Logos Bible Study

Psalm 57:1–5

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57:1Have mercy on me, O God! Have mercy on me!

For in you I have taken shelter.1

In the shadow of your wings2 I take shelter

until trouble passes.

57:2I cry out for help to the sovereign God,3

to the God who vindicates4 me.

57:3May he send help from heaven and deliver me5

from my enemies who hurl insults!6

(Selah)

May God send his loyal love and faithfulness!

57:4I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down7 among those who want to devour me;8

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are a sharp sword.9

57:5Rise up10 above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth!11

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Heb “my life has taken shelter.” The Hebrew perfect verbal form probably refers here to a completed action with continuing results.
  2. 2 In the shadow of your wings. The metaphor likens God to a protective mother bird (see also Pss 17:8; 36:7).
  3. 3 Heb “to God Most High.” The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.
  4. 4 Or “avenges in favor of.”
  5. 5 Heb “may he send from heaven and deliver me.” The prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives expressing the psalmist’s prayer. The second verb, which has a vav (ו) conjunctive prefixed to it, probably indicates purpose. Another option is to take the forms as imperfects expressing confidence, “he will send from heaven and deliver me” (cf. ).
  6. 6 Heb “he hurls insults, one who crushes me.” The translation assumes that this line identifies those from whom the psalmist seeks deliverance. (The singular is representative; the psalmist is surrounded by enemies, see v. 4.) Another option is to understand God as the subject of the verb חָרַף (kharaf), which could then be taken as a homonym of the more common root חָרַף (“insult”) meaning “confuse.” In this case “one who crushes me” is the object of the verb. One might translate, “he [God] confuses my enemies.”
  7. 7 The cohortative form אֶשְׁכְּבָה (’eshkévah, “I lie down”) is problematic, for it does not seem to carry one of the normal functions of the cohortative (resolve or request). One possibility is that the form here is a “pseudo-cohortative” used here in a gnomic sense ( §34.5.3b).
  8. 8 The Hebrew verb לָהַט (lahat) is here understood as a meaning “devour” (see II להט), a homonym of the more common verb meaning “to burn.” A more traditional interpretation takes the verb from this latter root and translates, “those who are aflame” (see 529 ; cf. “those who breathe forth fire”).
  9. 9 Heb “my life, in the midst of lions, I lie down, devouring ones, sons of mankind, their teeth a spear and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword.” The syntax of the verse is difficult. Another option is to take “my life” with the preceding verse. For this to make sense, one must add a verb, perhaps “and may he deliver” (cf. the ), before the phrase. One might then translate, “May God send his loyal love and faithfulness and deliver my life.” If one does take “my life” with v. 4, then the parallelism of v. 5 is altered and one might translate: “in the midst of lions I lie down, [among] men who want to devour me, whose teeth.…”
  10. 10 Or “be exalted.”
  11. 11 Heb “over all the earth [be] your splendor.” Though no verb appears, the tone of the statement is a prayer or wish. (Note the imperative form in the preceding line.)

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

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!

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.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,

for in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

until the disaster has passed.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God, who vindicates me.

He sends from heaven and saves me,

rebuking those who hotly pursue me—

God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

I am in the midst of lions;

I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,

for I take refuge in you.

I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings

until danger passes.

I call to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He reaches down from heaven and saves me,

challenging the one who tramples me.

Selah

God sends his faithful love and truth.

I am surrounded by lions;

I lie down among devouring lions—

people whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

God, be exalted above the heavens;

let your glory be over the whole earth.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!

I look to you for protection.

I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings

until the danger passes by.

I cry out to God Most High,

to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.

He will send help from heaven to rescue me,

disgracing those who hound me.

Interlude

My God will send forth his unfailing love and faithfulness.

I am surrounded by fierce lions

who greedily devour human prey—

whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows,

and whose tongues cut like swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens!

May your glory shine over all the earth.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,

because in you my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge

until destruction passes by.

I will call to God Most High,

to God who accomplishes things concerning me.

He will send from heaven and save me;

he will reproach the one who tramples me. Selah

God will send his loyal love and his faithfulness.

My soul is among lions.

I lie down among those who devour—

the children of humankind whose teeth are spears and arrows

and whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God.

Let your glory be above all the earth.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

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.

I will cry unto God most high;

Unto God that performeth all things for me.

He 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.

My 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.

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let thy glory be above all the earth.

Public Domain