1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake 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 steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
Comment: My wife is an ardent reader, I am not! And when I do read apart from the Bible I read prose rather than poetry. But this Psalm to me is fantastic poetry! The background to this Psalm is that several times David hid in different caves to escape the following Saul who was determined to kill him. Once he was joined by members of his family and a sizable number of others (1Sam 22); another when hiding deep in a cave Saul came into the front of the cave and after a slight ‘relief’ went to sleep. David could have killed him but didn’t. That is quite a story (1Sam 24)! I’m not sure on which of those two occasions David wrote this beautiful Psalm! 1. vv1-3 describe the truth that above the roof of the cave were the ‘wings of God’ and he was confident that they would remain until the storm of Saul’s anger passed by! David trusts God and rests in God’s faithfulness! 2. vv4-6 – in most poetic language David describes the fierceness of his attackers. They were men who fought like lions. For lion’s teeth he saw human spears and arrows; the lions teeth were human swords! They laid traps, nets and pits – but you can almost hear David chuckling in when he writes, ‘But they fell into their own traps!’ ‘Think about that’ he adds! 3. vv 8-10 – You’d think that this was almost a charismatic service – many musicians, praising and singing, enough to last until dawn, not an evening of praise, but a night of praise!! 4. Here you might think that he was writing an introduction to the Shorter Westminster Catechism. – ‘What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.’
Proverbs 18: 10 – “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.”
Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the peace, which trusting in You makes possible, even in very tough situations!
As I read it! 