaim the praises of my God. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people,
among the first of thy congregation my grateful voice shall be heard; I will sing unto
thee among the nations, though driven to heathen lands, will never be silent or
ashamed to tell the glories of Jehovah; for thy mercy, which I have experienced, is
great into the heavens, beyond expression or conception, and thy truth unto the
clouds, thy faithfulness inviolable in every promise, extending to the faithful not
only through time but to eternity. Be thou exalted, therefore, O God, above the
heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth; let the manifestations of it appear to
the admiration of men and angels, and all the hosts above join to adore thy great

name, exalted above all blessing and praise. ote; (1.) In God's worship our whole
soul should be engaged, fixed attention should keep our wandering thoughts,
enlivened devotion drive away all stupor and heaviness, and heart and voice unite in
the blessed service. (2.) They who rejoice in God themselves, desire to diffuse their
joys around, and induce others to come and taste their mercies, and join their songs.
(3.) How feeble now are our warmer efforts, and how little a while can our affections
fix intensely on the divine subject! Blessed be God, the faithful have a hope above
the heavens, where their souls shall be seraphic as the song, and never faulter or be
weary in the work of everlasting praise.
EBC, "The psalmist has done with the enemies; they are at the bottom of the pit. In
full confidence of triumph and deliverance, he breaks out into a grand burst of
praise. "My heart is fixed," or "steadfast." Twice the psalmist repeats this, as he
does other emphatic thoughts in this psalm. (cp. Psalms 57:2, Psalms 57:4, Psalms
57:8-9). What power can steady that fluttering, wayward, agitated thing, a human
heart? The way to keep light articles fixed on deck amidst rolling seas and howling
winds; is to lash them to something fixed; and the way to steady a heart is to bind it
to God. Built into the Rock, the building partakes of the steadfastness of its
foundation. Knit to God, a heart is firm. The psalmist’s was steadfast because it had
taken refuge in God; and so, even before his rescue from his enemies came to pass,
he was emancipated from the fear of them, and could lift this song of praise. He had
said that he must lie down among lions. But wherever his bed may be he is sure that
he will rise from it; and however dark the night, he is sure that a morning will
Come. In a bold and beautiful figure he says that he will "wake the dawn" with his
song.
The world wide destination of his praise is clear to him. It is plain that such
anticipations as those of Psalms 57:9 surpass the ordinary poetic consciousness, and
must be accounted for on some special ground. The favourite explanation at present
is that the singer is Israel, conscious of its mission. The old explanation that the
singer is a king, conscious of his inspiration and divinely given office, equally meets
the case.
PETT, "Psalms 57:8
‘Awake up, my glory, awake, psaltery and harp,
I myself will awake right early.’
So he calls on his own spirit (his glory) to wake up. He calls on his psaltery (a
stringed instrument) and harp to awake. He assures God that he himself will awake
right early for the purpose of praising God. He wants the day to begin with praise,
before the time arrives for once more evading the enemy.
‘I myself will awake right early’ or ‘will awake the dawn’. He does not want to wait
for the dawn to wake him, but wants himself to awake the dawn.

9 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
BAR ES, "I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people - So great a
deliverance as he here hoped for, would make it proper that he should celebrate the
praise of God in the most public manner; that he should make his goodness known as far
as possible among the nations. See the notes at Psa_18:49.
CLARKE, "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.
GILL, "I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people,.... Either among the people
of Israel, as Aben Ezra, when each of the tribes meet together; and so it denotes the
public manner in which he would praise God for his salvation: or among the Gentiles, as
the following clause shows;
I will sing unto thee among the nations: the Apostle Paul seems to have reference
to this passage in Rom_15:9; which he produces as a proof of the Gentiles glorifying God
for his mercy in sending the Gospel among them, and calling them by his grace; by
which they appeared to be his chosen and redeemed ones; and in forming them into
Gospel churches, among whom his praise was sung: for this supposes something to be
done among the Gentiles, which should occasion praise; and here the psalmist
represents the Messiah, who in his ministers and members praise God for his wonderful
mercy to the Gentile world, as follows.
HE RY, ". How he pleases himself, and (as I may say) even prides himself, in the
work of praise; so far is he from being ashamed to own his obligations to God, and
dependence upon him, that he resolves to praise him among the people and to sing unto

him among the nations, Psa_57:9. This intimates, 1. That his own heart was much
affected and enlarged in praising God; he would even make the earth ring with his sacred
songs, that all might take notice how much he thought himself indebted to the goodness
of God. 2. That he desired to bring others in to join with him in praising God. He will
publish God's praises among the people, that the knowledge, and fear, and love of God
might be propagated, and the ends of the earth might see his salvation. When David was
driven out into heathen lands he would not only not worship their gods, but he would
openly avow his veneration for the God of Israel, would take his religion along with him
wherever he went, would endeavour to bring others in love with it, and leave the sweet
savour of it behind him. David, in his psalms, which fill the universal church, and will to
the end of time, may be said to be still praising God among the people and singing to
him among the nations; for all good people make use of his words in praising God. Thus
St. John, in his writings, is said to prophesy again before many peoples and nations,
Rev_10:11.
JAMISO , "As His mercy and truth, so shall His praise, fill the universe.
CALVI , "9.I will praise thee, O Lord! among the peoples. As the nations and
peoples are here said to be auditors of the praise which he offered, we must infer
that David, in the sufferings spoken of throughout the psalm, represented Christ.
This it is important to observe, as it proves that our own state and character are set
before us in this psalm as in a glass. That the words have reference to Christ’s
kingdom, we have the authority of Paul for concluding, (Romans 15:9,) and, indeed,
might sufficiently infer in the exercise of an enlightened judgment upon the passage.
To proclaim the praises of God to such as are deaf, would be an absurdity much
greater than singing them to the rocks and stones; it is therefore evident that the
Gentiles are supposed to be brought to the knowledge of God when this declaration
of his name is addressed to them. He touches briefly upon what he designed as the
sum of his song of praise, when he adds, that the whole world is full of the goodness
and truth of God. I have already had occasion to observe, that the order in which
these divine perfections are generally mentioned is worthy of attention. It is of his
mere goodness that God is induced to promise so readily and so liberally. On the
other hand, his faithfulness is commended to our notice, to convince us that he is as
constant in fulfilling his promises as he is ready and willing to make them. The
Psalmist concludes with a prayer that God would arise, and not suffer his glory to
be obscured, or the audacity of the wicked to become intolerable by conniving
longer at their impiety. The words, however, may be understood in another sense, as
a prayer that God would hasten the calling of the Gentiles, of which he had already
spoken in the language of prediction, and illustrate his power by executing not only
an occasional judgment in Judea for the deliverance of distressed innocence, but his
mighty judgments over the whole world for the subjection of the nations.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. Gentiles shall
hear my praise. Here is an instance of the way in which the truly devout evangelic
spirit overleaps the boundaries which bigotry sets up. The ordinary Jew would
never wish the Gentile dogs to hear Jehovah's name, except to tremble at it; but this

grace taught psalmist has a missionary spirit, and would spread the praise and fame
of his God.
I will sing unto thee among the nations. However far off they may be, I would make
them hear of thee through my glad psalmody.
Ver. 9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. The Spirit of God who indited
this scripture, made his penman know that the Gentiles should have the use of his
Psalms. David Dickson.
Ver. 9. The people--the nations. The Hebrew church was neither called nor qualified
to be a missionary society, but it never ceased to desire and hope for the conversion
of the nations. This is seen in those passages in which the psalmists betray a
consciousness that they shall one day have all the world for auditors. How boldly
does David exclaim, I will sing unto thee among the nations. In the same spirit, a
later psalmist summons the church to lift up her voice, so that all the nations may
hear her recital of the Lord's mighty acts: O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon
his name: make known his deeds among the people., Psalms 105:1. The full import
of this class of texts is often hidden from the English reader by the circumstance
that our translators have hardly ever used the word people in its plural form. Twice
in the Revelation they venture to write peoples; everywhere else the singular form
has to do duty for both numbers; so that in not a few passages the sense is greatly
obscured to those who have no access either to the original or to other versions. In
the Psalms, in particular, the mention of the Gentiles is more frequent than the
English reader is made aware of. It is to be observed, moreover, that in addition to
this strain of indirect prediction, the conversion of the world is articulately
celebrated in many glorious Psalms. Indeed, so numerous are these, and so generally
distributed over the centuries between David and Ezra, that it would seem that at no
time during the long history of inspired Psalmody, did the Spirit cease to indite new
songs in which the children of Zion might give utterance to their world embracing
hopes. William Binnie, D.D., in "The Psalms: their History, Teachings, and Use,
"1870.
WHEDO , "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.
PETT, "Psalms 57:9-10
‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
I will sing praises to you among the nations.’
‘For your covenant love is great to the heavens,
And your truth to the skies.’
And his purpose is in order to give thanks to his Sovereign Lord among the peoples,

and to sing His praise among the nations. There may be a hint in this that among his
six military units were men from a number of nations. But his thoughts are also
looking forward to the time when God fulfils his promise to him and he comes into
his kingship.
And what he wants to bring to men’s attention is God’s covenant love which is so
great that it is great to the heavens. It stretches to heaven above. and His
trustworthiness and faithfulness which reaches to the skies.
10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
BAR ES, "For thy mercy is great unto the heavens ... - See this explained in
the notes at Psa_36:5.
CLARKE, "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
Psa_36:5, Psa_36:6, where nearly the same words occur.
GILL, "For thy mercy is great unto the heavens,.... Which denotes the exceeding
greatness and largeness of it; as it is in the heart of God, who is plenteous in mercy; as it
is expressed in the covenant of grace, where are stores of it; as it is shown forth in the
choice of persons to eternal life; in the mission of Christ into this world to die for them;
in the regeneration of them, the pardon of their sins, and eternal life: and this mercy is
not only extended to persons in the several parts of the earth, but is as high as the
heaven above it, Psa_103:11;
and thy truth unto the clouds; the faithfulness of God in performing his purposes
and his promises; or the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, which contain the deep things of
God; unless Christ himself should be meant, who is the truth which sprung out of the
earth, Psa_85:11; is now ascended unto heaven, and is higher than the heavens; and
whose exaltation and glory may be designed in Psa_57:11.

HE RY, "How he furnishes himself with matter for praise, Psa_57:10. That which
was the matter of his hope and comfort (God shall send forth his mercy and his truth,
Psa_57:3) is here the matter of his thanksgiving: Thy mercy is great unto the heavens,
great beyond conception and expression; and thy truth unto the clouds, great beyond
discovery, for what eye can reach that which is wrapped up in the clouds? God's mercy
and truth reach to the heavens, for they will bring all such to heaven as lay up their
treasure in them and build their hopes upon them. God's mercy and truth are praised
even to the heavens, that is, by all the bright and blessed inhabitants of the upper world,
who are continually exalting God's praises to the highest, while David, on earth, is
endeavouring to spread his praises to the furthest, Psa_57:9.
V. How he leaves it at last to God to glorify his own name (Psa_57:11): Be thou exalted,
O God! The same words which he had used (Psa_57:5) to sum up his prayers in he here
uses again (and no vain repetition) to sum up his praises in: “Lord, I desire to exalt thy
name, and that all the creatures may exalt it; but what can the best of us do towards it?
Lord, take the work into thy own hands; do it thyself: Be thou exalted, O God! In the
praises of the church triumphant thou art exalted to the heavens, and in the praises of
the church militant thy glory is throughout all the earth; but thou art above all the
blessing and praise of both (Neh_9:5), and therefore, Lord, exalt thyself above the
heavens and above all the earth. Father, glorify thy own name. Thou hast glorified it,
glorify it yet again.”
SPURGEO , "Ver. 10. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens. Right up from
man's lowliness to heaven's loftiness mercy reaches. Imagination fails to guess the
height of heaven, and even thus the riches of mercy exceed our highest thoughts.
The psalmist, as he sits at the cave's mouth and looks up to the firmament, rejoices
that God's goodness is more vast and more sublime than even the vaulted skies.
And thy truth unto the clouds. Upon the cloud he sets the seal of his truth, the
rainbow, which ratifies his covenant; in the cloud he hides his rain and snow, which
prove his truth by bringing to us seedtime and harvest, cold and heat. Creation is
great, but the Creator greater far. Heaven cannot contain him; above clouds and
stars his goodness far exceeds.
Ver. 10-11. A hard and ungrateful heart beholds even in prosperity only isolated
drops of divine grace; but a grateful one like David's, though chased by persecutors,
and striking the harp in the gloom of a cave, looks upon the mercy and faithfulness
of God as a mighty ocean, waving and heaving from the earth to the clouds, and
from the clouds to the earth again. Agustus F. Tholuck.
Ver. 10. The mercy of God reaches to the heavens.
I. As a throne. God is exalted in our eyes by his
mercy.
II. As a ladder. By mercy we ascend from earth to
heaven.
III. As a rainbow. Present and past mercies argue
exemption for the saints from the wrath of heaven.

IV. As a mountain. Its base is on the earth though its
summit is lost in clouds. The influence of the cross
towers to the heaven of heavens. Who can tell the
glory of the summit of this mountain, whose base
is refulgent with glory! R. A. G.
Ver. 10. The amazing greatness of mercy.
I. It is not said merely that it is high as heaven, but
great unto the heavens. It is high as the
heavens, overtopping the greatest sin, and highest
thought of man.
II. It is wide as the far reaching sky, compassing
men of all ages, countries, classes, etc.
III. It is deep. Everything of God is proportionate;
this, therefore, is deep in abiding foundation, and
infinite wisdom.
TRAPP, "Psalms 57:10 For thy mercy [is] great unto the heavens, and thy truth
unto the clouds.
Ver. 10. For thy mercy is great, &c.] God’s mercy is ordinarily in the psalms
bounded by his truth; that none may either presume him more merciful than he
hath declared himself in his word; or else despair of finding mercy gratis, according
to his promise.
EBC, "The psalmist had declared his trust that God would send out His angels of
Lovingkindness and Troth. He ends his song with the conviction, which has become
to him matter of experience, that these Divine "attributes" tower to heaven, and in
their height symbolise their own infinitude. or is the other truth suggested by
Psalms 57:10 to be passed over, that the manifestation of these attributes on earth
leads to their being more gloriously visible in heaven. These two angels, who come
forth from on high to do God’s errands for His poor, trusting servant go back, their
work done, and are hailed as victors by the celestial inhabitants. By God’s
manifestation of these attributes to a man, His glory is exalted above the heavens
and all the earth. The same thought is more definitely expressed in Paul’s
declaration that "to the principalities and powers in heavenly places is known by
the Church the manifold wisdom of God."
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.

BAR ES, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens - See the notes at Psa_
57:5. The sentiment here is repeated as being that on which the mind of the psalmist was
intensely fixed; that which he most earnestly desired; that which was the crowning aim
and desire of his life.
CLARKE, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens - The same sentiments
and words which occur in Psa_57:5 (note). See the note there.
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.
GILL, "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,.... As Christ now is at the
Father's right hand, and who is God over all, blessed for ever;
let thy glory be above all the earth; as it is above all the men on earth and angels in
heaven. This is repeated from Psa_57:5; See Gill on Psa_57:5, and shows the vehemency
of his desire after these things, and how much his heart was set upon them.
HE RY, " How he leaves it at last to God to glorify his own name (Psa_57:11): Be
thou exalted, O God! The same words which he had used (Psa_57:5) to sum up his
prayers in he here uses again (and no vain repetition) to sum up his praises in: “Lord, I
desire to exalt thy name, and that all the creatures may exalt it; but what can the best of
us do towards it? Lord, take the work into thy own hands; do it thyself: Be thou exalted,
O God! In the praises of the church triumphant thou art exalted to the heavens, and in
the praises of the church militant thy glory is throughout all the earth; but thou art
above all the blessing and praise of both (Neh_9:5), and therefore, Lord, exalt thyself
above the heavens and above all the earth. Father, glorify thy own name. Thou hast
glorified it, glorify it yet again.”
SPURGEO , "Ver. 11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. A grand chorus.
Take it up, ye angels and ye spirits made perfect, and join in it, ye sons of men
below, as ye say,
Let thy glory be above all the earth. The prophet in the previous verse spoke of
mercy "unto the heavens, "but here his song flies "above the heavens; "praise rises
higher, and knows no bound

Ver. 10-11. See Psalms on "Psalms 57:10" for further information.
Ver. 11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, etc. Greater words of prayer
than these never came from human lips. Heaven and earth have as they imply, a
mutually interwoven history, and the blessed, glorious end of this is in the sunrise of
the Divine glory over both. Franz Delitzsch, 1869.
PETT, "Psalms 57:11
‘Be you exalted, O God, above the heavens,
Let your glory be above all the earth.’
He finishes the Psalm with a repeat of his prayer that God might be exalted, from
Psalms 57:5. He calls on God to exalt Himself above the heavens, and let His glory
be above all the earth. In other words that God might reveal Himself as above all
and over all.
SCOTT, "PRACTICAL OBSERVATIO S
Protection from man"s injustice must be sought from the Lord"s mercy; and the
most eminent believers need frequently to reiterate the publican"s prayer, " God be
merciful to me, a sinner." But an inward consciousness, that our souls trust in the
Lord, may enable us in the most imminent dangers, to expect, that our calamities
will at length be overpast: and, in the mean time, by faith and prayer, we must make
the shadow of his almighty wings our refuge. If we have fled from the wrath to come
unto Jesus Christ, we are interested in all his merits, grace, and victories; and in all
the precious promises and glorious perfections of our God : and Hebrews , who has
performed all things requisite to the salvation of his people, will in answer to our
prayers perform all things for us, and in us, which are needful to our enjoyment of
it. It is true that the sons of men, among whom we live, are often savage as lions, and
fierce as the flaming fire : their teeth seem to be spears and arrows, and their
slanderous tongues, sharp swords : and Satan, i still more subtle, powerful, and
cruel enemy, would swallow us up. But notwithstanding their snares and pits, their
stratagems and assaults, we are safe, if we belong to the Li-rd. The Redeemer was
far more exposed to their rage and malice, and by their wicked hands was crucified
and slain : yet the Lord sent from heaven and raised him Irom the dead, and
advanced him to his glorious throne : and he will, through him, send forth his mercy
and truth, and graciously accomplish his promises; he will rescue our souls from all
tempters and persecutors; and angels shall join with men in beholding and
celebrating his glory in our salvation. Let us then seek to have our hearts fixed on
him, and prepared for his spiritual worship; to celebrate the praises of his boundless
mercy and unfailing faithfulness, and to " glorify him with " body and spirit, which
are his." Let us assuredly expect and wait for the completion of what concerneth us
: and let us earnestly pray, that the Lord may be exalted above the heavens, and his
glory above all the earth, by extending the blessings of his gospel through every part
of every land, in all the world.

Psalm 57 commentary

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Psalm 57 commentary