Psalm 57

{1}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.

{2} I will cry unto God most high;
unto God that performeth all things for me.
{3} He shall send from heaven, and save me
 from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

{4} 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.

{5} Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let thy glory be above all the earth.

{6} 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.

{7} My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:
I will sing and give praise.
{8} Awake up, my glory;
awake, psaltery and harp:

I myself will awake early.
{9} I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people:
I will sing unto thee among the nations.
{10} For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

{11} Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens:
let thy glory be above all the earth.

According to tradition, this was written at about the time when David had hidden from Saul in a cave. Saul and his men had been chasing David and his men all over the land, and David had finally gone to ground. Then the strangest thing happened. While David hid in a corner, Saul came into that very cave to relieve himself.

David could have killed him on the spot, but he wouldn’t do that. Instead, he cut off a little of the hem of Saul’s robe. When Saul left the cave, David followed, holding the cloth aloft and protesting that he had spared Saul’s life.

Thinking about David this morning, it occurs to me that his music would have been unappealing to the modern ear. The musical scale we use had not been discovered, and David’s would have been much simpler. But the poetry is strong and compelling. The psalms have found their way into literature and still touch the strings of the human heart.

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