Verses 1-5. “O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory …” These five verses are found in Psalm 57:7-11 almost verbatim. The chief point of difference probably lies in the position of the verses. In the 57th Psalm these notes of praise follow prayer and grow out of it; but in this case the Psalmist begins at once to sing and give praise, and afterwards prays to God in a remarkably confident manner, so that he seems rather to seize the blessing than plead for it. Sometimes we must climb to praise by the ladder of prayer, and at other times we must bless God for the past in order to be able, in faith, to plead for the present and the future.
Verse 1. “O God, my heart is fixed.” The wheels of a cart revolve, but the axle turns not; the sails of a mill move with the wind, but the mill itself moves not; the earth is carried round its orbit, but its centre is fixed. So should a Christian be able, amidst changing scenes and changing fortunes, to say, “O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed.”
Verse 3. “I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.” David seemed inspired to foresee that his Psalms would be sung in every land, from Greenland’s Icy mountains to India’s coral strand. His heart was large; he would have the whole race of men listen to his joy in God, and lo, his desire is granted, for his psalmody is cosmopolitan. He had but one theme, he sang Jehovah and none beside, and his work being thus made of “gold, silver and precious stones,” has endured the fiery ordeals of time. Happy man, to have thus made his choice to be the Lord’s musician. He retains his office as the Poet Laureate of the Kingdom of heaven, and shall retain it till the crack of doom.
Verses 5-6. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; and thy glory above all the earth; that thy beloved may be delivered ….” The Church is the Lord’s “beloved” – more loved than anything else in the world; therefore, it is here called “Thy beloved.” Because the church is God’s beloved, the care of it should be most in our mind, and the love and the preservation of it should draw forth our prayers; “That thy beloved may be delivered, save with thy right hand and answer me.”
Verses 7-8. God hath spoken in his holiness … Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine … Judah is my lawgiver.” All God’s subjects in Israel were to be brought under one head, one governor, who should give them laws according to which they should be ruled. This power and authority belonged to the tribe of Judah according to that prophecy of Jacob, (Genesis 49:10.) In the Church and in matters of religion, this one Head is Christ, even that “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” as He is called. He is the Lawgiver of His Church, and let Him so be. This will be found the one way – aye, the only one way – to breed a holy and religious unity in the Church, and bring home wandering and straying sheep.
Verse 9. “Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I canst out my shoe ….” In God’s prophetic promise to David, Moab and Edom were to be reduced to a state of lowest vassalage. The one was to be like a pot, or a tub, fit only for washing the feet in; while the other was to be like the domestic slave standing by to receive the sandals thrown to him by the person about to perform the washing. The promise becomes the basis of confidence in the closing verses.
Verses 10-11 “Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom? Wilt not thou, O God…?” The believer, when he promises himself great things, must neither be senseless of the difficulties of opposition that he is to meet with, nor of his own inability to overcome those difficulties. But, being sensible of both, he must look to God for assistance and furniture to overcome. When David considered the strength of that fenced royal city of the enemy, he saith, “Who will bring me into it?” The answer? “Wilt thou not, O God?”