Psalms 57:1-9

1 To the Overseer. -- `Destroy not.' -- A secret treasure of David, in his fleeing from the face of Saul into a cave. Favour me, O God, favour me, For in Thee is my soul trusting, And in the shadow of Thy wings I trust, Until the calamities pass over.

2 I call to God Most High, To God [who] is perfecting for me.

3 He sendeth from the heaven, and saveth me, He reproached -- who is panting after me. Selah. God sendeth forth His kindness and His truth.

4 My soul [is] in the midst of lions, I lie down [among] flames -- sons of men, Their teeth [are] a spear and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.

5 Be Thou exalted above the heavens, O God, Above all the earth Thine honour.

6 A net they have prepared for my steps, Bowed down hath my soul, They have digged before me a pit, They have fallen into its midst. Selah.

7 Prepared is my heart, O God, Prepared is my heart, I sing and praise.

8 Awake, mine honour, awake, psaltery and harp, I awake the morning dawn.

9 I thank Thee among the peoples, O Lord, I praise Thee among the nations.

Psalms 57:1-9 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.