6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down: they have digged a pit before me; they are fallen into the midst thereof. Selah.
Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his track is, who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtilly. And see, and ascertain all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come ye again to me with sure information, that I may go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout the thousands of Judah. And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of the waste. And Saul and his men went to seek [him]. And they told David; and he came down from the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard [that], and he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David made haste to get away from Saul; and Saul and his men sought to surround David and his men to take them.
He digged a pit, and hollowed it out, and is fallen into the hole that he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violence shall come down upon his own pate.
For without cause have they hidden for me their net [in] a pit; without cause they have digged [it] for my soul. Let destruction come upon him unawares, and let his net which he hath hidden catch himself: for destruction let him fall therein.
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Commentary on Psalms 57 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 57
Ps 57:1-11. Altaschith—or, "Destroy not." This is perhaps an enigmatical allusion to the critical circumstances connected with the history, for which compare 1Sa 22:1; 26:1-3. In Moses' prayer (De 9:26) it is a prominent petition deprecating God's anger against the people. This explanation suits the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth also. Asaph uses it for the seventy-fifth, in the scope of which there is allusion to some emergency. Michtam—(See on Ps 16:1, title). To an earnest cry for divine aid, the Psalmist adds, as often, the language of praise, in the assured hope of a favorable hearing.
1. my soul—or self, or life, which is threatened.
shadow of thy wings—(Ps 17:8; 36:7).
calamities—literally, "mischiefs" (Ps 52:2; 55:10).
2. performeth—or, completes what He has begun.
3. from … swallow me up—that pants in rage after me (Ps 56:2).
mercy and … truth—(Ps 25:10; 36:5), as messengers (Ps 43:3) sent to deliver him.
4. The mingled figures of wild beasts (Ps 10:9; 17:12) and weapons of war (Ps 11:2) heighten the picture of danger.
whose … tongue—or slanders.
5. This doxology illustrates his view of the connection of his deliverance with God's glory.
6. (Compare Ps 7:15; 9:15, 16).
7. I will … praise—both with voice and instrument.
8. Hence—he addresses his glory, or tongue (Ps 16:9; 30:12), and his psaltery, or lute, and harp.
I myself … early—literally, "I will awaken dawn," poetically expressing his zeal and diligence.
9, 10. As His mercy and truth, so shall His praise, fill the universe.