Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
David pours out his prayer in extremity, fleeing into the cave with danger pressing upon him. The psalm divides into two movements: first his urgent plea for mercy, then his confident rise to praise. We cannot settle what Al-tascheth means, whether it names a familiar tune or catches his own desperate cry, but either way, the inscription marks the circumstance of true anguish in which these words were born.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 57:1-11
Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. A grand chorus. Take it up, ye angels and ye spirits made perfect, and join in it, ye sons of men below, as ye say, Let thy glory be above all the earth. The prophet in the previous verse spoke of mercy "unto the heavens, "but here his song flies "above the heavens; "praise rises higher, and knows no bound
Prayer, when it works by true faith, turns at once into praise; sackcloth is loosed and replaced with gladness. The heart must be fixed first, prepared for every event by being stayed on God, before the tongue can truly sing His glory.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 57:7-11