I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
—Psalm 57:2–5, 9–11
The deliverance of David from his enemies and the exaltation of God among the nations are intertwined.
To God Most High David cries and from the Most High he receives salvation. David cries and God sends and saves. The Most High sends from heaven. This sending means salvation for David and shame for his enemies. What is it that God Most High sends that saves and shames? It is His steadfast love and faithfulness. These are the attributes God used to define His name in Exodus 34. “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” (Exodus 34:6). God sends His name. God sends Himself.
David is a king to whom God sent His steadfast love and faithfulness. Jesus is the King whom God sends as His steadfast love and faithfulness. God the Father sent God the Son to save His people and shame His enemies. Jesus is the name of God. Jesus is the steadfast love and faithfulness of God. Jesus is God Himself, sent to save.
The King is the answer to a king’s prayer. But Jesus is not only the salvation sent to a king. He is also the King to whom salvation is sent. Jesus’ deliverance through resurrection results in God’s glory. Paul tells us that though Jesus “was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6–11).
Because the King has been delivered in His resurrection, God is exalted in all the earth. God is exalted above the heavens in the salvation of His King such that His glory is over all the earth!
Hear the King lament:
“‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’” (John 12:27–32).
Hear the King exclaim:
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20).
No Other Boast 