Psalm 59

Psalm 59

A Psalm of David 

-

David is in the midst of trouble.

In the midst of a problem

what do you do? 

I have other pages about being 

in the midst -

Psalm 50 and Psalm 138

and our Surrounded by Trouble.

Here is the

Official Title of Psalm 59

that is included in our Bible.

To the Chief Musician.

Set to “Do Not Destroy.”

A Michtam of David

when Saul sent men, 

and they watched the house in order to kill him.

Verses 1-2

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Defend me from those who rise up against me.

² Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.

As the title of the psalm indicates, David is not just having a bad day. He is literally running for his life as soldiers from King Saul are pursuing him through the town.

David is calling out to God to

Save Him.

Verses 3-4

³ For look, they lie in wait for my life;

The mighty gather against me,

Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.

⁴ They run and prepare themselves

through no fault of mine.

Awake to help me, and behold!

Verse 3 begins with

For look, they lie in wait for my life.

David is referring to the soldiers that were watching 

- his house and his town - 

seeking to ambush him.

The soldiers have orders to kill David.

Then we see

in the second half of verse 3 -

that 

David says that he is being hunted -

not because of any sin or wrong doing.

David is not saying he never sins.

David is saying that concerning this man hunt -

there was no justified reason

from David's conduct

to cause this man hunt.

Verse 5

⁵ You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,

Awake to punish all the nations;

Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah

David cries out to God to "Do something."

David prays to God to do something about his situation

and about

all evil.

Verse 6

⁶ At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.

David compares his pursuers to dogs.

In David's time, dogs were generally not pets.

Dogs were mostly wild and ran in packs.

Dogs were thought of as dangerous.  

The words "at evening they return," remind us that evil likes to work in darkness.

Verses 7-8

⁷ Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips;

For they say, “Who hears?”

⁸ But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the nations in derision.

The words "swords are in their lips" says that these assassins are not just armed with physical swords - even their words are destructive.

And the last words of verse 7 inform us that these assassins believe that no one of importance will come against them.

Verses 7- 8 highlight that these assassins do not respect the God of all Creation.

God himself laughs at their feeble attempts to usurp his authority over David and over life and death. 

Verses 9-10

⁹ I will wait for You, O You his Strength;
For God is my defense.
¹⁰ My God of mercy shall come to meet me;
God shall let me see my desire on my enemies.

David proclaims his FAITH in God.

In the midst of great trouble,

David turns to God

to save him. 

Consider our "waiting on God" page.

We also see David turning to God in verses 16-17.

Below is a song of Psalm 59. 

Verses 11-13

¹¹ Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.

¹² For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.

¹³ Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah

David's human feelings and emotions

are pouring out to God.

David knows that God wants us

to share all our thoughts with him.

We work through

our emotions

by talking with God.

He is our best friend.

Consider our page - Understanding the Trinity

Verses 14-15

¹⁴ And at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.

¹⁵ They wander up and down for food,
And howl if they are not satisfied.

David again highlights

the poetic use of

comparing the evil doers to dogs.

Apparently, he does this for emphasis. 

Verses 16-17

For me,

verses 16-17 are the

most important and most helpful verses of

Psalm 59.

David is in the midst of a

difficult and dangerous situation,

yet,

he turns his attention

to his love, respect, and faith in His God. 

David says...

¹⁶ But I will sing of Your power;

Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;

For You have been my defense

And refuge in the day of my trouble.

¹⁷ To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;

For God is my defense,

My God of mercy.

In the midst of trouble David sings to God.

Singing to God and about God

is a

wise choice

when

 we are facing difficult situations.

It helps us to gain strength.

It helps us to gain perspective

It helps us to gain optimism.

It helps us to gain clarity in our mind. 

We need to remind ourselves

to run toward God in times of trouble -

not run away from him.

We need to draw as close to God as we can. 

So.... when we are in distress from any kind of attack,

let's say,

"You have been my defense. And you are my refuge in the day of my trouble.
You have been in the past and you will be today."

And

let's pick up our Shield of Faith and say,

¹⁷ To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.

Application

Not many of us

will endure the situation of

running from a person who is trying to kill us.

But we all have

the devil and the demons as our enemies.

Ephesians chapter 6

tells us that our worst enemies are demonic. 

So we all endure the demonic kingdom

who try to

steal, kill, and destroy us and our life. 

So...

How can this Psalm can apply to us?

I want to challenge us

to not see those psalm 59 enemies as people,

but as addictions, or bad habits, or bad attitudes,

or even as

demonic forces that are out to harm us.

If we look at this psalm

with those types of enemies in mind,

we can use this psalm to

gain strength to stand strong and achieve victories

over enemies of

addiction, habit, or bad attitudes.

In Isaiah 41:10,

God says to us,

Fear not for I am with you.

Do not be dismayed for I am your God.

I will strengthen you.

Yes, I will help you.

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

David ends this psalm

- this prayer time -

on a note of faith and dedication to God.

Let's join him.

I have written a simple prayer below.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Protect me.

And help me

to stand strong and resist wrong.

I will yield to you

as you guide me

with your righteous right hand. *

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

* Isaiah 41:10

Consider visiting our psalm pages - click here

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