God, not by God; or the obligations of those vows and prayers which I
have made and upon which I have received answers. Sacrifices of
thanksgiving were called vows, as having been vowed to God upon the
want, and to be paid upon the receipt, of mercy. Lev. i. 1, “If the
sacrifice that is offered be a vow.” Thy vows are upon me; the fruit of
my vows, so that I stand indebted to God for the return of praise.
“_Thou hast delivered._” He understands some great danger wherein he had
sunk had not God stood by him, and from a greater mercy, the deliverance
of his soul from death, argues for a less, the keeping his feet from
falling. “_That I may walk before God in the light of the living._” By
light of the living is meant life, which is called being enlightened
with the “light of the living.” Job. xxxiii. 30. Sometimes eternal life
in heaven. John viii. 12, “He that follows me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life.” “To walk before God.” To
walk obediently in the sight of God; with a respect to his presence; a
walking unto all well pleasing. This is the last argument in the Psalm
whereon he builds his strongest plea, as if he knew not what to urge if
this should fail him; as if he should have said, Lord, I have had
experience of thy wisdom in contriving, thy power in effecting, thy
mercy in bestowing deliverance upon me, thy goodness in answering my
vows and prayers. “Thou hast delivered from death,” a danger as great
and unavoidable as death itself; O Lord, art not thou the same as thou
wert? Art not thou still as wise to design, and as gracious to confer
further mercy? Wilt thou not as certainly also deliver my feet from
falling? The one contains his experience, the other the inference or
conclusion he draws from it. Mercies received are in a special manner to
be remembered. Mercies received are encouragements to ask, and strong
grounds to hope for the mercies we want.—_Stephen Charnock._
_Verse 13.—“From falling,”_ or, as more literally translated, from a
_thrust_, or a _push_, by which one is caused to fall.—_O. Prescott
Hiller._
_Verse 13 (last clause)._—_To walk in the presence of God_ is partly
under his eyes, his guidance and care, partly in particular, where God
is wont to be _present_, where he is _worshipped_ by his people, and
scatters his blessings, opposed to his present state by which he was
removed from the place of his worship and presence. Conf. 1 Sam. xxvi.
19, etc. Lastly, _to walk in the light of the living_ denotes in general
to live amongst _those who live in the light_, or who enjoy the _light_,
as it is said elsewhere, _in the land of the living_—Psalm xxvii. 13;
Isaiah xxxviii. 11; liii. 8; Ezekiel xxxii. 32; Psalm cxlii. 6—opposed
to the _dead_ or _the region of the dead_, who dwell _in darkness_. But
in particular it signifies to live in a _safe_ and _prosperous_ state,
whose well-known emblem is _light_.—_Hermann Venema._
_Verse 13 (last clause)._—We cannot restrict this phrase to the light of
mortal life; David’s vows bound him to walk in the _light of spiritual
life_, and also in the _light of eternal life_, of which by faith he was
a partaker. And most commentators have applied this verse to the _light
of glory_ in the world to come, as the real and final object of the
believer’s conversation here on earth.—_W. Wilson, D.D._
HINTS TO PREACHERS
_Verses 2, 3._—I. _Fears are common to all men_, at one time or another.
II. _Improper and inefficacious means_ of removing fear are often
resorted to. III. There is here suggested _a true and effectual method_
of removing fear.—_Robert Morrison (1782-1834), in “A Parting
Memorial.”_
_Verse 3.—“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”_ Whensoever we
are afraid of any evil, we are still to put our trust in God. I. What is
it to put our trust in God? 1. To keep our hearts from desponding or
sinking down under any fears. 2. To comfort ourselves in God. 3. To
expect deliverance from him. II. What is there in God we ought to put
our trust in? 1. In his promises. 2. In his properties. His power,
wisdom, justice, mercy, all-sufficiency. III. Why should we in all our
fears put our trust in God? 1. Because there is none else can secure us
from our fears. Whereas, 2. There are no fears but God can secure us
from them, either by removing the thing feared, or by subduing the fear
of the thing.—_Bishop Beveridge._
_Verse 3._—I. There is fear without trust. II. There is trust without
fear. III. There is fear and trust united.—_G. R._
_Verse 7._—I. From iniquity there is an escape. II. By iniquity there is
no escape. The mercy of God secures the one. The justice of God prevents
the other.—_G. R._
_Verse 8._—Here are—I. Manifold mercies, to reclaim from wanderings. II.
Tender mercies, putting tears in a bottle. III. Covenant mercies, “Are
they not,” etc.—_G. R._
_Verse 9._—I. God is on the side of his people. II. He is known to be on
their side. III. In answer to prayer he appears on their side. IV. When
he appears enemies flee. Or—I. The fact, God is for me. II. The
knowledge of that fact—“This I know.” III. The use of that
knowledge—“When I cry,” etc. IV. The consequence of that use—“Mine
enemies turn back.”—_G. R._
_Verse 10._—I. “I will praise God _for_ his word.” II. _In_ his word, as
he is there revealed. III. _By_ his word. “Thou hast put a song,” etc.
_Verse 12._—Here is—I. Past dedication. II. Present consecration. III.
Future glorification.—_G. R._
_Verses 12, 13._—You have here—I. The commemoration of former mercies:
“Thou hast delivered.” II. The confidence of future: “Wilt not thou.”
III. The end of all: “To walk before God in the light of the
living.”—_Stephen Charnock._
_Verse 13._—I. The language of Gratitude—“Thou hast,” etc. II. Of
Faith—“Wilt not thou,” etc. III. Of Hope—“That I may walk,” etc.—_G. R._
Footnote 28:
Leather or skin bottle.
PSALM LVII.
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._ Al-taschith, _i.e._, DESTROY NOT. _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 this 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._
DIVISIONS.—_We have here prayer, 1-6, and praise, 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._
EXPOSITION.
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.
2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth _all
things_ for me.
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.
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.
5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; _let_ thy glory _be_
above all the earth.
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.
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 we 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._” 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. 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.
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.
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. Not 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.
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 felt 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
canine, 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. No weapon is so terrible as a tongue sharpened on the
devil’s grindstone; yet even this we need not fear, for “No weapon that
is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.”
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
up 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.
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 designs 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.
7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give
praise.
8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I _myself_ will
awake early.
9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto
thee among the nations.
10 For thy mercy _is_ great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the
clouds.
11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: _let_ thy glory _be_
above all the earth.
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.”
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. No 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 far 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.
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 o’erleaps 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.
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 vaster and sublimer
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.
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 higher,
and knows no bound.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_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, _Al-taschith_, _Michtam of David_. _Al-taschith_
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 pathetical ejaculation;
_Al-taschith_, 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 (1627-1691), 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 Ps. cxlii., 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
sheep-cotes,” 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 (ver. 2); in which he
only gradually gains a stout heart (ver. 8). His life was really
suspended by a hair if Saul or any of his attendants had espied
him!—_Augustus F. Tholuck, 1856._
_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 into 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
Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature.”_