Psalms 59:1-10

1 My God! Rescue me from my enemies, defend me from these mutineers.

2 Rescue me from their dirty tricks, save me from their hit men.

3 Desperadoes have ganged up on me, they're hiding in ambush for me. I did nothing to deserve this, God,

4 crossed no one, wronged no one. All the same, they're after me, determined to get me.

5 You're God, God of angel armies, Israel's God! Get on the job and take care of these pagans, don't be soft on these hard cases.

6 They return when the sun goes down, They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.

7 Then suddenly they're all at the gate, Snarling invective, drawn daggers in their teeth. They think they'll never get caught.

8 But you, God, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes.

9 Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you.

10 God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin.

Psalms 59:1-10 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.