Psalm 57 - Keep Calm by Staying Centered

You are saved by grace... but not just from your sins!

PSALM 57 (NASB95)

For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth.

A Mikhtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.

¹ Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,

For my soul takes refuge in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge

Until destruction passes by.

² I will cry to God Most High,

To God who accomplishes all things for me.

³ He will send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches him who tramples upon me.

Selah.

God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.

⁴ My soul is among lions;

I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,

Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows

And their tongue a sharp sword.

⁵ Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

⁶ They have prepared a net for my steps;

My soul is bowed down;

They dug a pit before me;

They themselves have fallen into the midst of it.

Selah.

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!

⁸ Awake, my glory!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

⁹ I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to You among the nations.

¹⁰ For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens

And Your truth to the clouds.

¹¹ Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

Summary

Reformed Christians like us absolutely love the word grace. Most of us have Ephesians 2:8 indelibly seared into our minds: For by grace you have been saved... Understanding grace to mean that God does not give us what our sins deserve is a great way to understand the word, but it's just one definition of it.

Some of you more eagle eyed Unfading Truth readers may have noticed that in this past month many of our Bible passages have been taken from the New American Standard Version. There's lots of reasons I've been using various translations this year, but this week's Psalm is a great example as to why I've been sticking with the NASB lately.

Every other major translation renders today's opening verse as Have mercy on me, O God! Now obviously when multiple reputable translations all pick the same word, there must be something to it, and to understand David to be crying out for God's mercy as he's hiding in a cave from the murderous King Saul in the midst of lions and predators that breath forth fire (metaphorically speaking) certainly fits.

But I think the NASB nailed the Hebrew in the way they rendered David's prayer: Be gracious to me O God. The underlying word means "to have mercy, be gracious, take pity, be kind, i.e., show an act of kindness, compassion, or benefice to another." This is exactly what God does in His grace for us, both in saving us from the punishment our sin deserves, and as He sends from heaven and saves you from that which threatens to trample upon you, as He did for David so long ago.

This is why, like David, you too must continually cry out for God to be gracious to you, for this God Most High accomplishes all things for you!

  Dig Deeper  

David teaches us a hugely important lesson from deep in the cave. His prayer for God's graciousness was certainly occasioned by Saul's physical threat, but even as David implores God to send forth His lovingkindness and His truth, David's primary concern isn't for his own safety. It's for God to be exalted above the heavens, a phrase he repeats in twice, following that with a prayer that God's glory be above all the earth.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons that life's challenges stress us out to the extent that they do. If you put yourself and your own success - however you happen to define it - as your top priority, then it makes sense that every little setback will feel like a crushing defeat. It's hard to hit a moving target!

You live in a world that constantly shifts and changes (we read in Psalm 46 last week that the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea). So if all of your attention is focused upon an ever changing target (your own ambitions), you'll continually struggle to hit it.

But look at how David's attitude changes after He recenters his focus on God's unchanging glory: he's still stuck hiding out in the same cave - his dire circumstances haven't changed. His enemies still have their nets prepared and have dug a pit to throw him into.

But now his heart is steadfast and he will give thanks and sing praises to God for His lovingkindness (His ḥěʹ·sěḏ covenant love) and truth. His whole mindset and attitude is restored and healed, simply because he reoriented his focus back to the unchanging goal that all of us were created for: To exalt God above the heavens and glorify Him above all the earth.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sends from heaven to save us;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will keep your primary focus on exalting and glorifying our unchanging God;

  ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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