Psa 59 | EE | STEP | This is for the music leader. Use the music that we call Do Not Destroy. It is a miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house and to kill him. My God, save me from my enemies. Make me strong against the people that are fighting me.

Psalms 59

Hungry Dogs

This is for the music leader.

Use the music that we call Do Not Destroy.

It is a miktam of David, when Saul sent men

to watch his house and to kill him. ^{▼▼59:0 We can study the psalm in two parts:
Verses 1-10 David is in danger and asks God for help
Verses 11-17 God sends help and makes David safe.}

1 My God, save me from my enemies.

Make me strong against the people that are fighting me. ^{▼▼59:1 Verses 1-10: The psalm starts with a bit of the story from 1 Samuel 19. It says that this is a ‘miktam’, which probably means ‘hidden meaning’ or ‘special teaching.’ In verses 1 and 2 David asks God to take him away from his enemies and make him safe. At first, his enemy was Saul and his hungry dogs, but later it would be foreign armies as well. In verses 3 and 4 David tells God that these hungry dogs (they are really Saul’s secret police) are trying to kill him. But he also tells God that he, David, has done nothing wrong.}

2 Take me away from men that are doing evil

and make me safe from men that kill other people.

3 Look! They are waiting to kill me!

Cruel men are planning together against me.

LORD, I have done nothing against them and nothing wrong.

4 I have done nothing wrong but they are getting ready to attack me.

Get up and see what they are doing! Bring me help!

5 For you are the LORD, a God with huge armies.

Get up and punish the foreign nations.

Do not be gracious to all these evil and false people.

SELAH ^{▼▼59:5 In verse 5 you will find both groups of enemies. Because God has huge armies, David asks God to punish his foreign enemies. This was after Saul was dead and David was king. Then he asks God not to be gracious (which means ‘kind’) to evil and false people. These were Saul’s hungry dogs. They looked for David in the city after David had run away. This was at night. In verse 6 we read that they often did it, hoping to find David. In verse 7 they were like dogs waiting for someone to feed them, their mouths dripping with saliva while they looked at their food. (Saliva looks like water.) But their words are like swords as they say what they will do to David. They hope that nobody hears them, because most people like David. David was also talking about foreign enemies that came to fight him in the city where David was hiding. In verse 8 David says that God will laugh at them; this is because God will win the fight! In verses 9 and 10 David says that he will watch for God, whose kind love will come to meet him. Some Bible students translate ‘come to meet me’ as ‘go before me.’ It was this ‘kind love’ that gave David help to beat his enemies. The end of verse 10 is when David knew that this had happened.}

6 They come back to the city every evening.

They go from place to place and growl like dogs.

7 Look at their mouths – dribbling!

Swords come from their lips because they think that nobody will hear.

8 But you, LORD, you will laugh at them.

You will also laugh at foreign people.

9 I will watch for you, My Strength.

Because you, God, are My Fortress.

10 My God, your kind love will come to meet me.

God will show me when he wins the battle against my enemies.

11 Do not kill them yet, or my people will forget them.

Use your power to make them go from place to place.

Our Shield and our Lord,

you are stronger than they are so make them do it! ^{▼▼59:11 Verses 11-17: In this part of the psalm, the fight is over. David has won. Before he was king, he had won against Saul and his secret police. After he was king he had won against foreign enemies. There are three important things in this part:}

12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,

catch them in their pride.

And catch them for the bad things that they say

and the lies that they tell.

13 Destroy them now because you are so angry with them.

Destroy them and finish their lives.

Then people will know to the ends of the earth that God rules Jacob.

SELAH ^{▼▼59:13 In verses 11-13 David asks God to destroy the enemies slowly. Then everyone will know that God has punished them for what they said. The word ‘destroy’ in verse 13 is ‘devour’ in Hebrew. This means ‘eat as if you were very hungry.’ What the hungry dogs wanted to do to David, God would do to them!}

14 They come back to the city every evening.

They go from place to place and growl like dogs.

15 They will go from place to place looking for food,

and they will growl when they do not find any. ^{▼▼59:15 In verses 14-15 we find the dogs again. But now there is nothing for them! They do not dribble at the mouth, and no swords (cruel words) come from their mouths.}

16 But I will sing that you are My Strength.

In the morning, I will shout about your kind love.

Because you were My Fortress

where I found shelter when I was in trouble.

17 I will raise psalms to you, My Strength.

Because you, God, are My Fortress,

the God that will always show me your kind love. ^{▼▼59:17 In verses 16-17 David is so happy that he sings, shouts, and raises psalms to God. We could translate the Hebrew for ‘I will raise psalms to you’ as ‘I will psalm you.’ A psalm is a song, sometimes telling God that we are weak, sometimes what we want God to do to our enemies. Here it tells God how great God is! It is a song of praise.}