Its first and second verses express desires on the ground of the affliction rehearsed in the third. And then to the close the suppliant, assuring himself of an answer, makes promise of offering praise to God.
Of course such might be the utterance of faith in any. But prophetically it is the language of the righteous Israel under the pressure of the willful king, who as we saw had been just manifested. (See Psa. 52; Psa. 53.) And we know that when the Lord does bring them into the wilderness of the last days, He will then speak comfortably to them, and give them hope in that valley of Achor (Hos. 2). In this Psalm they seem to taste this hope. God’s Israel here cast themselves on His name (Psa. 54:11<<To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?>> Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. (Psalm 54:1)), and His name will at the end be their praise (Psa. 54:66I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good. (Psalm 54:6)); for we know that His name will deliver them. (See Rev. 19.) They call the apostate faction “strangers;” for strangers to God and His Israel they will be, as saints are strangers in the world and to its ways.
NOTE—On the last verse of this Psalm it has been profitably said—“The preterite tense is used here as expressive of confidence in future mercies. In prophetic language this tense often expresses the certainty of things future.”