Psalms 57
Big idea: Composed in a cave, and the strangest thing about it is the schedule. My heart is steadfast, God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing. Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn. A hunted man decides to get up before sunrise and play music. The psalm's refrain — be exalted, God, above the heavens; let your glory be above all the earth — appears twice, once after the lions and once after the singing, so the same sentence has to carry both.
Psalm 57 wakes the dawn from a cave. Psalm 58 addresses the judges who put him there.
57:1–5 — In the shadow of your wings
Written in a cave, according to its title, and it asks for a different kind of shelter than the one he is in. 'The shadow of your wings' is a bird over a nest, and the phrase that follows is the movement's honesty: UNTIL disaster has passed. He is not asking for the disaster to be cancelled but for cover while it goes over. And in the middle of the lions, a refrain about glory that has nothing to do with his situation.
1 For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for my soul takes refuge in you. Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, until disaster has passed. 2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me. 3 He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth. 4 My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be above all the earth!
57:6–11 — I will wake up the dawn
The second half is the same psalm with the pressure released, and it contains the Psalter's best boast: 'I will wake up the dawn.' A man in a cave proposes to get up before the sun and start playing, so that the morning arrives to find the music already going. Verses 7–11 are reused as the opening of Psalm 108, which is one of the clearest signs the psalms circulated as parts.
6 They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah. 7 My heart is steadfast, God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises. 8 Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn. 9 I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies. 11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).