Author: 杨 全荣

Background

The battle of the Valley of Salt was recorded in 1 Chronicles 18:12. Abishai and Joab the sons of Zeruiah led Israel and defeated 18,000 Edomites. The title of this Psalm mentions 12,000, which means this Psalm may have been written while the battle was still going on. Although Abishai was the leader of the army, David is attributing the victory to God. David just took over the Kingdom from Saul. Israel was in a very unstable state because Saul has put wicked, ungodly men into office, and a lot of priests were killed by Saul.

Chapter Division

1. Complaining to God (v1-3)
2. Asking God to save them (v4-5)
3. God speaks (V6-8)
4. Questioning God (v9-10)
5. Giving God the credits of victory (v11-12)

Verse By Verse

v1: Israel was in battle with the gentles because God has rejected them. Rejection from God is worse then the attack from enemies. We do not want to anger our God. We must repent from our sins and ask God to restore us. If God withdraw from His presence we tremble at the fall of a leaf (C.H. Spurgeon).

v2: Israel is very unstable like the earth, which could quake any time. Sometimes the church of Christ, or our personal spiritual condition could be unstable. Only God can stop earth quake, stabilized country, heal the church, and save us from destruction.

v3: Just like a man who purposely make another man drunk by giving him wine to drink, God has purposely let Israel experienced weak and experience hardship.

v4: The psalmist makes a turn at this verse. God has given a banner means God is now leading them into battle. But only to those who fear God. It is a banner of Truth, that lead us into victory.

v5-12: These verses are exactly the same as the Psalm 108:6-13

v5: The name David means “beloved”. David is praying to God on behalf of the nation. Jesus is praying for us in heavenly throne next to God the Father.

v6: God in His holiness has spoken. Because God is holy, He will not lie and will not change His promise. The land was promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. David is claiming these lands by faith in God.

v7: David is claiming the ownership of these cities. Ephraim provided soldiers for David’s Kingdom, thus it is called the helmet of his head. Judah is where David rules, thus it is called his scepter. What are God’s promises to us in Christ? Are we claiming these promises as our own? Read 1 Corinthians 3:22-23

v8:  Moab and Edom were both enemies of Israel. Washbowl, a bowl used to collect dirty water from after ones finished watching his feet. [Throw my shoe]: Because God is leading, the threat from Edom is insignificant. In Christ we have victory against the enemy. One day the nations will subdue under the scepter of David. The King of Kings will reign the world, and we will be reigning as kings with Him.

v9-10: The Edomites lived on high, dangerous, hard to get to places. Who can lead David to conquer Edom? Not Joab, the captain of his army. David is calling to God.

v11: David could have the strongest armies, captains, armors and horses. But without God, they will surely fail.

v12: [Through God we shall do valiantly]: However dependance on God is not an excuse of inactivity. Dependence on God is the encouragement of the most courages acts. Like straw on threshing floor beneath the feet of oxen, the enemies will be under God’s foot.

Background

Saul gave orders to have David killed, he himself have tried two to kill David (1 Sam 19:10-11). Before these killing attempts, Saul may have sent out people to spy on David (v6, v14). So David wrote this Psalm to ask God for help.

God the Deliverer (v1-9)

v1: [set me securely on high away]. Because David saw the Lord as his fortress and high tower.

v3-4: Referring to Saul trying to kill David, although David didn’t sin against Saul.

v5: [awake]. Sometimes we think God is at sleep when we at in distress.

v5: [punish all the nations]. Because of Saul negligence as King, the Canaanites are preparing to attack Israel.

God the Judge (v10-17)

v11: [do not slay them]. David asked God not to kill Saul and his men with some sudden judgement, but to allow their own sins to catch up with them and consume them gradually. This would be a strong witness and a warning to the people of Isareael and teach them lessons they could learn no other way.

v13: [destroy them in wrath]. But finally David asked God to destroy his enemies, so the mean may know that God rules in Jacob and to end of the world. These enemies were hurting David, the anointing Kind of Israel, and they ultimately challenged the King of Kings, the God of Israel.

v14: For believer, morning will surely come where we will joyfully sing praises to our Lord. Our hope is our Lord.

Today, we don’t ask God in prayers to destroy people that sins against us. We believe God is just and righteous, He will judge those who are wicked, to show that He is the righteous God. However, because all spiritual attacks are the enemy – Satan. We should pray like David to God, ask God to destroy Satan, its evil power, its demons and its evil attacks against us so that we can give all the glory to God.

This Psalm may have been written late in David’s exile, or early in his reign in Hebron.

David referred to the wicked (v3) and unrighteous(v2) people as lion (v) , serpent and cobra (v4). He was probably referring to officials of Saul, e.g. Doeg the Edomite. (1 Sam 22:9).

David knew that revenge is of God (Deut 32:35, Heb 10:30, Rom 12:19). David didn’t carry any revenge himself but he would prayed to God will judge the unrighteous (v6).

v10: [wash his feet in the blood]. Walking in cream and oil was a picture of wealth (Job 29:6). Walking in blood was a picture of great victory.

v11: God will vindicate Himself, the unrighteous will be punished, so that men will say “Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”

Background

Psalm 57 is probably written right after Psalm 56. The background is recorded in 1 Sam 22:1-2, where David fled Achish king of Gath and went to the cave of Adullam. People of distress and in debt started to come to David, and he became the captain over them, a total of approximately 400 men. Later on David, together with his men, was hiding from Saul in a cave in Engedi (1 Sam 24:3), where David had an opportunity to kill Saul but didn’t.

This Psalm has a style of repetition of words within a verse. i.e. gracious and refuge in v1, send in v3, exacted in v5, steadfast and sing in v7, awake in v8, among in v9.

This Psalm is a record of a day a David’s life as a fugitive. Verse 4 records his lying down and verse 8 his waking up to greet the dawn.

v1: [shadow of your wings]. David’s worship and prayers turn the cave into a Holy of Holies where he could hide under the wings of the cherubim on the mercy seat of the ark. David wanted wings of dove in Psalm 55:6 to fled from his enemies, but what he really needs is the wings of God, where he could safely hide.

v4: [my soul is among lions]. Saul and his men are like lions trying to chase and destroy David. A young sister who grew up in our church shared that she felt like among the lions on her internship jobs during the summers in her college years. Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Praise to the Lord because He is loving and truth (v3), He will send from heaven to save us (v3). In the case of the young sister in Christ, God sent another sister in Christ from our church to her work place so that she can have a spiritual companion. Maybe you are in darkness right now, but the dawn will surely come (v8), put our trust in the Lord, and we will awaken the dawn and give our glory and thanks and praises to God among the nations (v9).

v10: In verse 3, God sent his loving kindness and His truth from heaven to save David. In verse 10, God’s loving kindness is great to the heavens, His truth reached up to the cloud!

v11: Repeat of verse 5. Even thought David was hiding from his enemy in the cave, his praises, prayers and thanks giving have turn the cave into a Holy of Holies. His praises to God has reach above the heavens, and result is God received all the glory. Are you in a cave in your life now? Are you praying and trusting God will deliver you? Are you coming under the shadow of His wings? Are you praising God for what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do? Let’s turn the cave into the Holy of Holies!

Background

The background of this Psalm is recorded in 1 Sam 21. In order to run away from the attack from Saul, David left Judah and fled to Gath, one of the five Philistine cities. Goliath, the giant defeated by young David was from this city (1 Sam 17:4). David life was in danger in Gath (6), he was greatly in fear of Achish, the king of Gath (1 Sam 21:12), so David pretended to be insane in order to escape Gath (1 Sam 21:13). The other Psalm with the same background is Psalm 34. Later on in David’s life, he returned back to Gath with 600 men and their families. On the second visit, David lived in a place called Ziklag for 1 year and 4 months.

Turn Fear into Praise (v1-4)

v1: [all day long]: David was oppressed by Philistines all day long. Repeated in verse 5 again.

v2: [they are many]: Not just one enemy, but many

v3-4: David was afraid, so he put his trust to God, he praise God and afraid no more. These  verses are repeated again in v10-11. Christians turn fear into praise by trusting God.

v4: : [what can man do to me?]: Our God is greater than any man, what can man do to me? Repeated in Psalm 118:6 and Hebrew 13:6

Light of Life (v5-11)

V5-6: David’s life seem to be in danger, the Philistines in Gath wanted to take his life (v6)

V7: So David asked God to put down these peoples.

V8: God knows what David has been through in the wanderings, being chased by Saul. David’s tears were saved in God’s bottle, and recorded in God’s book. Archaeologists have discovered tear bottle from grave site. How comfort to know that God’s has collected our tears. God knows every hardship we have been through, our suffering was recorded in His book.

V10-11: A repeat of v3-4. When we put our trust in God, what can man do to us?

V12: David promised he will offer thank offerings to God. He trusts God will deliver him and look forward for giving thanks to God. Do we ever give thanks to God after God has delivered us from our trouble?

V13: [delivered my soul from death]: Only the redemption work of Jesus on the cross can delivered our soul from death. Our responsibility is to [walk before God in the light of living]. Light of living can be translated as Light of Life. Jesus told us He is the Light of Life (John 8:12). When we follow Jesus, we will no longer walk in darkness, but we will walk in the Light of Life.

Background: Probably written by David when the was King in Jerusalem (9-11). David wrote this Psalm after his son Absalom rebel against him. The companion and friend who betrayed him (13) was Ahithophel, who King David’s counselor (2 Sam 15:12).

V3: The voice of the enemy and the pressure of the wicked are referred to Absalom and Ahithophel.

David knew that his own negligence as a father had turned Absalom against him. He also knew that the revolt was part of the discipline that Nathan the prophet promised because of David’s adultery and the murder of Uriah (2 Sam. 12:9-12).

V6: David wish he has wings to escape his life. Although David did flee Jerusalem, he was not able to escape to bear the consequences of his sins. What we need are not wings like dove to fly away from the storm, what we need are wings like eagle to fly above the storm.

V9-11: Jerusalem was not stable when more and more people decided to follow Absalom (2 Sam. 15:10-14).

V12: If it was our enemy who reproaches against us, it not a surprise to us. However if it is our close friend who reproach against us, it would be a very painful experience.

V17: King David is a man of prayer. He trusted the Lord will hear his voice and redeem his soul from his trouble.

v23: Ahithopel eventually killed himself because he plan to be the right hand man of Absalom has failed (2 Sam. 17:23). God is a righteous God, the wicked men will surely receive their punishment.

1. Ziphites are from the tribe of Judah, they lived about 15 miles southeast of Hebron. Twice they betrayed King David (1 Sam 23:19, 26:1), and both times the Lord delivered him. In the first time, when Saul was chasing David in the wilderness of Maon, a messenger came to Saul, and told Saul to return home to flight the Philistine whom have made a raid on the land. (1 Sam 23:27). On the second time, David had an opportunity to kill Saul in the wilderness of Ziph but chose not to do so, because [The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed] (1 Sam 27:11).
2. [By Your name] (v1) means “on the basis of your character”, especially power (v1) and faithfulness (v5). Although David would not kill Saul by his own hand, he believed that the righteous God will strike Saul down. [As the Lord lives, surely the Lord will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish.] (1 Sam 26:10).
3. Strangers (v3) refers to the Ziphites, who are not gentiles but from the tribe of Judah. Stranger in this context is a word use to describe someone who turned his back on someone else.
4. God is my helper (v4). God sent Jonathan to encourage King David. (1 Sam 23:16-18).
5. David sacrifices to God (v6) by giving thanks to God’s name, and praising God for His goodness (v6). Today we do not sacrifice animal to God, instead we sacrifice by giving thanks to Him and praising Him for He had done for us.
6. In verse 1 to 6 King David speaks directly to God. In verse 7, David speak to the readers and witness for the Lord.

1. This is Psalm 14 with some minor revisions. David wrote both of the Psalms.
2. Mahalath could mean disease. This is indeed a song for the man’s disease: the mortal sin of rejecting God.
3. David wrote Ps 14 at his early age, now advance in age, he found no difference in men. Men still reject God.
4. The major change is the use of Elohim “God” instead of Jehovah (the God of covenant).
5. The major difference is verse 5, in which the psalmist celebrates a military victory over an enemy.
6. Possibly revised by the psalmist to fit a new occasion, perhaps the defeat of the Assyrian army in the days of King Hezekiah.
7. v1-3 [there is no one that does good, not even one] was quoted by Paul in Romas 3:10.
8. The psalmist called the the atheist “fool”. (v1)
9. Atheists believe there is no God. They believe that they are living a moral life based on their own standards. But the bible says “There is no one who does good, not even one.” (v3)
10. Verse 5: “For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you”. A body to remain unburied was a great disgrace in the ancient Near East, even an executed criminal was supposed to have a decent burial. The Lord despised the arrogance of the Assyrians and put them to open shame.

1. David was in anguish when he wrote this psalm because of what Saul did to the priests of God (1 Sam 21:1-9, 22:6-23).
2. When David heard from Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech about what had happened to the priesthood family, he said in 1 Sam 22 “I have brought about the death of every person in your father’s household.”
3. Doeg was an Edomite, a descendant from Esau, the enemy of Jacob. He is Saul’s head shepherd (1 Sam 21:7). This represents the battle of flesh and spirit.
4. “Mighty man” was referring to Saul or Doeg (v1)
5. v2 [worker of deceit]: Doeg deceits Saul to kill the priests family.
6. v4: [deceitful tongue] Doeg was deceitful because he didn’t tell Saul the whole story. He didn’t tell Saul David was pretended to be on a secret mission serving Saul.
7. Verse 5 is the turning point of this Psalm. God will ultimately judge Saul and Doeg for what they will do the priests family in Nob. (v5)
8. Wait for Your name: to hope and depend on the character of God as expressed in His great name. (v9).
9. Saul ended up death in a battle with Philistine, and his head was cut off by Philistine and his body was hung on the wall of Beth Shan (1 Sam 31).
10. Doeg death was not mentioned explicitly in the bible, however some Rabbis suggested that young man who told David about the death of Saul, and later killed by David was Doeg (2 Sam 1:15), although the young man identified himself as a Amalekite (2 Sam 8).

1. First of 15 (Psalm 51 to 65) consecutive psalms attributed to David in Book II.
2. One of the seven penitential Psalms (Ps 6,32,38,51,102,130,143).
3. It is David’s prayer of confession after Nathan the prophet confronted him with his sins (2 Sam 11-12)
4. Cleanse Me (1-7)
   1. The law says who committed adultery should be put to death (Lev 20:10). David could appeal only to God’s mercy, grace, and love. (v1)
   2. David acknowledge his sin (transgressions, iniquity, sin, v1-3)
   3. David had sinned against Uriah and Bathsheba, but ultimately he sinned against God (v4).
   4. David didn’t blame his sins on anyone else. He could have blame it on Bathsheba, or even God. But instead he acknowledge his sin is due to his sinful nature. He was sinful even in his mother’s stomach (v5).
   5. Hyssop was used to sprinkle blood or water on people needing ceremonial cleansing. In Israel, leprosy or touching a dead body is considered unclean (Lev 14:6, Num 19:16-19). Today, it is the work of Christ on the cross that clean our sins. (v7)
5. Restore Me (8-12)
   1. David’s sins had affected his whole person: mind (v3), inmost place (v6), ears and bones (v8), heart and spirit (v10), tongues (v14), lips and month (v15). The cost of sin is high.
   2. David wanted his entire being to be restored so he could serve the Lord acceptably.
   3. David was in extreme anguish (v8) because of his sin. It felt like his bones were crushed  by God. Why by God? Maybe David was referring to the disciple from God regarding the death of his child, who die in few days after birth (2 Sam 12:18).  He wanted to escape from the anguish condition and rejoice in the Lord, but he couldn’t do it by himself, and he didn’t know how. So he cried out to God.
   4. David knew he couldn’t rejoice in the Lord without the forgiveness of God (v9).
   5. David knew his heart was the source of his trouble, he was incapable of changing his own heart. So he plead to God to create a clean heart in him. (v10)
   6. v11: A reference to Holy Spirit. People argue about Trinity and said that Holy Spirit was not mentioned in OT. In this verse, Holy Spirit is clearly mentioned. At this time, Holy Spirit was not indwell in believers heart like in NT. In OT, Holy Spirit would come into a person temporary to accomplish God’s work.
   7. v12: After you became a believers of Christ, have you experience anguish from your sins and lost your joy of salvation you first experience when accepting Jesus as your savior? Our Lord will never leave us once we accepted Him. If we come before Him and repent of our sins (1 John 1:9), we would feel the joy of salvation again.
6. Use Me (13-19)
   1. v13: David knew first hand how much damage to a person relationship with God when the person sins. If God restore his joy in the Lord, he promise God he will teach sinners the ways of God.
   2. David was a King, he could afford to make many animal sacrifices, however none of that could cleanse his sin. God couldn’t accept broken animal sacrifice, but God delights in a broken spirit, a contrite heart. (v17). Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3).
   3. v18: David suddenly turned the focus to Zion. In his own personal struggle and pleading with God, he thought about God’s city, God’s people. He asked God to make Zion prosper, and build up the walls of Jerusalem. David knew his sins would affect God’s people. The enemies cloud attack when Jerusalem is vulnerable. Our personal sins could affect other people, could affect God’s church. Let’s pray to God to build up strong walls in our churches, to protect us from the enemy. Oh God, make your Church prosper, help us to build strongs walls so that we could offer righteous sacrifices on Your altar that are pleasing to You!