PSALM 57. David has now escaped to the cave of Adullam. It was within the land and David can speak with confidence of taking his refuge under the shadow of Jehovah’s wings, until these calamities be overpast. He is confident that God will send from heaven and save him from the reproaches of him who would swallow him up, even though he feels his soul is among lions. He can look forward with confidence that he will praise the Lord among the people and among the nations. The glory of God is to be above the heavens and above all the earth. It is wonderful to think of how the remnant in the coming day will be brought from a state of indifference, to look forward to the time when their trials will all be over; when they shall praise God even among the nations.
Psalm 58. Here the faithful look away from their own sufferings and behold the plight of the wicked in the sight of God, Faith can challenge them, even though the wicked feel themselves secure. The judgment of God is sought for in their treatment of the righteous. When this judgment comes to pass, men shall say that there is fruit for the righteous, and that there is a God that judgeth in the earth. Righteousness shall no longer suffer as at present, but at the coming of the Lord in judgment, righteousness shall reign.
Psalm 59. This psalm is earlier in David’s history than those we have just been considering, but they are taken up more in their moral rather than their historical order. David’s house was being watched by Saul who sought to capture and slay him. But Michel, David’s wife, Saul’s daughter, let him down through a window and he escaped. We have then David calling for deliverance from the workers of iniquity, those who were lying in for his soul. The Lord gave him the confidence that he should laugh at them; thus he will wait upon Him because of His strength. He will sing unto God who is his strength and defense. The Lord was looking on the tried ones of the future, that they might receive encouragement and comfort from David’s experience at this time.
Psalm 60. In reading the account David’s struggle with the Syrians in 2 Samuel 8, we do not find there the great exercises he passed through which are revealed to us here. It would seem from these exercises that the conflict was so great that they feared they were cast off. But God had not cast them off. Now they see how God had spoken in His holiness, and David can rejoice and say, “Through God we shall do valiantly; for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.” So the Lord, through the exercises of faith as revealed here, will in the tribulations to come encourage His people.
Psalm 61. This psalm is marked as a psalm of David, but the occasion of it is not given. However, judging front its context, it still has to do with his exercises when driven out by Absalom. The writer feels that he is at a distance from the place of his privileges, yet he desires to be led to the Rock that is higher than he. Now he realizes that he has been heard and given the assurance of his inheritance. The latter part of this psalm goes beyond David and properly belongs to the exercises of the Messiah.
ML-12/25/1960