Psalm 57 To the Chief Musician. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave. 1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. 2 I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me. 3 He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. “David must not be destroyed, for Christ is of the seed of David after the flesh.” (Hawker’s Poor Man’s Comm.) David found no refuge in Judah, nor in the wilderness of other countries, nor here in caves— for all men were after him. “The title is, To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, (destroy not), a golden Psalms of David, (or one to be engraven), where he fed from Saul in the cave.” (Clarke) “Possibly the cave of Adullam 1 Samuel 22:1, or that of En-gedi 1 Samuel 24:1-3. Or, the word may be used in a ‘general’ sense as referring not to any ‘particular’ cave, but to that period of his life when he was compelled to flee from one place to another for safety, and when his home was ‘often’ in caves.” (Barnes) "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.” (John Trapp) “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.” (Treasury of David) “‘Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!‘ The same beginning as the former psalm, but this doubling of words is emphatic. Allow me to find refuge here at last. “For my soul’— or self— “‘trusts in You’ In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. Not 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.” (C. H. Spurgeon) “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)— “until these calamities be overpast, I will cry unto God Most High, to God who performs all things for me.’ 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 guarantee…” (Andrew A. Bonar), if we but persevere to the end. He performs to “or perfecteth, to wit, all that He hath promised; engageth Himself to perform what He hath begun to do.” (Matthew Poole) We can have confidence that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6) “‘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.’ At the time of the consumption of all things, “He shall send from heaven and save me.” etc. His angels, as Daniel 3:28 or perhaps the Angel of the Covenant, who even now encamps around those who fear Him. “Howsoever [He works], His mercy and His truth He will be sure to send, and that is enough, He will be seen in the mount, He will work for His servants when He seeth their power is gone, Deut. 32:36, when there is dignus vindice nodus, an extremity fit for Divine power to interpose.” (Trapp) In all cases to be judged, He shall do this at the end of this age. “‘Selah’ —Such mercy may well make us pause to meditate and give thanks. Rest, singer, for God has given thee rest!” (C. H. Spurgeon) 4 My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth. 6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah 7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. “‘My soul [self] is among lions,’ surrounded by them on all sides, ‘and I lie even among them that are set on fire,’ those greedy with desire for murder, the fact that he is ready to lie down to sleep in the midst of such dangerous circumstances showing the firmness of his trust in God, ‘even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword,’ instruments of destruction. 'Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,’ showing Himself in the sublimity of His majesty; ‘let Thy glory be above all the earth,’ its light promising salvation to His children, but threatening death and destruction to His enemies. ‘They have prepared a net for my steps’ to capture him unawares; ‘my soul is bowed down,’ the enemies having bent it down to the ground with their oppressions; ‘they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves,’ their sudden and utter overthrow as a result of their own wickedness being emphasized. ‘Selah. [But in spite of my apparent circumstances, rest for] 'my heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise.’” (Paul E. Kretzmann) 8 Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. 9 I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. 10 For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth. “Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp!”— by all means— “I will awaken the dawn”— or consumption— “I will praise You,” etc. God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation, through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth, to which he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thes 2:13–14)