Psalms 59

1 Save me from my enemies, my God; protect me from those who attack me!

2 Save me from those evil people; rescue me from those murderers!

3 Look! They are waiting to kill me; cruel people are gathering against me. It is not because of any sin or wrong I have done,

4 nor because of any fault of mine, O Lord, that they hurry to their places.

5 Rise, Lord God Almighty, and come to my aid; see for yourself, God of Israel! Wake up and punish the heathen; show no mercy to evil traitors!

6 They come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city.

7 Listen to their insults and threats. Their tongues are like swords in their mouths, yet they think that no one hears them.

8 But you laugh at them, Lord; you mock all the heathen.

9 I have confidence in your strength; you are my refuge, O God.

10 My God loves me and will come to me; he will let me see my enemies defeated.

11 Do not kill them, O God, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your strength and defeat them, O Lord, our protector.

12 Sin is on their lips; all their words are sinful; may they be caught in their pride! Because they curse and lie,

13 destroy them in your anger; destroy them completely. Then everyone will know that God rules in Israel, that his rule extends over all the earth.

14 My enemies come back in the evening, snarling like dogs as they go about the city,

15 like dogs roaming about for food and growling if they do not find enough.

16 But I will sing about your strength; every morning I will sing aloud of your constant love. You have been a refuge for me, a shelter in my time of trouble.

17 I will praise you, my defender. My refuge is God, the God who loves me.

Psalms 59 Commentary

Chapter 59

David prays for deliverance from his enemies. (1-7) He foresees their destruction. (8-17)

Verses 1-7 In these words we hear the voice of David when a prisoner in his own house; the voice of Christ when surrounded by his merciless enemies; the voice of the church when under bondage in the world; and the voice of the Christian when under temptation, affliction, and persecution. And thus earnestly should we pray daily, to be defended and delivered from our spiritual enemies, the temptations of Satan, and the corruptions of our own hearts. We should fear suffering as evil-doers, but not be ashamed of the hatred of workers of iniquity. It is not strange, if those regard not what they themselves say, who have made themselves believe that God regards not what they say. And where there is no fear of God, there is nothing to secure proper regard to man.

Verses 8-17 It is our wisdom and duty, in times of danger and difficulty, to wait upon God; for he is our defence, in whom we shall be safe. It is very comfortable to us, in prayer, to look to God as the God of our mercy, the Author of all good in us, and the Giver of all good to us. The wicked can never be satisfied, which is the greatest misery in a poor condition. A contented man, if he has not what he would have, yet he does not quarrel with Providence, nor fret within himself. It is not poverty, but discontent that makes a man unhappy. David would praise God because he had many times, and all along, found Him his refuge in the day of trouble. He that is all this to us, is certainly worthy of our best affections, praises, and services. The trials of his people will end in joy and praise. When the night of affliction is over, they will sing of the Lord's power and mercy in the morning. Let believers now, in assured faith and hope, praise Him for those mercies, for which they will rejoice and praise him for ever.

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. The history of Saul's sending messengers to watch the house of David, and to kill him when he rose in the morning, is in 1 Samuel 19:11; which was the occasion of his writing this psalm; though the title of the Syriac version of it is, "David said or composed this, when he heard that the priests were slain by Saul:" and in the same is added, "but unto us it declares the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith, and the rejection of the Jews." And which perhaps is designed in Psalm 59:5; and some interpreters are of opinion that the whole psalm is to be understood of Christ, of whom David was a type, especially in his sufferings; and there are some things in it which better agree with him than with David, as particularly his being without sin, Psalm 59:3.