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.
Psalms 57:1-11.-Cry for mercy; joyful anticipation of deliverance from enemies (Psalms 57:1-4); praise for it, and for the foes' entanglement in their own pitfall, as if this were already accomplished (Psalms 57:5-11); Hope predominates from the first.
Al-taschith - `destroy not.' This title is found also in the titles of Psalms 58:1-11; Psalms 59:1-17; and Psalms 75:1-10. It is the maxim uppermost in David's heart when he wrote amidst persecutions, and one which embodies the spirit of the psalm. Drawn from Deuteronomy 9:26. He used the same "destroy not" in 2 Sam. 26:9 , to Abishai, forbidding him to slay Saul. He could only say to God "destroy not," when he himself "destroyed not" his enemy.
Michtam of David - i:e., 'secret of David.' No power except that of God could have so revealed the secret of the Lord's purpose of delivering his servant, that the latter already breaks forth into praises of God.
When he fled from Saul in the cave. The history mentions David's stay in two different caves - 1 Samuel 22:1, "the cave of Adullam," where many flocked to him; 1 Samuel 24:1, the cave of Engedi. The cave was a symbol of his gloomy position, Hebrews 11:38. As Psalms 56:1-13 refers to his deliverance at the court of the Philistine king Achish, so this 57th psalm to his subsequent stay in the cave of Adullam, 1 Samuel 21:10-15; 1 Samuel 22:1.
Be merciful (gracious) unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. The repetition implies the intense earnestness of the petitioner and the greatness of the danger.
For my soul trusteth in thee. He grounds his prayer on this-threatened on all sides by the world, he puts his whole trust in God (cf. Psalms 56:1-2). His "soul" was the object of the enemy's assault. Compare David's words to Saul at the cave of Engedi, 1 Samuel 24:11.
Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge - (Psalms 17:8; Psalms 36:7; Psalms 121:5-6.)
Until these calamities be overpast. The same Hebrew is translated "very wickedness," Psalms 5:9 х hawowt (H1942)], mischievous devices, wicked mischievousnesses.