PSALMS LESSON 55

     We will begin this lesson by giving the 57th Psalm in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                             Chapter 57

Verse 1  "Be merciful to me, O God; Be merciful to me; Because my soul
          in humble trust A refuge seeks in thee."
Verse 2  "Yea, in the shadow of thy wings My confidence is placed,
          Until these sad calamities Are wholly overpast."
Verse 3  "My prayer shall ascend to him Who is the Lord Most High; To
          God performing all for me I lift my earnest cry."
Verse 4  "From heaven he shall send, and me From his reproach defend
          Who would devour me: God his truth And mercy forth shall
          send.
Verse 5  "My soul among fierce lions is, I firebrands live among,
          Men's sons, whose teeth are spears and darts,"
Verse 6  "Be thou exalted very high above the heavens, O God; And let
          thy glory be advanced O'er all the earth abroad."
Verse 7  "My soul's bowed down; for they a net have laid, my steps to
          snare: But in the pit which they have made for me, they
          fallen are."
Verse 8  "My heart, O God, is fixed, is fixed; To thee I'll sing, and
          praise; Awake my glory, lute, and harp; Myself I'll early
          raise."
Verse 9  "I'll praise thee with the people, Lord, with nations sing
          will I: for great to heaven thy mercy is, Thy truth is to
          the sky."
Verse 10 "Above the heavens high, O God, Do thou exalted be;; And let
          thy glory be advanced Above both land and sea."

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of chapter 57 of
Psalms. Psalms 57:1 "{To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, 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."

     David knew that he was not going against Saul to do him any harm.
He would not even defend himself against Saul, because Saul was
anointed of God. If David could not protect himself, his only chance
is that God would protect him. The fact that David asks twice for God
to be merciful unto him shows the urgency of the prayer. Notice, this
prayer is joined with an announcement of the fact that  David had
faith in God. When we place our faith in God, He will not fail us.
When the rain or storm is coming, the baby chickens run and get under
the wings of the mother hen, and no rain falls on them. These
outstretched wings of God that are protecting David, here, are
available to all who will hide in the shadow of God's love. Psalms
17:8 "Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy
wings," The enemy would not dare come near enough to God for His
shadow to fall on them. You can easily see the protection provided by
the shadow of God.

     Psalms 57:2 "I will cry unto God most high; unto God that
performeth [all things] for me."

     David is recognizing in this that without the help of God, he is
helpless. We all are helpless, without the hand of God doing all
things well for us. God never failed him before when he cried out to
him, and he will not fail him now. Sometimes we forget all the things
God has already done for us. David is not just praying to God and
thanking Him for the things He has done for him, but David is
reminding himself, as well, that God has done wonderful things for him
in the past.

     Psalms 57:3 "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."

     My help, your help, and David's help comes from the Lord of
heaven. The world is the enemy of those who love God. Why should we
find it strange that the world hates us? Look at what Jesus said about
all of this. John 15:18 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated
me before [it hated] you." Matthew 10:25 "It is enough for the
disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If
they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more
[shall they call] them of his household?" Selah, above, means pause
and think on these things. Just as God has done in the past, He will
send mercy to save David and truth to inform all. Mercy and truth
shall reign in the end.

     Psalms 57:4 "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."

     These are not sons of God, they are sons of men. A natural lion,
or a bear, was no problem to David. These lions are people who have a
destructive nature. Even the words that come from their mouth are
destructive {their tongue a sharp sword}. David had been hunted down
like an animal. They had threatened his life, they had told lies on
him, they had even tried to tear him to pieces, but God had protected
David. They were so mad at David, it seemed as if they were on fire
with hatred.

     Psalms 57:5 "Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; [let] thy
glory [be] above all the earth."

     In the very middle of all this terrible danger that David is in,
he stops to praise God. In the verse above, David is saying that he
agrees with the following verse in I Chronicles 29:11 "Thine, O LORD,
[is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and
the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and in the earth [is
thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head
above all."

     Psalms 57:6 "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]. Selah."

     David is saying, in this, They have set a trap for me, and they
will be caught in their own trap. This is the very thing that happens
to people today. They try to trap the believer, and they fall into
their own trap. This has been speaking specifically about Saul and his
men trying to catch David. David went into their camp, and did not
destroy Saul. I Samuel 24:11 "Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the
skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy
robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that [there is] neither
evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against
thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it."  David did not desire to
kill Saul. Saul wanted to kill David.

     Psalms 57:7 "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will
sing and give praise."

     David has determined within his heart to worship God. Though the
world be falling down around you, praise God. The battle is God's the
victory is mine. We are soldiers in the battle, but it is God's war
against Satan. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Isaiah 54:17
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue
[that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This
[is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness
[is] of me, saith the LORD."

     Psalms 57:8 "Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I
[myself] will awake early."

     David did most of his praising in song and with his instrument.
Each of us have our own way of praising God. He loves the praises of
His people. David is saying that he will begin his day by singing
praises to God.

     Psalms 57:9 "I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will
sing unto thee among the nations."

     David is not ashamed of his God. He will sing praises to everyone
who will listen, even to the other nations. He did just that when he
wrote the Psalms. All nations of the world have read the Psalms and
heard the praises of David.

     Psalms 57:10 "For thy mercy [is] great unto the heavens, and thy
truth unto the clouds." Psalms 57:11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the
heavens: [let] thy glory [be] above all the earth.

     There is no limit to the mercy of God. Truth can not be
destroyed, it will live on forever. The truth that we see in the
clouds is the rainbow that God set in the clouds to remind us of His
promise never to destroy the world again with water. Truth is one of
the descriptions of God. Verse 11 is a repeat of verse 5. All I can
say to verse 11 is, Amen.
                             Questions 55

1.  Who was after David, in verse one of this lesson?
2.  Where did David say, he would take his refuge?
3.  Why would David not fight Saul and try to kill him?
4.  What does the fact that David asked God twice to be merciful show?
5.  What earthly thing shows us the protection under the wings?
6.  Quote Psalms chapter 17 verse 8.
7.  Without the help of God, David is ___________.
8.  What is David doing, in verse 2, besides thanking God?
9.  My help, your help, and David's help comes from where?
10. Quote John chapter 15 verse 18.
11. What are the Christians called in Matthew chapter 10 verse 25?
12. Who are the people after David in verse 4?
13. Their cruelty causes David to compare them with what animal?
14. What does the statement {their tongue a sharp sword} mean?
15. Quote 1 Chronicles chapter 29 verse 11.
16. Who will be caught in the trap they have set for David?
17. Where do we find the Scripture that tells of David cutting off
    Saul's skirt?
18. Quote Isaiah chapter 54 verse 17.
19. How did David do most of his praising?
20. How did David sing in the nations?
21. What do we see in the clouds, that reminds us of the covenant God
    made with man not to destroy the earth with water again?