Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 57:7
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
7. My heart is fixed ] Stedfastly resolved. Cp. Psa 51:10; Psa 112:7; Col 1:13 ( is the word used by Symmaohus here). The P.B.V. has changed Coverdale’s ready into fixed here, but retained it in Psa 108:1, probably owing to the influence of the familiar Latin title, Paratum cor meum, at the beginning of that Psalm.
I will sing and give praise ] I will sing and make melody. The latter is the verb from which mismr, ‘psalm,’ is derived. See Introd. p. xvii.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My heart is fixed, O God – Margin, as in Hebrew, prepared. Compare the notes at Psa 51:10. The word suited or prepared accurately expresses the sense of the Hebrew, and it is so rendered in the Septuagint, ( hetoime); in the Vulgate, paratum; and by Luther, bereit. The word is used, however, in the sense of standing erect, Psa 9:7; to establish or strengthen, Psa 89:4; Psa 10:17; and hence, to be erect; to be firm, steady, constant, fixed. This seems to be the meaning here, as it is expressed in our common version. His heart was firm and decided. He did not waver in his purpose, or lean now to one side and then to the other; he was not swayed or moved by the events that had occurred. He felt conscious of standing firm in the midst of all his troubles. He confided in God. He did not doubt his justice, his goodness, his mercy; and, even in his trials, he was ready to praise him, and was resolved to praise him. The repetition of the word fixed gives emphasis and intensity to the expression, and is designed to show in the strongest manner that his heart, his purpose, his confidence in God, did not waver in the slightest degree.
I will sing and give praise – My heart shall confide in thee; my lips shall utter the language of praise. In all his troubles God was his refuge; in all, he found occasion for praise. So it should be the fixed and settled purpose of our hearts that we will at all times confide in God, and that in every situation in life we will render him praise.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 57:7-8
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
The heart fixed
He summons his powers at once for the execution of his purpose No sooner is the resolve taken, than at once to the practice of the same. How striking and beautiful it is! Oh! it is well when the practice thus follows the principle, when the execution is contemporaneous with the purpose. I will awake early, the psalmist says. The figure there is exceedingly beautiful. It is in the original, I will awake the early dawn; not I will awake when the morning breaks, but I will awaken up the morning. I will be beforehand with it; I will challenge the day. Now, this purpose and determination results from a peculiar state of heart–My heart is fixed. Therefore let us consider–
I. This state of heart. O God, my heart is fixed–all is suspended upon that. When that is the case, there is salvation; till then, nothing is done. When that is done, all is done. The angels rejoice in heaven, and God Almighty, the Father of our Lord, is glorified. The heart, as we all know, is the man; all else of the man is governed by the heart. The physical and intellectual powers, what are they? The whole complex machinery of our constitution, what is it? Simply the servant of the heart. Aye, but some one will perhaps say, the question is, upon what is the heart fixed? Now, really, that is not the question. It is a question according to mans mode of thinking, and according to mans mode of acting, perhaps.
II. I grant you, there are ten thousand things that solicit the heart, and after which the heart of man runs; but there is but one thing in the universe upon which the heart can be fixed. Why, unless the object is fixed itself, how is it possible for the heart to be fixed? It may be directed towards, but how can it be fixed? If the thing is not fixed, what is fixed? One thing–God is fixed, and it is a simple truth that man is never fixed until he is fixed upon God. Surely a house, as to its fixedness, depends upon the foundation. Build a house on the sand, and is it fixed? You may fix it there as you think, but is it fixed? The foundation shifts, and what becomes of the house? Oh! the heart can only be fixed according to the fixedness of that on which it rests. (Capel Molyneux.)
Religious decision
I. On what was Davids heart fixed?
1. On God and His service.
2. On the diligent study of the lively oracles of God.
3. On the duty of prayer.
4. On the grand purpose of furthering the interests of Zion.
II. Why should we do likewise?
1. Because indecision degrades the character of man.
2. There is no solid and substantial reason why the heart should not be
fixed on God.
3. The nature of spiritual religion as developed in the Gospel, requires and supposes this fixedness of heart.
4. If we are not thus decided, we shall never accomplish anything truly good and great in the service of God. It is the man of settled views and fixed purposes before whom obstacles, that would be unconquerable to others, give way. (Evangelist.)
Decision
There are many temptations to a man to wander in doubt and uncertainty. He is driven hither and thither by doubts of self, of God, of revelation, of the past, and of the future. But there is no rest for that man until he is able to exclaim, My heart is fixed.
I. There is a possibility of positive religion.
1. The word positive is a species of cant phrase much used by doubters and Agnostics. But in this case we may strictly apply it to the state of a true believer. The inquirer has reached a state of satisfaction. He has found what he needed. There is for him now no further tossing about on the tempest of fear or anxiety.
2. There is something very blessed in this state of satisfaction. It is that of a mariner having arrived in port, of a student having attained the goal he coveted, the architect having seen the realization of his plans.
3. This state, too, is essentially a religious one. Nothing earthly can afford positiveness. There can be no certainty in any human act or any human hope; but in the search after God there can be, and is, perfect finality.
II. This state of satisfaction is a state of praise.
1. The key to open the door of heaven is praise. The solution of all doubts is praise. The end of all difficulties is praise.
2. The state, then, of our own miserable darkness and unrest rests upon the fact that we are always looking on ourselves, not on God. If we look on ourselves, we shall naturally see our own defects, sorrows. But if we look to His brightness we shall lose sight of all that is dark, and in His certainty we shall find an eternal stand and an unchanging hope. (Homilist.)
The fixed heart
I. The fixed heart. For a fixed heart I must have a fixed determination, and not a mere fluctuating and soon broken intention. I must have a steadfast affection, and not merely a fluttering love, that, like some butterfly, lights now on this, now on that, sweet flower, but which has a flight straight as a carrier-pigeon to its cot, which shall bear me direct to God. And I must have a continuous realization of my dependence upon God, and of Gods sweet sufficiency, going with me all through the dusty day. Is our average Christianity fairly represented by such words as these of my text? Do they not rather make us burn with shame when we think that a man who lived in the twilight of Gods revelation, and was weighed upon by distresses such as wrung this psalm out of him, should have poured out this resolve which we, who live in the sunlight and are flooded with blessings, find it hard to echo, with sincerity and truth? Fixed hearts are rare amongst the Christians of this day.
II. The manifold hindrances that we meet to such a uniformity of our religious life. There is, for example, the tendency to fluctuation which besets all our feelings, and especially our religious emotions. What would happen to a steam-engine if the stoker now piled on coals and then fell asleep by the furnace door? One moment the boiler would be ready to burst; at another moment there would be no steam to drive anything. That is the sort of alternation that goes on amongst hosts of Christians to-day. Their springtime and summer are followed certainly by an autumn and a bitter winter. Every moment of elevation has a corresponding moment of depression. But is there any necessity for such alternations? Some degree of fluctuation there will always be. The very exercise of emotion tends to its extinction. Varying conditions of health and other externals will affect the buoyancy and clear-sightedness and vivacity of the spiritual life. Only a barometer that is out of order will always stand at set fair. The vane which never points but to south is rusty and means nothing. But while there cannot be absolute uniformity, there might and should be a far nearer approach to an equable temperature of a much higher range than the readings of most professing Christians give. There is, indeed, a dismally uniform arctic temperature in many of them. Their hearts are fixed, truly, but fixed on earth. Their frost, is broken by no thaw, their tepid formalism interrupted by no disturbing enthusiasm. We do not speak now of these, but of those who have moments of illumination, of communion, of submission of will, which fade all too soon. To such we would earnestly say that these moments may be prolonged and made more continuous. We need not be at the mercy of our own unregulated feelings. We can control our hearts, and keep them fixed, even if they should wish to wander.
III. The means by which such a uniform character may be impressed upon our religious experience. A man climbing a hill, though he has to look to his feet, when in the slippery places, and all his energies are expended in hoisting himself upwards by every projection and crag, will do all the better if he lifts his eye to the summit that gleams above him. So we, in our upward course, shall make the best progress when we consciously and honestly try to look beyond the things seen and temporal, even whilst we are working in the midst, of them, and keep clear before us the summit to which our faith tends. If we lived in the endeavour to realize that great white throne, and Him that sits upon it, we should find it easier to say, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. But be sure of this, there will be no such uniformity of religious experience throughout our lives unless there be frequent times in them in which we go into our chambers and shut our doors about us, and hold communion with our Father in secret. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The fixed heart
Speak to those who have decided, but, who may be loosening their hold on God under the strain of life. No better description can be given of the influence of life on the Christian than this–it tends to loosen the bonds. They need to be constantly refixed.
1. Some disciples went back under the strain of Christs higher teachings.
2. Some forsook under the strain of Christs sufferings.
3. Some were hindered in running–Ye did run well, who hath hindered you?
4. Some were enticed by false doctrine.
5. Some were borne away by the love of the world.
6. Some are reproached for being neither cold nor hot.
These old readings of Christian living suit us now. Then times of refixing ourselves are needed. What fixity should we try to reach?
I. Fixity may concern the intellect. Show the importance of firm and ever-growing mental hold of truth and of God. Fixity for the intellect can only come with growth.
II. Fixity may concern the will. A power of resolve may shape a life. Illustrate by familiar tale in John Fosters Essays, showing the power of decision.
III. Fixity should concern the heart. My heart is fixed, O God. The true life-force is from the heart,. Heart things are the lasting things. To the heart God appeals. The heart God wants. Intellectual fixity may not be possible. Will-fixity may depend very much on disposition. Heart-fixity tuiumphs over all externality. It concerns the principle and spirit of the life. Fixed everywhere and in everything for ,God. How broad, comprehensive, practical! (Robert Tuck, B. A.)
The prepared heart
This psalm is very strangely compounded. It is described in the title as the utterance of David when he fled from Saul and hid himself in the cave. It is the cry of a man beset with trouble and danger; yet all through it, we are startled by sudden transitions from cries for help and stories of wrong to cheerful expressions of hope and outbursts of praise. This condition of hopefulness and of cheerful steadfastness in the midst of trouble is one of those things which always puzzle a mere man of the world, but which present no mystery to a soul which walks with God. But the fact goes much farther than cheerfulness in trouble. The word fixed literally means prepared, fit, ready. O God, my heart is prepared. It is about this habitual preparation of heart that I wish to speak. The ideal perfect Christian life would be a life in contact with God along its whole line. It would be everywhere and always in communion with God. Gods will and Gods love would fill and move in every inlet and curve of the life, as the ocean in its gulfs and creeks and round its promontories; and upon this high plane the general tenor of the life would be more even. It hardly needs to be said that we do not live in this condition, and that we do need certain special influences to recall our minds to heavenly things, to lift them into the atmosphere of rest and of devotion, and to keep them from drifting away into worldliness and sensuality. God has recognized the need and has met it. He has given the Sabbath with its rest from labour, He has given the sanctuary with its quickening influences, He has commended the season of special prayer. We are led up to these Pisgahs and Hermons of spiritual vision, to the end that we may carry the power of these visions into lifes common routine, to sanctify and to elevate that. These things are not an end unto themselves. The disciples were not permitted to stay on the Transfiguration Mount, but that glorious vision strengthened and kindled their hearts for the hard mission for which they were chosen. These exceptional experiences in our lives are intended to foster in us that constantly prepared, fixed heart of which David here sings: the heart that shall be prepared for praise, and for trust, and for worship, not only while sitting in heavenly places, but also among lions, among them that are set on fire, when the net has been prepared for the steps and the soul is bowed down, amid the fret and worry of life, and on the dead level of daily duty and care. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D)
A fixed heart
There are many who doubt whether it is possible for a man to-day to say, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. There are so many ideas that have changed in only a generation, there are so many views that have broadened, and there are so many beliefs that have been entirely given up, that it seems impossible any more for a mans heart to be fixed. It seems like deliberately shutting the eyes and stopping the ears to hope that the change is all over. A Christians heart is fixed on that which is almost as old as the hills. The essence of your faith, the solid core of it, Abraham had almost four thousand years ago. Our faith in God is Abrahams faith, only fuller and lighted up with all the glory that shone from the face of Jesus Christ. It is stronger and surer for every heart that has been fixed by it since Abraham. Has it not worn well, this faith of ours? It has lived on through the downfall of five great universal kingdoms, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. It went down to Egypt with Jacob; it went forth to Canaan with Moses. It battled with the heathen. It rose in triumph under David; it sank back under defeat and destruction. It rebuilt its Holy City. It waited for Christ; it founded the Church and charged the apostles. It worked in the mines; it died at the stake; it endured persecution and loss. It fought the barbarians and converted them. It saved Europe. It kept strong when men were ignorant and debased. It quickened with the Renaissance; it purified itself in the Reformation. It fainted during the eighteenth century; it rallied again and rode the storm of the French Revolution. It burst out again in the nineteenth century in splendid missionary zeal. It is to-day stronger, broader, surer than ever it was before. The greatest thing about a man is the fixedness of his heart. When men say they cannot be sure of believing to-morrow what they believe to-day, they do not know of what kind of eternal stuff a mans soul is made. The very essence of belief is that it is something never to be changed, fixed and eternal. If there is no eternal belief there is no belief at all. Belief means that, no matter what may happen, it will stand fast; belief is the insight of an eternal soul looking beyond time and chance. The man who has not come to believe in something that will last on to all eternity has not yet found out what there is down deep in his soul. The best thing there is about us men and women is our loyalty, our power of standing fast, of pledging our souls for time and eternity. Because we are eternal souls, we cannot help believing eternally. We want loyalty and the willingness to wait. When we meet with a doubt or a difficulty we ought to wait until Christ speaks. Shame on us if the reading of a single book, or a single argument of an unbeliever, can divert the stream of the faith of four thousand years from flowing through us and refreshing us. There are men and women to-day doubting God because of their misfortunes or their sufferings, although from the dawn of history men have transformed their lives and glorified humanity through their trust. Read all the bucks you like, but remember that Christian faith is not an argument, but it is an affair of loyalty. Your mind ought to receive new impressions, but your heart ought to be fixed. (John Tunis, B. A.)
The advantages of a fixed heart
A garden that is watered by sudden showers is more uncertain in its fruits than when it is refreshed by a constant stream; so when our thoughts are sometimes upon good things and then run off, when they do but take a glance, as it were, upon holy objects, and then run away, there is not such fruit brought into the soul as when our minds by meditation do dwell upon them. The rays of the sun may warm us, but they do not inflame unless they are contracted in a burning-glass; so some slight thoughts of heavenly things may warm us a little, but will never inflame the soul till they be fixed by close meditation. Therefore David tells us his heart was fixed, and saith the same concerning the frame of a good man. (H. G. Salter.)
I will sing and give praise.—
The true source of spiritual song
The text affirms a fact, and declares a resolution. My heart is fixed; this is the fact; and hence, apparently, the resolution, I will sing and give praise.
I. The meaning of the words. My heart is fixed.
1. On what the psalmist had fixed his heart. On God. Everywhere else there might be darkness and despair, but here there were light, consolation and security. As he recalls to remembrance all that God had already done for him, and all that he had promised yet farther to do, his spirit enters a serener world, and he refrains from his complaint against his inveterate enemies. And observe, that in fixing his heart on God, the psalmist more especially contemplates those gentler features of the Divine character, on which the regards of the guilty and dependent creature must ever most complacently rest (Psa 57:2-3).
2. How, or with what sentiments, it was so fixed. The expressions of confiding regard which occur throughout the psalm indicate that the heart of the writer was fixed on God by faith. In faith it is that he exclaims, My soul trusteth in Thee, etc.; and it is in the same faith, too, that he purposes to pray, when he says, I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth for me. Nor could his heart have been otherwise fixed on God, than by the virtue of that all-important principle which lies at the very source of practical godliness, admitting the light by which Divine truth irradiates the soul, and constituting the assimilating power, by whose energy the things believed are converted into the bread of life.
II. If the heart be thus fixed on God, praise and devout song will be the unfailing result; for fixedness of heart, or steadfastness of faith, is the only proper condition of the soul for these sacred exercises. We may use vain repetitions without a fixed heart. But if we would pour out our whole souls before God in those fervid and earnest supplications which, and which alone, we know to be acceptable; and if we would attain a humble assurance that we have been heard in heaven, we must go to the altar with fixed hearts. When, again, with the psalmist, we would sing and give praise, the mercy of God will be brought home in clearest and most lively apprehensions to our hearts, and then, instead of finding it difficult to pour forth the melody of joy and salvation, that will become the only possible mode of giving form and voice to the sentiments that swell and glow within us. (W. Stevenson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. My heart is fixed] My heart is prepared to do and suffer thy will. It is fixed – it has made the firmest purpose through his strength by which I can do all things.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Fixed, or established, in a full assurance of thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, or bowed down, Psa 57:6; but now I have through thy grace conquered my fears, and am fixed in a stedfast belief of thy promises. Or, is prepared, to wit, to sing and give praise, as it follows.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. I will . . . praisebothwith voice and instrument.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My heart is fixed, O God,…. Firm and sure, trusting in the Lord, believing that he should be saved by him out of his troubles; see
Ps 101:1. So, in a spiritual sense, a heart fixed and established, or that is firm and sure, is one that is assured of its salvation by Christ, rooted and grounded in the love of God, firmly built on the foundation, Christ, and has its affections set on him; and is unmoved, from the hope of the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, by whatsoever it meets with in the world. It may be rendered, “my heart is prepared”, or “ready” r; that is, according to some, to receive good or evil, prosperity or adversity, at the hand of God; to which sense is Jarchi’s note,
“my heart is faithful with thee in the measure of judgment, and it is faithful with thee in the measure of mercy.”
That is, whether I am chastised with judgments, or followed with mercies, my heart is firm and true to God. The Targum is,
“my heart is prepared for thy law, O Lord; my heart is prepared for thy fear;”
that is, it is prepared for the worship and service of God; it is ready to every good work; it is prepared to pray unto him, and to wait for an answer, which are both from the Lord, Pr 16:1; and particularly to sing praise unto him, as follows;
my heart is fixed; this is repeated, to show the vehemency of his spirit, and the certainty of the thing;
I will sing and give praise; for the salvation wrought for him, and which he was sure of; and before he had finished this psalm, or while he had composed it, did enjoy it.
r “paratum”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Prayer Turned to Praise. | |
7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. 8 Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. 9 I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. 10 For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. 11 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
How strangely is the tune altered here! David’s prayers and complaints, by the lively actings of faith, are here, all of a sudden, turned into praises and thanksgivings; his sackcloth is loosed, he is girded with gladness, and his hallelujahs are as fervent as his hosannas. This should make us in love with prayer, that, sooner or later, it will be swallowed up in praise. Observe,
I. How he prepares himself for the duty of praise (v. 7): My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed. My heart is erect, or lifted up (so some), which was bowed down, v. 6. My heart is fixed, 1. With reference to God’s providences; it is prepared for every event, being stayed upon God,Psa 112:7; Isa 26:3. My heart is fixed, and then none of these things move me, Acts xx. 24 If by the grace of God we be brought into this even composed frame of spirit, we have great reason to be thankful. 2. With reference to the worship of God: My heart is fixed to sing and give praise. It is implied that the heart is the main thing required in all acts of devotion; nothing is done to purpose, in religion, further than it is done with the heart. The heart must be fixed, fixed for the duty, fitted and put in frame for it, fixed in the duty by a close application, attending on the Lord without distraction.
II. How he excites himself to the duty of praise (v. 8): Awake up my glory, that is, my tongue (our tongue is our glory, and never more so than when it is employed in praising God), or my soul, that must be first awakened; dull and sleepy devotions will never be acceptable to God. We must stir up ourselves, and all that is within us, to praise God; with a holy fire must that sacrifice be kindled, and ascend in a holy flame. David’s tongue will lead, and his psaltery and harp will follow, in these hymns of praise. I myself will awake, not only, “I will not be dead, and drowsy, and careless, in this work,” but, “I will be in the most lively frame, as one newly awakened out of a refreshing sleep.” He will awake early to this work, early in the morning, to begin the day with God, early in the beginnings of a mercy. When God is coming towards us with his favours we must go forth to meet him with our praises.
III. How he pleases himself, and (as I may say) even prides himself, in the work of praise; so far is he from being ashamed to own his obligations to God, and dependence upon him, that he resolves to praise him among the people and to sing unto him among the nations, v. 9. This intimates, 1. That his own heart was much affected and enlarged in praising God; he would even make the earth ring with his sacred songs, that all might take notice how much he thought himself indebted to the goodness of God. 2. That he desired to bring others in to join with him in praising God. He will publish God’s praises among the people, that the knowledge, and fear, and love of God might be propagated, and the ends of the earth might see his salvation. When David was driven out into heathen lands he would not only not worship their gods, but he would openly avow his veneration for the God of Israel, would take his religion along with him wherever he went, would endeavour to bring others in love with it, and leave the sweet savour of it behind him. David, in his psalms, which fill the universal church, and will to the end of time, may be said to be still praising God among the people and singing to him among the nations; for all good people make use of his words in praising God. Thus St. John, in his writings, is said to prophesy again before many peoples and nations, Rev. x. 11.
IV. How he furnishes himself with matter for praise, v. 10. That which was the matter of his hope and comfort (God shall send forth his mercy and his truth, v. 3) is here the matter of his thanksgiving: Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, great beyond conception and expression; and thy truth unto the clouds, great beyond discovery, for what eye can reach that which is wrapped up in the clouds? God’s mercy and truth reach to the heavens, for they will bring all such to heaven as lay up their treasure in them and build their hopes upon them. God’s mercy and truth are praised even to the heavens, that is, by all the bright and blessed inhabitants of the upper world, who are continually exalting God’s praises to the highest, while David, on earth, is endeavouring to spread his praises to the furthest, v. 9.
V. How he leaves it at last to God to glorify his own name (v. 11): Be thou exalted, O God! The same words which he had used (v. 5) to sum up his prayers in he here uses again (and no vain repetition) to sum up his praises in: “Lord, I desire to exalt thy name, and that all the creatures may exalt it; but what can the best of us do towards it? Lord, take the work into thy own hands; do it thyself: Be thou exalted, O God! In the praises of the church triumphant thou art exalted to the heavens, and in the praises of the church militant thy glory is throughout all the earth; but thou art above all the blessing and praise of both (Neh. ix. 5), and therefore, Lord, exalt thyself above the heavens and above all the earth. Father, glorify thy own name. Thou hast glorified it, glorify it yet again.“
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
7. My heart is prepared, O God! (344) Some read fixed, or confirmed, and the Hebrew word נכון, nacon, bears that signification as well as the other. If we adopt it, we must understand David as saying that he had well and duly meditated upon the praises which he was about to offer; that he did not rush into a hurried and perfunctory discharge of this service, as too many are apt to do, but addressed himself to it with steadfast purpose of heart. I prefer, however, the other translation, which bears that he was ready to enter upon the service with all cheerfulness and cordiality. And although, wherever this spirit is really felt, it will lead to steadfastness of religious exercise, it is not without importance that the reader should be apprised of the force of the word which is here employed in the Hebrew. The ready heart is here opposed by David to the mere lip-service of the hypocrite, on the one hand, and to dead or sluggish service, on the other. He addressed himself to this voluntary sacrifice with a sincere fervor of spirit, casting aside sloth, and whatever might prove a hinderance in the duty.
(344) This psalm consists of two parts. The preceding verses, which contain the first part, express deep distress and extreme danger, and are of a plaintive and imploring strain. But here, where the second part commences, there is an elegant transition suddenly made to the language of exultation and triumph, which continues to the close of the psalm.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Fixed.Better, steadfast (See Psa. 51:10, Note.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. My heart is fixed, O God “Fixed,” here, may take the sense either of established or of prepared. He was established in his faith and purposes not to be moved by any adversity; or, he was prepared for all the will of God. The Septuagint gives the latter, ( ,) “my heart is ready.” Thus he was one with God, and would rejoice in this consciousness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
An Expression Of Praise And Thanksgiving For God’s Intervention On His Behalf ( Psa 57:7-11 ).
Even in the midst of his trials David was able to sing and compose Psalms, for his delight was in his God, and he now calls on himself to wake early in order to do so. He wants all peoples and nations to be aware of God’s goodness and of His covenant love and faithfulness. He wants God’s glory to be above all the earth (Psa 57:5).
Psa 57:7
‘My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed,
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.’
He assures God that his heart is fixed on one thing, the praise and glory of God. And to that end he will sing, yes, he will sing praises. Hunted he may be but his spirit is free.
Psa 57:8
‘Awake up, my glory, awake, psaltery and harp,
I myself will awake right early.’
So he calls on his own spirit (his glory) to wake up. He calls on his psaltery (a stringed instrument) and harp to awake. He assures God that he himself will awake right early for the purpose of praising God. He wants the day to begin with praise, before the time arrives for once more evading the enemy.
‘I myself will awake right early’ or ‘will awake the dawn’. He does not want to wait for the dawn to wake him, but wants himself to awake the dawn.
Psa 57:9-10
‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
I will sing praises to you among the nations.’
‘For your covenant love is great to the heavens,
And your truth to the skies.’
And his purpose is in order to give thanks to his Sovereign Lord among the peoples, and to sing His praise among the nations. There may be a hint in this that among his six military units were men from a number of nations. But his thoughts are also looking forward to the time when God fulfils his promise to him and he comes into his kingship.
And what he wants to bring to men’s attention is God’s covenant love which is so great that it is great to the heavens. It stretches to heaven above. and His trustworthiness and faithfulness which reaches to the skies.
Psa 57:11
‘Be you exalted, O God, above the heavens,
Let your glory be above all the earth.’
He finishes the Psalm with a repeat of his prayer that God might be exalted, from Psa 57:5. He calls on God to exalt Himself above the heavens, and let His glory be above all the earth. In other words that God might reveal Himself as above all and over all.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 57:7. My heart is fixed Or, prepared, as in the Margin of our Bibles. He says, in the conclusion of the foregoing verse, that his enemies had fallen into the pit which they had prepared for him; as Saul, who sought his life, had fallen in the cave into David’s hands, and put his life in his power. Therefore, in the triumph of his joy, he cries out, “My heart is fixed, and prepared to celebrate God’s goodness:” and his repeating the words adds great emphasis to them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 596
DAVIDS LOVE TO GOD
Psa 57:7-11. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the hearens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
HERE we behold the bosom of a saint laid open, and the inmost recesses of his heart exposed to new. We cannot read the words without being more or less impressed with this thought, O that my soul were in such a state as his! Indeed the Psalmist himself judged this record of his experience to be of more than ordinary importance to the Church: and therefore, at a subsequent period, he detached these words from the context in which they stand, and made them the commencement of a separate psalm [Note: Psalms 108.]; intimating thereby, that they were not only proper to be used on occasion of any great deliverance, like that which had just been vouchsafed to him in the wilderness of En-gedi, (where Saul had sought to destroy him [Note: 1 Samuel 24 :.],) but that our frame of mind at all times should be such as was there expressed.
Let us observe,
I.
The grounds of his love to God
From the particular mercy which he had received, he was led to contemplate Gods wonderful perfections; and particularly to admire,
1.
The extent of his mercy
[The temporal deliverance itself was a rich display of mercy, because it bespoke the watchful care of God over one, who, as a sinner, might rather have been an object of his displeasure. But David looked beyond the immediate occasion of his gratitude, and viewed the mercy of God towards his soul. David knew himself to be a sinner, and that, if God should enter into judgment with him, he must inevitably and eternally perish. Nor was he ignorant of the means which Nor should we be satisfied with approving ourselves to God in secret: we should honour him in the face of the whole world, and endeavour to prevail with all to unite with us in a duty so urgent, so reasonable, so delightful.]
2.
He begs of God also to exalt and glorify himself
[Sensible that, with all his efforts, he could affect but few, he entreats God to shew forth his own glory, and, by augmented displays of it, to exalt himself above heaven and earth. Thus to the same effect he addresses Jehovah in another psalm; Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most Mighty! with thy glory and thy majesty; and in thy majesty ride prosperously in the cause of meekness and truth and righteousness; and let thy right hand teach thee terrible things [Note: Psa 45:3-4.]. In the 148th Psalm, his whole employment from beginning to end is to call on all the different creatures in heaven and earth, rational and irrational, animate and inanimate, to unite, according to their respective powers, in glorifying God.
Such then should be our prayer also: the manifestation of Gods glory should be so dear to us, that we should have no wish, no thought, no desire in comparison of it.]
Address
That you may attain a greater measure of Davids piety,
1.
Study the divine character, as illustrated in his dealings with you
[To mark the dispensations of Providence and grace is good: but it will be of little service, unless we mark the perfections of God as displayed in his dealings with us. See, for instance, how multiplied your transgressions against him have been, and how wonderful has been his forbearance in not cutting you off in your sins, and making you monuments of his indignation, like the rebellious Israelites of old, or like Ananias and Sapphira in the Apostolic age! Call to mind how ready he has been at all times to receive you to his favour; and, in answer to your prayers, to send you fresh supplies of grace, or mercy, or peace, according to your necessities. Mark your various backslidings; and contrast with these the richness of his communications to you: and then say, Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy [Note: Mic 7:18.]. The sense of Gods excellency which you obtain from other sources will be speculative, superficial, transient; but that which you derive from his dealings with you will be deep, practical, abiding ]
2.
Seek to have the dispositions of your minds suited to his dispensations towards you
[What are the feelings which his mercy and truth should generate in your soul? Should they not be those of admiration, and love, and gratitude, and affiance? Should they not be also those of holy zeal in his service? Should they not be accompanied with a desire that the whole world should know him? Here then you see precisely what should be the state of your mind from day to day. This is piety: this is religion. Religion is not a matter of dispute, but of practice; and not of mere morals, but of spiritual feeling, similar to that which is expressed in my text, and venting itself in such language as this: Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless his holy name: bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits [Note: Psa 103:1-2.]. This is your duty, shall I say? No: it is your privilege: and it is a very antepast of heaven. May God in his mercy diffuse amongst us this spirit more and more, and attune all our hearts to sing without ceasing the praises of our God!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Reader! do not fail to observe how the Psalm ends. It began in sorrow, and closeth in joy. Yes! whatever is founded in faith and prayer, must end in praise. This holds good to all the seed of Christ. And when like Jesus the Son of David, we stir up our souls to take hold on Jehovah’s strength, we shall come off more than conquerors through his grace helping us. And as Christ arose from the dead, and awaked up in his glory; so, every morning, (and with yet more awakened joy the Lord’s day morning, which celebrates at every return Jesus’s triumph over the grave, as the first fruits of his body) should all his redeemed call upon themselves to awake, and bless the Lord of their salvation right early. And as Jesus declared his determination to praise Jehovah among his brethren, (see Psa 22:22 , etc.) so should his redeemed shout aloud in the churches, the salvation of God.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
Ver. 7. My heart is fixed, O God ] I am both ready and resolute; I doubt not about deliverance, and am well prepared to praise God. It is fit he should have the fruit of his own planting, and that of the best too; otherwise it is no better than the refreshing of him that standeth by a good fire, and saith, Aha, I am warm.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
THE FIXED HEART
Psa 57:7
It is easy to say such things when life goes smoothly with us. But this Psalmist, whether David or another, says this, and means it, when all things are dark and frowning around him. The superscription attributes the words to David himself, fleeing from Saul, and hiding in the cave. Whether that be so or no, the circumstances under which the Psalmist sings are obviously those of very great difficulty and oppression. But he sings himself into confidence and good cheer. In the dark he believes in the light. There are some flowers that give their perfumes after sunset and are sweetest when the night dews are falling. The true religious life is like these. A heart really based upon God, and at rest in Him, never breathes forth such fragrant and strong perfume as in the darkness of sorrow. The repetition of ‘My heart is fixed’ adds emphasis to the expression of unalterable determination. The fixed heart is resolved to ‘sing and give praise’ in spite of everything that might make sobs and tears choke the song.
I. Note the fixed heart.
For a fixed heart I must have a fixed determination, and not a mere fluctuating and soon broken intention. I must have a steadfast affection, and not merely a fluttering love, that, like some butterfly, lights now on this, now on that, sweet flower, but which has a flight straight as a carrier pigeon to its cot, which shall bear me direct to God. And I must have a continuous realisation of my dependence upon God, and of God’s sweet sufficiency, going with me all through the dusty day. A firm determination, a steadfast love, a constant thought, these at least are inculcated in the words of my text. ‘My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed.’
Ah, brethren! how unlike the broken, interrupted, divergent lines that we draw! Our religious moments are not knit together, and touching one upon the other, but they are like the pools in the bed of a half dried up Australian stream-a pond here, and a stretch of white, blistering pebbles there, and then a little drop of water, and then another reach of dryness. They should all be knit together by one continuous flow of a fixed love, desire, and thought. Is our average Christianity fairly represented by such words as these of my text? Do they not rather make us burn with shame when we think that a man who lived in the twilight of God’s revelation, and was weighed upon by distresses such as wrung this psalm out of him, should have poured out this resolve, which we who live in the sunlight and are flooded with blessings find it hard to echo with sincerity and truth? Fixed hearts are rare amongst the Christians of this day.
II. Notice the manifold hindrances to such a uniformity of our religious life.
But is there any necessity for such alternations? Some degree of fluctuation there will always be. The very exercise of emotion tends to its extinction. Varying conditions of health and other externals will affect the buoyancy and clear-sightedness and vivacity of the spiritual life. Only a barometer that is out of order will always stand at set fair. The vane which never points but to south is rusty and means nothing.
But while there cannot be absolute uniformity, there might and should be a far nearer approach to an equable temperature of a much higher range than the readings of most professing Christians give. There is, indeed, a dismally uniform arctic temperature in many of them. Their hearts are fixed, truly, but fixed on earth. Their frost is broken by no thaw, their tepid formalism interrupted by no disturbing enthusiasm. We do not now speak of these, but of those who have moments of illumination, of communion, of submission of will, which fade all too soon. To such we would earnestly say that these moments may be prolonged and made more continuous. We need not be at the mercy of our own unregulated feelings. We can control our hearts, and keep them fixed, even if they should wish to wander. If we would possess the blessing of an approximately uniform religious life, we must assert the control of ourselves and use both bridle and spur. A great many religious people seem to think that ‘good times’ come and go, and that they can do nothing to bring or keep or banish them. But that is not so. If the fire is burning low, there is such a thing on the hearth as a poker, and coals are at hand. If we feel our faith falling asleep, are we powerless to rouse it? Cannot we say ‘I will trust’? Let us learn that the variations in our religious emotions are largely subject to our own control, and may, if we will govern ourselves, be brought far nearer to uniformity than they ordinarily are.
Besides the fluctuations due to our own changes of mood, there are also the distracting influences of even the duties which God lays upon us. It is hard for a man with the material task of the moment that takes all his powers, to keep a little corner of his heart clear, and to feel that God is there. It is difficult in the clatter of the mill or in the crowds on ‘Change, to do our work as for and in remembrance of Christ. It is difficult; but it is possible. Distractions are made distractions by our own folly and weakness. There is nothing that it is our duty to do which an honest attempt to do from the right motive could not convert into a positive help to getting nearer God. It is for us to determine whether the tasks of life, and this intrusive external and material world, shall veil Him from us, or shall reveal Him to us. It is for us to determine whether we shall make our secular avocation and its trials, little and great, a means to get nearer to God, or a means to shut Him out from us, and us from Him. There is nothing but sin incompatible with the fixed heart, the resolved will, the continual communion, nothing incompatible though there may be much that makes it difficult to realise and preserve these.
And then, of course, the trials and sorrows which strike us all make this fixed heart hard to keep. It is easy, as I said, to vow, ‘I will sing and give praise,’ when flesh is comfortable and prosperity is spreading its bright sky over our heads. It is harder to say it when disappointment and bitterness are in the heart, and an empty place there that aches and will never be filled. It is harder for a man to say it when, like this Psalmist, his soul is ‘amongst lions’ and he ‘lies amongst them that are set on fire.’ But still, rightly taken, sorrow is the best ladder to God; and there is no such praise as comes from the lips that, if they did not praise, must sob, and that praise because they are beginning to learn that evil, as the world calls it, is the stepping-stone to the highest good. ‘My heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise’ may be the voice of the mourner as well as of the prosperous and happy.
III. Lastly, let me say just a word as to the means by which such a uniform character may be impressed upon our religious experience.
But then the question comes, how to get this continuous faith? Brethren! I know no answer except the simple one, by continually making efforts after it, and adopting the means which Christ enjoins to secure it. A man climbing a hill, though he has to look to his feet when in the slippery places, and all his energies are expended in hoisting himself upwards by every projection and crag, will do all the better if he lifts his eye often to the summit that gleams above him. So we, in our upward course, shall make the best progress when we consciously and honestly try to look beyond the things seen and temporal, even whilst we are working in the midst of them, and to keep clear before us the summit to which our faith tends. If we lived in the endeavour to realise that great white throne, and Him that sits upon it, we should find it easier to say, ‘My heart is fixed, O God! my heart is fixed.’
But be sure of this, there will be no such uniformity of religious experience throughout our lives unless there be frequent times in them in which we go into our chambers and shut our doors about us, and hold communion with our Father in secret. Everything noble and great in the Christian life is fed by solitude, and everything poor and mean and hypocritical and low-toned is nourished by continual absence from the secret place of the Most High. There must be moments of solitary communion, if there are to be hours of strenuous service and a life of continual consecration.
We need not ask ourselves the question whether the realisation of the ideal of this fixedness in its perfect completeness is possible for us here on earth or not. You and I are a long way on this side of that realisation yet, and we need not trouble ourselves about the final stages until we have got on a stage or two more.
What would you think of a boy if, when he had just been taught to draw with a pencil, he said to his master, ‘Do you think I shall ever be able to draw as well as Raphael?’ His teacher would say to him, ‘Whether you will or not, you will be able to draw a good deal better than now, if you try.’ We need not trouble ourselves with the questions that disturb some people until we are very much nearer to perfection than any of us yet are. At any rate, we can approach indefinitely to that ideal, and whether it is possible for us in this life ever to have hearts so continuously fixed as that no attraction shall draw the needle aside one point from the pole or not, it is possible for us all to have them a great deal steadier than in that wavering, fluctuating vacillation which now rules them.
So let us pray the prayer, ‘Unite my heart to fear Thy name,’ make the resolve, ‘My heart is fixed,’ and listen obediently to the command, ‘He exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 57:7-11
7My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
8Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
10For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your truth to the clouds.
11Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Psa 57:7-11 This strophe is almost exactly like Psa 108:1-5. It may have been a liturgical refrain.
Psa 57:7-9 This strophe expresses the psalmist’s faith and confidence in YHWH’s actions on his behalf.
1. my heart is steadfast, Psa 57:7 (twice) BDB 465, KB 464, Niphal participle
2. I will sing, Psa 57:7 BDB 1010, KB 1479, Qal cohortative
3. I will sing praises, Psa 57:7 BDB 274, KB 273, Piel cohortative
4. awake my glory (or my soul, lit. liver, both BDB 458), Psa 57:8 BDB 734, KB 802, Qal imperative
5. awake my harp and lyre (i.e., instruments for the psalmist to praise God with), Psa 57:8 BDB same verb as #4
6. I will awaken the dawn, Psa 57:8 BDB 734, KB 802, Hiphil cohortative
7. I will give thanks, Psa 57:9 BDB 392, KB 389, Hiphil imperfect used in a cohortative sense
8. I will sing praises, Psa 57:9 BDB 274, KB 273, Piel imperfect used in a cohortative sense
Psa 57:9 Notice the parallelism between the peoples (BDB 766 I) and the nations (BDB 115 and BDB 52, i.e., not covenant peoples). There is a recurrent emphasis in the Psalms on the universal aspect of Israel’s God (cf. Psa 9:11 b; Psa 18:47; Psa 18:49; Psa 105:1; Psa 145:12-13). The implication of monotheism (see SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM ) is that there is only one true God who created all humans in His image for fellowship (see Special Topic: YHWH’s Universal Redemptive Plan).
Psa 57:10 This verse repeats the personified servants of God (i.e., hesed and emet) from Psa 57:3. They are both said to be above the heavens and clouds (i.e., atmosphere of this planet), which denotes
1. their greatness
2. their origin in God
Psa 57:11 This repeats Psa 57:5. It functions as a way to denote the greatness of God (i.e., His transcendence above His creation).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Explain the metaphor of the shadow of Your wings, Psa 57:1.
2. List the three names for Deity in Psa 57:2 and explain their implication.
3. Define heaven.
4. Why are aspects of God’s character personified?
5. Explain Psa 57:9 in light of monotheism.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
My heart. my heart. Figure of speech Epizeuxis (App-6), as in Psa 57:1. (See the Structure, above; also the Figure of speech Ecphonesis. )
fixed = steadfast. Contrast Psa 78:37.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Let me say, before we begin our reading, that the 108th Psalm is made up partly of the 60th and partly of the 57th; yet we are sure that the Holy Spirit is not short of language, so that he needs to repeat himself. It is always a pity to think that any portion of Scripture can be tautology. It cannot be; there is some good reason for every repetition; and you will see that, in the two Psalms, which we are about to read, the latter part of the 57th coincides with the first part of the 108th; and that, in the 57th Psalm, we have prayer and praise, and, in the 108th, we have praise and prayer. It is well that we should see how these two holy exercises can change places, so that, sometimes, we begin with prayer, and pray ourselves up into praise, and, at other times, we begin with praise, and find in it the strength we need to aid us in prayer.
Psa 57:7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
Let the lions open their cruel mouths, and roar, and let wicked men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword, do their worst against me; let my every footstep be among the nets and pits that they have set and dug to catch me; even in the midst of danger, my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I still sing and give praise.
Psa 57:8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
I will awake the dawn, so the Hebrew has it; I will wake up the morning and chide it for being so long in opening its eyes to look upon Gods works. David did this, notwithstanding all the trials of his surrounding circumstances. He calls on his glory perhaps he means his tongue, possibly, his poetic faculty, perchance, his musical skill, it may be that he means his intellect, whatever his glory is, he calls upon his highest powers to awake to praise his God. Then he takes his psaltery and harp, strange companions for a man whose soul is among lions but saints know how to evoke sweetest music even when their enemies are fighting fiercely against them; and he sings,
Psa 57:9-11. I will praise thee, O lord, among the people: I will sing unto the among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.
Have not some of you found Gods mercy to be great unto the heavens? It even seemed to reach above the heavens; and as for Gods truth, you followed it till you could follow it no further, for it had ascended above the clouds. We could scarcely, I think, ever expect to understand here all the truth which God has pleased to let us hear or read. It reaches unto the clouds, and there we must leave it for the present. When God ceases to reveal anything, we may cease to inquire concerning it. I saw, in Florence, a picture of The Sleeping Saviour. He is represented as sleeping in the manger at Bethlehem, and the artist depicts the angels hovering round him, with their fingers on their lips as though they would not wake him from his holy slumbers. So, when God bids truth sleep, do not try to wake it. There is enough revealed for thee to know, and more that thou wilt know by-and-by, so, pry not between the folded leaves; but wait your Lords appointed time to teach you more of his will.
This exposition consisted of readings from Psa 57:7-11; Psalms 108,
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
my: Psa 108:1, Psa 108:2, Psa 112:7
fixed: or, prepared
I will: Psa 34:4, Isa 24:15, Rom 5:3, Eph 5:20
Reciprocal: 2Ch 12:14 – he prepared 2Ch 19:3 – prepared Ezr 7:10 – prepared Psa 103:1 – all that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
MY HEART IS FIXED
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
Psa 57:7
The earnestness with which these words are spoken shows that he who said them knew what it was to have an unfixed heart. And who has not felt the wretchedness of an unfixed heart?
And what is the result? As respects yourselffailure. Life has been a failure. Of how many of you might it be said, Life is a failure? How could it be otherwise? What can ever prosper, without fixedness? What is fixedness? And how is fixedness to be obtained?
To make fixedness of heart there must be four things.
I. You must, first, have a definite view of truth.It is not many who have been at the pains to make to themselves a clear system of their religion.
II. But it will not go the whole way; for look, secondly, there must be a distinct principle of action, and that principle which will gather up a man, and give him fixity, is this: God is his Father. Of His own free, infinite grace, God loves me. And He has pardoned me, and He has accepted me in Christ. Why He should have done this, I do not knowonly He chooses to do so, and so it is. And His love is one. He has given me tokens of it, which can never deceive me. And I love Him, and I am happy in it, and my soul is at peace; and it goes back again to Him who loved it, and washed it, and made it His own.
III. But, thirdly, there must be a singleness of aim.As that which gathers itself up to one pointby the very drawing of its parts to the common centregrows strong and immovable, so it is with the Christian; he has made up his mind long ago that there is only one thing really worth living for, and upon that one thing he is centring all he is and all he has. What is it? What is that one high scope, where all desires meet, beyond the world, far away in eternity?The glory of God. I am living for the glory of God; I am living for Him who lived and died for me.
IV. And then, as the moving principle is one, and as the guiding aim is one, so the path becomes one, for there must be straightness of course.
And these four elementsa definite viewa distinct principle of actiona single aima straight coursethese make in a mans mind that state to which his conscience can bear him witness, and say, My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
The fixed and stable heart, like the Eddystone Lighthouse amid the tumultuous sea, is only possible when it is welded to the eternal rock. Oh, that our hearts may be ever fixed on the glory of God, waking up all that is within us to sing and give praise! What exuberant ecstasy there is here! Can this be the harried soul which a little while ago was crying for the shelter of Gods wings? Waking with the dawn, it awakes the sleeping music of psaltery and harp, as when one bird in the spring woodland starts its morning lay and sings until the copse is one great orchestra. The happy soul makes its joy contagious.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 57:7-11. My heart is fixed Hebrew, , nachon, prepared, or, established; namely, in a full assurance of obtaining thy merciful help. It was ready to sink with fear, but now I have, through thy grace, conquered my fears, and am fixed in a steadfast belief of, and confidence in thy promises. Or, my heart is prepared to sing and give praise, as it follows. Awake up, my glory, &c. My tongue, wherewith I ought to glorify thee, shall be no longer silent; nor shall any instrument of music be wanting to accompany my hymns. I myself will awake right early I will rouse up, and employ all the powers of my soul and body to set forth thy praises. And I will do it so early, that I will prevent the rising sun. I will praise thee among the people In the great congregations, among the Israelites of all tribes, who are called by thy name, (Deu 33:19,) and among the heathen, as I shall have occasion. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens Is most evident, and greatly exalted.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
57:7 My heart is {h} fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: {i} I will sing and give praise.
(h) That is, wholly bent to give you praise for my deliverance.
(i) He shows that both his heart will praise God, and his tongue will confess him, and also he will use other means to provoke himself forward to the same.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In anticipation of his deliverance, David promised to praise God (cf. Psa 108:1-5). He returned to previous references to the Lord’s loyal love and truth (Psa 57:10; cf. Psa 57:3).