John Gill Commentary Psalms 57

Be merciful unto me, O God
Or "be gracious to me" ^F11; which words are repeated by him. "Be merciful", or "gracious, unto me"; to show the greatness of his distress, the eagerness, vehemency, and importunity he used in prayer; his case requiring a speedy answer, and immediate relief; and that he expected only from the mercy and grace of God; (See Gill on Psalms 56:1);

for my soul trusteth in thee;
or "in your word"; as the Targum; and in you only, both as the God of providence and the God of grace; and a great act of faith this was to trust in the Lord in such circumstances; and it was not a bare profession of trust, but it was hearty and sincere; his "soul" trusted in the Lord; he trusted in him with all his heart and soul, and trusted him with his soul or life: and this he makes a reason or argument for mercy; seeing, as the mercy of the Lord is an encouragement to faith and hope; so the Lord has declared, that he takes pleasure in those that hope and trust in it; wherefore mercy may be expected by such;

yes, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge;
or "I will hope" ^{l}; the meaning is, that he would betake himself to the power and protection of God, and make him his refuge from the enemy: the allusion is either to the hen, or any other bird covering its young with its wings, when a bird of prey is near, till that is gone; or to the cherubim, whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat, between which the glory of God dwelt; and so the Targum,

``in the shadow of your Shechinah, or glorious Majesty, will I trust;'' which agrees with his applying to the mercy seat, or to God on a throne of grace and mercy: and here he determines to abide,

until [these] calamities be overpast;
the storm of them was over, which was very black and threatening. The Targum is,

``until the tumult is over;'' and so the Syriac version; until Saul and his men were gone, of whom he was afraid. The Septuagint version, and those that follow it, render the words "until sin passeth away"; the cause of these troubles; unless sin is put for sinful men; and so the sense is as before; see (Isaiah 26:20) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: (ynnx) "gratiam fac mihi", Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius; so Piscator, Ainsworth.

I will cry to God most high
To remember him in his low estate, and who is higher than the highest, than Saul and his mighty men with him. This epithet David no doubt made use of, to encourage his faith in the Lord, who is above all, and can do all things; as follows;

to God that performs [all things] for me ;
in a providential way, having made him, upheld him in being, fed and clothed him, preserved him, and followed him with his goodness all his days; and in a way of grace he performed all his purposes concerning him, all his promises to him, and was performing and would perfect the work of grace in him; see (Psalms 138:8) (Philippians 1:6) .

The Targum adds a fable by way of paraphrase on the text,``who commanded, or prepared a spider, to perfect in the mouth of the cave a web for me;'' so it is in the king's Bible; as if, when he was in the cave, God so ordered it in his providence, that a spider should spin a web over the month of it, which prevented his persecutors from searching for him in it; but the Scripture is silent in this matter. Such a story is reported of Felix, bishop of Nola, in ecclesiastical history ^F13 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 23. col. 611.

He shall send from heaven, and save me
His angel, as the Targum adds; or his angels, as Kimchi; who are ministering spirits, sent forth by him, to encamp about his people, and guard them, as they did Jacob when in fear of Esau, (Genesis 32:1Genesis 32:2) ; or to deliver them out of trouble, as Peter when in prison, (Acts 12:7) ; or rather the sense may be, that David did not expect any help and deliverance in an human way, by means of men on earth; but he expected it from above, from heaven, from God above, and which he believed he should have; and he might have a further view to the mission of Christ from heaven to save him, and all the Lord's people; and which he may mention, both for his own comfort, and for the strengthening of the faith of others in that important article;

[from] the reproach of him that would swallow me up .
Meaning Saul; see (Psalms 56:1Psalms 56:2) . The Targum renders it, ``he has reproached him that would swallow me up for ever;'' and to the same sense the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Syriac versions; disappointed them, and filled them with reproach, shame, and confusion.

Selah; on this word, (See Gill on Psalms 3:2).

God shall send forth his mercy and his truth ;
shall manifest and display the glory of these his perfections, his mercy and grace, his truth and faithfulness, in his deliverance and salvation; and which are remarkably glorified in salvation by Christ Jesus; and who himself may be called "his grace and his truth" ^F14 , as the words may be rendered; he being the Word of his grace, and truth itself, and full of both; and by whom, when sent forth, grace and truth came, (John 1:14John 1:17) ; it may also intend a constant supply of grace, whereby God would show forth the truth of his promises to him.

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (wtmaw wdox) "gratiam et veritatem suam", Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.

My soul [is] among lions
Not literally understood; though such there might be in the wildernesses where he sometimes was; but figuratively, men comparable to lions, for their stoutness, courage, strength, fierceness, and cruelty; meaning not his own men, as some think, who were fierce, and of keen resentment against Saul, and would fain have killed him when he was in the cave, had they not been restrained by David, (1 Samuel 24:4 1 Samuel 24:7) ; but Saul, and those with him, who were three thousand chosen men, stout, courageous, fierce, and furious. It is usual in scripture to describe powerful princes, and especially persecuting ones, by the name of lions, (Proverbs 28:15) (Jeremiah 50:17) (2 Timothy 4:17) . Achilles, in Homer ^F15 , is compared to a lion for his cruelty. The soul of Christ was among such, when he was apprehended by the band of men that came with Judas to take him; when he was in the high priest's hall buffeted and spit upon; and when he was in the common hall of Pilate, surrounded by the Roman soldiers; and when he was encircled on the cross with the crowd of the common people, priests and elders, (Matthew 26:55Matthew 26:67) (Matthew 27:27Matthew 27:39Matthew 27:41) (Psalms 22:12Psalms 22:13Psalms 22:21) ; and so the souls of his people are often among lions, persecuting men, and Satan and his principalities, who is compared to a roaring lion, (1 Peter 5:8) ; and among whom they are as wonderfully preserved as Daniel in the lion's den;

[and] I lie [even among] them that are set on fire ;
of hell, as the tongue is said to be in (James 3:6) ; by the devil, who stirred up Saul against David, filled him with wrath and fury, so that he breathed out nothing but flaming vengeance, threatening and slaughter, against him; and by wicked men his courtiers, who kindled and stirred up the fire of contention between them; among these incendiaries, as Junius renders the word ^F16 , David was, who inflamed the mind of Saul against him, which he suggests in (1 Samuel 24:10) ;

[even] the sons of men, whose teeth [are] spears and arrows ;
whose words, formed by means of their teeth, were very devouring ones, (Psalms 52:4) ; were very piercing and wounding; calumnies, detractions, and backbitings, speaking against him when absent and at a distance, may be meant; see (Proverbs 30:14) ;

and their tongue a sharp sword; (See Gill on Psalms 52:2); and there was a sort of swords called "lingulae", because in the shape of a tongue ^F17 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F15: Iliad. 24. v. 40, 41.
• F16: (Myjhl) "incendiarios", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "flammantes", Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth, Cocceius, Vatablus, Musculus.
• F17: A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 10. c. 25.

Be you exalted, O God, above the heavens
That is, show yourself to be God, that sit in the heavens, and are higher than they, by saving me, and disappointing my enemies; that I, and those that are with me, may magnify the Lord and exalt his name together. The Targum is, ``be you exalted above the angels of heaven, O God;''

[let] your glory [be] above all the earth ;
that is, above all the inhabitants of the earth, as the Chaldee paraphrase: let the glory of God in my deliverance be seen by all that dwell upon the earth; for the lower and more distressed his case and condition were, the more would the glory of God be displayed in bringing him out of it. Nothing lies nearer the hearts of the people of God than his glory; this is more desirable than their own salvation: David breathes after the one, when he says nothing of the other, that being uppermost; though his meaning is, that the one might be brought about by the other.