Psalm 57:1-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 57:1-6

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, 1 Sam. 24:4, 6. Or, rather, God would not let David be destroyed by Saul; he suffered him to... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 57:7-11

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 (Ps. 57:7): My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed. My heart... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:1

Be merciful unto me, O God ,.... Or "be gracious to me" F11 חנני "gratiam fac mihi", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius; so Piscator, Ainsworth. ; 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 Psalm 56:1 ; for my soul trusteth in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:2

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:3

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, Genesis 32:1 ; or to deliver them out of trouble, as Peter when in prison, Acts 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:4

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, 1 Samuel 24:4 ; but Saul, and those with him, who were three thousand... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:5

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:6

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, Matthew 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:7

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 Psalm 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 57:8

Awake up, my glory ,.... Meaning his soul, whom Jacob calls his honour, Genesis 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, 1 Corinthians 11:7 ; and has the image of Christ on it in regenerated persons; and is that with which God and Christ are glorified;... read more

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