Psalm 57:4-6

4. My soul is among lions; ⁷ and I lie even among them that are set on fire, ⁸ even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5. Exalt thyself, 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.

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.

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. Nor 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 נפש, nephesh, rendered soul, is feminine, this is not the only place where we find it with a masculine adjunct.

Psalm 57:7-11

7. My heart is prepared, O God! my heart is prepared: I will sing, and give praise. 8. Awake up, my tongue: awake, psaltery and harp: I myself shall be awaked ⁹ at dawn of day. 9. I will praise thee, O Lord! among the peoples: 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 prepared, O God! ¹⁰ Some read fixed, or confirmed, and the Hebrew word נכון, nacon, 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.

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. ¹¹ 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.

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.

---

← Psalm 56 · Contents · Psalm 58 →

Footnotes

1. The words, אל-תשחת, al-tascheth, are found in the titles of three other psalms, the 58th, 59th, and 75th. ↩

2. “Ou, hebergeray.” — Fr. marg “Or, will lodge.” ↩

3. The original word, הוות, ha-uoth, for wickedness, the Septuagint here renders sin — “Until sin pass away.” Symmachus explains it in Psalm 55:12, by επηρεια, insulting injury “Simon, from Schultens, has, I think, given the true meaning. הוה, barathrum — est desiderium, idque pravum v. c. cupiditas devorandi — cupiditas dicitur profundum quod, barathrum, quod expleri non potest.” — Fry French and Skinner read, “until their mischief pass away;” “the mischief,” they observe, “now directed against me by my enemies.” ↩

4. “Ou, a la confusion de celuy qui m’a guette.” — Fr. marg. “Or, to the confusion of him who hath laid wait for me.” See note on Psalm 56:1, where the same original word is used. ↩

5. Horsley reads the last clause of the verse, “Upon God, who will bring things to a conclusion for me.” ↩

6. In this all the ancient versions agree: They make חרף, chereph, a verb, and not a noun, regarding it as applicable to God, and conveying the idea that He would deliver David, having put to shame, or to reproach, his enemies. Thus, in the Septuagint, it is “ἔδωκεν εἰς ὄνειδος” and in the Vulgate, “dedit in opprobrium,” “he gave to reproach;” and in like manner in the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions. ↩

7. “Mudge translates literally, ‘I lie with my soul amidst lionesses.’” — Arch. Secker. 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. ↩

8. Fry reads, “I lay down among children of men, who are flaming fire, or breathing flames.” Ainsworth reads, “I lie among inflamers;” “meaning,” says he, “fiery, fierce, and raging persons, that flamed with wrath and envy, and inflamed others. Of such David did complain to Saul, 1 Samuel. 24:40 [sic].” French and Skinner read, “men of fiery spirit; and observe, that the Hebrew is flaming sons of men, i.e., violent men urging on my destruction.” Mant observes, that it may either be “persons set on fire, that is, with rage and malice; or, perhaps, setters on fire, kindlers of mischief, incendiaries.” ↩

9. “Ou, me resueilleray.” — Fr. marg. “Or, I will awake.” ↩

10. This psalm consists of two parts. The preceding verses, which contain the first part, express deep distress and extreme danger, and are of a plaintive and imploring strain. But here, where the second part commences, there is an elegant transition suddenly made to the language of exultation and triumph, which continues to the close of the psalm. ↩

11. Hammond reads, “I will awaken the morning.” Dr Geddes, Archbishop Secker, Street, and Fry, give a similar version. “The verb אעירח,” says Street, “is in the Hiphil conjugation; and therefore transitive; and the word השחר is the objective case after it.” As to translating שחר, early, Archbishop Secker says, “שחר is not elsewhere used adverbially, nor, I believe, with an ellipsis of כ;” and he observes, that “‘I will awaken the morning’ is more grammatical and poetical.” A similar thought frequently occurs in poetry. Thus Ovid says, “Non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris evocat auroram.” “The cock by crowing calls not up the morning there.” And in Milton’s Allegro we meet with the following couplet: — “Oft listening how the hound and horn Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn.” ↩