1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. Urgent need suggests the repetition of the cry. He who
would receive quickly must ask twice. For mercy the psalmist pleads at first,
and he feels he cannot improve upon his plea, and therefore returns to it. It
is most fit that in distress we should seek mercy from him in whom it dwells. For
my soul trusteth in thee. How can the Lord be unmerciful to a trustful
soul? Our faith does not deserve mercy, but it always wins it from the
sovereign grace of God when it is sincere, as in this case where the soul of
the man believed. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge.
As the little birds find ample shelter beneath the parental wing, so would the
fugitive place himself beneath the secure protection of the divine power. When
we cannot see the sunshine of God’s face, it is blessed to cower down beneath
the shadow of his wings. Until these calamities be overpast. Evil will
pass away, and the eternal wings will abide over us till then. Blessed be God,
our calamities are matters of time, but our safety is a matter of eternity.
When we are under the divine shadow, the passing over of trouble cannot harm
us; the hawk flies across the sky, but this is no evil to the chicks when they
are safely nestling beneath the hen.
2. I will cry.
He is quite safe, but yet he prays, for faith is never dumb. We pray because we
believe. We exercise by faith the spirit of adoption whereby we cry. He says
not “I do cry” or “I have cried,” but I will cry, and indeed this
resolution may stand with all of us until we pass through the gates of pearl;
for while we are here below we shall still need to cry. Unto God most high.
Prayers are for God only; the greatness and sublimity of his person and
character suggest and encourage prayer: however high our enemies, our heavenly
Friend is higher, for he is most high and can readily send the succor
which we need. Unto God that performeth all things for me. He has cogent
reason for praying, for he sees God performing. The believer waits and God
works. The Lord has undertaken for us, and he will not draw back. Our
translators have very properly inserted the words all things, for there
is a blank in the Hebrew, as if you might write therein that the Lord would
finish anything and everything which he has begun. Past mercies are guarantees for
the future, and admirable reasons for continuing to cry unto him.
3. He shall send from heaven. If there be no fit instruments on earth, heaven will yield
up its legions of angels for the succor of the saints. We may in times of great
straits expect mercies of a remarkable kind; like the Israelites in the
wilderness, we shall have our bread hot from heaven, new every morning.
Wherever the battle is more fierce than ordinary, there will come succor from
headquarters, for the Commander-in-Chief sees all. And save me from the
reproach of him that would swallow me up. He will be in time not only to
rescue his servants from being swallowed up but even from being reproached. Not
only will they escape the flames, but not even the smell of fire will pass upon
them. Our foes will not have the power to sneer at us; their cruel jests and
taunting gibes will be ended by the message from heaven which will forever save
us. Selah. Such mercy may well make us pause to meditate and give
thanks. Rest, for God has given you rest! God shall send forth his mercy and
his truth. He asked for mercy, and truth came with it. Thus evermore does
God give us more than we ask or think. His attributes, like angels on the wind,
are ever ready to come to the rescue of his chosen.
4. My soul is among lions. He was a very Daniel. His place was one of extreme peril,
and yet faith made him feel himself secure, so that he could lie down. The cave
may have reminded him of a lion’s den, and Saul and his band shouting and
yelling in their disappointment at missing him, were the lions; yet beneath the
divine shelter he felt himself safe. And I lie even among them that are set
on fire. Perhaps Saul and his band kindled a fire in the cavern while they
halted in it, and David was thus reminded of the fiercer fire of their hate
which burned within their hearts. Like the bush in Horeb, the believer is often
in the midst of flames, but never consumed. It is a mighty triumph of faith
when we can lie down even among firebrands and find rest because God is our
defense. Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their
tongue a sharp sword. The malicious carry a whole armory in their mouths.
As for the tongue, it is a two-edged sword. The adjective is sharp,
which is not used in reference to the teeth, as if to show that if men were to
tear us with their teeth they could not thereby wound us so severely as with
their tongues. Yet even this we need not fear (Isaiah 54:17).
5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. This is the chorus of the psalm. Before he has quite
concluded his prayer, the good man interjects a verse of praise. Higher than
the heavens is the Most High, and so high ought our praises to rise. Let thy
glory be above all the earth. Let thy praises be universally proclaimed. Let
thy praises gird the earth with a zone of song.
6. They have prepared a net for my steps. The enemies of the godly spare no pains, but go about their
wicked work with the coolest deliberation. As for each sort of fish, or bird,
or beast, a fitting net is needed, so do the ungodly suit their net to their
victim’s circumstances and character with a careful craftiness of malice.
Whatever David might do, and whichever way he might turn, his enemies were
ready to entrap him in some way or other. My soul is bowed down. He was
held down like a bird in a trap; his enemies took care to leave him no chance
of comfort. They have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they
are fallen themselves. He likens the design of his persecutors to pits,
which were commonly dug by hunters in the usual path of the victim, and in this
case David says before me, that is, in my ordinary way. He rejoices
because these devices had recoiled upon themselves. Saul hunted David, but
David caught him more than once and might have slain him on the spot. Selah.
We may sit down at the pit’s mouth and view with wonder the just retaliations
of providence.
7. My heart is fixed.
One would have thought he would have said, “My heart is fluttered,” but no,
he is calm, firm, happy, resolute, established. When the central axle is
secure, the whole wheel is right. O God, my heart is fixed. I am
resolved to trust thee, to serve thee, and to praise thee. Twice does he
declare this to the glory of God who thus comforts the souls of his servants.
It is surely well if your once roving heart is now firmly fixed upon God and
the proclamation of his glory. I will sing and give praise. Vocally and
instrumentally will I celebrate thy worship. With lip and with heart will I
ascribe honor to thee. Satan shall not stop me, nor Saul, nor the Philistines.
8. Awake up, my glory.
Let the noblest powers of my nature bestir themselves: the intellect which
conceives thought, the tongue which expresses it, and the inspired imagination
which beautifies it—let all be on the alert now that the hour for praise has
come. Awake, psaltery and harp. Let all the music with which I am
familiar be well attuned for the hallowed service of praise. I myself will
awake early. No sleepy verses and weary notes shall be heard from me; I
will thoroughly arouse myself for this high employ. When we are at our best we
fall far short of the Lord’s deserts; let us, therefore, make sure that what we
bring him is our best. Three times the psalmist calls upon himself to awake.
The engagement is too honorable, too needful to be left undone or ill done for
want of arousing ourselves.
9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. Gentiles will hear my praise. Here is an instance of the
way in which the truly devout evangelic spirit o’erleaps the boundaries which
bigotry sets up. The ordinary Jew would never wish the Gentile dogs to hear
Jehovah’s name, except to tremble at it; but this grace-taught psalmist has a
missionary spirit, and would spread the praise and fame of his God. I will
sing unto thee among the nations. However far off they may be, I would make
them hear of thee through my glad psalmody.
10. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens. Right up from man’s lowliness to heaven’s loftiness mercy
reaches. Imagination fails to guess the height of heaven, and even thus the
riches of mercy exceed our highest thoughts. And thy truth unto the clouds.
Upon the cloud he sets the seal of his truth, the rainbow, which ratifies his
covenant; in the cloud he hides his rain and snow, which prove his truth by
bringing to his seedtime and harvest cold and heat. Creation is great, but the
Creator greater far. Heaven cannot contain him: above clouds and stars his
goodness far exceeds.
11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. A grand chorus. Take it up, angels and spirits made
perfect, and join in it, sons of men below, as you say, Let thy glory be
above all the earth. The prophet in the previous verse spoke of mercy
“unto the heavens,” but here his song flies “above the heavens”; praise
rises higher and higher, and knows no bound.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
