Psalm 57 explained: Shelter While the Danger Passes

A cry for shelter (vv. 1-3)

The heading above the psalm links it to David hiding in a cave from King Saul, and the writer pictures God sheltering him like a bird covering its young with its wings until the storm passes. Some think the wings may also echo the winged figures over the sacred chest in the temple, though this is uncertain.

Living among lions (vv. 4-5)

The enemies are described as wild animals whose teeth are weapons, and their sharp tongues most likely stand for lies and slander. The writer then breaks off to ask that God be honored above the sky and over the whole earth, as if his own rescue matters because it would show who God is.

Caught in their own trap (v. 6)

Hunters' nets and hidden pits picture the plots laid against him, and those plots have turned back on the people who made them. In the cave story in 1 Samuel 24, Saul, who was hunting David, ends up at David's mercy, and David spares him.

Waking the dawn with song (vv. 7-11)

The mood shifts: his heart is steady, and he says he will wake his harp and even wake the sunrise, a poetic way of saying he will be up singing before daybreak. He promises to praise God's love and faithfulness in front of other nations, and these verses appear again almost word for word in Psalm 108.

Key verse: Psalm 57:1

Something to think about

When you have been in real trouble, what, if anything, helped you feel steady before the trouble was actually over?