Psalms 59:8-17

8 But thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them; Thou wilt have all the nations in derision.

9 [Because of] his strength I will give heed unto thee; For God is my high tower.

10 My God with his lovingkindness will meet me: God will let me see [my desire] upon mine enemies.

11 Slay them not, lest my people forget: Scatter them by thy 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 cursing and lying which they speak.

13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, so that they shall be no more: And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob, Unto the ends of the earth. [Selah

14 And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog, And go round about the city.

15 They shall wander up and down for food, And tarry all night if they be not satisfied.

16 But I will sing of thy strength; Yea, I will sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning: For thou hast been my high tower, And a refuge in the day of my distress.

17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises: For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

Psalms 59:8-17 Meaning and Commentary

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.