Psalms 57:6-11

Context

57:6 They have prepared a net to trap me;¹

I am discouraged.²

They have dug a pit for me.³

They will fall⁴ into it! (Selah)

57:7 I am determined,⁵ O God! I am determined!

I will sing and praise you!

57:8 Awake, my soul!⁶

Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!

I will wake up at dawn!⁷

57:9 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Master!

I will sing praises to you before foreigners!⁸

57:10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,⁹

and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.

57:11 Rise up¹⁰ above the sky, O God!

May your splendor cover the whole earth!¹¹

[57:6] ¹tn Heb “for my feet.”

[57:6] ²tn Heb “my life bends low.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[57:6] ³tn Heb “before me.”

[57:6] ⁴tn The perfect form is used rhetorically here to express the psalmist’s certitude. The demise of the enemies is so certain that he can speak of it as already accomplished.

[57:7] ⁵tn Or perhaps “confident”; Heb “my heart is steadfast.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and/or emotions.

[57:8] ⁶tn Heb “glory,” but that makes little sense in the context. Some view כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”) here as a metonymy for man’s inner being (see BDB 459 s.v. II כָּבוֹד 5), but it is preferable to emend the form to כְּבֵדִי (kÿvediy, “my liver”). Like the heart, the liver is viewed as the seat of one’s emotions. See also Pss 16:9; 30:12; 108:1, as well as H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 64, and M. Dahood, Psalms (AB), 1:90. For an Ugaritic example of the heart/liver as the source of joy, see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 47-48: “her [Anat’s] liver swelled with laughter, her heart was filled with joy, the liver of Anat with triumph.”

[57:8] ⁷tn BDB 1007 s.v. שַׁחַר takes “dawn” as an adverbial accusative, though others understand it as a personified direct object. “Dawn” is used metaphorically for the time of deliverance and vindication the psalmist anticipates. When salvation “dawns,” the psalmist will “wake up” in praise.

[57:9] ⁸tn Or “the peoples.”

[57:10] ⁹tn Heb “for great upon the sky [or “heavens”] [is] your loyal love.”

[57:11] ¹⁰tn Or “be exalted.”

[57:11] ¹¹tn 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.)