Psalm 59:1-6

Deliver Me from My Enemies

1 ¹Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; ²protect me from those who ³rise up against me;

2 deliver me from ⁴those who work evil, and save me from ⁵bloodthirsty men.

3 For behold, they ⁶lie in wait for my life; fierce men ⁷stir up strife against me. ⁸For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. ⁹Awake, come to meet me, and see!

5 You, ¹⁰Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

6 Each evening they ¹¹come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city.

Psalm 59:1-6 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.

Cross References

• 1. 59:1 Ps. 143:9; [Ps. 18:48]
• 2. 59:1 See Ps. 20:1
• 3. 59:1 See Ps. 17:7
• 4. 59:2 Ps. 94:4
• 5. 59:2 Ps. 5:6
• 6. 59:3 Ps. 10:9
• 7. 59:3 See Ps. 56:6
• 8. 59:3 1 Sam. 24:11; [Ps. 7:3; 69:4]
• 9. 59:4 See Ps. 35:23
• 10. 59:5 Ps. 80:4; 84:8
• 11. 59:6 [Ps. 22:16]