Ps 57:1-11. Altaschith -- or, "Destroy not." This is perhaps an enigmatical allusion to the critical circumstances connected with the history, for which compare
1Sa 22:1; 26:1-3. In Moses' prayer (
De 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. Michtam -- (See on
Ps 16:1, title). To an earnest cry for divine aid, the Psalmist adds, as often, the language of praise, in the assured hope of a favorable hearing.
Ps 57:1-11. Altaschith -- or, "Destroy not." This is perhaps an enigmatical allusion to the critical circumstances connected with the history, for which compare
1Sa 22:1; 26:1-3. In Moses' prayer (
De 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. Michtam -- (See on
Ps 16:1, title). To 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 -- (Ps 17:8; 36:7).
calamities -- literally, "mischiefs" (Ps 52:2; 55:10).
2. performeth -- or, completes what He has begun.
3. from ... swallow me up -- that pants in rage after me (Ps 56:2).
mercy and ... truth -- (Ps 25:10; 36:5), as messengers (Ps 43:3) sent to deliver him.
4. The mingled figures of wild beasts (Ps 10:9; 17:12) and weapons of war (Ps 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 Ps 7:15; 9:15, 16).
7. I will ... praise -- both with voice and instrument.
8. Hence -- he addresses his glory, or tongue (Ps 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.
