Praying to a Global God

Praying to a Global God

Psalm 59

Main Idea: The gospel compels us to ask God to destroy his enemies and declare his glory to all nations.

I think I have a pretty good work ethic. I get that from my dad. He raised us kids to know that it was important to work hard at everything we did. As I was growing up, I watched him pour himself into his family, his work as a public school administrator, and even his care for our home. He especially seemed to be fond of keeping our yard looking nice. After one long Saturday of working outside all day, I asked him if he really enjoyed doing all that work on our yard. I’ll never forget his reply: “I like the results.” For him, the end result was worth the sacrifice of sweat and soreness.

David believed the long-term result was worth the immediate investment. The backdrop of this psalm is when Saul sent his men at night to reconnoiter David’s house in an effort to kill him. Michal—David’s wife and Saul’s daughter—helped her husband make a narrow escape out a window (1 Sam 19:11-17). While the themes of urgency, vindication, and passionate prayer for God’s deliverance aren’t new to David’s compositions, this psalm gives us a peek into a part of David’s heart that we don’t see in every psalm—his understanding of how the favor of God on his life in the present ultimately would affect all the people of the earth (Ps 59:5,8). This is especially impressive as this song was evidently composed prior to David’s ascending to the throne of Israel! Yet he refers to “my people” (v. 11) as well as the global impact of the defeat of his enemies (v. 13).

Truly the gospel is at play in Psalm 59. David apparently had such intimacy with God that he had the spiritual foresight to understand that God’s kingdom was intended to have a global reach and that he was ordained to play at least some role in bringing that about. Saul and his thugs are described here as enemies of God’s overarching plan of global reign, a reign that would one day materialize in the kingship of God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. Here God’s servant prays for God’s enemies to be defeated in view of the ultimate advancement of his global kingdom.

Consider three major motifs in Psalm 59 that help us think about how we pray for the gospel to have unhindered access to all people and how our work in the present affects that result.

Recognizing God’s Enemies

Let’s start by looking at how David describes those who oppose him and hate God’s agenda for his life. Believers must recognize the enemies of the gospel and their motives. David identifies the twofold agenda of these evil men.

They Try to Discredit His People (59:3-4a)

The Psalter never suggests that David overestimated his innocence or had an overinflated view of his ability to resist temptation (see Ps 51). At the same time, he wasn’t shy about declaring his blameless condition when he knew he was in the right, and especially when he knew God’s reputation was on the line. Such was the case most of the time when Saul and his men were in pursuit. Here David emphatically claims they’re making up their allegations and trying to discredit him.

False accusations always are driven by impure motives and evil intents. On a different occasion the psalmist says, “For they do not speak in friendly ways, but contrive fraudulent schemes against those who live peacefully in the land” (35:20). People say things that aren’t true about others in order to stir up trouble. This happens at every level of our society from school playgrounds to the White House. Sometimes people try to discredit others for revenge, sometimes to manipulate power, sometimes to gain an advantage.

But fabricated testimony is especially characteristic of those who oppose the gospel of Christ. The prophet Isaiah told us this kind of viciousness would be levied at God’s Messiah: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth” (Isa 53:7). And that’s exactly what happened to Jesus: “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death” (Matt 26:59; cf. Matt 9:34; 27:22-26; Mark 3:22; Luke 23:2; John 18:30). Although the Roman governor, Pilate, knew Jesus was innocent, he pandered to the Jews and allowed the false accusations to stand (Matt 27:22-26). However—true to Isaiah’s prophetic words—Jesus “did not open his mouth” (Isa 53:7; see Matt 26:63; 27:12-14; Mark 14:61; 15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9; 1 Pet 2:23).

Consequently, followers of Jesus Christ can expect the same (Matt 10:25). People who hate the gospel will try to discredit those who embrace it. But be encouraged, beloved. Jesus said,

“You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:11-12)

No matter what lies people make up about us, believers must resolve to trust in God’s Word: “The arrogant have smeared me with lies, but I obey your precepts with all my heart. Their hearts are hard and insensitive, but I delight in your instruction” (Ps 119:69-70). When people try to discredit us, we depend even more on the truth of our Bibles.

They Try to Destroy His People (59:6-7,14-15)

With poetic prowess David characterizes his enemies by their desire to destroy him. He uses the same picture twice to describe them (vv. 6,14). These villains are branded as a pack of dogs that roam the city looking for helpless prey. David may have chosen this description because these attackers had tried to ambush him at night (1 Sam 19:11). Additionally, David was keenly aware that scavengers, murders, and adulterers like to operate after dark because they think it hides their shameful activity (v. 7; Job 24:13-17).

The psalmist recognizes their destructive and blasphemous speech, and he compares them to the Israelites murmuring in the wilderness, whining because they don’t get what they want (v. 15). They are like a pack of wild animals bent on finding and consuming their prey, resolved to destroy their target, settling for nothing less.

Again, the gospel is in view here. Jesus’s enemies didn’t falsely accuse him just to mar his reputation or undermine his popularity. From the beginning of his life, they wanted to destroy him. In the cosmic view of his life in the book of Revelation, Satan is depicted as a dragon that “stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child” (Rev 12:4). Jesus’s life on earth began with an angel telling Joseph to “take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him” (Matt 2:13). At the end of his life, “the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill him” (Luke 19:47). And everything in between was similar (Matt 12:14; 27:20; Mark 3:6; 11:18; 14:55).

The same is true for those who follow the Christ. Jesus told his followers that enemies of the gospel “will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name” (Matt 24:9; cf. Matt 10:17-18; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12-17). A sin-sick culture doesn’t want merely to discredit the gospel; it wants to eliminate it along with all of its proponents. Consequently, they will try to destroy anyone who tries to promote it.

This oppression of gospel advancement has been the perpetual theme since the time of Christ. After his crucifixion, Jewish religious leaders fiercely opposed even the threat that his agenda would be furthered. They went to great lengths to pay the Roman soldiers to lie about his resurrection, instructing the soldiers to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping” (Matt 28:13). This reckless opposition to the gospel continued at the hands of Jewish leaders during the apostolic period. Rome also determined that Christianity was bad for their culture, so they decided to try to extinguish it.

During the Reformation, even the institutional church opposed the proclamation of the true gospel. Later, communism would take its turn at trying to destroy Christianity. In contemporary culture, groups like ISIS have unapologetically stated as their primary mission to eradicate Christianity and establish Islam as the only religion practiced on the earth. Yet, through it all, the gospel message shines and continues to advance in power! As Jesus promised, “The gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt 16:18).

Relying on God’s Help

With the psalmist under such assault from the enemies of God’s kingdom, he cries out to God for help and relies on his rescue. At three different points in the song, he pleads desperately for God to intervene in his plight. The things for which he prays provide good guidance for followers of Christ who are relying on God to come against the enemies of the gospel.

We Pray for God to Deliver (59:1-2)

The agenda of the psalmist’s enemies is clearly articulated at the beginning of this song. They’re described as “those who rise up against me” (v. 1), “those who practice sin,” and “men of bloodshed” (v. 2). These men have chosen to make evil and violence their way of life. Their target here is David, who finds himself once again in a desperate situation and in need of help from outside of himself.

So his primary request is for God to “rescue” him from these opponents, an appeal he repeats in the first two verses. The poetry expands on his plea in both verses with the parallel entreaties “protect me” (v. 1) and “save me” (v. 2). The word protect is related to the word stronghold (vv. 9,16,17) found throughout the psalm, which carried the idea of being set high up, out of reach. David was asking God to do something he discovered his physical house couldn’t do, so he cries, “My God” (v. 1). In the same way, our physical resources won’t be able to stand against the enemies of the gospel. Only the name of our God is strong enough to defend us and to forge a pathway to victory (Prov 18:10-11). Believers must cry out to God “in his name” for deliverance from those who have adopted evil and violence as their modus operandi and have come against his character and mission (Ps 54:1,6).

We Pray for God to Act (59:4b-5)

The most general part of the psalmist’s prayer is his cry for God to “awake” and “rise up.” Obviously, David didn’t believe God was sleeping. After all, God had promised David, “He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep” (Ps 121:3-4). But neither did David always know why God wasn’t responding immediately to his prayers. And he had such an earthy relationship with his Lord that he could talk to him as a child talks to his or her father. From a human standpoint, sometimes all we know is that God seems to be asleep and disconnected from our plight. So we use words that express what we feel, but we use them against the backdrop of knowing that our Father is sovereignly hearing and acting for our good and his glory.

This conviction becomes clear in the next verse as David applies his personal prayer to a broader context. He acknowledges that God is the “Lord God of Armies . . . God of Israel” (v. 5), a confident confession that wasn’t unfamiliar to the young soon-to-be king (see 1 Sam 17:45-46). He was passionately resolved to protect, defend, and depend on the reputation of his God, so he wasn’t hesitant about appealing to it in prayer. Basically, David is saying, “God, you are the God of armies, including your people, Israel. Now I’m asking that you act like it on my behalf!” The idea here is similar to praying in God’s name (see comments on Ps 54:1,6). We would do well to appeal to God more often based on his character, person, and position. He delights when we do so, and he always acts consistently with who he is.

It’s in this broader application of David’s prayer that we see what he values the most. His greater concern is the advancement of the larger kingdom of God, not just his personal situation. He knows the wicked ways of his immediate enemies are simply a manifestation of a larger reality—the global evil that resists God’s rule. So he asks God to protect his people and defeat all the enemy nations (vv. 5,8). He doesn’t want God to let his immediate detractors off the hook, but he seems even more concerned that he would exercise his vengeance on all who deal faithlessly.

David’s worldview provides a helpful pattern for our own praying. We should always be more concerned about God’s global—and even universal—kingdom than we are about our own personal situation. The order in the Lord’s Prayer is important. Jesus taught us to ask, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” before we ask, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt 6:10-11). That kind of praying will then temper and shape the praying we do for our personal circumstances.

We Pray for God to Destroy (59:11-13)

The psalmist continues asking God to act according to his global agenda and glory, but now he raises the stakes for his enemies. At first he doesn’t want God to condemn them all the way to death (v. 11). The psalmist wants his people to be able to see these enemies of the kingdom stumbling around as an object lesson on the result of sinful rebellion against God (cf. Deut 8:11-20; Judg 2:22; 3:2; Pss 78; 106; Isa 10:5-6). And he wants his attackers to be “caught in their pride” and their “curses and lies” (v. 12). While slanderous rhetoric alone can destroy entire communities, it is especially deadly coupled with pride because it flies in the face of God himself (see Judg 9).

David ultimately wants his enemies to be destroyed, to completely disappear (v. 13). Why? David wants it to be clear to everybody that God—not those who oppose him—is the true ruler of Israel and of all the people on the planet. David’s words in this prayer are similar to what he said to the giant, Goliath:

Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us. (1 Sam 17:46-47)

The shepherd boy reminds us in both accounts that the mark of a true child of God is to see him acknowledged and glorified (cf. 1 Kgs 18:36). That was Jesus’s motive for living, his model for praying, and the basis of his expectation for his Father’s response. He said, “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” And his Father responded, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again” (John 12:27-28). May we take our cue from him, praying for the destruction of enemies of the gospel to the end that God may be glorified throughout the whole earth!

Rejoicing in God’s Strength

Once again the psalmist wades through the murky waters and miry clay of persecution and desperation, only to find himself resting on the solid ground of worship. We find his expressions of worship in two primary places in the song—verses 8-10 and 16-17. In these verses David intends to “keep watch” in faith and “sing” praises. His heart is overflowing—even in the midst of his suffering—with the glory of God and the anticipation of salvation.

At the heart of his worship in this text, David rejoices and rests in one primary attribute of God. Twice in these verses he addresses God as “my strength” (vv. 9,17), and he acknowledges him three times as his “stronghold” (vv. 9,16,17). Additionally, David says of God, “You ridicule all the nations” (v. 8), and he sings about God’s “strength” (v. 16). Within this celebration of worship, we find two particular manifestations of God’s strength.

His Sovereign Deliverance (59:8-10)

In stark contrast to the dogs that howl, prowl, and seek to destroy him in verses 6-7, the psalmist begins to acknowledge the sovereign God who delivers him. The contrast is marked by the phrase But you (v. 8), which begins a series of confident descriptions of God’s rescuing hand on behalf of his servant. Although the vicious attackers think no one is watching because it’s nighttime (see vv. 6-7), the omniscient God has a front-row seat. And, as in Psalm 2:4, the figurative language actually finds him entertained by their outrageous folly (v. 8)!

The psalmist, however, doesn’t want God to be the only one entertained by the victory over his enemies. He’s going to hold a vigil like the night watchman of a besieged city, sitting on the edge of his seat awaiting the arrival of reinforcements (v. 9). The stanza closes with the expectant realization that God will, in fact, let him see the overthrow of his adversaries (v. 10). The phrase look down here carries the idea of watching in triumph, like the winner of a race who revels in his victory over his competitors.

This commentary on the present enemies actually reflects God’s attitude toward the rebellion of “all the nations” (v. 8) of the world who think they can get away with persecuting God’s servants. When we’re feeling the weight of persecution for the gospel, it’s encouraging to keep in mind that God isn’t caught off guard by it and actually considers it silly. While his assessment doesn’t minimize the pain and suffering we feel, it does help us keep it in proper perspective (Ross, Psalms, vol. 2, 322). And that perspective gives us great confidence to see God as our “stronghold” (v. 9; cf. vv. 16-17) and our “refuge” (v. 16) when we’re suffering. The reality of his sovereign perspective and defense helps us endure!

His Steadfast Delight (59:16-17)

In similar fashion to verse 8, the psalmist now contrasts the dogs that howl, prowl, and maliciously attack him (see vv. 14-15) with his God who steadfastly loves him. Once again the contrast is strong: But I (v. 16). Although the wicked dogs had their say against God at night, his righteous servants will sing praises to him in the morning! David’s poetic pen unfolds the primary reason that prompts the praise. He unpacks the idea of God’s “strength” by paralleling it to his “faithful love” (vv. 16-17; cf. v. 10). God’s strength on behalf of his children grows out of his steadfast love for them. That ought to be enough to cause all of us to break out in songs of worship!

As God’s children, we don’t trust him simply because he’s our strength, fortress, and refuge. We don’t even trust him just because we know he’s sovereign and, therefore, we’re on the winning team. In addition to those things, we trust him because he loves us. Not only is he our Creator and sustainer, and not only is he sovereign and omnipotent, but he’s also loving. As Wilson points out,

Without the last, God would be a powerful deity with whom we had to deal, but we would not likely trust him. It would be a little like living under a totalitarian dictatorship. The government would exercise the power of life and death over all aspects of our world, and we would have to deal with it and consider it in all our decisions and actions; but we would not have to trust it. (Wilson, Psalms, 856; emphasis in original)

God’s love is described here and elsewhere by a Hebrew word that indicates “covenant loyalty.” In contrast to the way humans love so often, his love for us isn’t based on appearances, hormones, compatibility, or personal benefit. No, his love is rooted in his commitment to his relationship with us.

I’ve done a lot of weddings where the bride and groom wanted to write their own vows as opposed to using the traditional ones. And I’m happy to accommodate that request as long as I reserve the right to check their vows for biblical integrity. My wife’s dad—who was the pastor who officiated over our wedding ceremony—didn’t give us that option. And I’m kind of glad he didn’t. I’m glad we stood at an altar many years ago and said, “For richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health.” Why? Because those words help depict marriage as the picture of the gospel it’s intended to be (Eph 5:22-33; cf. Hos 1–3). Marriage reflects how God loves with a covenant love. It’s not about emotions, feelings, or benefit to the one offering the love. It’s about commitment.

That’s the way God loves us in Jesus Christ. By coming to earth in pursuit of us, he demonstrated that he loves us with no reserve. And if he was willing to endure suffering on my behalf, field even my own rejection and rebellion, and become my sin on the cross, then surely I will trust him. Even when my world is falling apart, my world is spinning out of control, and the enemies of the gospel seem to have the upper hand against me, still I will rejoice and rest in him as my strength and deliverer.

Conclusion

We must see our suffering and pray for God’s subsequent deliverance in view of his glory and gospel being intended for all nations of the earth. Consequently, our lives must be given to this end—to announce his glory and gospel to every person on the planet. Animosity and opposition toward the gospel and its adherents are going to get nothing but worse. Consequently, we must expect to suffer for our faith. As we do—and as we see other brothers and sisters in Christ doing the same—we should pray for God’s help and intervention. But we should pray against the backdrop of a desire to see his glory recognized and received by all people, including those who persecute us.

As we wrestle with the tension of praying as David prayed, viewing our enemies like Jesus taught us to view them, we have to keep in mind a titanic truth. If we’re going to pray for God to deliver us and destroy our persecutors, and to do it in a way that demonstrates his sovereign strength, we’d better make sure we’re innocent! Ross insightfully says, “Whenever believers pray for things like this, they must first examine their lives to make sure they are living faithfully to God—they can trust him to vindicate them” (Ross, Psalms, vol. 2, 327). So let’s pray this way, but let’s do it as ones who are able to say with the psalmist, “Not because of any sin or rebellion of mine. For no fault of mine” (vv. 3-4).

A third application of this passage is that we can talk to God with the brutal honesty of a little child talking to his or her father only if we do it against the backdrop of his sovereignty and strength. The earthy relationship David had with God never sunk to irreverence or disrespect. His whining, complaining, and asking seemed to always wind up in worship. He cried out to God with imprecation against his enemies in view of God’s character—his sovereignty, strength, justice, and righteousness. A big view of God will always temper our prayers of imprecation and keep them safely rooted in gospel motives.

Reflect and Discuss

1. When those outside the faith attempt to discredit us, how do we find strength, peace, and comfort?
2. The enemy has been trying to destroy God’s people (and God’s Messiah) since the beginning of time. How does it encourage you to look back on God’s sovereignty and power through persecution?
3. Have you ever prayed for God to be awakened to your needs? What can we learn from David’s prayer life?
4. Should a Christian pray for God to destroy his or her enemies?
5. What role does self-examination play in asking for God to destroy? How will we know if our prayer is right before God?
6. What is the balance between calling for God’s judgment against our enemies and Jesus’s command to love our enemies?
7. David says that God laughs at our enemies’ plans. What does he mean by this, and how does this encourage us in the midst of facing our enemies?
8. What attributes of God does David lean on during times of trouble? Why, after knowing these things about God, do we still doubt?
9. Why is it difficult to see our suffering through the lens of God’s glory?
10. What does David mean by referring to God as his “stronghold” and “refuge”? How would it change your life if you viewed God as David did?