LESSON 1 ...
First we must examine the Psalm's "superscript," the wording
placed above verse one in our Bibles. I believe the Holy
Spirit has inspired that too.
Here it is: "To the chief Musician,
Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the
cave"
An inscription to the "chief musician" is thought to be a signal
that the Psalm will be sung by the great Levitical choirs in the
Jewish public worship of Almighty God! The added fact that
verses 5 and 11 are identical, like the "chorus" or "refrain" in
our present hymn-books, adds strength to this view of Psalm 57.
"Chief Musician," the whole term, translates one Hebrew verb.
"Natzsach" means to excel! To be preeminent! To be
perpetual! To oversee! (Sounds like Jesus to me! Is
this song dedicated to Him?) This special verb as used
here is in the Piel stem also, telling us that the action
described is intense and dramatic!
"Altashith" means "do not destroy!" That's a literal
rendering of the Hebrew words "al tashhith." The Holy
Spirit did not want this poem to be discarded or ignored in any
way! He wanted it used audibly and prominently!
Then the word "Michtam" must be considered. It has several
suggested meanings. One is "golden!" The Psalm in God's
estimation is pure gold, precious, valuable! Another meaning
might be "engraved." Let these words "cut themselves" into
your heart and mind ... they are worthy! A third idea is
"hidden," telling us that there is hidden treasure in this
paragraph of God's Word!
Then Psalm 57 tells us the circumstances in which it was penned
... "When David fled from Saul in the
cave." Here David was at one of his lowest moments
ever. He was in grave danger.
The good thing about the Psalm being so labeled is that we get
to learn how the Man of God handled himself during this time of
depression and danger!
Maybe through his actions we can learn secrets to victory over
our trials too!
Let go on to verse one ... but not without pondering the
beautiful truths illustrated in this one short "superscript!"
I would say it's a SUPERscript for sure!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 2 ...
The first verse of Psalm 57 is critical to an understanding of
the whole passage.
"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."
Obviously David is in trouble!
The word "calamities" is in Hebrew "havvah" and means a chasm or
hole or pit that signifies ruin! It indicates a
"disaster!" Saul is literally chasing David and trying to
kill him. This is a life threatening situation.
David here cries for God's "mercy." The specific noun the
Holy Spirit uses is "hanan" and means to show favor or to be
gracious or to pity someone! He is actually asking God to
bow down (to come down) and help Him with mighty power! Note
that he twice asks this of the Lord.
Then the verb "trusteth" means to "flee for refuge!" David
imagines God as a great Fortress or Castle to Whom He can run
for protection!
Next the King pictures our God as a mother hen ... under Whose
wings he can hide! Did Jesus have that in mind when he spoke the
words of Matthew 23:37? "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
Or maybe better yet the Psalmist remembered the Holy of Holies
in the Tabernacle and recalled the Ark of the Covenant placed
there. The Mercy Seat (sprinkled and stained with Blood
annually) sat on top of the Ark and was covered by by two
Cherubim (angels) with outstretched wings! Are those the
Wings David is mentioning? Is David seeking safety in the
very Presence of the Almighty? We too can come boldly to
the very Throne of Grace according to Hebrews 4:16.
And a "refuge" is a hiding place!
To depict something that is "overpast" the Bible uses the verb "abar,"
which means to take away or to do away with or to cross over!
David here is speaking with faith in his heart. His danger
is ever present with him ... but His God is able to remove it
altogether in His time! The King is believing God for
future victory even as he speaks from the depths of the cave!
With godly attitudes like these ... "calamities" don't really
have much of a chance in discouraging or hindering a child of
God!
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3 ...
The second verse of Psalm 57 reads: "I
will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all
things for me."
David sure knew where to go for help, didn't he?
That verb "cry" is "qara" in Hebrew and means to call out loud!
This is NOT silent prayer! David is praying in that cold
dark cave ... his voice no doubt echoing throughout its many
recesses ... beseeching God for help in the crisis!
The Name for God here is unusual too. While He is called
"The Most High" often ... the Title "God the Most High" is rare.
In Hebrew it is spelled "Elohim Elyon." Usually this Name is
abbreviated and is just "El Elyon."
Why the plural ("Elohim") form here?
Possibly because it has "hints" of the Trinity in It! Now
we do not worship three Gods ... just One. But the One God
we serve is a Triune Being Who exhibits Himself in three
Persons. The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit are One,
All co-equal and co-eternal and co-divine!
David here is in such dire circumstances that He needs ALL of
God to benefit him! (We yet today can pray to the Father through
Jesus' Name while being motivated and energized by the Holy
Spirit!) All three Members of the Godhead are implored on
David's behalf!
No wonder things got "performed!"
But back to the Name of God here ... especially in relation to
His being the "Most High!" I have found 49 times the term
is used in Scripture.
We are told several things about God when He is emphasized as
"Most High." He is "The Possessor of
heaven and earth!" (Genesis 14:19) That's the
God David needs! God even owns the cave in which David is
hiding!
He is the Ruler of the universe. His authority is
incomparable. He is the Deliverer of His people!
"And blessed be
the most high God, which
hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand."
(Genesis 14:20)
He is also known for His Knowledge! He is omniscient or
all-knowing. Numbers 24:16 mentions one who ...
"knew the knowledge of the most High."
(Wow!) While David did not know where the enemy was ...
God did! Also see Psalm 73:11.
He is the Controller of nations too! "When
the most High divided to
the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons
of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number
of the children of Israel." (Deuteronomy 32:8)
Of course then He can handle Israel ... and her king!
And the Most High God gives counsel, which David badly needed!
"Because they rebelled against the words
of God, and contemned
the counsel of the most High." Psalm 107:11
And what is the proper response to this Most High God?
Hosea 11:7 tells us. "And my people
are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the
most High, none at all
would exalt him." He is to be exalted!
Yes! (And that's exactly what David does the rest of this
Psalm!)
But, watch this.
God has done some things for David. In fact, the King says
that God has "performed" all things for him!
The verb here is "gamar" and means to bring to an end, to
complete, to accomplish or to perfect! It is only used 4
other times in the whole Bible! Here they are:
In Psalm 7:8 it's rendered "come to an
end!" See: "Oh let the
wickedness of the wicked
come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous
God trieth the hearts and reins." God can bring all
David's troubles to a quick end ... anytime He chooses.
In Psalm 12:1 it is translated "ceaseth" in the King James
Bible. God can "cease" David's trials too!
It is "fail" in Psalm 77:8. God the Most High can make
David's enemies fail! He can frustrate their wicked plans!
And yet David is wise enough to know that even in his calamities
... God is working on him, training him and maturing him for
future spiritual growth! Here's the other time our word is
used: Psalm 138:8 --- "The LORD
will perfect
that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth
for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands."
God is "perfecting" King David ... even with Saul's threatenings!
The stem from which our verb "perfect" comes ... GMR in Hebrew
... is also the spelling of the proper name Gomer. That is
the name of the Prophet Hosea's wife! The one who sinned and
needed so much grace and love and forgiveness! Aren't you
glad God "performed" the Gospel on your behalf? Sending
His only begotten Son to die on Calvary that we might be saved!
What performance!
And if He did the BIG THING that well ... saving our souls ...
how do you think He will perform on the little things, like
getting us out of the caves of life?
That question really answers itself, doesn't it?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4:
The third verse of Psalm 57 is powerful!
David, in a dark cave somewhere, is running
for his life. King Saul is determined to kill him.
Yet David trusts the Lord!
"He shall send from
heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow
me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth."
Psalm 57:3
See that there are some who would "swallow
up" David! This verb is "shaaph" and actually means "to gasp or
pant after or breathe heavily" and is used in Hebrew to indicate
"snuffing up" something or "swallowing" it completely!
Folks are chasing David vehemently.
An additional burden to our young hero is
that those enemies hold him in "reproach." As a noun "charaph"
means blasphemy, injurious speech, verbal abuse or even a
taunt. David does not enjoy being hated and ridiculed. After
all, He is to be the next ruling King of Israel.
He asks God to "save" him! This verb is "yasha"
and means to deliver or preserve or defend or rescue! It is the
Hebrew root for the Greek word that gives us Saviour! David, in
type and symbol here, is calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ! Remember Romans 10:13 ---
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
And watch David's faith. Although
deliverance has not yet come ... with him still being in that
dangerous cave ... the young Christian trusts that the Lord will
yet bring him out of the pit! "He shall
send from Heaven!" That's thanking God today for a
victory that's coming tomorrow! Praising God for His future
acts! That verb "send" has an "imperfect" Hebrew sense of
timing ... meaning this action is not yet complete! David
believed God to be sending and sending and still sending some
more help day by day ... help to deliver him ultimately from
danger! On-going continual durative help!
But watch David's definition for help!
He is not expecting an armored tank or a jet
fighter or even a small army to come ... just God's MERCY and
TRUTH! "God shall send forth his mercy
and his truth."
Mercy is here the great Old Testament word "hesed!"
God's faithful covenant based lovingkindness!
And truth is "emeth" which means surety and
faithfulness as well as veracity! God is steady and trustworthy
and will not fail David in his hour of need. One can depend on
Him!
David doesn't have to have money or gifts ...
He just longs for God's MERCY and GRACE!
After all ... if you have Jesus, you have it
All anyway!
Like Paul said: "Our sufficiency is of
God." 2 Corinthians 3:5
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5:
David is in a place of great danger!
Yet he unreservedly trusts God for safety!
"My soul is among lions: and
I lie even among them that are set on fire, even
the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and
their tongue a sharp sword." Isaiah 57:4
David is feeling the wrath of his approaching
enemies!
He classifies them as lions! I guess
they are just like their father, the devil, who is also a
roaring lion according to 1 Peter 5:8. Those lions
"devour." That Greek verb Peter used means "to swallow
down!"
He "lies" or rests or sleeps ("shakab"
in Hebrew) among these wicked folks! They are all around
him! So David believes Psalm 46:1 ---
"God is our refuge and strength, a
very present help in trouble." (Once in 1st Samuel
24 Saul the King came into the very cave where David was
hiding!)
The wicked are further characterized as being
"set on fire!" The Hebrew expression is "lahat" and means
to burn or to kindle or to be aflame! James puts this word
picture into context when he reminds us that evil words are
fiery too! "And the tongue is
a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course
of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." James
3:6
"Sons of men" are literally the sons of Adam
here! Adam who first sinned, passing that iniquity
down to us all! "By one man (Adam)
sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
Romans 5:12
"Teeth," a noun, is used to represent the
whole mouth, signifying primarily one's words! The
conversation of the wicked here is compared to "spears and
arrows." A spear is a javelin and is so translated 6 times
in the King James Version. For an exampleof words being
compared to arrows ... see Psalm 64:2 which speaks of
"the workers of iniquity who whet their
tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot
their arrows, even bitter words." Wow!
David further notes that such wicked tongues
are like swords too! While spears and arrows are designed
to hurt at a distance ... swords inflict pain and death up
close! The wicked use both strategies! The word is also
used to mean a knife or dagger. I just noticed something.
The Word of God is like a sword in both Ephesians 6:17 and
Hebrews 4:12! Now the words of ungodly men are likened
unto the same thing! With this exception ... God's Word brings
LIFE and sinful man's words bring DEATH! Solomon says this in
Proverbs 18:21 --- "Death and life are
in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat
the fruit thereof."
What danger here surrounds young David ...
but he brings it all to Jesus!
He is our Defender!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6:
Today we look at verse 5 of Psalm 57 ...
which is also verse 11 of the same Psalm! It looks to me
like these beautiful lines serve as a sort of "chorus" or
"refrain" for the whole chapter.
"Be thou exalted, O
God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all
the earth." Psalm 57:5
The first verb "be exalted" is in the
imperative mood! The Psalmist believes this to be
essential! God just MUST be exalted!
And the specific verb used ("rum" but
pronounced room in Hebrew) means to lift up or to rise or to
extol. This is the very idea John the Baptist
conceptualized when He said of Jesus ...
"He must increase, but I must decrease." John
3:30
The verb's first use in all the Bible occurs
in Genesis 7:17 where the Ark of Noah is "lifted up above the
earth!" (That Ark is a Type of Christ Jesus our Lord!)
Notice too that God is to be exalted above
the heavens! He is on earth. He is in Heaven!
Now He is above the Heavens? Where is He not? He is
everywhere! He is omnipresent!
The "glory" of God (in Hebrew = "kabod")
means literally His "heaviness" or "gravity" but in King James
language it is God's honor or splendor and is perhaps the
expression for the sum of all His attributes!
Concerning God's glory being elevated above
all the earth, David had not himself seen all the earth!
He did not know its scope or size or position in the solar
system! But He did know that His God was bigger than the planet
on which he lived! In this present day of "earth worship"
how we need to exalt God higher and higher ... even above this
globe He created years ago!
Verse 5 is both a word of prayer and a word
of praise! But isn't that proper?
All our prayers should be heavily loaded with
praise!
Perhaps David even feels that if God is
exalted ... it really does not matter if he is in a cave!
Or maybe he even believes that the more he
exalts Elohim God ... the more his own condition will improve
too.
Either way, God is being uplifted!
And for that alone we should praise His Name.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 7:
Look at the dangers which surrounded young
David!
"They have prepared a
net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit
before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.
Selah." Psalm 57:6
This is a full verse of Scripture!
It suggests four looks that the godly David
took ... from the cave where he was hiding from a wicked
murderous King (Saul).
He looks without ... and sees a net prepared
for his feet. The enemy is hunting him as if he were a
wild animal!
He looks within ... and sees discouragement
or maybe even depression! His soul is "bowed down."
He looks ahead ... and sees a pit prepared
for his destruction! That's another "hunting" tactic!
Finally he looks down ... and sees that the
pit designed for his destruction is now the prison house of the
very enemies who dug it! They fell into their own pit!
But it is so obvious that David would have
never experienced the faith of survive this ordeal had he not
been looking another direction too!
He must have looked up!
He did!
Verse 7 (tomorrow, Lord willing) proves that!
"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:
I will sing and give praise."
Amen!
Today's we've seen the KEY to victory ...
when you're in a cave!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8:
To be hidden in a cave and chased by an
enemy, David sure has a victorious attitude!
Listen to him: "My
heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give
praise." Psalm 57:7
Once David renews his focus on God's Mercy
and Truth ... all is well!
He did that back in verse 3.
"He (God) shall send from heaven, and save
me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
Selah. God shall send
forth his mercy and his truth."
The verb "fixed" is "kun" in Hebrew and means
established! Or set! Or made firm! Let me show
you the first use of the verb in all Scripture:
"And for that the dream was doubled
unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing
is established by
God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." Genesis
41:32
God has "established" David's heart! He
has given our Psalmist friend peace and assurance!
Using this one little word "kun," a truth is
immediately seen in verses 6 and 7 of our Psalm. In verse
6 the enemy prepared ("kun") a net for David's feet, trying to
capture and kill him! But by verse 7 God has "fixed"
("kun" again) David's heart!
See it?
The devil wants to "fix" a trap for you!
The Lord wants to "fix" YOU! Your very
heart!
Satan seeks to hurt.
The dear Lord seeks to heal!
And do notice the result of such a God-given
peace: a soul that sings and gives praises to God!
That verb "sing" (in Hebrew = "shiyr") means
literally "to travel" or "to turn about." The idea pictured here
is one who sings everywhere he goes! No matter what life
brings him, he rejoices in the Lord!
Now that's victory!
And the verb "praise" is "zamar." This
one is a little unusual! Initially we are taught that it
had the idea of plucking or striking (strings on an instrument)
with one's fingers. Then it came to mean making any kind
of joyful noise (unto the Lord in our context here)!
David, being a musician, would have been drawn to such
terminology. This is his own way of saying he's going to
magnify and uplift His Lord for the rest of his life!
Amen!
What resolve!
What determination!
What beautiful faith!
And all this ... while he was in danger in a
cave!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 9:
Verse 8 is interesting!
"Awake up, my glory;
awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early."
Psalm 57:8
David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, even
while hiding in a cave ... in great danger, has determined to
praise God!
In fact, it appears that he plans to do so
early in the morning!
The Hebrew construction of "I myself will
awake early" is unique! It is structured to read like
this: David says, "I will stir (or awake) the very dawn!"
In other words, David will be up and praising God ... before the
sun even rises!
He will be ahead of the sun, which also
praises God according to Psalms 19 and 148 and 150!
(See Psalm 119:148 for the same kind of
thought, with the night watches in view! David there is going to
meditate in the Word of God before the late night hours!
"Mine eyes prevent the night
watches, that I might meditate in thy word.")
And David does not plan to praise God quietly
either!
He has with him his psaltery and harp, two
stringed instruments. David was a musician.
"And David and all the house of Israel
played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of
fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels,
and on cornets, and on cymbals." 2 Samuel 6:5
Actually, according to 2 Chronicles 7:6,
David built such instruments of praise.
"And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with
instruments of musick
of the LORD, which David
the king had made to praise the LORD, because his mercy
endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry;
and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel
stood."
According to Amos 6:5 David invented
them!
And note too that David is calling upon the
very BEST of himself to praise God!
"Awake, my glory," and praise the Lord!
Whatever his "glory" is ... it's the most
honorable part of the young king-to-be!
Are we giving God our very best?
The BEST of our days?
The BEST of our nights?
The BEST (or first) of our incomes?
The BEST of our talents?
Yes!
Yes! He deserves it all!
And it's all the more amazing when this
praising is done from the dark caverns of a cave ... with one's
enemy close at hand!
Wow!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 10:
Talk about resolve ... and determination!
With his life still in constant danger, David
purposes to do something.
Let's listen to him:
"I will praise thee, O Lord, among the
people: I will sing unto thee among the nations." Psalm
57:9
David, running for his life, is hiding from
dangerous King Saul in a cave! We know that from
the Psalm's "superscript," which says
"To the Chief Musician ... Michtam of
David, when he fled from Saul in the cave."
As far as we can tell, here in verse 9 the
circumstances have not changed. David still faces the same
"calamities" he was confronting back in verse 1.
BUT his attitude and spirit sure have soared!
Don't misunderstand me now. He seemed to
already have victory when this whole thing started.
Verse 1 proves that I think:
"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."
Yet he there still had one eye on the dangers
and another eye on the Lord!
But by the time he writes verse 9 ... there's
no more mention of Saul at all!
It's all about the dear Lord!
Let's read it again:
"I will praise thee, O Lord, among the
people: I will sing unto thee among the nations."
The verb "praise" here is great! In
Hebrew it's spelled "yadah" and initially means "to throw, hurl
or shoot" something! David, by the most basic rules of
etymology, is "hurling" words of thanks and praise toward heaven
... to the Almighty God who loves and protects him!
Shooting thoughts of gratefulness to Glory!
"Yadah" in the King James Bible is translated
occasionally as "shoot" or "cast" or "cast out." But most
often it is rendered as "give thanks" (32 times) and "praise"
(53 times).
Additionally, the verb is a Hiphil imperfect
grammatically speaking. It is built on the "causative"
stem in Hebrew, meaning there is some CAUSE that has triggered
David's praise! Yes, God's Mercy and Truth! See
verse 3: "He (God) shall send from
heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would
swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his
truth."
The "imperfect" designation of this verb
means the action is incomplete. David is praising God
habitually or continually! He is not through yet ...
thanking God!
Also the verb is built on the Hebrew noun
stem "yad" that means one's "hand!" Do you see any
connection between your "hand" ... and praising God? I
sure do! For example, Psalm 63:4 ---
"Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in
thy name."
Wow!
Then David is going to praise God before the
"people" (in Hebrew = "am"). These are the Jews!
But notice immediately that he has also
decided to praise God also before the "nations."
These are the Gentiles! (In Hebrew = "laom")
Everybody is going to hear about the
Great God of Israel ... from the lips of King David! (I
would say he has done that very thing too! Through the
many inspired Psalms he's left us!)
And when David says that he will "sing" unto
the nations, he uses a verb ("zamar") that literally means to
play a musical instrument with one's fingers! I can
imagine him singing and playing now!
Truly his heart is "fixed!" (See verse
7.)
Firm ... in its disposition of uplifting our
dear Lord!
Praise His Name!
This is truly one great verse!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 11:
How very high David soars in this 57th Psalm!
And perhaps verse 10 is at the very heart of
it all!
David, speaking to the Lord God, says:
"For thy mercy is great unto the
heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds." Psalm
57:10
"Mercy" is the key Hebrew word "hesed" once
again. It speaks of God's lovingkindness. Once even
it is translated "pity" in the King James Version of Scripture.
Twelve times it is "goodness" also.
The adjective "great" (in Hebrew = "gadol")
means mighty or high or loud or big in magnitude and extent!
The first time it is used in the Bible is in Genesis 1:16 where
the sun is the "greater" light to rule the day! That sun
is a type of Jesus Christ also!
And the noun "heavens," being plural,
suggests the Jewish idea of the vastness of the regions beyond
this life! Paul speaks about being "caught up into the
third heaven" too. (2nd Corinthians 12:2)
God's mercy, here being described in a
vertical manner, reaches from the lowest depths of sin all the
way to the glorious abode of Almighty God! What scope!
The first time "hesed" is used in the Bible is in Genesis 19:19
where God's mercy is multiplied!
But next David immediately extols God's
Truth!
Again, "For thy mercy
is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the
clouds."
Mercy and Truth always go together!
I have actually found 22 times in the Bible
where these two "twin" words occur ... each time in the same
verse!
God's Mercy hints at His gracious kindness.
God's Truth hints at His unbending Holiness!
God's Mercy saves the lost.
God's Truth judges iniquity!
God's Mercy is always acceptable ...
especially when trouble comes!
Yet God's Truth is often rejected ... causing
much trouble to come!
And just where is the prefect Fullness Of
Mercy and Truth to be found?
Are they ever completely present in one
person?
Why, yes! In Jesus! Of course!
I'll just let the Disciple John explain it:
"And the Word (Jesus) was made
flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth."
John 1:14
Did you see that?
Jesus is full of Grace (a first cousin
of Mercy) and Truth!
He is God!
The noun for "clouds" (in Hebrew = "shachaq")
also means the sky (7times in the Old Testament)! David
looked upward and saw miles and miles of clouds billowing
heavenward. As he did so he thought, "My God's Truth
excels them all!"
By the way, that word "truth" (in Hebrew = "emeth")
certainly indicates the absence of error or deceit ... but also
means faithfulness or surety!
Our God can never lie! That is
impossible! He IS Truth! (John 14:6)
But ... He is also truth all the time!
Never erring! Hence ... faithful! The Same
yesterday, today and for ever! So says Hebrews 13:8.
Now, lastly, look at this:
Back in verse 3 God's Mercy and Truth come
down to earth! Reaching as low as you and me ... and
the Psalmist! All the way into that cave where David was
hiding! Read it with me: "He (our
Lord God) shall send from heaven, and save me from the
reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah.
God shall send forth his
mercy and his truth."
Then in verse 10, that same Mercy and Truth
have abundantly overflowed, reaching upward, through the very
clouds right into and above the heavens!
Over-arching and super-abounding Mercy and
Truth!
It's just like Psalm 8:1 declares:
"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is
thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the
heavens."
One who believes in a God so great ... so
Mercy and Truth filled ... can't be in a cave very long!
He's coming out!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 12:
The last verse of Psalm 57 simply repeats the
fifth verse!
Word for word!
"Be thou exalted, O
God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all
the earth." Psalm 57:5
"Be thou exalted, O
God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all
the earth." Psalm 57:11
Why the repetition?
We know it's not "vain" repetition. Jesus
forbids that in Matthew 6:7.
Perhaps it's for emphasis.
Maybe it serves as the refrain or chorus for
the Psalm as the great Levitical Choirs sing its praises to God!
Or
maybe the Holy Spirit is highlighting another Truth in this
second rendition of the verse!
That's my evaluation anyway.
In the first use of this verse (verse 5) in
our specific Text (Psalm 57) we looked at the first use of the
verb "be exalted" in Scripture. It's located in Genesis
7:17 and describes the Ark of Noah being lifted up above all the
earth! (A picture of Jesus being lifted up above the earth
... on the Cross ... and bringing salvation to the lost!
Remember that Ark is a picture of Jesus and salvation in many
ways!)
However, in the last use (verse 11) of this
verb "lifted up" (in Hebrew "rum" but said as "room") we travel
to the last use of the verb in the Bible (Old Testament since
it's Hebrew we're studying) ... and find Habakkuk 3:10.
"The mountains saw thee, and they
trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep
uttered his voice, and
lifted up his
hands on high."
Here the Prophet Habakkuk is describing the
Coming of the Lord! The mountains and waters and depths
"lifted up" their hands to God in praise and glory! This
is the Lord's great Second Advent, His Second Coming to earth!
Do you see it yet?
Verse 5 ... the first coming of Jesus ... to
save the lost!
Verse 11 ... the Second Coming of Jesus ...
to receive praise, glory and honor!
Amen!
And if you doubt that He is coming to receive
such adoration, just read 2nd Thessalonians 1:10 where Paul is
talking about Jesus and His soon return. "When
He shall come to
be glorified in
his saints, and to be
admired in all them that believe (because our testimony
among you was believed ) in that day."
Amen!
Maybe we've discovered at least one reason
WHY the verse is placed here twice by the inspiring Holy Spirit
of God.
Remember, David is just the copyist!
Just the recorder!
God is the Author.
Even so ... come Lord Jesus!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
WHAT A PSALM OF PRAISE WE HAVE STUDIED!
DAVID STARTED THE CHAPTER DISCOURAGED AND HIDING IN A CAVE!
(SAUL WAS WICKEDLY TRYING TO KILL THE YOUNG MAN.) YET THE
MORE DAVID TRUSTED AND BELIEVED IN THE MERCY AND TRUTH OF GOD
... THE BRIGHTER THINGS BECAME! AND BY THE TIME HE
GOT TO VERSE 11, HE (WHILE NOT YET LITERALLY OUT OF THAT CAVE)
HAD CERTAINLY GOT THE CAVE OUT OF HIM! HE WAS NO LONGER
FEARFUL OR FRETFUL OR OVERLY CONCERNED WITH SAUL. RATHER
... HE WAS CENTERED ON THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY! THAT WILL
GET YOU OUT OF ANY CAVE!
