Psa 59:5 | KingComments | STEP | David is in great distress. His life is threatened with death. Therefore, in the first verses of this psalm, he takes refuge in God. As he makes his distress known to God, his trust that God will deliver him grows. He starts in the depths, from where he cries out to God to deliver him. Then his prayer turns to the quiet confidence that God is in control. Although nothing has changed about his situation, while praying he comes at the end of the psalm to sing praises for the deliverance that God is going to give. In this psalm we also hear the voice of the faithful remnant in the end time. At the end of the psalm, the morning breaks and there is praise for God, Who has delivered the remnant from its enemies by His power and strength. This foreshadows the dawning of the joy of the millennial realm of peace. We can also notice a division in two parts in this psalm: first and then . Both parts end in similar wording ( ; ) and contain corresponding phrases ( ; ). Both parts begin with a prayer for help and end with a testimony of faithful trust. The first part of the heading is also in the heading of three other psalms ( ). For “for the choir director” ( ) see at Psalm 4:1. For “[set to] Al-tashheth”, literally “Do not destroy”, see at Psalm 57:1. For “a Mikhtam of David” see at Psalm 56:1. Then we read in the heading the background of the psalm: Saul sent servants to David’s house to guard him at night and kill him in the morning. This event is mentioned in the first book of Samuel ( ). Prophetically, we recognize in Saul the beast coming up out of the earth of Revelation 13 ( ). That beast will be out to kill all who do not worship the image of the first beast, which is the beast coming up out of the sea ( ). David is in great distress. He bursts forth to God in short, powerful exclamations: “Deliver me …, set me …, deliver me …, save me …“ ( ). Servants of Saul come to him, whom he calls “my enemies …who rise up against me”, “who do iniquity”, and are “men of bloodshed”. We can see a climax in these designations. He addresses these cries of distress because of these people coming toward him, whom he calls “my enemies”, to God, Whom he calls “my God”. His enemies will kill him without mercy. Therefore, he asks his God to set him securely “on high away”. With the words “for behold” he draws God’s attention to the fact that his enemies have set an ambush for his life ( ). For the purpose of setting that ambush, they conspire against him. They deliberate how best to seize him. David now addresses God as “LORD” as if to remind Him through that Name that He has a covenant relationship with His people, the people over whom He has appointed him as king. He also mentions to Him that on his part he has given no occasion for their murderous plans, for there is no transgression nor sin in his attitude toward Saul. He is without transgression because he has always obediently done what Saul has asked of him. There has been no sin in his service to Saul (cf. ). The demonstration of his innocence is an additional argument for the call to God to intervene. Added to this is the fact that the men Saul has sent at him are “fierce [or: strong] men”. These enemies are strong, mighty. Facing them, David feels powerless. At great speed they rush upon him and prepare to put him to death, “without guilt” of him ( ). There is no justification for their pursuit on his life because he has done nothing that would make this necessary. Therefore, he can make an urgent appeal to God to “arouse” Himself, to meet him, to come to him to help him, and to see that the distress is great and help is urgently needed. David appeals to the “LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel” ( ). In Hebrew it is Yahweh Elohim Tsebaot , followed by “God of Israel”. He is asking “the LORD” – the Name not often used in the second book of Psalms – namely the God of the covenant, to use His great power as the “God of Israel”. That this is called out in prayer means, in the prophetic application, that the period of Lo-Ammi, the period when Israel was temporarily set aside by God ( ), has come to an end. By invoking that Name, he asks if God with all His hosts will come to his aid against these “fierce men” who want to kill him. He also calls God the “God of Israel”. By this he is saying that it is not only about his own salvation, but that of His people as well. His people are in danger of falling into the power of evil, bloodthirsty men. Once again he urges God to awake and cites as the reason “to punish all the nations”. God must intervene and punish Saul’s servants. Saul and his followers are the enemies of David. Prophetically it refers to the enemies of the remnant outside the people, the nations. This is evident in the use of the word “dogs” ( ), which in the Bible is a symbol for the nations (cf. ). Here we find the fulfillment of what is written in Psalm 2, where we read that the kings of the earth gather together against the LORD and against His Anointed ( ; cf. ). These are people who are “treacherous in iniquity”. Literally it says “all traitors of iniquity”. These heathen, which includes their comrades such as the antichrist and his followers, are traitors, faithless, and their deeds are unrighteous. They are unfaithful to God. Therefore, God must not be gracious to any of them. He compares his enemies to howling dogs that wander the city in the evening looking for him ( ). They return in the evening, which means that the danger has not passed; they are looking for ways to catch him. Their howling – literally ranting, whining, crying – is a threat that announces a possible attack. As they wander, a tirade of curses comes out of their mouths pouring out on David. The words spurt out; it is a flood of words that make it clear that they are after his blood ( ). Their words are like “swords”, sowing death and destruction (cf. ). “They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue parades through the earth” ( ) because they believe that no one hears what they say, “for, [they say,] “Who hears?” They are afraid of no one; there is no one who can do anything to them. In their audacity and pride they do not think of God at all (cf. ). They do not take Him into account. Should He be there, so they reason, He is clearly absent.

‏ Psalms 59:5

Introduction

David is in great distress. His life is threatened with death. Therefore, in the first verses of this psalm, he takes refuge in God. As he makes his distress known to God, his trust that God will deliver him grows. He starts in the depths, from where he cries out to God to deliver him. Then his prayer turns to the quiet confidence that God is in control. Although nothing has changed about his situation, while praying he comes at the end of the psalm to sing praises for the deliverance that God is going to give.

In this psalm we also hear the voice of the faithful remnant in the end time. At the end of the psalm, the morning breaks and there is praise for God, Who has delivered the remnant from its enemies by His power and strength. This foreshadows the dawning of the joy of the millennial realm of peace.

We can also notice a division in two parts in this psalm: first Psa 59:1b-10 and then Psa 59:11-17. Both parts end in similar wording (Psa 59:9; Psa 59:17) and contain corresponding phrases (Psa 59:6; Psa 59:14). Both parts begin with a prayer for help and end with a testimony of faithful trust.

Prayer for Deliverance

The first part of the heading is also in the heading of three other psalms (Psa 57:1 ; Psa 58:1 ; Psa 75:1).

For “for the choir director” (Psa 59:1a) see at Psalm 4:1.

For “[set to] Al-tashheth”, literally “Do not destroy”, see at Psalm 57:1.

For “a Mikhtam of David” see at Psalm 56:1.

Then we read in the heading the background of the psalm: Saul sent servants to David’s house to guard him at night and kill him in the morning. This event is mentioned in the first book of Samuel (1Sam 19:10-11).

Prophetically, we recognize in Saul the beast coming up out of the earth of Revelation 13 (Rev 13:11-18). That beast will be out to kill all who do not worship the image of the first beast, which is the beast coming up out of the sea (Rev 13:15).

David is in great distress. He bursts forth to God in short, powerful exclamations: “Deliver me …, set me …, deliver me …, save me …“ (Psa 59:1b-2). Servants of Saul come to him, whom he calls “my enemies …who rise up against me”, “who do iniquity”, and are “men of bloodshed”. We can see a climax in these designations.

He addresses these cries of distress because of these people coming toward him, whom he calls “my enemies”, to God, Whom he calls “my God”. His enemies will kill him without mercy. Therefore, he asks his God to set him securely “on high away”.

With the words “for behold” he draws God’s attention to the fact that his enemies have set an ambush for his life (Psa 59:3). For the purpose of setting that ambush, they conspire against him. They deliberate how best to seize him. David now addresses God as “LORD” as if to remind Him through that Name that He has a covenant relationship with His people, the people over whom He has appointed him as king.

He also mentions to Him that on his part he has given no occasion for their murderous plans, for there is no transgression nor sin in his attitude toward Saul. He is without transgression because he has always obediently done what Saul has asked of him. There has been no sin in his service to Saul (cf. 1Sam 20:1). The demonstration of his innocence is an additional argument for the call to God to intervene.

Added to this is the fact that the men Saul has sent at him are “fierce [or: strong] men”. These enemies are strong, mighty. Facing them, David feels powerless. At great speed they rush upon him and prepare to put him to death, “without guilt” of him (Psa 59:4). There is no justification for their pursuit on his life because he has done nothing that would make this necessary. Therefore, he can make an urgent appeal to God to “arouse” Himself, to meet him, to come to him to help him, and to see that the distress is great and help is urgently needed.

David appeals to the “LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel” (Psa 59:5). In Hebrew it is Yahweh Elohim Tsebaot, followed by “God of Israel”. He is asking “the LORD” – the Name not often used in the second book of Psalms – namely the God of the covenant, to use His great power as the “God of Israel”. That this is called out in prayer means, in the prophetic application, that the period of Lo-Ammi, the period when Israel was temporarily set aside by God (Hos 1:9), has come to an end.

By invoking that Name, he asks if God with all His hosts will come to his aid against these “fierce men” who want to kill him. He also calls God the “God of Israel”. By this he is saying that it is not only about his own salvation, but that of His people as well. His people are in danger of falling into the power of evil, bloodthirsty men.

Once again he urges God to awake and cites as the reason “to punish all the nations”. God must intervene and punish Saul’s servants. Saul and his followers are the enemies of David. Prophetically it refers to the enemies of the remnant outside the people, the nations. This is evident in the use of the word “dogs” (Psa 59:6 ; 14), which in the Bible is a symbol for the nations (cf. Mt 15:21-28). Here we find the fulfillment of what is written in Psalm 2, where we read that the kings of the earth gather together against the LORD and against His Anointed (Psa 2:1-3; cf. Zec 14:2).

These are people who are “treacherous in iniquity”. Literally it says “all traitors of iniquity”. These heathen, which includes their comrades such as the antichrist and his followers, are traitors, faithless, and their deeds are unrighteous. They are unfaithful to God. Therefore, God must not be gracious to any of them.

He compares his enemies to howling dogs that wander the city in the evening looking for him (Psa 59:6). They return in the evening, which means that the danger has not passed; they are looking for ways to catch him. Their howling – literally ranting, whining, crying – is a threat that announces a possible attack.

As they wander, a tirade of curses comes out of their mouths pouring out on David. The words spurt out; it is a flood of words that make it clear that they are after his blood (Psa 59:7). Their words are like “swords”, sowing death and destruction (cf. Psa 57:4).

“They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue parades through the earth” (Psa 73:9) because they believe that no one hears what they say, “for, [they say,] “Who hears?” They are afraid of no one; there is no one who can do anything to them. In their audacity and pride they do not think of God at all (cf. Psa 10:11). They do not take Him into account. Should He be there, so they reason, He is clearly absent.