Psalms 57

Wesley: Al-taschith—destroy not—sum of the plea; the cave frames urgent mercy. Double “be merciful” and refuge under wings until calamities pass.

Mercy is begged because the soul actually takes refuge; wings invite trust that must be exercised till the storm passes. Grace shelters those who flee to God, not those who stand aloof.

Calvin: repetition proves uncommon grief; the plea for mercy is hope in God from innermost affections. Shadow of wings—God shelters like a hen; hope lodges under every tempest.

Refuge is God’s gift and the soul’s act of trust. Mercy is not earned calm; it is shelter until destruction passes by God’s timing.

Wesley: cry to God most high who performs for the sufferer. Prayer follows refuge; Most High is addressed as the one who finishes what he starts for his servant.

Crying out is the appointed means under pressure. Purpose fulfilled does not cancel the need to cry; grace that completes still summons petition.

Calvin: to hope he adds prayer; he addresses God as who performs whatsoever he promised and perfects the work begun. God never forsakes the workmanship of his hands.

Most High fulfills purpose; the cry rests on God’s constancy, not the saint’s resolve alone.

Wesley: Send forth—will discover mercy and truth by gracious help in pursuance of promises. Shame for the trampler; salvation paired with covenant love.

Confidence that God will save leaves room for the trampler to be shamed and checked. Shared seriousness—imprecation here is not in doubt: trampling invites God’s public reverse, not private revenge.

Calvin: he glories in help as if already seen; send from heaven marks signal deliverance. God strikes enemies with shame when he disappoints them; mercy and truth are the hands of assistance.

Shame on the trampler is judicial hope. Steadfast love and faithfulness are God’s sent means, not human leverage.

Wesley: Lions—fierce and bloody men; on fire—fire-brands breathing wrath and incensing Saul. Teeth and tongue name human cruelty.

Lying among lions is honest complaint, not unbelief. Naming spear-teeth and sword-tongues lets prayer be specific; grace does not require pretending the beasts are mild.

Calvin: he insists on enemies’ cruelty as plea for speedier help—lions, inflamed hatred, teeth as spears, tongue as sword. Calumny wounds deeper than steel; God can bridle the false tongue.

Fiery beasts are children of man under judgment’s eye. Complaint to God is permitted warfare of the weak.

Wesley: Excited—glorify thy power, goodness, justice, faithfulness by my deliverance; above—to the highest degree. Deliverance and doxology are joined.

Asking God to be exalted includes asking that rescue display his character. Glory over all the earth is the sufferer’s larger frame, not self alone.

Calvin: when the wicked’s audacity is unrestrained, the conspiracy demands signal manifestation. God, appearing for his people, advances his own glory; opposition to them is opposition to him.

Exaltation of God is the refrain that outranks the lions. Glory over earth answers blasphemy and fear together.

Wesley’s arc: from complaint to the trap’s rebound. Net and pit aimed at the righteous rebound on diggers—moral order under God.

Bowed soul may still narrate providence’s irony. Shared seriousness—malice digging pits is not a joke; God may let hunters fall into their own works.

Calvin: treachery practiced; soul bowed like a bird under the fowler’s net. They fall into the pit themselves—God’s justice reversing the snare.

Providence turns the net. Both camps hear judicial seriousness: the pit is serious danger and grave judgment when diggers fall in.

Wesley: Fixed—in a stedfast belief of thy promises. Double steadfastness turns complaint into song.

The fixed heart is belief that must be held and sung. Steadfastness is living trust answering prior fear; melody is obedience of joy.

Calvin: prepared/ready heart—cheerfulness and cordiality opposed to lip-service and sluggishness; or fixed by due meditation. He addresses voluntary sacrifice with sincere fervor.

Steadfast heart precedes singing. God-ward fixity, not mood, funds the melody.

Wesley: My glory—my tongue, instrument of singing; Awake—employ all powers of soul and body. Dawn is met with praise instruments.

Waking glory, harp, and lyre is active consecration. Grace that steadies the heart still summons the whole self to praise early.

Calvin: he calls tongue, psaltery, and harp to celebrate God’s name; heart first, mouth second, instruments third to stimulate ardor. One awakened is unremitting in praise.

Awake the dawn is zeal, not mere poetry. Praise claims the morning before fear reclaims it.

Wesley: The people—among Israelites and Heathens as occasion serves. Thanks goes public beyond the cave.

Nations and peoples as audience imply praise that invites others. Thanksgiving among the nations is mission-shaped gratitude under deliverance.

Calvin: nations as auditors imply David representing Christ; Paul cites this toward Gentile praise (Rom 15:9). Proclaiming to the deaf would be absurd—Gentiles are brought to knowledge of God.

Covenant praise spills past Israel’s borders by God’s design.

Wesley’s frame: mercy and truth discovered in help. Love to the heavens and faithfulness to the clouds are the reason for worldwide praise.

Greatness of steadfast love grounds confidence to keep seeking. Faithfulness to the clouds means promises reach as high as need.

Calvin: sum of the song—world full of goodness and truth. Goodness induces God to promise liberally; faithfulness assures he is constant in fulfilling. Order of perfections matters.

Hesed and faithfulness, not merit, fill the sky. Doxology rests on God’s character spanning heaven and cloud.

Wesley: the refrain returns—glorify by deliverance to the highest degree. Cave prayer ends in earth-wide glory.

Repeated exaltation shows praise that must keep asking God to be seen as great. The needy still beg that glory cover the earth.

Calvin: concludes praying God would arise and not suffer glory obscured or wicked audacity intolerable; or hasten Gentile calling and mighty judgments for the nations’ subjection.

Final refrain is God exalted, not self secured. Glory over all the earth closes the miktam.