Psalm 57 · NIVAC

Original Meaning

The Heading (57:0)

NO NEW TERMS appear in the heading of Psalm 57, which is referred to “the director of music” and attributed to David. Psalm 57 is the seventh psalm in the second Davidic collection (Pss. 51–72) and is the second of five consecutive psalms (Pss. 56–60) categorized as miktam and sharing numerous similarities in the contents of their headings.1 Psalm 57 introduces the phrase ʾal tašḥet (“Do Not Destroy”), which is apparently a song tune repeated in Psalms 58–59. Outside these psalms, this tune is mentioned only in the heading of the Asaphite Psalm 75.

Psalm 57 also contains a historical note (like Pss. 56; 59; 60 in this grouping) that connects it to an event in the life of David: “When he had fled from Saul into the cave.” The reference, while somewhat ambiguous, is generally thought to relate to the episode recorded in 1 Samuel 24:1–3. There is nothing in the text that demands this context, but much of the metaphorical language is appropriate for such a situation of beleaguered attack. The emphasis in verse 9 on testimony among the “peoples” (ʿammim) and “ethnic communities” (leʾummim) may indicate an adaptation of the psalm to the needs of the postexilic Diaspora community.

Bridging Contexts

PRAISING YAHWEH AMONG THE NATIONS. The psalmist promises to “praise you, O Lord, among the nations” (57:9), although the Hebrew behind “nations” downplays a more nationalistic interpretation by replacing the standard political designation goyim (non-Jewish “nations”) with the sociological term ʿammim (“tribes, related people”). A less nationalistic interpretation is confirmed in the next line, where the parallel phrase “among the peoples” uses the designation leʾummim (“ethnic group”).

The voicing of the praise of Yahweh “among the tribes and ethnic groups of the world” is a repeated reference to Israel’s role as witness to the world. In a number of passages where the word ʿammim is used, Israel is called to testify primarily in two respects concerning God: his name and his mighty deeds. In 96:3 Israel is exhorted to “declare his glory among the nations [goyim], his marvelous deeds among all peoples [ʿammim].”11 Three other verses that are practically identical confirm this encouragement: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations [ʿammim] what he has done” (1 Chron. 16:8; Ps. 105:1; Isa. 12:4; cf. Ps. 9:11).

Israel is also to testify to the glory of God’s name: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations [ʿammim] what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted” (Isa. 12:4; cf. 1 Chron. 16:8; Ps. 105:1). The use in the opening phrase of the divine name Yahweh (NIV “LORD”) suggests it is this name that is to be proclaimed among the non-Israelite nations. The proclamation of Yahweh’s name is tantamount to declaring his universal sovereignty, as Psalm 96:10 confirms: “Say among the nations [goyim], ‘The LORD reigns.’ The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples [ʿammim] with equity.”12

Praising the name and deeds of Yahweh among the peoples of the world was a particularly poignant experience for exilic Israel. Before the Exile, the name and deeds of Yahweh were bound up with the nation Israel/Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem temple. Jerusalem was the place Yahweh chose for his name to dwell, the temple was to be built there, and David’s eternal kingdom was to be established (Deut. 12:5, 21; 14:24; 2 Sam. 7:5–16; 1 Kings 14:21 = 2 Chron. 12:13; Neh. 1:9; Ezra 6:12; Ps. 132).

But with the collapse of the kingdom and the deportation of most of the populace after the destruction of the temple and city by the Babylonians (ca. 587 B.C.), nation, city, and temple were all far removed from the lives of the Diaspora community. The agony of loss and living “among the nations” is clearly expressed in Psalm 137. The memory of Jerusalem brought tears to the eyes of the exiles and froze their tongues in their mouths: “How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?” (137:4). That is, how is it possible to praise the name and deeds of Yahweh when we have been carried away into the lands of the Babylonian deities?

Surprisingly, the very next psalm (Ps. 138) provides a response in its opening verses.

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;

before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

I will bow down toward your holy temple

and will praise your name

for your love and faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.

Just at the darkest hour, when all seemed lost, the word of praise breaks through even in a foreign land, even “among the nations.” Here the singer breaks forth into praise of Yahweh’s name “before the gods [ʾelohim]”—a probable reference to the gods of the pagan foreigners, those gods who might be thought to have defeated Yahweh and carried his people into captivity. The psalmist is unimpressed by the apparent defeat of Yahweh and orients his prayers to the temple in Jerusalem, to praise Yahweh’s name and his “love” [ḥesed] and “faithfulness” [ʾemet].”13

The psalmist’s praise fulfills the call to Israel to praise the name and deeds of Yahweh “among the nations,” and the result is that the kings of the earth join in the praise of God: “May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great” (138:4–5). Testifying to the name and deeds of Yahweh in the midst of the nations is one way to fulfill the calling to be a “light to the nations” so that the whole earth may know the salvation of God.

Contemporary Significance

A PSALM LIKE Psalm 57 shares so much in common with the other laments of the Psalter that it would be easy to get caught up in an endless round of repetition and continue to emphasize the same issues and themes. Those repeated themes are certainly here: God as refuge14; the fact that refuge is within the experience of attack, pain, suffering; the necessity of trust; and the confidence in divine deliverance. But I would like to focus our attention here on two other aspects of the teaching of Psalm 57—ones that are not, perhaps, as common as those just mentioned, yet stand at the heart of the psalm and our experience of God.

Be exalted, O God. The first aspect is encapsulated in the repeated refrain that structures the psalm in 57:5 and 11. As mentioned in the introductory section on Hebrew poetry, repeated refrains usually drive home the central message of the composition. If so, then Psalm 57 is about the hope expressed in the anticipated exaltation of God over all that he has made. The psalmist desires the exaltation of God “above the heavens” and wants to see his glory spread “over all the earth.” In this merism “heaven” and “earth” mark the outer limits of God’s creation and represent all he has made. In this phrase, then, the psalmist acknowledges that God is beyond the heavens and unlimited by what he has created, and yet his glory can still fill creation with his presence.

God is not the creation (as in animism), nor is he confined within it (like the pagan gods of Mesopotamia, who feared dissolution along with the earth in the Mesopotamian Flood account). Yahweh is above the heavens, outside what he made. Yet he is not deus absconditus, a God who created and then withdrew to leave his creation on its own. God’s glory can fill his creation when he comes. This God knows and can be known, loves and can be loved in return.

It is important that the first refrain intrudes into the midst of the “disaster” in Psalm 57. The psalmist seeks refuge in the shadow of God’s wings “until the disaster has passed” (57:1). There immediately follows a plea for divine deliverance (57:2–3) and then a description of the disaster he experiences (57:4–6). Surrounded by ravenous lions, threatened by destructive beasts, the psalmist is waylaid by enemies and threatened by traps. But right in the middle of this description of threat the first refrain breaks forth. Following the fearsome beasts and just before the treacherous enemies, a song exalting God escapes the tightly clenched lips of the psalmist: “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth” (57:5).

This is light breaking forth in the midst of darkness. “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome [NIV text note] it” (John 1:5). Like our own experience of Christ, often God breaks in as light into our own darkness. Darkness may remain before and after, but the light, kindled by the life, death, and work of Jesus, continues to shine in the darkness and not to be overcome. This is a marvelous and encouraging image. Ravening beasts before and an ambush laid behind, but in the middle the hope of the exalted sovereign God over “heaven and earth”!

As the first refrain breaks into the darkness of the psalmist’s attack, the second sums up the hope of this psalm. Standing at the end, the final refrain reaffirms the message of the first: God is sovereign over all he has made. He is present with us in and through our experience. He knows and can be known.

God fulfills his purpose for me. The second element to consider almost slides by without notice in the psalm. “I cry out,” says the psalmist, “to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me” (57:2). What might this mean, that God fulfills his purpose for me? It ought to be encouraging and comforting. Even in the face of “disaster,” God has a purpose that cannot be frustrated or derailed. The curse of God’s so-called “perfect plan for our lives,” which many of us hear about from an early age, is that we are often left with the impression that unless we attend perfectly to God’s leading and discern his will rightly in all instances, we will never be able to fulfill the perfect purpose he has for us. It is as if our lives are a convoluted maze with only one single right path, and every misstep leads us deeper into the tangled maze and further from God’s will.

Psalm 57 offers us an alternative understanding of God’s wonderful purpose for our lives: He will fulfill it for me! Rather than a constantly bifurcating maze with no way of return, the psalmist’s view of life is more like an infinite number of pathways, all emanating from the center, which is God. One may choose to move to or away from God on any number of these life paths, but from any point we can make the decision to turn to him and proceed along the path (and others) to ultimate reunion with him. And along the way, as we are seeking our path home, God sends his love (ḥesed) and his faithfulness (ʾemet) to guide us.15

What a wonderful source of hope! God will fulfill his purpose for us, and even as we are struggling in the midst of our enemies, he upholds us with his loyalty and enduring faithfulness. No wonder the psalmist breaks forth into praise: “I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples” (57:9).

Original Meaning

Plea for Deliverance (57:1–5)

THE OPENING WORDS of Psalm 57 are identical with those of Psalm 56 (“Have mercy on me, O God”), but Psalm 57 goes on to emphasize the psalmist’s desire for deliverance by repetition of the initial imperative, “have mercy on me.” Rather than focusing on the treacherous attack of the wicked as does Psalm 56, the psalmist here brings to the foreground a confident sense of God as the place of “refuge” in time of trouble.

The verb “take refuge” is used twice, the first time in the perfect form indicating past reliance on God (lit., “in you my soul has sought refuge”), and the second in the imperfect, suggesting continued dependence on God as refuge (lit., “in the shadow of your wings I will [continue to] seek refuge”).

In the shadow of your wings. The image of hiding under the protective spread of the divine wings is used several times in the Psalter (cf. Pss. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 63:7) and may well draw on the image of a protective hen gathering her brood under her wings (cf. Isa. 34:15; Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34). Some commentators understand this phrase as referring to taking asylum in the Jerusalem temple before the ark of the covenant and under the wings of its overshadowing cherubim.2 Regardless of which interpretation is followed, the psalmist seeks protection until the “disaster” (hawwot)3 has passed.

The psalmist’s desire to seek refuge is based on an understanding of God that inspires confidence. God is one who “fulfills his purpose” for the psalmist. The precise nature of that purpose is not clarified here, but it is certain that God’s divine plans will not be undermined by the plots and attacks of the enemies. In addition, God inspires confidence because he acts in behalf of the psalmist and in opposition to those who “hotly pursue.”4 The psalmist asserts this willingness to protect the faithful in that God “sends his love and his faithfulness” (57:3).

Once again, finding refuge in God does not mean the psalmist will escape any vestige of suffering. Rather, as verse 4 makes clear, refuge is in the midst of trouble and provides an enduring confidence even in the face of all evidence to the contrary. The psalmist’s foes are like ravenous beasts of prey, whose teeth are compared to implements of war—spears, arrows, and sharp swords.5 Yet, in such a threatening context, he is able to “lie down” in security (cf. 3:5; 4:8).

Be exalted, O God. The first section of the psalm ends with the first appearance of the refrain that both praises God and marks out the source of the psalmist’s hope. In expressing the desire that God be exalted “above the heavens” and that his glory (kabod) “be over all the earth” the poet is using a merism6 to inculcate God’s rule over everything that is. Moreover, he calls for God’s glorious appearance in theophany—an appearance that will vanquish evil and set the world (including the psalmist’s circumstances) right.