David wrote Psalm 57 as he fled from Saul into a cave. It was a cry for mercy, a cry for God’s purpose to be fulfilled, a cry for the evidence of God’s love and His faithfulness, and a cry for David’s soul to awaken.
Listen to verse 8, “Wake up, my heart [soul]! Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song.”
“Wake up Soul!” Ever do that—shout at yourself to “Wake up Soul!”
When we battle God, when we turn a deaf ear to His pleas, when we ignore His purpose for our lives, it isn’t long before our soul simply goes to sleep. The voice of the Lord becomes increasingly distant until finally we simply do not hear it anymore. It is not that He has quit talking; it is that we have become deaf to His voice.
As David was in a literal cave, pursued by his enemies, crying for God’s mercy and purpose in his life in Psalm 57, we can find ourselves in a spiritual cave, one dug by our own disobedience, our own attitudes, and our own rebellions.
“Awake, my soul!” means it is time to repent and leave the cave, time to realign our attitudes with the will of God, time to admit His purpose in us and time to change. Let us “wake the dawn with our song!”