Psalms 59:8-17

8 But you laugh at them, LORD; you scoff at all those nations.

9 You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress,

10 my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.

11 But do not kill them, Lord our shield,^[a]or my people will forget. In your might uproot them and bring them down.

12 For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter,

13 consume them in your wrath, consume them till they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.

14 They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

15 They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied.

16 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.

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.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 37:13; Proverbs 1:26
• 2. Psalms 2:4
• 3. S Psalms 18:1
• 4. Psalms 9:9; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 62:2; Psalms 71:3
• 5. Psalms 3:3; Psalms 84:9
• 6. Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 6:12
• 7. Psalms 89:10; Psalms 106:27; Psalms 144:6; Isaiah 33:3
• 8. Psalms 10:7
• 9. Psalms 64:8; Proverbs 10:14; Proverbs 12:13
• 10. Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 5:15; Zephaniah 3:11
• 11. Psalms 104:35
• 12. Psalms 83:18
• 13. Job 15:23
• 14. Psalms 108:1
• 15. S 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalms 21:13
• 16. Psalms 5:3; Psalms 88:13
• 17. Psalms 101:1
• 18. S 2 Samuel 22:3
• 19. S Deuteronomy 4:30; Psalms 46:1
• 20. ver 10

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "sovereign"