This Psalm is another prayer for deliverance from virulent enemies who are threatening the Psalmist’s life. It consists of two principal divisions (Psalm 59:1-17) each ending with a refrain. These are again subdivided; the end of the first stanza in each being marked by a Selah, and the initial verse of the second (Psalm 59:6; Psalm 59:14) being the same.

i. (1) In peril of his life from truculent enemies the Psalmist cries for help (Psalm 59:1-2). Emphasising the fact that their attack is unprovoked, he prays Jehovah to interpose and punish all the antagonists of His people (Psalm 59:3-5).

(2) He describes the menacing behaviour and the scornful godlessness of his enemies (Psalm 59:6-7), and declares his confidence that Jehovah will treat them with sovereign contempt (Psalm 59:8-9).

ii. (1) Starting from the height of this confidence (Psalm 59:10) he prays that they may be humbled, yet not utterly destroyed, but left for a warning example, till their own sin proves their ruin (11, 12), and their final disappearance demonstrates the sovereignty of Jacob’s God (Psalm 59:13).

(2) Returning to the present, he contrasts the baffled rage of his pursuers (Psalm 59:14-15) with his own hymns of thanksgiving for deliverance (Psalm 59:16-17).

Thus the Psalm strikes the familiar note of unshaken trust in God under circumstances of danger and difficulty. Its constant recurrence in the Psalter is doubtless intended to provide a large variety of comfort and encouragement for the various circumstances of trial to which the godly are exposed.

But what were the actual circumstances of the Psalmist? According to the title the Psalm refers to the occasion in David’s life “when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.” The narrative in 1 Samuel 19:8 ff relates that after Saul’s unsuccessful attempt upon his life David fled and escaped. “And it came to pass that night” (so we should read with the LXX) “that Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch it, that he might slay him in the morning.” Michal however contrived to effect his escape by letting him down through a window.

There is much in the Psalm which suits David’s situation. Not on that particular night only but for some time previously his life had been in danger. Saul had spoken “to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should slay David” (1 Samuel 19:1); and doubtless there were men (Psalm 59:3) in Saul’s retinue ready to curry favour with their master by secretly despatching him, treacherous ruffians who might well be compared to the hungry and savage dogs which infest oriental towns. David’s enemies had been using the weapons of false and cruel calumny with the view of effecting his ruin. With Psalm 59:7; Psalm 59:12 cp. 1 Samuel 24:9; 1 Samuel 26:19. Again and again he protested his innocence and the groundlessness of the persecution he was suffering. With Psalm 59:3-4 cp. 1 Samuel 20:1; 1 Samuel 24:11; 1 Samuel 26:18 ff; and Psalms 7.

The connexion of the Psalm with this episode in David’s life is however commonly set aside on the ground that the Psalmist’s foes are described as foreigners (Psalm 59:5; Psalm 59:8), and ‘my people’ (Psalm 59:11) seems to imply that he is a king or at least in a position of authority.

Ewald supposed that the Psalm was written by Josiah when Jerusalem was threatened by the marauding bands of the Scythians; others have attributed it to Nehemiah, when he was hindered in his work of rebuilding the walls by the Samaritans and their confederates (Nehemiah 4:1 ff, Nehemiah 4:7 ff; Nehemiah 6:1 ff). But neither of these conjectures is satisfactory. The enemies appear to be personal; one of their chief weapons is calumny; it is the Psalmist’s life which is in danger, rather than the city, or the cause which he represents.

It is indeed not quite certain (see the notes) that the ‘heathen’ of Psalm 59:5; Psalm 59:8, are the Psalmist’s own immediate enemies: but if they are, the data do not seem to be entirely consistent. Is it possible that we have here a Psalm written by David, or possibly by some later poet, with reference to the occasion stated in the title, and subsequently adapted for liturgical use by the introduction of prayers for the judgement of the enemies of the nation?

1. Deliver me] Song of Solomon 7:1, and frequently.

defend me] Better, as R.V., set me on high (Psalm 20:1; Psalm 91:14). It is the verb from which is derived the epithet ‘high tower’ so often applied to God (Psalm 59:9; Psalm 59:16-17; Psalm 18:2; Psalm 46:7; Psalm 46:11).

1–5. The Psalmist prays for deliverance from the enemies who are bent on taking his life, pleading his innocence, and appealing to God to punish all injustice.

2. from bloody men] Better, from bloodthirsty men (Psalm 5:6; Psalm 55:23; Psalm 139:19; Proverbs 29:10).

3, 4. For, lo, strong ones have laid wait for my life,

They gather themselves together against me,

For no transgression or sin of mine, Jehovah.

For no iniquity (of mine) they run and station themselves:

Arouse thee to meet me, and behold.

Observe the tenses. Secret plots (cp. Proverbs 1:11; Micah 7:2) have long been going on: now they are preparing a more open attack (Psalm 54:3; Psalm 56:6). In this crisis he calls upon God to arouse Himself from His apparent slumber of indifference (Psalm 44:23), and ‘meet him’ as with an army of relief. For ‘behold’ (lit. see) cp. Psalm 10:14; Psalm 25:18; Psalm 31:7.

The transgression, sin, iniquity, of which he protests his innocence, might refer to offences against God, for which this persecution might have been sent as a punishment (1 Samuel 26:19); but more probably they refer to offences against his persecutors. Their hostility is unprovoked. Exactly the same words are used by David in protesting his innocence of treasonable designs against Saul, 1 Samuel 20:1; 1 Samuel 24:11.

5. Yea, do Thou, Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel,

Awake to visit all the nations:

Be not gracious to any treacherous workers of iniquity.

Thou is emphatic, and the address virtually means, ‘since Thou art God of hosts, and God of Israel.’ The first title implies that He has the power (Psalm 46:7, note), the second that He is under the obligation, to interpose and ‘visit,’ hold inquisition concerning, the nations, to punish them for their offences. But who are meant by the ‘nations’ or ‘heathen’? Are they the enemies against whom the Psalmist is praying, and identical with the ‘treacherous workers of iniquity,’ mentioned in the next line? If so, the Psalmist’s enemies are foreigners, for usage does not justify the interpretation of gôyîm as ‘heathenishly minded men’; and if the Psalm is in its original form, it cannot have been written by David with reference to Saul and his myrmidons. But it is possible that, as in Psalms 7, the prayer for a judgement upon personal enemies is expanded into a prayer for a judgement upon all the enemies of Israel: and in that general judgement the treacherous Israelites who are iniquitously plotting against the Psalmist’s life will meet their due reward. Similarly in Psalm 59:8, ‘them’ will refer to the Psalmist’s personal enemies, ‘the heathen’ or ‘nations’ to the enemies of Israel. It is also possible, as has been suggested above, that the Psalm has been altered for liturgical use.

The anomalous form of the combination Jehovah the God of hosts here and in Psalm 80:4; Psalm 80:19; Psalm 84:8 (Jehovah Elôhîm Tsebâôth not Jehovah Elôhç Tsebâôth) makes it probable that the original reading was simply Jehovah of hosts, and that God is the substitution of the Elohistic editor for Jehovah, which however, has survived or has been restored along with it.

Be not gracious is the opposite to the Psalmist’s prayer for himself, Psalm 56:1, Psalm 57:1.

6. He compares his enemies to a troop of savage and hungry dogs (Psalm 22:16) such as still infest Oriental towns, in the day-time sleeping in the sun or slinking lazily about, but as night comes on collecting together, and traversing the streets in search of food, howling dismally. P.B.V. grin means ‘snarl.’ Cp. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI, iii. 1. 18, quoted in Wright’s Bible Word-Book,

“Small curs are not regarded when they grin;

But great men tremble when the lion roars.”

6–9. Be his enemies never so threatening and insolent, he can trust in God.

7. The figure of Psalm 59:6 is dropped. A flood of cursing and falsehood (Psalm 59:12) pours from their mouth (Proverbs 15:2; Proverbs 15:28); they menace him with death, or openly boast that he will soon be got rid of; cp. Psalm 52:2, note.

‘Say they’ is rightly inserted. ‘Who doth hear’? is not the Psalmist’s complaint that there is no one to take his part, but the scornful sneer of his enemies, who do not believe that God cares for His servant. Cp. Psalm 10:4; Psalm 10:11; Psalm 10:13; Psalm 64:5; Psalm 73:11; Psalm 94:7.

8. The verbs are the same as in Psalm 2:4 : cp. Psalm 37:13; Isaiah 37:22. The bold phrase “expresses generally the truth that the machinations of God’s enemies are not less absurd than wicked.” Speaker’s Comm.

For the meaning of ‘heathen’ or ‘nations,’ see note on Psalm 59:5.

9. O my strength, unto thee will I watch:

For God is my high tower.

His enemies are ‘strong’ (Psalm 59:3); but God is his strength; they watch his house (title), but he will ‘watch unto God,’ waiting in faith for His help; he has prayed that God will ‘set him up on high,’ and he is confident of an answer, for God Himself is his ‘high tower’ of refuge.

The A.V. ‘because of his strength’ follows the Massoretic Text; but some MSS., the LXX, Vulg., Jer., and Targ., read, as in Psalm 59:17, my strength, which is doubtless right. P.B.V. retains my from the Vulg., though adopting an impossible rendering, ‘My strength will I ascribe unto thee.’ It is unnecessary to follow the Syr. in reading as in Psalm 59:17, I will make melody, for I will watch; but possibly the words the God of my lovingkindness originally stood at the end of this verse as well as of Psalm 59:17. See note on Psalm 59:10.

10. The Kthîbh, with which the LXX agrees, has My God shall meet me with His lovingkindness: but the Qrç is, The God of my lovingkindness shall meet me. This variety of reading possibly points to an original text, in which Psalm 59:9 ended with the words, the God of my lovingkindness, and Psalm 59:10 began, His lovingkindness (or, My God with his lovingkindness) shall meet me. Cp. Psalm 79:8. The loss of the words would be easily accounted for by the similarity between the end of Psalm 59:9 and the beginning of Psalm 59:10. Cp. note on Psalm 42:5-6.

shall prevent me] shall come to meet me; in answer to the prayer of Psalm 59:4. For the archaism prevent cp. Psalm 21:3.

shall let me see my desire] Cp. Psalm 54:7, note. The same phrase occurs on the Moabite Stone, where Mesha says that he erected the high place to Chemosh, “because he let me see my desire upon all that hated me.”

upon mine enemies] Upon them that lie in wait for me. See note on Psalm 54:5.

10–13. His enemies will be punished: yet let them not be utterly destroyed forthwith, but kept awhile for a warning, till they perish through their own iniquity, an evidence of the sovereignty of God.

11. Slay them not] Apparently inconsistent with Psalm 59:13; but burning indignation does not study logical consistency. What he desires is that they may not be destroyed outright by some signal catastrophe, but visibly punished as a living example, until at last their own wickedness proves their destruction. Cp. Exodus 9:15-16 (R.V.). Pharaoh might have been cut off at once, but was suffered to exist, till his obstinate resistance sealed his doom, and enhanced God’s sovereignty. The Fathers applied the words to the Jews in their dispersion, scattered but not consumed, an ever visible memorial of divine judgement.

scatter them by thy power] Rather, make them wander to and fro by thine army, as vagabonds and outcasts (Psalm 109:10; Genesis 4:12; Genesis 4:14; Numbers 32:13). The word rendered by thy power in A.V. is never used of God’s might, but may mean (cp. Joel 2:25; Joel 3:11) the heavenly army which God has at His command. Cp. Psalm 35:5-6.

bring them down] Cp. Psalm 55:23; Psalm 56:7.

our shield] The Psalmist speaks as the representative of the nation, or at least of a class. For the metaphor cp. Psalm 3:3; Genesis 15:1; Deuteronomy 33:29; Psalm 18:2; &c.

12. The A.V. gives the sense, though the precise construction is doubtful. Perhaps, The word of their lips is the sin of their mouth, i.e. every word they utter is sin: or, O the sin of their mouth! O the word of their lips! let them &c.

let them even be taken] Caught in their own snare, their plots recoiling on themselves. Cp. Psalm 9:15; Psalm 35:8; Proverbs 11:6.

in their pride] The atheistic self-sufficiency which says, Who doth hear? Cp. Psalm 10:4.

13. Consume them in wrath, consume them] For the emphatic repetition cp. Psalm 57:1; Psalm 57:7-8; and for the wrath of divine judgement cp. Psalm 56:7.

that they may not be] Better as R.V., that they be no more.

and let them know] It is best to regard the subject of the verb as indefinite, let men know; and to connect unto the ends of the earth with this clause. Let it be known throughout the length and breadth of the world. Cp. 1 Samuel 17:46 : ‘that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.’ The P.B.V. ‘that it is God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of the world,’ gives an equally good sense, but requires the insertion of the conjunction.

14. A repetition of Psalm 59:6. But is it (1) as the A.V. appears to take it, an ironical repetition as a curse? let them do now perforce what they did before in malice and wantonness, wandering to and fro (cp. Psalm 59:11) in unsatisfied hunger. Or is it (2) a reiterated description of the writer’s present situation, introduced here to emphasise the contrast of his own security under Jehovah’s protection? The second alternative is preferable, as giving full force to the emphatic they (Psalm 59:15) and But I (Psalm 59:16). Render,

And though they return at evening, howl like dogs, and go round about the city,

Though they wander to and fro for meat,

And tarry all night if they be not satisfied;

Yet as for me, I shall sing &c.

The prey of which they were in quest was the Psalmist himself. Disappointed in their attempt they might tarry all night, yet he is confident that the dawn will see him still safe, and bring fresh occasion for praise. The A.V. grudge, i.e. murmur, follows the LXX and Jer.; but the contrast ‘in the morning’ (Psalm 59:15) is in favour of R.V. (cp. A.V. marg.) tarry all night.

14–17. The Psalmist contrasts the baffled rage of his persecutors with his own calm trust in God.

16, 17. Render,

Yet as for me, I shall sing of thy strength;

Yea, I shall sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning:

For thou hast been a high tower for me,

And a refuge In the day of my distress.

Unto thee, O my strength, will I make melody,

For God is my high tower, the God of my lovingkindness.

Thou hast been, for in the language of faith he looks back upon the deliverance from the morning of peace which succeeds the night of anxiety.

The refrain is slightly varied from Psalm 59:9 : the patient waiting of the night is changed into the joyous song of the morning.