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PSALM 57
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).
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.
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.
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