Psalm 57:6-11

The second part of Psalm 57 is verses 6-11 (verses 7-11 are identical to Psalm 108:1-5):

"They [the psalmist's enemies] set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they have fallen into it themselves.
My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
among the peoples;
I will sing praise to you
among the nations.
For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens;
your faithfulness extends to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth."

1. Wicked people try to set traps to control, oppress, and afflict people who are striving to serve God. It is typical in the Old Testament to compare this with setting nets for birds or animals (Amos 3:5; Psalms 9:15; 10:9; 25:15; 140:5; Lamentations 1:13), or with digging a pit and covering it with camouflage in order to lure an animal to walk over it and fall into the pit (Psalms 7:15; 9:15; 119:85; Jeremiah 18:22). Ironically, God mysteriously works to cause the net or the pit to catch the very persons who set them to harm others.
2. When the psalmist experiences God's deliverance from her or his enemies, she or he will give thanks to and praise Yahweh for his salvation by "singing" with the voice and accompanying that with "making melody" on musical instruments; the psalmist here specifically mentions the lyre and the harp (verses 7-9). (See Psalms 33:1-3; 150).
3. Yahweh's "glory," his magnificent splendor and awesome brilliance, is "above the heavens" and throughout "all the earth" (see Psalms 8:1; 148:13).
May we praise God for his glory and steadfast love and faithfulness.

John Willis