Many psalms flow out of real-life situations. The authors did not sit down on a beautiful day without a care in the world and write a clever poem. As one commentator puts it, “[The psalms] are often wet with the tears and the blood of the writer” (Leupold, p. 28). The enemy is in hot pursuit. David cries out to God for help. God responds and delivers him against overwhelming odds. After he catches his breath, he recounts the situation and out of the overflow of his emotions, he writes a psalm extolling God’s greatness (see, Pss. 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, 142).