Psalms 57:2

DAVID was in the Cave Adullam. He had fled from Saul, his remorseless foe, and had found shelter in the clefts of the rock. In the beginning of this Psalm he rings the alarm bell—and very loud is the sound of it. "Be merciful unto me," and then the clapper hits the other side of the bell. "Be merciful unto me." He utters his Miserere again and again. "My soul trusts in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by." Thus he solaces himself by faith in his God. Faith is always an active Grace. Its activity, however, is first of all manifested in prayer. This precedes any action. "I will cry," he says, "unto God Most High." You know how graciously he was preserved in the cave, even when Saul was close at his heels. Among the winding intricacies of those caverns he was enabled to conceal himself, though his enemy, with armed men, was close at hand. The Targum has a note upon this which may or may not be true. It states that a spider spun its web over the door of that part of the cave where David was concealed. The legend is not unlike one told of another king at a later time. It may have been true of David, and it is quite as likely to be true of the other. If so, David would, in such a passage as this, have directed his thoughts to the little acts God had performed for him which had become great in their results. If God makes a spider spin a web to save His servant's life, David traces his deliverance not to the spider, but to the wonder-working Jehovah! And he says, "I will cry unto God Most High, unto God that performs all things for me." It is delightful to see these exquisite prayers come from holy men in times of extreme distress.

DAVID was in the Cave Adullam. He had fled from Saul, his remorseless foe, and had found shelter in the clefts of the rock. In the beginning of this Psalm he rings the alarm bell—and very loud is the sound of it. "Be merciful unto me," and then the clapper hits the other side of the bell. "Be merciful unto me." He utters his Miserere again and again. "My soul trusts in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by." Thus he solaces himself by faith in his God.

I will cry unto God most high - He is the Most High; and therefore far above all my enemies, though the prince of the power of the air be at their head. Unto God, לאל lael, unto the strong Good, one against whom no human or diabolic might can prevail. David felt his own weakness, and he knew the strength of his adversaries; and therefore he views God under those attributes and characters which were suited to his state. This is a great secret in the Christian life; few pray to God wisely; though they may do it fervently. That performeth all things for me - Who works for me; גמר gomer, he who completes for me, and will bring all to a happy issue.

I will cry unto God most high - The idea is - God is exalted above all creatures; all events are “under” him, and he can control them. The appeal was not to man, however exalted; not to an angel, however far he may be above man; it was an appeal made at once to the Supreme Being, the God to whom all worlds and all creatures are subject, and under whose protection, therefore, he must be safe. Unto God that performeth all things for me - The word used here, and rendered “performeth” - גמר gâmar - means properly to bring to an end; to complete; to perfect. The idea here is, that it is the character of God, that he “completes” or “perfects,” or brings to a happy issue all his plans. The psalmist had had experience of that in the past. God had done this in former trials; he felt assured that God would do it in this; and he, therefore, came to God with a confident belief that all would be safe in his hands.