that one day his enemies will be obliged to retreat, inasmuch as a day will come when his prayer, which is even now heard, will be also outwardly fulfilled, and the full realization of the succour will coincide with the cry for help. By זה־ידעתּי in Psa 56:10 he justifies this hope from his believing consciousness. It is not to be rendered, after Job 19:19 : “I who know,” which is a trailing apposition without any proper connection with what precedes; but, after 1Ki 17:24 : this I know (of this I am certain), that Elohim is for me. זה as a neuter, just as in connection with ידע in Pro 24:12, and also frequently elsewhere (Gen 6:15; Exo 13:8; Exo 30:13; Lev 11:4; Isa 29:11, cf. Job 15:17); and לי as e.g., in Gen 31:42. Through Elohim, Psa 56:11 continues, will I praise דּבר: thus absolutely is the word named; it is therefore the divine word, just like בּר in Psa 2:12, the Son absolutely, therefore the divine Son. Because the thought is repeated, Elohim stands in the first case and then Jahve, in accordance with the Elohimic Psalm style, as in Psa 58:7. The refrain in Psa 56:12 (cf. Psa 56:5) indicates the conclusion of the strophe. The fact that we read אדם instead of בּשׂר in this instance, just as in Psa 56:11 דּבר instead of דּברו (Psa 56:5), is in accordance with the custom in the Psalms of not allowing the refrain to recur in exactly the same form.
Verses 12-13
In prospect of his deliverance the poet promises beforehand to fulfil the duty of thankfulness. עלי, incumbent upon me, as in Pro 7:14; 2Sa 18:11. נדריך, with an objective subject, are the vows made to God; and תּודות are distinguished from them, as e.g., in 2Ch 29:31. He will suffer neither the pledged שׁלמי נדר nor the שׁלמי תּודה to be wanting; for - so will he be then able to sing and to declare - Thou hast rescued, etc. The perfect after כּי denotes that which is then past, as in Psa 59:17, cf. the dependent passage Psa 116:8. There the expression is ארצות החיּים instead of אור החיּים (here and in Elihu's speech, Job 33:30). Light of life (Joh 8:12) or of the living (lxx τῶν ζώντων) is not exclusively the sun-light of this present life. Life is the opposite of death in the deepest and most comprehensive sense; light of life is therefore the opposite of the night of Hades, of this seclusion from God and from His revelation in human history. Before Falling Asleep in the Wilderness
The Psalms that are to be sung after the melody אל־תּשׁחת (Psa 57:1-11, Psa 58:1-11, 59 Davidic, 75 Asaphic) begin here. The direction referring to the musical execution of the Psalm ought properly to be אל־תשׁחת (אל); but this is avoided as being unmelodious, and harsh so far as the syntax is concerned. The Geneva version is correct: pour le chanter sur Al taschchet. There is no actual reference in the words to Deu 9:26, or 1Sa 26:9 (why not also to Isa 65:8?).
The historical inscription runs: when he fled from Saul, in the cave. From the connection in the history from which this statement is extracted, it will have been clear whether the Psalm belongs to the sojourn in the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22) or in the labyrinthine cave upon the alpine heights of Engedi, “by the sheep-folds” (1 Sam. 24), ), described in Van de Velde's Journey, ii. 74-76.
How manifold are the points in which these Psalms belonging to the time of Saul run into one another! Psa 57:1-11 has not merely the supplicatory “Be
