Psalm 57:10
For Your loving devotion reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.
For Your Loving Devotion Reaches to the Heavens
This phrase begins with the Hebrew word "חֶסֶד" (chesed), often translated as "loving devotion" or "steadfast love." In the context of the Old Testament, chesed is a covenantal term, reflecting God's unwavering commitment to His people. It is a love that is not merely emotional but is deeply rooted in loyalty and faithfulness. The imagery of this devotion reaching "to the heavens" suggests an immeasurable and boundless quality, emphasizing that God's love transcends human understanding and limitations. Historically, this reflects the ancient Near Eastern understanding of the heavens as the realm of the divine, thus portraying God's love as supreme and all-encompassing.

Your Faithfulness to the Skies
The Hebrew word for "faithfulness" is "אֱמוּנָה" (emunah), which conveys a sense of steadfastness, reliability, and truth. In the biblical context, God's faithfulness is a foundational attribute, assuring believers of His unchanging nature and His commitment to fulfill His promises. The phrase "to the skies" further amplifies this attribute, suggesting that God's faithfulness is as vast and expansive as the sky itself. This imagery would resonate with the ancient Israelites, who viewed the sky as a symbol of vastness and infinity. Scripturally, this reflects the assurance found in God's covenant with His people, as seen throughout the Psalms and the broader biblical narrative.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
The author of Psalm 57, David wrote this psalm during a time of distress, likely when he was fleeing from King Saul and hiding in a cave. His trust in God's protection and faithfulness is evident throughout the psalm.

2. God
The central figure in this verse, God is depicted as having boundless loving devotion and faithfulness, attributes that are celebrated and relied upon by David.

3. Heavens and Clouds
These are symbolic representations of the vastness and immeasurability of God's loving devotion and faithfulness. They serve to illustrate the infinite nature of God's attributes.
Teaching Points
Understanding God's Attributes
God's loving devotion (Hebrew: "chesed") and faithfulness (Hebrew: "emunah") are central to His character. These attributes are not limited by human understanding or experience but are boundless and eternal.

Trust in God's Faithfulness
Just as David trusted in God's faithfulness during his trials, believers today can rely on God's unwavering commitment to His promises, even in times of distress.

Reflecting God's Love
As recipients of God's boundless love, Christians are called to reflect this love in their relationships with others, demonstrating grace and faithfulness in their interactions.

Worship and Praise
Recognizing the vastness of God's loving devotion and faithfulness should lead believers to a posture of worship and praise, acknowledging His greatness and goodness.

Hope in God's Promises
The imagery of God's love reaching the heavens serves as a reminder of the hope believers have in God's promises, which are as sure and expansive as the skies.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the original Hebrew words for "loving devotion" and "faithfulness" enhance your comprehension of God's character in Psalm 57:10?

2. In what ways can you apply the concept of God's boundless love and faithfulness to a current situation in your life?

3. How does David's trust in God's faithfulness during his time of distress inspire you in your own faith journey?

4. What are some practical ways you can reflect God's loving devotion and faithfulness in your relationships with others?

5. How do the themes of God's love and faithfulness in Psalm 57:10 connect with the New Testament teachings on the love of Christ, as seen in Ephesians 3:18-19?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 36:5
This verse similarly speaks of God's loving devotion reaching to the heavens and His faithfulness to the skies, reinforcing the theme of God's immeasurable love and reliability.

Lamentations 3:22-23
These verses highlight the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, which are new every morning, emphasizing the consistency and renewal of God's attributes.

Ephesians 3:18-19
Paul prays for believers to grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ's love, which parallels the imagery of God's love reaching the heavens.
Christ Our RefugeL. Shorey.Psalm 57:1-11
Expectation and Assurance of DeliveranceC. Short Psalm 57:1-11
One of God's RescuesW. Forsyth Psalm 57:1-11
Sorrowful, Yet Always RejoicingJ. Stalker, D. D.Psalm 57:1-11
Spiritual ExperimentalismHomilistPsalm 57:1-11
Exemplary PraiseAnon.Psalm 57:9-11
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Clouds, Faithfulness, Goes, Heavens, Kindness, Love, Loving, Lovingkindness, Loving-kindness, Mercy, Reaches, Reaching, Righteousness, Skies, Steadfast, Stretching, Truth
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 57:9-10

     8665   praise, reasons

Psalm 57:9-11

     5849   exaltation

Library
June 5. "My Heart is Fixed, O God" (Ps. Lvii. 7).
"My heart is fixed, O God" (Ps. lvii. 7). We do not always feel joyful, but we are always to count it joy. This word reckon is one of the keywords of Scripture. It is the same word used about our being dead. We are painfully conscious of something which would gladly return to life. But we are to treat ourselves as dead, and neither fear nor obey the old nature. So we are to reckon the thing that comes a blessing; we are determined to rejoice, to say, "My heart is fixed, Lord; I will sing and give
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

The Fixed Heart
'My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise.'--PSALM lvii. 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.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

January the Thirty-First under his Wings
"In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge." --PSALM lvii. Could anything be more tenderly gracious than this figure of hiding under the shadow of God's wings? It speaks of bosom-warmth, and bosom-shelter, and bosom-rest. "Let me to Thy bosom fly!" And what strong wings they are! Under those wings I am secure even from the lions. My animal passions shall not hurt me when I am "hiding in God." The fiercest onslaughts of the devil are powerless to break those mighty wings. The tenderest little
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Strong Faith in a Faithful God
DAVID was in the cave of Adullam. He had fled from Saul, his remorseless foe; and had found shelter in the clefts of the rock. In the beginning of this psalm he rings the alarm-bell, and very loud is the sound of it. "Be merciful unto me," and then the clapper hits the other side of the bell. "Be merciful unto me." He utters his misery again and again. "My soul trusteth in thee; yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast." Thus he solaces himself by
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Truth of God
The next attribute is God's truth. A God of truth and without iniquity; just and right is he.' Deut 32:4. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.' Psa 57:10. Plenteous in truth.' Psa 86:15. I. God is the truth. He is true in a physical sense; true in his being: he has a real subsistence, and gives a being to others. He is true in a moral sense; he is true sine errore, without errors; et sine fallacia, without deceit. God is prima veritas, the pattern and prototype
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Grace and Holiness.
"Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."--1 THESS. iii. 11-13. There are few more precious subjects for meditation and imitation than the prayers and intercessions of the great Apostle.
W. H. Griffith Thomas—The Prayers of St. Paul

Appendix 2 Extracts from the Babylon Talmud
Massecheth Berachoth, or Tractate on Benedictions [76] Mishnah--From what time is the "Shema" said in the evening? From the hour that the priests entered to eat of their therumah [77] until the end of the first night watch. [78] These are the words of Rabbi Eliezer. But the sages say: Till midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: Until the column of the morning (the dawn) rises. It happened, that his sons came back from a banquet. They said to him: "We have not said the Shema.'" He said to them, "If the column
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Gospel Message, Good Tidings
[As it is written] How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! T he account which the Apostle Paul gives of his first reception among the Galatians (Galatians 4:15) , exemplifies the truth of this passage. He found them in a state of ignorance and misery; alienated from God, and enslaved to the blind and comfortless superstitions of idolatry. His preaching, accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit, had a great and marvellous effect.
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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