Bible Commentaries

Verses 1-7

The burden of the psalm is expressed in the first two verses. Its reason is described in verse Psalms 54:3, while assurance is the song of what remains.

Taking the second and third sections first, they deal with the sorrow of the soul, and the succor which comes from God. The sorrow is from opposition and persecution by the godless. The description of this is preceded by the prayer which cries for salvation by the name of God, and judgment in His might. No touch of despair is manifest. Over against the strangers risen up against the psalmist, he sets God, who is his Helper. Over against the violent men who seek after his soul he sets the Lord, who upholds the soul. The issue is perfect confidence that God will requite the evil, and destroy the enemy. Already, though perhaps yet in the midst of the peril, he sings the song of deliverance, as though it were already realized. The central sentence of the song is, "God is my Helper." Wherever man is conscious of this fact he is superior to all the opposition of his enemies, and so is able, in the midst of the most difficult circumstances, to sing the song of deliverance.