John Calvin Commentary Psalms 57

Be merciful unto me, O God! The repetition of the prayer proves that the grief, the anxiety, and the apprehension that filled David at this time must have been unusually intense. It is noticeable that his plea for mercy is his having hoped in God.

His soul trusted in him; and this is a form of expression whose force should not be overlooked, for it implies that the trust he exercised came from his very innermost affections—that it was not volatile, but deeply and strongly rooted. He declares the same truth in figurative terms when he adds his conviction that God would cover him with the shadow of his wings.

The Hebrew word חסה, chasah, which I have translated to hope, occasionally signifies to lodge, or obtain shelter, and in this sense it may be understood very appropriately in this passage, where an allusion is made to the shadow of wings. In short, David had committed himself entirely to God's guardianship and now experienced that blessed consciousness of dwelling in a place of safety, which he expresses in the beginning of Psalm 90.

The divine protection is compared to the shadow of wings because God, as I have elsewhere observed, to invite us more familiarly to himself, is represented as stretching out his wings, like a hen or other birds, to shelter their young. The greater our ingratitude and perversity in being so slow to comply with such an endearing and gentle invitation!

He does not merely say, in general, that he would hope in God and rest under the shadow of his wings, but particularly that he would do so at the time when wickedness should pass over him like a storm or whirlwind. The Hebrew word הוה, hovah, which I have rendered wickedness, some translate power. Be that as it may, it is evident he declares that God would prove to be his refuge, and God's wings his shelter, under every tempest of affliction that blew over him.

There are seasons when we are privileged to enjoy the calm sunshine of prosperity; but there is not a day of our lives in which we may not suddenly be overtaken by storms of affliction, and it is necessary that we should be persuaded that God will cover us with his wings.

To hope he adds prayer. Indeed, those who have placed their trust in God will always direct their prayers to him; and David here gives a practical proof of his hope by showing that he turned to God in his emergencies. In addressing God, he applies an honorable title to him, commending him as the God who performed whatever he had promised or (as we may understand the expression) who carries forward to perfection the work which he has begun.

The Hebrew word גמר, gomer, employed here, seems to be used in the same sense as in Psalm 138:8, as the scope of both passages is the same. It materially confirms and sustains our hope to reflect that God will never forsake the workmanship of his own hands—that he will perfect the salvation of his people and continue his divine guidance until he has brought them to the termination of their course.

Some read, to God, who rewards me; but this fails to bring out the force of the expression. It would be more to the purpose, in my judgment, to read, God, who fails me; in which case the sentence would, of course, need to be understood adversatively: that though God failed him and did not stretch out his hand for his deliverance, he would still persist in crying to him.

The other meaning, which some have suggested, I will cry to God, who performs, or exerts to the utmost, his severity against me, is evidently forced, and the context leads us to understand the word as referring to the goodness of God, whose constancy in perfecting his work, once begun, should always be present to our remembrance.

He shall send from heaven, and save me. David, as I have repeatedly had occasion to observe, interlaces his prayers with holy meditations for the comfort of his own soul, in which he contemplates his hopes as already realized in the event. In the words before us, he glories in the divine help with as much assurance as if he had already seen the hand of God interposed on his behalf.

When it is said, he shall send from heaven, some consider the expression as elliptical, meaning that he would send his angels; but it seems rather to be an indefinite form of speech, signifying that the deliverance David expected was not common, but a signal and miraculous one.

The expression denotes the greatness of the interposition he looked for, and heaven is opposed to earthly or natural means of deliverance.

What follows can be rendered in two different ways. We may supply the Hebrew preposition מ, mem, and read, He shall save me from the reproach; or it might be better to understand the words appositively: He shall save me, to the reproach of him who swallows me up. The latter expression might be rendered, from him who waits for me. His enemies gaped at him in their eagerness to accomplish his destruction and insidiously watched their opportunity; but God would deliver him, to their disgrace.

God is said to strike His enemies with shame and reproach when He disappoints their expectations. The deliverance David anticipated was signal and miraculous; and he adds that he looked for it entirely from the mercy and truth of God, which he here represents as the hands, so to speak, by which God extends His assistance to His people.

My soul is among lions. He again insists on the cruelty of his enemies as a plea to prevail with God for his swifter intervention. 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 vicious slanders spread by the wicked, 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 slanderous charges directed against him by his enemies. When we hear of the cruel persecution of different kinds that this saint was called upon to endure, we should consider it no hardship to be involved in the same conflict, but be satisfied as long as we may bring our complaints to the Lord, who can bridle the false tongue and restrain the hand of violence.

To him we find David appealing in the words that follow: Exalt yourself, O God! above the heavens: let your glory be above all the earth. To perceive the appropriateness of this prayer, we must reflect upon the height of audacity and pride to which the wicked proceed when unrestrained by the providence of God. We must also consider the formidable nature of that conspiracy directed against David by Saul and the nation in general. All of this 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, the opposition of the wicked is directed, and he will never allow 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 laments the treachery and deceit practiced against him. His soul he describes as being bowed down, in allusion to the crouching of the body when someone 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 on 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 that is frequently taken with a neuter meaning. Although the Hebrew word נפש, nephesh, rendered soul, is feminine, this is not the only place where we find it with a masculine adjunct.

My heart is prepared, O God! Some read fixed, or confirmed, and the Hebrew word נכון, nacon, has that meaning as well as the other. If we adopt it, we must understand David as saying that he had carefully meditated on the praises he was about to offer; that he did not rush into a hurried and superficial performance of this service, as too many are apt to do, but approached it with steadfast purpose of heart.

I prefer, however, the other translation, which indicates that he was ready to begin the service with all cheerfulness and cordiality. And although, wherever this spirit is truly felt, it will lead to steadfastness in religious exercise, it is not without importance that the reader should be made aware of the significance of the word used here in the Hebrew.

The ready heart is here contrasted by David with the mere lip-service of the hypocrite, on the one hand, and with dead or sluggish service, on the other. He approached this voluntary sacrifice with a sincere fervor of spirit, casting aside sloth, and whatever might prove a hindrance in the duty.

Awake up, my tongue—David here expresses, in poetic terms, the fervor 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 as tongue, some have rendered as glory; but although this is its more common meaning, it also has this other meaning in Psalm 16 and in numerous other places in Scripture.

The context proves this to be its meaning here, with David indicating that he would celebrate the praises of God both with his voice and with instrumental music. He assigns the first place to the heart, the second to declaration with the mouth, and the third to accompaniments that stimulate greater fervor in this service.

It matters little whether we render the verb אעירה, airah, as I will be awakened, or transitively, as I will awake myself at dawn. But we are taught here that one who is truly awakened to the practice of praising God will be diligent in every part of this duty.