Mazmur 57:1

Psalm 57 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave. ⁴ 

57:1 Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter. ⁵ 

In the shadow of your wings ⁶  I take shelter

until trouble passes.

Mazmur 104:8

104:8 as the mountains rose up,

and the valleys went down –

to the place you appointed for them. ⁷ 

Mazmur 109:23

109:23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; ⁸ 

I am shaken off like a locust.

Mazmur 119:45

119:45 I will be secure, ⁹ 

for I seek your precepts.

Mazmur 119:86

119:86 All your commands are reliable.

I am pursued without reason. ¹⁰  Help me!

[57:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 57. The psalmist asks for God’s protection and expresses his confidence that his ferocious enemies will be destroyed by their own schemes.

[57:1]  ² tn Heb “do not destroy.” Perhaps this refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. These words also appear in the heading to Pss 58-59, 75.

[57:1]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56, 58-60 is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”

[57:1]  ⁴ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm on the occasion when he fled from Saul and hid in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3.

[57:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.

[57:1]  ⁶ sn In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).

[104:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “from your shout they fled, from the sound of your thunder they hurried off.”

[104:8]  sn Verses 7-8 poetically depict Gen 1:9-10.

[109:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a shadow when it is extended I go.” He is like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.

[119:45]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43-44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”

[119:86]  ¹⁰ sn God’s commands are a reliable guide to right and wrong. By keeping them the psalmist is doing what is right, yet he is still persecuted.