Psalms 57King James Version
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory. I myself will awake early. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens.
A cave psalm. David is hiding from Saul in a cave (probably Adullam or En-gedi) and calls on God to send mercy and truth from heaven. His soul is among lions, his companions are men whose teeth are spears. But his heart is fixed. The second half of the psalm is pure praise, so confident it breaks into a refrain that will reappear in Psalm 108: 'Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens.' The cave becomes a sanctuary.
The fixed heart can praise from inside the cave, before the deliverance has happened, because the exaltation of God does not depend on the resolution of personal circumstances.
verse: "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise." The repetition is emphasis, not accident: the fixedness is the thing.
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.' Altaschith means 'destroy not,' possibly a tune or liturgical instruction. Book 2, Michtam group. The cave's geography collapses in the psalm: from underground hiding to cosmic praise, the spatial movement is the spiritual movement.
David as the cave-dweller; God as the one who sends mercy and truth from heaven; enemies described as lions with spear-teeth; the nations and peoples addressed in the projected praise section.
Psalm 57:7-11 is nearly identical to Psalm 108:1-5, showing how individual psalms were recycled into composite psalms for different liturgical uses. The pattern of lament turning to fixed praise is among the most complete in the Psalter. The cave setting connects to a recurring biblical motif: Elijah in the cave of Horeb, and typologically, the tomb that becomes a resurrection site.
For when circumstances are genuinely threatening and you want to know if it is possible to have a fixed heart inside a frightening situation. This psalm says yes, and shows how the turn happens.
1[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.] Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
2I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.
3He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
4My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
6They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
7My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
8Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
9I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.
10For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
11Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.