Psalms 57:1-7

1 To the victory, lose thou not the seemly song, either the sweet song, of David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the den. God, have mercy on me, have thou mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. And I shall hope in the shadow of thy wings; till wickedness pass. (To victory, destroy thou not the comely song, or the sweet song, of David, when he fled from the face of Saul into the cave. God, have mercy on me, have thou mercy on me; for my soul trusteth in thee. And I shall trust in the shadow of thy wings, until all wickedness pass by.)

2 I shall cry to God alder-highest; to God that did well to me. (I shall cry to the Most High God; to God who did so much good for me.)

3 He sent from heaven, and delivered me; he gave into shame them that defoul me. God sent his mercy and his truth, (He sent from heaven, and saved me; he shamed those who persecute me. God showed his love and his faithfulness,)

4 and delivered my soul from the midst of whelps of lions; I slept troubled, or disturbed. The sons of men, the teeth of them be armours and arrows; and their tongue is a sharp sword. (and saved me from the midst of those ravenous lions. Yea, those sons of men, whose teeth be like arms, or spears, and arrows; and whose tongues be like sharp swords.)

5 God, be thou enhanced above heavens; and thy glory above all earth. (God, be thou exalted above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth.)

6 They made ready a snare to my feet; and they greatly bowed my life. They delved a ditch before my face; and they felled down into it. (They prepared a snare for my feet; and they greatly bowed down my life. They dug a ditch before me; but they themselves fell down into it.)

7 God, mine heart is ready, mine heart is ready; I shall sing, and I shall say psalm. (God, my heart is ready, my heart is ready; I shall sing, yea, I shall sing a song.)

Psalms 57:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. Some think the words "Altaschith" are the beginning of a song, to the tune of which this was set, as Aben Ezra; others, that they are taken from Deuteronomy 9:26; they signifying "destroy not" {g}; others, that they refer to what David said to Abishai, when he would have slain Saul, "destroy him not," 1 Samuel 26:9; but that was an affair that happened after this psalm was penned: they seem rather to be words which were frequently used by David in the time of his distress; who often said unto the Lord, either in an ejaculatory way, or vocally, or both, "do not destroy [me]," or "suffer [me] to be destroyed"; of which he was in great danger, as appears from Psalm 57:4; and therefore prefixed these words in the title of the psalm, in memorial of the inward anguish of his mind, and of what his mouth then uttered; and to this agrees the Chaldee paraphrase, "concerning the trouble at the time when David said, do not destroy."

Of the word "michtam," See Gill on "Ps 16:1," title. The occasion and time of writing this psalm were David's fleeing from Saul in the cave; or rather "into" {h} the cave, as it should be rendered; for it was after that Saul was gone that David and his men came out of the cave; but he fled hither for fear of Saul; and while he was here, Saul, with three thousand men, came to the mouth of the cave, and he himself went into it; which must have put David and his men into a very great panic, there being no retreat, nor any human possibility of an escape, but must expect to fall into the hands of the enemy, and be cut to pieces at once. This cave was in Engedi, 1 Samuel 24:1; of which Le Bruyn {i} says, it is on the top of a very high hill, and is extremely dark; which agrees with the account in the above place, since it was on the rocks of the wild goats Saul sought David, and coming to the sheepcotes there, went into the cave where David was.

{g} txvt-la "ne disperdas," V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "ne perdas," Tigurine version, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis {h} hremb "in speluncam," V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. "in specum," Tigurine version. {i} Voyage to the Levant, ch. 51. p. 199.