PSALM 57

Psalms 57:1-11 . Altaschith--or, "Destroy not." This is perhaps an enigmatical allusion to the critical circumstances connected with the history, for which compare 1 Samuel 22:1 , 26:1-3 . In Moses' prayer ( Deuteronomy 9:26 ) it is a prominent petition deprecating God's anger against the people. This explanation suits the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth also. Asaph uses it for the seventy-fifth, in the scope of which there is allusion to some emergency. an earnest cry for divine aid, the Psalmist adds, as often, the language of praise, in the assured hope of a favorable hearing.

1. my soul--or self, or life, which is threatened.
shadow of thy wings--( Psalms 17:8 , 36:7 ).
calamities--literally, "mischiefs" ( Psalms 52:2 , 55:10 ).

2. performeth--or, completes what He has begun.

3. from . . . swallow me up--that pants in rage after me ( Psalms 56:2 ).
mercy and . . . truth--( Psalms 25:10 , 36:5 ), as messengers ( Psalms 43:3 ) sent to deliver him.

4. The mingled figures of wild beasts ( Psalms 10:9 , 17:12 ) and weapons of war ( Psalms 11:2 ) heighten the picture of danger.
whose . . . tongue--or slanders.

5. This doxology illustrates his view of the connection of his deliverance with God's glory.

6. (Compare Psalms 7:15 , Psalms 9:15 Psalms 9:16 ).

7. I will . . . praise--both with voice and instrument.

8. Hence--he addresses his glory, or tongue ( Psalms 16:9 , 30:12 ), and his psaltery, or lute, and harp.
I myself . . . early--literally, "I will awaken dawn," poetically expressing his zeal and diligence.

9, 10. As His mercy and truth, so shall His praise, fill the universe.