Two words stand out for the growth of the church: increase (auxano) and multiply (plethyno) . . . [Acts 6:7; 12:24; 19:29]. We see these two words, increase and multiply, in the LXX creation account where God says to the human race: “Be fruitful [auxanesthe] and multiply [plethynesthe]” (Gen. 1:28 ESV). The creation mandate is being fulfilled in a distinctive manner in the gospel. Human beings were created to rule the world for God, and the rule over the world is restored through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thomas R. Schreiner, Handbook on Acts and Paul’s Letters, 5-6.

Calvinistic philosophy views the created order as an extra-mental reality that man encounters in the pursuit of knowledge. This objective referent for knowledge is revelatory in character and gets both its being and its meaning from its place in the plan of God. God created man’s mind as a fit instrument to gain knowledge of the created order. Thus, the mind enables man to come into fruitful contact with God, himself, others, and the world. Man is a revelatory being who lives in a revelatory environment to learn revelatory truth.

Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 2076.

The great Scottish preacher Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754) once visited a woman on her deathbed and lovingly tested her readiness for heaven. When she assured him that she was ready to depart to be with Christ because she was in that hand from which no one could pluck her, Erskine asked, “But are you not afraid that you will slip through His fingers in the end?”

“That is impossible because of what you have always told us,” she said.

“And what is that?” he asked.

“That we are united to Him, and so we are part of His body. I cannot slip through His fingers because I am one of His fingers. Besides, Christ has paid too high of a price for my redemption to leave me in Satan’s hand. If I were to be lost, He would lose more than I; I would lose my salvation, but He would lose His glory, because one of His sheep would be lost.”

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 1597.

But we also wait with expectancy for the coming of the Lord (“until he comes,” 1 Cor 11:26), for the awaking of the great dawn when the fullness of God’s glory will be so manifest on the earth that “all flesh shall see it together” (Isa 40:5) and acknowledge that “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” (Phil 2:10–11, RSV; cf. also 1 Pet 5:8). Let us join with ancient suppliants in praying that God will rise up in glory over the heavens and the earth. As with the speaker in Ps 57, we can hardly wait to start the celebration. Indeed, we are already singing.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 81.

The formulaic expression “heavens and earth” seems to carry both the idea of the bipolar nature of creation and its oneness. The interaction of these two fundamentally different realms of creation is reflected in Ps 57. Earth is the living space for human beings, and heaven is the living space for God, the locus of his heavenly temple and throne (see Pss 11:4; 18:7) and of his cosmic dominion. However, God moves into the realm of earth and manifests his glorious presence, especially through his acts of salvation. His temple or sanctuary on earth is an extension of the heavenly realm. God’s presence and will on earth are contested and distorted, especially through those human actions which are reflected so vividly in the psalms of lament. But in the heavenly realm, his will is supreme (see Ps 82; Matt 2:6; 3:2). God’s created order may be threatened, especially by the wicked and violent actions of human beings (see Jer 4:19–22). Therefore it was appropriate for the Israelite worshiper to pray that the glory of God be “over all the earth”; i.e., that he would actualize his will and authority throughout the living space of humanity: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 81.

A rather legalistic Christian once criticized another Christian’s testimony, saying: “I appreciated all you said about what God did for you. But you didn’t mention anything about your part in it.”

“Oh yes,” the other Christian said. “I apologize for that. I really should have said that my part was running away, and His part was running after me until He caught me.”

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 1508.

Grace alone can do what nothing else can do; good advice, moral living, and the law are not sufficient. Dead men need not lectures but life. They need the kind of power that was present when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43).

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 1480.

Fear and faith struggle together in this psalm [Psalm 55]. But faith seems dominant, and the psalm’s message is one of confidence in God. The crucial points for the message of the psalm are in vv 4–5 and 11–12: “By God’s help I will be able.” Trust in God, when activated and confirmed by a word from God, is more powerful than the evil actions of human beings.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 71.

The realism of [Psalm 55] is a reminder of the anguish of life for so many in the cities of the world. We look for a city “built as a city should be” (Ps 122:3), one with good foundations “whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10), but in the meantime we live by faith in vile cities where the watchmen Evil and Trouble make the rounds of their walls and Oppression and Deceit do business in the public square.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 59.

Two reactions in the psalm [Psalm 55] are worthy of special note. The first is the impulse to flee away from the city, which seems so fearful and painful (vv 7–9). This is the escapist impulse, known to all who read the words of the psalm. The wilderness lures the city dweller. It seems to offer shelter, peace, and contentment denied in urban surroundings. The seeming simplicity of the wilderness offers a refuge from the tangled complexities of urban life. Flight seems to offer so much that at times it becomes almost irresistible (on the psychology of flight, see P. Tournier, The Healing of Persons [New York: Harper & Row, 1965], 95–109). The wilderness, of course, is quite deceptive, as it may be the place of dire human needs and of death. Perhaps it is well to remember that the wilderness is never in itself a goal in biblical traditions but is a transition place for the passage of the people of God to some other place. The Land of Promise lies beyond the wilderness.

The second reaction is found in the message of encouragement in v 23. The suppliant is urged to cast upon Yahweh his or her lot-in-life—that which is given. Yahweh will provide for such a person, though not necessarily deliver, and not necessarily provide a way out or remove all the enemies and change all the bad situations, but he will provide the strength and resources to deal with life as it comes. The promise is that he will sustain. The verb “cast on” (v 23) suggests that God will take us as we are, in the context in which we live, wherever it is and whatever the circumstances. The final words of the psalm (v 24) indicate that the suppliant is willing to accept the word of encouragement.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 58-59.