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Introduction

We are in a stretch of the psalms which record David’s trials before coming to the promised throne. This psalm is a cry of faith from a very beleaguered and dark time. Since the reference is simply to “the cave,” this is probably the time when David and his six hundred men hid in the cave (1 Sam. 24:1-22), and David cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.

The Text

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.
“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast . . .” (Ps. 57:1-11).

Summary of the Text

The inscription of this psalm locates it at the time when David hid from Saul in the cave. The psalm divides into two main sections—the first being prayer (vv. 1-6) and the second praise (vv. 7-11). In the first part of the psalm, he is deep in the cave, and at v. 7 he comes to the mouth of the cave and stands in the sunlight. He begins with a repeated cry for mercy (v. 1). He does not hide in the cave alone, but under the shadow of God’s wings (v. 1). David cries out, and does so in complete faith (v. 2). God is the one who performs “all things.” He shows his confidence (v. 3), knowing that God will send deliverance from heaven. God sends forth salvation, mercy, and truth. The devil has sharp teeth, as also his servants (v. 4). Whatever happens, David wants God to be exalted
and glorified (v. 5). Caught in a trap, David prays that God be glorified above heaven and earth. David mentions the trap prepared for him, and declares that he knows that his adversaries will fall in it themselves (v. 6). Saul pursued David, but David managed—more than once—to catch Saul. The prayer is offered, and David knows it is heard. He turns at this point in the psalm to praise the Lord. Where does his praise begin? He says “my heart is fixed” (v. 7). That is where praise begins. What is necessary to praise God rightly? Three times David exhorts himself to wake up (v. 8). David resolves not to limit his praise service to the back of the save, but rather to sing among all nations (v. 9), a thing which he has successfully done. His mercy is great, and his truth ascends to the sky (v. 10). Our praise of Him should do its level best to match that (v. 11).

Shadows and Shadows

Like a cloud overhead, David is dealing with various calamities. He is under the shadow of those calamities. When under this kind of shadow, he seeks out the shadow of God’s wings. There are two likely images here—like a chick in danger seeks out refuge under the wings of the mother hen, so we seek out God’s protection. Jesus used this image (Matt. 23:37). And because of the close association with the cry for mercy, remember that the mercy seat, the great mercy seat of the ark of the covenant, was covered over with wings—the wings of the cherubim. In that place we recognize that our troubles are temporal, and our safety is eternal.

Where Praise Begins

For David, his praise begins in the cave. God wants us to grow in our tests and trials by rejoicing before they are over. Always and for everything giving thanks . . . (Eph. 5:20). We praise God for the sunlight while we are still in the cave. We praise God for deliverance while we are still on the run. We praise God for the resurrection before we have died. We live and we die in faith. Praise and worship are not built on the foundation of sentiments; they are built on the bedrock of trust and faith.

A Fixed Heart

The right worship of God begins with resolve. Remembering what we have just said, it has to be a resolve to trust, a resolve to believe. Not only that, but it also has to contain a recognition that resolve is not something we are able to gin up on our own, but is rather the gift of God. So David says that his heart is fixed. Therefore he will sing and give praise. He emphasizes this, saying twice that his heart is fixed. The New Testament tells us a very similar thing about our praise. Singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:15). Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 15:18). This applies to praise and thanks as well as to sins.

Make the World

David tells his glory to wake up. He tells his musical instruments to wake up. And in a striking figure, he tells the dawn to wake up—he is up before the dawn, ready to use the day for praising God. Sluggishness is not a fit condition for praising God. Psalters and hymnals were not made so that we might have something to mumble into. Music should be skillful. Music should be robust. Music should be loud.

The Nations Praise

David wants his praise to extend vertically—he says this twice. This psalm is full of important repetitions. He wants God to be exalted and glorified above the heavens and earth (vv. 5, 11). But he also insists that God be glorified extensively, horizontally, in the presence of all the nations (v.9). Praise extends laterally, and not just vertically. This is a very common theme in the psalms (e.g. Ps. 18:49), one which the apostle Paul notes (Rom. 15:9). How will David do this? Well, we are Gentiles, we are living on the other side of the world from David and his cave, and we are living thousands of years later. What are we doing? We are rejoicing, together with David, and we are using his compositions, his praises, in order to do it. We are those nations, we are the fruit of David’s faith.

Under the Shadow of Thy Wings

A crisis reveals where a man’s faith is. When something threatens, where do we turn. When a hawk appears, no one needs to train chicks how to run for the mother hen’s wings. They know what to do. In the same way, a crisis reveals where a man believes his savior to be. Where does he turn? What name does he cry out? What temple does he go to? What wings does he seek shelter under?

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Introduction

The troubles that David went through on the way to his promised throne were many. But this meant that before he assumed the rule of God’s people, he had seen that many answers to prayer, that many deliverances. David was not dropped on his throne from Heaven, rather he was delivered out of tribulation, as he ascended to that throne.

The Text

To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
“Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me . . .” (Ps. 56:1-13).

Summary of the Text

This psalm is another one from the time when David was on the run, beset by a persecuting king of Israel, and threatened by the Philistine enemy. He had been anointed, and knew the promise, but he also knew the threat. He cries out for mercy, for men would swallow him (v. 1). If they could, they would swallow him every day (v. 2), and there are many of them. The last part of v. 2 is probably a missed translation—it means his enemies fight from the high places. David’s basic response is a godly reflex response—when he fears, he trusts (v. 3). This kind of trust leads inexorably to praise (v. 4). The people who are against him will snatch at any excuse to accuse him. They twist his words out of all recognition (v. 5). Whenever the wolf is talking with the lamb, anything the lamb says will be used as a compelling reason to have him for lunch.  The conversation always seems to take that turn. These malicious men study David, in order to take him down (v. 6). David asks God to intervene (v. 7). God knows what David has gone through—He collects David’s tears in a bottle, He enters every one of them in His register (v. 8). David knows that his prayer will be answered, for he knows that “God is for me” (v. 9). The only appropriate response to this is praise (v. 10). There is no reason to fear what men can cook up (vv. 4, 11). To promise the payment of vows is a biblical thing to do—provided you pay them (v. 12). The payment of a vow is only right, because God delivered David, and he walks in the light of the living (v. 13).

The Malice of These Men

The malice of these men is remarkable. They know they are being unfair. Because they hate, part of their delight comes from being unfair. They know that the pain they inflict will hurt, but they also know that the pain they inflict for no good reason will hurt more. Because they are haters, this is part of their satisfaction. Note. They twist words. All their thoughts concentrate on how to turn anything to evil. They mark steps, but in a way completely different from the way God does it.  They want to trip, they want to ensnare. They love ambush, they delight in gotcha. When they accuse us of malice and hatred, they know better.

The Tendermercies of God

God knows every last step that David took in the course of his wanderings. He knows how many steps were taken when David was on one side of the mountain, and his pursuers were on the other. He not only knew of all David’s tears, but He also treasured those tears (v. 8), collecting them all in a bottle. He counted them all, entering each one of them in His register, in His book. So the God who will wipe away every tear is not going to do so by abrasively telling us to “get some perspective, wouldja?” (Rev. 7:17; Rev. 21:4). Rather, the God who wipes away every tear is the same God who collected them all, cataloging them. God’s knowledge of every hair on your head is not told to us so that we would marvel at His mathematical abilities, but rather so that we would marvel at His care for us (Matt. 10:30).

Fear and Trust

We have seen that courage is not the absence of fear. It is doing the right thing despite your fears. In order for this to happen, this basic reflex must be there. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” And if it is not too small to frighten you, it is not too small to entrust to God. There is no threshold between small and large fears where we should start trusting God. Remember that the God you are trusting is the same God who counts every tear. Cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7). Be anxious for nothing, because God is willing for His peace to rest upon you (Phil. 4:6-7). These are fantastic promises—we would have to say “unbelievable promises,” except that the Spirit of God works in us to enable us to believe them. Does He not?

I Know God is for Me

Now here is an astonishing statement of David’s faith (v. 9), and it is same kind of faith that we are called to. Remember, we are told that we are to sing the psalms (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), and among other things this means that are to be schooled by the psalter in how to pray, and we are to learn how to trust God in the same way that David did. This is our hymnbook, and we are supposed to be shaped by what we sing.

But there are striking epistemological issues in this—all of which must be resolved by faith. Think about this: “this I know; for God is for me.” The issues are not resolved by abstract principles, or logical syllogisms in the sky, but by faith. Now David had his enemies, and he had the kind of enemies who would twist his words, including the words of this psalm. “Who are you to say that we are the ones who are evil? Haven’t you ever heard of Prov. 18:17? What about our side of the story?”

In this world, the dividing line between right and wrong, between good and evil, is actually, at the foundational level, the line between faith and unbelief. We are invited to believe that God is “for us,” and we are invited to draw this conclusion, not by peering into His secret counsels (Dt. 29:29), but rather by looking to the gracious terms of His covenant with us. And this is done by means of looking to Christ. Christ is our law, Christ is our promise, Christ is our grace. Look to Him and conclude that “God is for me.”

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Introduction

In all of Scripture, David was one of God’s most favored servants. He was also one of the most tested and tried of all His servants, and there is a connection between the two conditions. It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of heaven, we are told, and this does not mean that we are carried to glory on a litter covered with rose petals. It means something else entirely.

The Text

“Give ear to my prayer, O God; And hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and  hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise . . .”  (Ps. 55:1-23).

Summary of the Text

We are not told the circumstances of this psalm, but from the description, it may have been after the revolt of Absalom, and the treachery of Ahithophel. The psalmist begins by pleading with God to really hear him (vv. 1-2). His complaint concerns the slanders of his enemies (v. 3). The slander and the malice behind it have not left him unaffected; he is really shaken (vv. 4-5). If he had the means to fly away from it all, he would fly straight to the wilderness (vv. 6-8). He then asks God to intervene, and overthrow them and their impudent plots (vv. 9-11). David would have been able to handle it if an enemy had done this, but this was a treachery that struck really close to home (vv. 12-14). David prays for God’s judgment to fall upon this treachery (v. 15). As for David, he will trust in God (v. 16-19). His foes are the way they are because they do not fear God (v. 19). This lack of fear for God results in a life of treacherous flattery (v. 20-21). David turns to exhort himself (and others) to trust in God (v. 22). The sovereign God is God over traitors as well as everything else. The distinction between the one who betrays and the one who trusts is a sharp distinction (v. 23).

Arguing the Case With God

There is a vast difference between complaining about God, which is terrible, and complaining to God, which He welcomes. We should all know what happens to those who murmur, complain, moan, and grumble. Their bodies are scattered over the desert. But the alternative to this is not Stoicism. David here “makes a noise” (v. 2). Lay out your case. Reason it through. Don’t pray like you were a block of wood. If you do, then you will get answers to prayer of a kind that would satisfy a block of wood. The Psalms teach us to sing, and to pray, and to argue rightly. The faithful servant in prayer does not want to “say the right words.” He wants an audience. He wants his prayers to be heard. Your goal should be to learn how to offer prayers that cannot be refused. As John Bunyan put it, it is better that your heart be without words than that your words be without heart.

Courage and Fear

Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is doing what you are called to do, despite your fears. This psalm is clearly messianic in its direction and intent. David had his Ahithophel and Christ had His Judas, both of whom ended by hanging themselves. Both David and Jesus dealt with treachery. And both dealt with fear. Here David speaks of trembling, fear and horror (vv. 4-5). The Lord Jesus sweat drops of blood in His anguish (Luke 22:44). The Lord Jesus did not confront the cross with passive indifference, but rather with obedience, which is a very different thing. Jesus faced the effective work of His traitor with strong crying and tears (Heb. 5:7), but He faced it.

Buttered and Battered

In the words of Spurgeon, David was buttered with flattery and battered with malice, and from the same source. You butter something up when you want to devour it. This man who had betrayed David was smooth in his words, as smooth as butter, but war was in his heart (v. 21). His speech was softer than oil, but at the same time that same speech was a drawn sword (v. 21). This was someone who had been close to David, who had worshipped together with him (v. 14). David says He could have handled it if it had been someone who was supposed to be hostile. Never forget that Judas was dear to Jesus.

When you are reading the story of Scripture, and you are reading the story of the Church, and you are reading the story of your life, remember that treachery is archetypical. A servant is not greater than his master. Something can be a kink in the story without being a kink in the Story. God uses traitors to advance His kingdom. After all, He used a traitor to save the entire world (Acts 4: 27-28).

In Broad Daylight

David, who was king in the city, nonetheless saw evil taking root in the city. He wanted God to act in order to destroy their machinations, for he had seen violence and strife in the city (v. 9). Mischief is in the midst of it; sorrow is in the midst of it (v. 10). David knows this because they go about on the walls “day and night.” This indicates two things. One is that their plotting is ceaseless—they tirelessly work toward their corrupt ends. It also indicates that they are willing to advance their agenda in broad daylight. They cook up some mischief, and then come out onto the Capitol steps and hold a news conference to brag about it. Someone with David’s insight can see what they are doing, but for most people they offer one thing for public consumption, and behind closed doors you find the “wickedness,” the “deceit,” and the “guile” (p. 11).

God Will Judge

When the judgment of God falls, the wicked will be destroyed (v. 9). They will fall, suddenly, under the force of one blow. They will fall backward, down into death and Sheol (v. 15), for wickedness is in their dwelling, and in their midst. The schemers and climbers and plotters and all such progressives, are climbing up a rock face, an endless climb with no top, and Hell below them. There will come a time when they cannot hold on, and must let go. And they will fall backward, and take their place among the helwaru, to use an old Anglo Saxon word. Contrary to popular opinion, Hell is not a travesty of justice; Hell is nothing but justice. All the excuses, all the smooth words, all the rationalizations, all the slanders, will burn away in an instant, and nothing will be left but the justice of it.

Mischief in the Midst of It

We are not supposed to over-engineer our understanding of the city. We call upon our leaders to confess that Jesus is Lord, and to govern as though He is Lord. We confess that there is no alternative to this that can result in salvation for us, and for our people. There is no salvation without a Savior. But in order to be blessed by this Savior, we must call upon Him. We do not get to be like an embarrassed teenager who wants a ride to school in the family car, but who does not want to be seen with the family car. Well, which way do you want it?

We rest upon God alone. He will deliver us. As has been forcefully pointed out, God can intervene with means, with various means, and apart from means. Absalom was hanged without a rope, and Ahithophel was hanged with one.

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