Psalms 57:8

Awake up, my glory,.... Meaning his soul, whom Jacob calls his honour, Genesis 49:6; it being the most honourable, glorious, and excellent part of man; is the breath of God, of his immediate

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. -Determination to praise God. Verse 7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed - literally, prepared, established.

My glory; either, 1. My soul; or rather, 2. My tongue, the instrument of singing, which he was now about to do, ,9. I myself will awake early; I will rouse up and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth God’ s praises.

Psalms 57:8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I [myself] will awake early.Ver. 8. Awake up, my glory] He rouseth himself out of his natural drowsiness, as Samson once went forth and shook himself. I myself will awake early] Or, I will awaken the morning, as the cock, by his early crowing, is said to do. Non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris Evocat auroram - (Ovid. Metam. lib. 11).

(8) My glory.—See Note, Psalms 7:5. I myself will awake early.—Perhaps, rather, I will rouse the dawn. Comp Ovid. Met. xi. 597, where the cock is said evocare Auroram; and Milton, still more nearly: “Oft listening how the hounds and horn, Cheerily rouse the slumbering morn”—L’Allegro.)

Verse 8. Awake up, my glory] Instead of כבודי kebodi, "my glory," one MS., and the Syriac, have כנורי kinnori, "my harp." Dr. Kennicott reads כבורי kebori, which he supposes to be some instrument of music; and adds that the instrument used in church-music by the Ethiopians is now called כבר kaber. I think the Syriac likely to be the true reading: "Awake up, my harp; awake, psaltery and harp: I will awake early." Such repetitions are frequent in the Hebrew poets. If we read my glory, it may refer either to his tongue; or, which is more likely, to his skill in composition, and in playing on different instruments. The five last verses of this Psalm are nearly the same with the five first verses of Ps 108:1-5. The reason of this may be, the notes or memoranda from the psalmist's diary were probably, through mistake, twice copied. The insertion at the beginning of the 108th Psalm seems to bear no relation to the rest of that ode. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi tells us that David had a harp at his bed's head, which played of itself when the north wind blew on it; and then David arose to give praise to God. This account has been treated as a ridiculous fable by grave Christian writers. I would however hesitate, and ask one question: Does not the account itself point out an instrument then well known, similar to the comparatively lately discovered AEolian harp? Was not this the instrument hung at David's bed's head, which, when the night breeze (which probably blew at a certain time) began to act upon the cords, sent forth those dulcet, those heavenly sounds, for which the AEolian harp is remarkable? "Awake, my harp, at the due time: I will not wait for thee now, I have the strongest cause for gratitude; I will awake earlier than usual to sing the praises of my God."

8. Awake up] A common summons to action. Cp. Judges 5:12; Isaiah 51:9; Isaiah 51:17; Isaiah 52:1. my glory] So the soul is designated, either as the noblest part of man, or as the image of the divine glory. Cp. Psalms 7:5; Psalms 16:9; Psalms 30:12. psaltery and harp] Stringed instruments, often coupled together (Psalms 33:2; 1 Samuel 10:5; 2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Kings 10:12; Isaiah 5:12). I myself will awake early] Better, as R.V. marg., I will awake the dawn. A bold and beautiful poetical figure. The dawn is often personified (Job 41:18; Psalms 139:9). Usually it is the dawn that awakes men: he will awake the dawn by his praises before daylight. Cp. Milton, L’Allegro, l. 53, “Oft listening how the hounds and horn Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn.” and Ovid, Metam. xi.597, “Non vigil ales ibi cristati cantibus oris Evocat auroram.”

Awake up, my glory - By the word “glory” here some understand the tongue; others understand the soul itself, as the glory of man.

8. Awake up, my glory—Arouse, my soul. λαγι, (kebodee,) here rendered glory, is sometimes used for the soul as the most honourable and excellent part of man.