1Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your
wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have
passed by.
2I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things
for me.
3He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who
would swallow me up. Selah
God shall send forth His mercy
and His truth.
4My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
Whose teeth are spears and
arrows,
And their tongue a sharp
sword.
5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the
earth.
6They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they
themselves have fallen. Selah
7My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the
nations.
10For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the
clouds.
11Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all
the earth.
Preamble: David wrote this psalm while in the cave near Adullam, a city in the western foothills of Judah, southwest of Jerusalem (see 1 Samuel 22:1-5)
Commentary
Vs.
1
“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your
wings I will make my refuge,
Until these calamities have
passed by.”
In his desperate fleeing from Saul, David now takes refuge in a cave, and it is while there that he pours out his heart to God. He begins by asking God to be merciful to him, repeating his desire twice, for having been made to flee from his position and rank amongst God’s people, he now is a desperate man in great despair. And even though David’s circumstances look bad at that moment David’s faith has not been overtaken by all these unsettling events that Saul and others have orchestrated against him. No, David’s heart is set on the Lord, “For my soul trusts in You.” Is not catch phrase, it is a personal declaration of his deep trust and faith in the Lord, that the Lord will prevail. Therefore, David now says that he will take his refuge, not in cave (i.e., a stronghold, or something else as a source of security or escape for him), but only in the shadow of the Lord’s wings, which always casts a very large shadow over His people, that has covered him, and will now cover him wherever he must now go, “Until these calamities have passed by,” thus David has no desire to avenge himself of all the evil done to him, rather he will wait upon the Lord to bring about his return to his rightful place amongst God’s people.
Vs. 2-3 2I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things
for me.
3He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who
would swallow me up. Selah
God shall send forth His mercy
and His truth.
David then will not be silent while being so horribly wronged, he will cry out to God Most High; who is above all rule and power; to our God who performs all things for me. For David knows and believes that his person and life is not in mortal hands to decide, but only in the Lords. Therefore, he now asserts, that the Lord Himself shall send from heaven and save me; He will reproach the one who would shallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. And when He does this there will be no one or nothing that can stop Him!
Vs. 4 “My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
Whose teeth are spears and
arrows,
And their tongue a sharp
sword.”
David now decrees the violent men (the lions) who are stocking him, hunting for his life; men who are set on fire, whose energies, wrath, and anger is all being directed at him; men whose teeth are only spears and arrows, weapons deployed for his destruction; men whose tongues are a sharp sword by which they maliciously slander him to set others on fire against him. There is then no making peace, nor means of peace with any of them. For war and conflict and fighting is all they want. David thus rides the ebbs and tides of faith and distress as he tries to survive the overwhelming opposition.
Vs. 5 “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the
earth.”
Therefore David turns from his current distress to his hearts desire, that God be exalted above the heavens, that His glory be above all the earth. For David was never about glorifying himself, nor seeking great things for himself, he just wanted to glorify the Lord and to enjoy his Fullness and Presence forever. However, the unbelieving sons of men are not so, for they only seek their own glory and power, their own wealth and fame in this life, (often at the expense of others), for after that they have no more. But we have everlasting joy and peace in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we then don't live for the rewards and privileges of this life, but for eternal life with Christ!
Vs. 6 “They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they
themselves have fallen. Selah”
Even though the unbelieving sons of men have set their traps to ensnare David, have dug their pits by which they hope to make him fall to his ruin, so much so that his soul is bowed down in heaviness by their unrelenting cruelty, David sees that they themselves have only made the way for their own downfall and ruin. Such then is the assurance for every child of God, for the world will never overcome us, no not even in death, since it is God’s hand that upholds us, and will hold onto us forever (Isaiah 54:17).
Vs. 7 “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.”
Knowing then that our God is upholding him every moment, David now says that his heart is steadfast, that it is strong for our God, so much so that he will sing and give Him praise even during these perilous times. This then inaugurates a complete change in David's demeanour from distress to now worship and praise!
Vs. 8-9 8Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the
nations.
10For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the
clouds.
David now cannot contain his desire to worship and praise our Lord, not silently, but loudly among the peoples, among the nations, so much so, as to awaken the dawn to join him in worshipping our God and King. For he knows that he is a recipient of God’s everlasting mercies, which reaches unto heavens and his truth unto the clouds!
Vs. 11 “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let Your glory be above all
the earth.”
David’s thoughts then have turned completely from himself to our God, to His exaltation above the heavens, and His Glory being above all the earth!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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