Bible Commentaries
Psalms 57

Verses 1-11

Yet again the theme is the same, but the triumph of trust is even more conspicuous. Compare the opening here with that of the previous song. The cry is the same, but the reason is different. There it was a cry born of the consciousness of the enemy. Here it is born of the vision of God, and of trust in Him. Compare also the wish of Psa 55:6 with the experience in this case. There the desire was for the inefficient wings of a dove for flight. Here the sense is of the sufficient wings of God for refuge until calamities are past. Now the cry is one of real need, for the opposition is stated in terns as pointed as ever, but all the while it is a song of confidence. In the psalm that speaks of fear and flight the heart is "sore pained." Now in trust it is "fixed," and a rush of praise is the issue.

Faith does not free us from trial, but it does enable us to triumph over it. Moreover, faith lifts us high above the purely personal sense of pain, and creates a passion for the exaltation of God among the nations. The heart at leisure from itself is always the heart fixed in God.