Psalms 57
What Happens in This Chapter
A prayer of David asking God for mercy while enemies hunt him. He describes himself lying among lions and men whose words cut like swords, and says the trap they dug has caught them instead. The second half turns to singing: he calls on harp and lyre, promises praise among the nations, and repeats the refrain asking that God be lifted above the heavens and his glory cover all the earth.
Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me. I trust you and run to you for safety. I will hide in the shadow of your wings until this trouble has passed.
1Be 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.
"In the shadow of your wings" is a stock image in Hebrew poetry for shelter: a bird spreading its wings over its young. Some readers also hear an echo of the outspread wings of the carved figures over the ark in the temple, under which one took sanctuary.
2I call out to God Most High, to the God who carries through for me everything he has planned.
2I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.
"God Most High" translates the Hebrew title El Elyon, a very old name for God used in Genesis and in the psalms, marking him as highest over every other power.
3He will send help from heaven and save me from the one who wants to swallow me whole. He will shame that enemy. Selah. God will send out his faithful love and his truth.
3He 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.
"Selah" is a Hebrew word left untranslated because nobody knows what it means. It appears only in poetry meant to be sung, and is usually taken as a direction to the musicians, a pause, an instrumental break, or a change in volume.
4I am living among lions. I lie down among people who burn with rage, human beings whose teeth are spears and arrows and whose tongues are sharp swords.
4My 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.
The Hebrew word behind "burn with rage" is uncertain: it can describe people blazing with fury, or the flames themselves, so the line has also been read as "I lie down among devouring flames." The picture either way is of a man lying down surrounded by things that eat.
5Be lifted high, God, higher than the heavens. Let your glory cover the whole earth.
5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
This line comes back word for word as the last verse of the psalm. Repeating a line at intervals like this is a standard device in Hebrew song, the equivalent of a refrain.
6They spread a net where I walk. I was bent low with grief. They dug a pit in my path, and they fell into it themselves. Selah.
6They 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.
Both images come from hunting: a net pegged out flat on a path to tangle an animal's legs, and a covered pit dug so that the animal drops into it. Used of people, they mean a trap laid in secret.
7My heart is steady, God. My heart is steady. I will sing and make music.
7My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
8Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn myself.
8Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
The Hebrew says "awake, my glory." "My glory" here means the speaker's own inner self, the most honorable part of a person, standing for the whole. The harp and lyre are stringed instruments plucked by hand, standard equipment for temple singers. "I will wake the dawn" reverses the ordinary order: instead of the daylight waking the singer, he rises first and sings the sun up.
9I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the peoples. I will sing to you among the nations.
9I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.
10Your faithful love is as high as the heavens. Your truth reaches to the clouds.
10For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
11Be lifted high, God, higher than the heavens. Let your glory cover the whole earth.
11Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
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