To the Chief Musician. Strange that the painful
events in David's life should end in enriching the repertoire of
the national minstrelsy. Out of a sour, ungenerous soil spring
up the honey bearing flowers of psalmody. Had he never been
cruelly hunted by Saul, Israel and the church of God in after
ages would have missed this song. The music of the sanctuary is
in no small degree indebted to the trials of the saints.
Affliction is the tuner of the harps of sanctified songsters. Altaschith.
Another "destroy not" Psalm. Whom God preserves Satan
cannot destroy. The Lord can even preserve the lives of his
prophets by the very ravens that would naturally pick out their
eyes. David always found a friend to help him when his case was
peculiarly dangerous, and that friend was in his enemy's
household; in this instance it was Michal, Saul's daughter, as
on former occasions it had been Jonathan, Saul's son. Michtam
of David. This is the Fifth of the Golden Secrets of David:
God's chosen people have many such. When Saul sent, and they
watched the house to kill him. Great efforts were made to
carry the Psalms away to other authors and seasons than those
assigned in the headings, it being the fashion just now to prove
one's learning by disagreeing with all who have gone before.
Perhaps in a few years the old titles will be as much reverenced
as they are now rejected. There are spasms in these matters, and
in many other things among the would be
"intellectuals" of the schools. We are not anxious to
show our readiness at conjecture, and therefore are content with
reading this Psalm in the light of the circumstances here
mentioned; it does not seem unsuitable to any verse, and in some
the words are very appropriate to the specified occasion.
DIVISION. In Ps 59:1-2 he prays, in Ps
59:3-4 he complains of his woes, and again in Ps 59:5 he prays.
Here he inserts a Selah, and ends one portion of his song. In Ps
59:6-7 he renews his complaint, in Ps 59:8-10 declares his
confidence in God, and in Ps 59:11-13 lifts up his heart in
prayer; closing another part of his Psalm with Selah. Then he
prays again in Ps 59:14-15, and afterwards betakes himself to
singing.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God.
They were all round the house with the warrant of authority, and
a force equal to the carrying of it out. He was to be taken dead
or alive, well or ill, and carried to the slaughter. No prowess
could avail him to break the cordon of armed men, neither could
any eloquence stay the hand of his bloody persecutor. He was
taken like a bird in a net, and no friend was near to set him
free. Unlike the famous starling, he did not cry, "I cannot
get out, "but his faith uttered quite another note.
Unbelief would have suggested that prayer was a waste of breath,
but not so thought the good man, for he makes it his sole
resort. He cries for deliverance and leaves ways and means with
his God. Defend me from them that rise up against me. Saul was a
king, and therefore sat in high places, and used all his
authority to crush David; the persecuted one therefore beseeches
the Lord to set him on high also, only in another sense. He asks
to be lifted up, as into a lofty tower, beyond the reach of his
adversary. Note how he sets the title, My God, over
against the word, mine enemies. This is the right method
of effectually catching and quenching the fiery darts of the
enemy upon the shield of faith. God is our God, and therefore
deliverance and defence are ours.
Verse 2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity.
Saul was treating him very unjustly, and besides that was
pursuing a tyrannical and unrighteous course towards others,
therefore David the more vehemently appeals against him. Evil
men were in the ascendant at court, and were the ready tools of
the tyrant, against these also he prays. Bad men in a bad cause
may be pleaded against without question. When a habitation is
beset by thieves, the good man of the house rings the alarm
bell; and in these verses we may hear it ring out loudly, "deliver
me, ""defend me, ""deliver me,
""save me." Saul had more cause to fear than
David had, for the invincible weapon of prayer was being used
against him, and heaven was being aroused to give him battle.
And save me from bloody men. As David remembers how often Saul
had sought to assassinate him, he knows what he has to expect
from that quarter and from the king's creatures and minions who
were watching for him. David represents his enemy in his true
colours before God; the bloodthirstiness of the foe is a fit
reason for the interposition of the righteous God, for the Lord
abhors all those who delight in blood.
Verse 3. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul.
They were in ambuscade for the good man's life. He knew their
design and cried to God to be rescued from it. Like wild beasts
they crouched, and waited to make the fatal spring; but their
victim used effectual means to baffle them, for he laid the
matter before the Lord. While the enemy lies waiting in the
posture of a beast, we wait before God in the posture of prayer,
for God waits to be gracious to us and terrible towards our
foes. The mighty are gathered against me. None of them were
absent from the muster when a saint was to be murdered. They
were too fond of such sport to be away. The men at arms who
ought to have been fighting their country's battles, are instead
thereof hunting a quiet citizen; the gigantic monarch is
spending all his strength to slay a faithful follower. Not for
my transgression, not for my sin, O Lord. He appeals to Jehovah
that he had done no ill. His only fault was, that he was too
valiant and too gracious, and was, besides, the chosen of the
Lord, therefore the envious king could not rest till he had
washed his hands in the blood of his too popular rival. We shall
always find it to be a great thing to be innocent; if it does
not carry our cause before an earthly tribunal, it will ever
prove the best of arguments in the court of conscience, and a
standing consolation when we are under persecution. Note the
repetition of his declaration of integrity. David is sure of his
innocence. He dares repeat the plea.
Verse 4. They run and prepare themselves without my
fault. They are all alive and active, they are swift to shed
blood. They prepare and use their best tactics; they besiege me
in my house, and lay their ambuscades as for some notable enemy.
They come up fully armed to the attack, and assail me with all
the vigour and skill of a host about to storm a castle; and all
for no cause, but out of gratuitous malice. So quick are they to
obey their cruel master, that they never stay to consider
whether their errand is a good one or not; they run at once, and
buckle on their harness as they run. To be thus gratuitously
attacked is a great grief. To a brave man the danger causes
little distress of mind compared with the injustice to which he
is subjected. It was a cruel and crying shame that such a hero
as David should be hounded down as if he were a monster, and
beset in his house like a wild beast in its den. Awake to help
me, and behold. When others go to sleep, keep thou watch, O God.
Put forth thy might. Arouse thee from thy inaction. Only look at
thy servant's sad condition and thy hand will be sure to deliver
me. We see how thorough was the psalmist's faith in the mercy of
his Lord, for he is satisfied that if the Lord do but look on
his case it will move his active compassion.
Verse 5. Thou, thyself, work for me personally,
for the case needs thine interposition. Therefore, because I am
unjustly assailed, and cannot help myself. O Lord, ever living, God
of Hosts, able to rescue me; the God of Israel, pledged by
covenant to redeem thine oppressed servant; awake to visit all
the heathen, arouse thy holy mind, bestow thy sacred energies,
punish the heathen among thine Israel, the false hearted who say
they are Jews and are not, but do lie. And when thou art about
the business, let all the nations of thine enemies, and all the
heathenish people at home and abroad know that thou art upon
circuit, judging and punishing. It is the mark of a thoughtful
prayer that the titles which are in it applied to God are
appropriate, and are, as it were, congruous to the matter, and
fitted to add force to the argument. Shall Jehovah endure to see
his people oppressed? Shall the God of hosts permit his enemies
to exult over his servant? Shall the faithful God of a chosen
people leave his chosen to perish? The name of God is, even in a
literal sense, a fortress and high tower for all his people.
What a forceful petition is contained in the words, "awake
to visit"! Actively punish, in wisdom judge, with force
chastise. Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Be
merciful to them as men, but not as transgressors; if they
continue hardened in their sin, do not wink at their oppression.
To wink at sin in transgressors will be to leave the righteous
under their power, therefore do not pass by their offences but
deal out the due reward. The psalmist feels that the overthrow
of oppression which was so needful for himself must be equally
desirable for multitudes of the godly placed in like positions,
and therefore he prays for the whole company of the faithful,
and against the entire confraternity of traitors. Selah. With
such a subject before us we may well pause. Who would not sit
still and consider, when vengeance is being meted out to all the
enemies of God? How wrong is that state of mind which hates to
hear of the punishment of the wicked!
Verse 6. They return at evening. Like wild
beasts that roam at night, they come forth to do mischief. If
foiled in the light, they seek the more congenial darkness in
which to accomplish their designs. They mean to break into the
house in the dead of might. They make a noise like a dog, and go
round about the city. Howling with hunger for their prey, they
sneak round and round the walls, prowling with stealthy
footstep, and barking in unamiable concert. David compares his
foes to Eastern dogs, unowned, loathsome, degraded, lean, and
hungry, and he represents them as howling with disappointment,
because they cannot find the food they seek. Saul's watchmen and
the cruel king himself must have raved and raged fiercely when
they found the image and the pillow of goat's hair in the bed
instead of David. Vain were their watchings, the victim had been
delivered, and that by the daughter of the man who desired his
blood. Go, ye dogs, to your kennels and gnaw your bones, for
this good man is not meat for your jaws.
Verse 7. Behold they belch out with their mouth.
The noisy creatures are so remarkable in their way, that
attention is called to them with a behold. Ecce homines,
might we not say, Ecce canes! Their malicious speech
gushes from them as from a bubbling fountain. The wicked are
voluble in slander; their vocabulary of abuse is copious, and as
detestable as it is abundant. What torrents of wrathful
imprecation will they pour on the godly! They need no prompters,
their feelings force for themselves their own vent, and fashion
their own expressions. Swords are in their lips. They speak
daggers. Their words pierce like rapiers, and cleave like
cutlasses. As the cushion of a lions's paw conceals his claw, so
their soft ruby lips contain bloody words. For who, say they,
doth hear? They are free from all restraint, they fear no God in
heaven, and the government on earth is with them. When men have
none to call them to account, there is no accounting for what
they will do. He who neither fears God nor regards man sets out
on errands of oppression with gusto, and uses language
concerning it of the most atrociously cruel sort. David must
have been in a singular plight when he could hear the foul talk
and hideous braggings of Saul's black guards around the house.
After the style in which a Cavalier would have cursed a Puritan,
or Claverhouse a Coventanter, the Saulites swore at the upstarts
whom the king's majesty had sent them to arrest. David called
them dogs, and no doubt a pretty pack they were, a cursed
cursing company of curs. When they said, "Who doth
hear?" God was listening, and this David knew, and
therefore took courage.
Verse 8. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them.
He speaks to God, as to one who is close at hand. He points to
the liers in wait and speaks to God about them. They are
laughing at me, and longing for my destruction, but thou hast
the laugh of them seeing thou hast determined to send them away
without their victim, and made fools of by Michal. The greatest,
cleverest, and most malicious of the enemies of the church are
only objects of ridicule to the Lord; their attempts are utterly
futile, they need give no concern to our faith. Thou shalt have
all the heathen in derision. As if David had said—What are
these fellows who lie in ambush! And what is the king their
master, if God be on my side? If not only these but all the
heathen nations were besetting the house, yet Jehovah would
readily enough disappoint them and deliver them. In the end of
all things it will be seen how utterly contemptible and
despicable are all the enemies of the cause and kingdom of God.
He is a brave man who sees this today when the enemy is in great
power, and while the church is often as one shut up and besieged
in his house.
Verse 9. Because of his strength will I wait upon
thee. Is my persecutor strong? Then, my God, for this very
reason I will turn myself to thee, and leave my matters in thy
hand. It is a wise thing to find in the greatness of our
difficulties a reason for casting ourselves on the Lord.
"And when it seems no chance nor change
From grief can set me free,
Hope finds its strength in helplessness,
And, patient, waits on thee."
For God is my defence, my high place, my fortress, the place
of my resort in the time of my danger. If the foe be too strong
for me to cope with him, I will retreat into my castle, where he
cannot reach me.
Verse 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me.
God who is the giver and fountain of all the undeserved goodness
I have received, will go before me and lead my way as I march
onward. He will meet me in my time of need. Not alone shall I
have to confront my foes, but he whose goodness I have long
tried and proved will gently clear my way, and be my faithful
protector. How frequently have we met with preventing
mercy—the supply prepared before the need occurred, the refuge
built before the danger arose. Far ahead into the future the
foreseeing grace of heaven has projected itself, and forestalled
every difficulty. God shall let me see my desire upon mine
enemies. Observe that the words, my desire, are not in
the original. From the Hebrew we are taught that David expected
to see his enemies without fear. God will enable his servant to
gaze steadily upon the foe without trepidation; he shall be
calm, and self possessed, in the hour of peril; and ere long he
shall look down on the same foes discomfited, overthrown,
destroyed. When Jehovah leads the way victory follows at his
heels. See God, and you need not fear to see your enemies. Thus
the hunted David, besieged in his own house by traitors, looks
only to God, and exults over his enemies.
Verse 11. Slay them not, lest my people forget.
It argues great faith on David's part, that even while his house
was surrounded by his enemies he is yet so fully sure of their
overthrow, and so completely realises it in his own mind, that
he puts in a detailed petition that they may not be too soon or
too fully exterminated. God's victory over the craft and cruelty
of the wicked is so easy and so glorious that it seems a pity to
end the conflict too soon. To sweep away the plotters all at
once were to end the great drama of retribution too abruptly.
Nay, let the righteous be buffeted a little longer, and let the
boasting oppressor puff and brag through his little hour, it
will help to keep Israel in mind of the Lord's justice, and make
the brave party who side with God's champion accustomed to
divine interpositions. It were a pity for good men to be without
detractors, seeing that virtue shines the brighter for the foil
of slander. Enemies help to keep the Lord's servants awake. A
lively, vexatious devil is less to be dreaded than a sleepy,
forgetful spirit which is given to slumber. Scatter them by thy
power. Blow them to and fro, like chaff in the wind. Let the
enemy live as a vagabond race. Make Cains of them. Let them be
living monuments of divine power, advertisements of heaven's
truth. To the fullest extent let divine justice be illustrated
in them. And bring them down. Like rotten fruit from a tree.
From the seats of power which they disgrace, and the positions
of influence which they pollute, let them be hurled into
humiliation. This was a righteous wish, and if it be untempered
by the gentleness of Jesus, we must remember that it is a
soldier's prayer, and the wish of one who was smarting under
injustice and malice of no ordinary kind. O Lord, our shield.
David felt himself to be the representative of the religious
party in Israel, and therefore he says, our shield,
speaking in the name of all those who make Jehovah their defence.
We are in good company when we hide beneath the buckler of the
Eternal; meanwhile he who is the shield of his people is the
scatterer of their enemies.
Verse 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words
of their lips let them even be taken in their pride. Such
dreadful language of atheism and insolence deserves a fit
return. As they hope to take their victims, so let them be taken
themselves, entangled in their own net, arrested in the midst of
their boastful security. Sins of the lips are real sins, and
punishable sins. Men must not think because their hatred gets no
further than railing and blasphemy that therefore they shall be
excused. He who takes the will for the deed, will take the word
for the deed and deal with men accordingly. Wretches who are
persecutors in talk, burners and stabbers with the tongue, shall
have a reckoning for their would be transgressions. Pride though
it show not itself in clothes, but only in speech, is a sin; and
persecuting pride, though it pile no faggots at Smithfield, but
only revile with its lips, shall have to answer for it among the
unholy crew of inquisitors. And for cursing and lying which they
speak. Sins, like hounds, often hunt in couples. He who is not
ashamed to curse before God, will be sure to lie unto men. Every
swearer is a liar. Persecution leads on to perjury. They lie and
swear to it. They curse and give a lying reason for their hate.
This shall not go unnoticed of the Lord, but shall bring down
its recompense. How often has it happened that while haughty
speeches have been fresh in the mouths of the wicked they have
been overtaken by avenging providence, and made to see their
mischief recoil upon themselves!
Verse 13. Consume them in wrath. As if he had
changed his mind and would have them brought to a speedy end, or
if spared would have them exist as ruins, he cries, consume
them, and he redoubles his cry, consume them; nay, he
gives a triple note, that they may not be. Revilers of God whose
mouths pour forth such filth as David was on this occasion
obliged to hear, are not to be tolerated by a holy soul;
indignation must flame forth, and cry to God against them. When
men curse the age and the place in which they live, common
humanity leads the righteous to desire that they may be removed.
If they could be reformed it would be infinitely better; but if
they cannot, if they must and will continue to be like mad dogs
in a city, then let them cease to be. Who can desire to see such
a generation perpetuated? And let them know; i.e., let
all the nations know, that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of
the earth. He whose government is universal fixes his
headquarters among his chosen people, and there in special he
punishes sin. So David would have all men see. Let even the most
remote nations know that the great moral Governor has power to
destroy ungodliness, and does not wink at iniquity in any, at
any time, or in any place. When sin is manifestly punished it is
a valuable lesson to all mankind. The overthrow of a Napoleon is
a homily for all monarchs, the death of a Tom Paine a warning to
all infidels, the siege of Paris a sermon to all cities. Selah.
Good cause there is for this rest, when a theme so wide and
important is introduced. Solemn subjects ought not to be hurried
over; nor should the condition of the heart while contemplating
themes so high be a matter of indifference. Reader, bethink
thee. Sit thou awhile and consider the ways of God with men.
Verse 14. Here verse six is repeated, as if the
songster defied his foes and revelled in the thought of their
futile search, their malice, their disappointment, their rage,
their defeated vigilance, their wasted energy. He laughs to
think that all the city would know how they were deceived, and
all Israel would ring with the story of the image and the goats'
hair in the bed. Nothing was more a subject of Oriental
merriment than a case in which the crafty are deceived, and
nothing more makes a man the object of derision than to be
outwitted by a woman, as in this instance Saul and his base
minions were by Michal. The warrior poet hears in fancy the howl
of rage in the council of his foes when they found their victim
clean escaped from their hands.
Verse 16. Let them wander up and down for meat.
Like dogs that have missed the expected carcass, let them go up
and down dissatisfied, snapping at one another, and too
disappointed to be quiet and take the matter easily. And grudge
if they be not satisfied. Let them act like those who cannot
believe that they have lost their prey: like a herd of Oriental
dogs, unhoused, unkennelled, let them prowl about seeking a prey
which they shall never find. Thus the menial followers of Saul
paraded the city in vain hope of satisfying their malice and
their master. "Surely, "say they, "we shall have
him yet. We cannot endure to miss him. Perhaps he is in yonder
corner, or concealed is such a hiding place. We must have him.
We grudge him his life. Our lust for his blood is hot, nor can
we be persuaded but that we shall light upon him." See the
restlessness of wicked men; this will increase as their enmity
to God increases, and in hell it will be their infinite torment.
What is the state of the lost, but the condition of an ambitious
camp of rebels, who have espoused a hopeless cause, and will not
give it up, but are impelled by their raging passions to rave on
against the cause of God, of truth, and of his people.
Verse 16. But I will sing of thy power. The
wicked howl, but I sing and will sing. Their power is weakness,
but thine is omnipotence; I see them vanquished and thy power
victorious, and for ever and ever will I sing of thee. Yea, I
will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning. When those lovers
of darkness find their game is up, and their midnight howlings
die away, then will I lift up my voice on high and praise the
lovingkindness of God without fear of being disturbed. What a
blessed morning will soon break for the righteous, and what a
song will be theirs! Sons of the morning, ye may sigh tonight,
but joy will come on the wings of the rising sun. Tune your
harps even now, for the signal to commence the eternal music
will soon be given; the morning cometh and your sun shall go no
more down for ever. For thou hast been my defence. The song is
for God alone, and it is one which none can sing but those who
have experienced the lovingkindness of their God. Looking back
upon a past all full of mercy, the saints will bless the Lord
with their whole hearts, and triumph in him as the high place of
their security. And refuge in the day of my trouble. The greater
our present trials the louder will our future songs be, and the
more intense our joyful gratitude. Had we no day of trouble,
where were our season of retrospective thanksgiving? David's
besetment by Saul's bloodhounds creates an opportunity for
divine interposition and so for triumphant praise.
Verse 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing.
What transport is here! What a monopolising of all his emotions
for the one object of praising God! Strength has been overcome
by strength; not by the hero's own prowess, but by the might of
God alone. See how the singer girds himself with the
almightiness of God, and calls it all his own by faith. Sweet is
the music of experience, but it is all for God; there is not
even a stray note for man, for self, or for human helpers. For
God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. With full assurance
he claims possession of the Infinite as his protection and
security. He sees God in all, and all his own. Mercy rises
before him, undisturbed and manifold, for he feels he is
undeserving, and security is with him, undisturbed and
impregnable, for he knows that he is safe in divine keeping. Oh,
choice song! My soul would sing it now in defiance of all the
dogs of hell. Away, away, ye adversaries of my soul, the God of
my mercy will keep ye all at bay—
"Nor shall the infernal lion rend
Whom he designs to keep."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
This Psalm has in its stern contents something no doubt
strange to our ears. But never let us omit to distinguish from
each other the times and diverse economies, and to place
ourselves as far as possible, in sympathy with the experience of
a heart which burned for nothing more than for the glorifying of
God in this world. Everything that tended to obscure the
theocratic relation of God to his people, called up in the soul
of David the most vehement passion. The scornful oppression with
which Saul and his venal satellites visited him, the man of God,
could not but have, upon the eyes of all, the appearance as if
Jehovah were no longer Lord in his own land, who inexorably
adhered to his laws and rights. Treason, falsehood, and every
kind of evil then prevailed unchecked. What wonder, that as
formerly Moses in the wilderness was provoked against the stiff
necked people, so also David, whom the awful holiness of God had
already made to tremble, should feel his spirit stirred against
the ungodly who surrounded him, and should say, with Job,
"My bowels boiled within me." Frederick William
Krummacher, D.D., in "David, the King of Israel, "1867.
Verse 1. O my God. There are two pleas which
the psalmist makes use of; one was, that God was his God,
Ps 59:1; the other was the power and strength of
his enemies. It is a blessed thing to have the covenant
to fly to in all times of straits and troubles; there is always
an anchor hold of hope there. My God, is such a plea as
infinitely over balances all other things. He has engaged
himself to do his people good; and it is time for him to work
when the enemy exalts himself. The church's enemies are never so
near destruction as when they think they have nothing to do, but
take and divide the spoil. We may plead God's promise and the
enemies' power too; both are a ground of hope to a believer in
Jesus. John Hill (1711-1746), in "Sermons on Several
Occasions."
Verse 1. That rise up against me. He insists
upon the strength and violence of his enemies, with the view of
exciting his mind to greater fervour in the duty of prayer.
These he describes as rising up against him, in which
expression he alludes, not simple to the audacity or fierceness
of their assaults, but to the eminent superiority of power which
they possessed; and yet he asks that he may be lifted up on
high, as it were, above the reach of this over swelling
inundation. John Calvin.
Verse 3. (first clause). On the expression, they
lie in wait for my soul, compare 1Sa 19:11, "And Michal,
David's wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life soul
tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain; "and Ps 7:2,5. E.
W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 3. The mighty are gathered against me, is
rendered by Chandler, The mighty are turned aside to lay
snares against me.
Verse 3. The mighty are gathered against me. As
if he would say, "But I am weak, be thou, however, my
strength, and vindicate my innocence." Arnd.
Verses 3-4. He pleads his own innocency, not as to
God, but as to his persecutors. Note,
1. The innocency of the godly will not secure them from the
malignity of the wicked. Those that are harmless like doves, yet
for Christ's sake are hated of all men, as if they were noxious
like serpents, and obnoxious accordingly.
2. Though our innocency will not secure us from troubles, yet
it will greatly support and comfort us under our troubles. The
testimony of our conscience for us, that we have behaved
ourselves well toward those that have behaved themselves ill
towards us, will be very much our rejoicing in the day of evil.
If we are conscious to ourselves of our innocency, we may with
humble confidence appeal to God, and beg of him to plead our
injured cause which he will do in due time. Matthew Henry.
Verse 4. They run, as armed warriors rushing to
the assault (Ps 18:29). The Hebrew for "prepare themselves,
"(Heb.) means also "they establish themselves;
"they make firm their footing, like forces assaulting a
city. Job 30:14. A. R. Fausset.
Verse 4. They run and prepare. The zeal and
diligence of the wicked in the cause of unrighteousness might
well reprove the languor and tardiness of saints in the work of
faith and labour of love. In the church of God nothing is the
source of more mischief than the want of true zeal and
liveliness. It is only when "many run to and fro" that
"knowledge shall be increased." William S. Plumer.
Verse 4. Without fault. As it respected Saul,
he was a faithful subject and an obedient son-in-law. Benjamin
Boothroyd.
Verse 4. Awake to help me, literally, Awake
to meet me. In time of temptation the Lord seems to be
absent from us, and not to observe our distress—to be, as it
were, as Jesus, in the storm, is described as having been
"asleep in the hinder part of the ship." Mr 4:38. But
it is only an appearance; the Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps
(Ps 121:4); he is always ready to come to our help when we call
upon him. O. Prescott Hiller.
Verse 4. And behold. The expression is one
which savours at once of faith and of the infirmity of the
flesh. In speaking of God, as if his eyes had been hitherto shut
to the wrongs which he had suffered, and needed now for the
first time to be opened for the discovery of them, he expresses
himself according to the weakness of our human apprehension. On
the other hand, in calling upon God to behold his cause,
he shows his faith by virtually acknowledging that nothing was
hid from his providential cognisance. John Calvin.
Verse 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel.
In time of straits we should set our eyes most upon those styles
of God which most serve to strengthen our faith, especially such
as hold forth his power and goodwill to employ his power for us.
David Dickson.
Verse 5. Lord God of hosts. YAHVEH, Elohim,
Tsebaoth; as in Ps 80:4,19 84:8. Compare 2Sa 5:10 1Ki
19:10,14 Ps 89:8. From "The Psalms translated from the
Hebrew, with Notes chiefly exegetical." By William Kay, D.D.,
1871.
Verse 5. Lord God of hosts. Some have thought
this equivalent to God of battles; the true force of the
epithet, however, is, "Sovereign of the stars, material
hosts of heaven, and of the angels their inhabitants." A.
A. Hodge, in "Outlines of Theology, "1866.
Verse 5.
1. God of hosts, and therefore able;
2. God of Israel, and therefore willing. Andrew A.
Bonar.
Verse 6. At evening. The evening
expresses the time of calamity and want, and alludes to the wild
beasts which are wont in the evening to go forth in quest
of prey. Hermann Venema.
Verse 6. They make a noise like a dog. The
noise I heard then I shall never forget. To say that if all the
sheep dogs in going to Smithfield on a market day, had been kept
on the constant bark and pitted against the yelping curs upon
all the carts in London, they could have given any idea of the
canine uproar that now first astonished me, would be to make the
feeblest of images. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down
below me, at Tophane; over about Stamboul; far away at Scutari;
the whole sixty thousand dogs that are said to overrun
Constantinople, appeared engaged in the most active
extermination of each other, without a moment's cessation. The
yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling, were all
merged into one uniform and continuous even sound, as the noise
of frogs becomes, when heard at a distance. For hours there was
no lull. I went to sleep and woke again, and still, with my
windows open, I heard the same tumult going on; nor was it until
daybreak that anything like tranquillity was restored. Albert
Smith, in "A Month at Constantinople," 1850.
Verse 6. In bringing their secret plans to bear, they
are represented as hungry dogs, prowling about the city in the
darkness for prey; ranging, each one with his own object, but in
one common cause. To take in the full force of this metaphor it
must be remembered that in Eastern cities formerly, as at the
present day, it was the custom to cast out all the refuse of
food—bones, offal, etc.—into the streets, which was consumed
chiefly by dogs, great numbers of which were kept, as it would
seem, for that particular purpose. With this idea in mind, the
metaphor has great propriety in its application to Christ's
enemies.
"Every evening they return
They howl like dogs,
And surround the city."
—William Hill Tucker.
Verses 6-7. This is a continued metaphor, which must
be well observed, of a famished and rabid dog, unable to satisfy
either its hunger or thirst; and describes men, howling formerly
like dogs, pursuing, seizing all good things for themselves, and
devouring; but now destitute of all things, unable to quench
their cupidity, despised, miserable, and desperate wanderers.
Such did Saul and his messengers sent against David in Najoth
Rama show themselves to be, and give the prelude to their coming
misery. Hermann Venema.
Verses 6-7.
1. They are diligent about it, They return at evening.
2. Mad, and set to do it, They make a noise like a
dog, and threaten boldly.
3. Unwearied and obdurate in their purpose: They go round
about the city.
4. Impudent, and brag what they will do to me: Behold,
they belch out with their mouth.
5. And their words are bloody: Swords are in their lips.
Adam Clarke.
Verse 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth,
etc. Bark like dogs, so Aben Ezra; or, bubble out, as a
fountain bubbles out with water; so they cast out their
wickedness in great abundance (see Jer 6:7); the phrase denotes
the abundance of evil things and wicked speeches that come out
of their mouths, which showed the naughtiness of their hearts;
so David's enemies blustered and threatened what they would do
to him could they find him; and Christ's enemies poured out
their wicked charges of blasphemy and sedition against him in
great plenty, and without proof. John Gill.
Verse 8. God sees and smiles, he looks and laughs at
these giants; he sits in heaven far above their reach; neither
doth he much trouble himself about the matter; no more should
we, but trust in him, and know that there is a counsel in
heaven, that will dash the mould of all contrary counsels upon
the earth, as the stone cut out of the mountain did the four
great monarchies. Da 2:34. And therefore though the wicked, in
the pride of his heart, doth persecute the poor; though they
belch out with their mouth, and seek to double murder the
innocent, by detraction and by deadly practice, yet God both
hears and jeers at their madness, and will bring all their
purposes to nought with little ado; nay, the very cruelty of his
enemies will move God to make haste. The saints fare the better
for the insolence and outrages of their enemies, whose ruin is
thereby accelerated; and somewhat God will do the sooner for his
people, lest the enemy exalt himself. Ps 140:8. Abraham
Wright.
Verse 8. (last clause). In the close of the
verse, mention is made of all nations, to intimate, that
though they might equal the whole world in numbers, they would
prove a mere mockery with all their influence and resources. Or
the words may be read—EVEN AS thou hast all the nations in
derision. One thing is obvious, that David ridicules the
vain boasting of his enemies, who thought no undertaking too
great to be accomplished by their numbers. John Calvin.
Verses 8-9.
But thou, Lord, laugh at them;
You deride all the heathen.
His strength! Toward thee will I keep watch,
For God is my high fort. William Kay.
Verse 9. Because of his strength will I wait upon
thee. Those seem to come nearest the meaning of the
psalmist, who construe the words as one continuous sentence, I
will put in trust his strength with thee, meaning that
however intemperately Saul might boast of his strength, he would
rest satisfied in the assurance that there was a secret divine
providence restraining his actions. We must learn to view all
men as subordinated in this manner, and to conceive of their
strength and their enterprises as depending upon the sovereign
will of God. In my opinion, the following version is the best—His
strength is with thee, I will wait. The words are parallel
with those in the end of the Psalm, where there can be no doubt
that the nominative case is employed, My strength is with
thee, I will sing. John Calvin.
Verse 9. (first clause). His strength is
great, humanly viewed; but to the eye of faith what is it! LXX, to
kratoz moi (—uzzi); and so most ancient versions.
(The contrast is given in Ps 59:16-17.) William Kay.
Verse 9. Will I wait upon thee, literally, I
will keep watch to thee, alluding to the title, "When
Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill
him." David sets watching before God, against their watching
to kill him. A. R. Fausset.
Verse 9. How weak soever the believer finds himself,
and how powerful soever he perceives his enemy to be, it is all
one to him, he hath no more to do but to put faith on work, and
to wait till God works. Because of his (that is, the enemy's)
strength, I will wait upon thee, saith he to the Lord, for
God is my defence. David Dickson.
Verse 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me.
Oh, how the saints sing of the love of Christ! Oh, how they sing
that this love was not moved by worthiness, and it disdains all
hire and price, but loves us because he loves us! De 7:8. O sing
of his wonderful love, and of the prevention of this love
of Christ: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. How,
1. It prevents thy love to him. 1Jo 4:19. We love God,
because he first loved us.
2. It prevents our sins, as in Paul's case. Ac 4:3: And as
he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined
round about him a light from heaven.
3. It prevents our calamities. Ps 79:8; Let thy tender
mercies speedily prevent us. And,
4. It prevents our endeavours. The God of my mercy shall
prevent me. John Spalding, in "Synaxis Sacra,"
1703.
Verse 10. (first clause). The psalmist was sure
of mercy upon these grounds, he knew he was safe, because God
was his God, and the God of his mercy: The God of my mercy
shall prevent me. Some read it, hath prevented me;
others, doth prevent me; and others, as in my text, shall
prevent me. Each of these senses is exceedingly sweet and
full. Take it in the first sense, hath prevented me; and
it implies thus much, that the psalmist never was in any
difficulty, temptation, or fear, but God was beforehand with
him; having always the mercy ready which he stood in need of;
and had given it in due season, and that when he least expected
it, and it may be was least prepared for it. Take it in the
second sense, doth prevent, it argues the psalmist's
ground of confidence when all present appearances were gone; as
if he had said, "God is of one mind, his thoughts are
thoughts of peace, and not of evil; he may vary his providence,
but his heart is the same as ever; why should I fear, why should
I not hope and rejoice? for my God is a tried God, he is working
for me even now. He prevents my fears, and he will prevent my
falling." Take the words as they lie in my text, and it
comes to the same thing. "God sees all my enemies' designs,
and he is ready for them; my prayer is heard, and sure I am
deliverance will come, though I know not the time of it."
My design, under the Spirit's influence, is to look into my own
heart and yours, and show you what wonders of providence and
grace God, as the God of our mercy, has caused to pass
before us. In discoursing on these words, I shall enquire,
1. In what sense, or in what respects, God is the God
of our mercy.
2. How, as the God of our mercy, he doth prevent us.
3. Apply.
I am to enquire in what respects God is said to be the God
of his people's mercy, and it seems to include in it these
three things.
1. That all the mercy which is in God's nature, is for his
saints. It is a great word that (1Pe 5:10), the God of all
grace. God has in him all sorts of grace for his saints. He
hath pardoning, quickening, strengthening, comforting, and
preserving grace. His mercy is rich mercy, abundant mercy,
inexhaustible mercy, sure mercy. A man's riches are his glory;
God glories in his mercy; it is his delight, he rests in it; and
so may we, because there is an infinite inconceivable fulness of
it in him. "With thee is the fountain of life."
God distributes and parcels out this mercy, that we may conceive
of it the better; hence he is called by the apostle, The
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. 2Co 1:3. God
is not called the author of our mercies, but the Father
of them; to show how freely they come from him; they are his
bowels; he is pleased with them, as the father is with his own
child; dwell on the name, it is a sweet one, the Father of
mercies. In my text, David grasps all this mercy, lays hold
of it as his own mercy: The God of my mercy shall prevent me.
That is one sense.
2. It supposes, farther, that there is a portion of mercy
laid by, in the purpose of God, for every saint; a portion of
mercy which he may call his own. This some understand to
be Christ's meaning to Paul (2Co 12:9): My grace is
sufficient for thee; i.e., that grace which I have allotted
for thee thou wilt find sufficient. I knew what thou wouldst
need in my eternal counsels; I have made provision beforehand; I
have taken care thou shouldest have enough.
3. The words suppose, farther, that God has taken it upon him
as his charge, to keep this portion of his mercy for his people.
Whatever it be, soul, it is in trust for thee with him. Every
saint may apply to God, as the God of every mercy which he
needs. Condensed from John Hill's Sermon.
Verse 10. God shall let me see my desire upon mine
enemies. The words, my desire, are not in the
original, and would be better omitted. The sense is—God will
enable me to look down calmly upon my enemies. So Christ looked
upon his murderers. So Stephen was enabled to do when they
"gnashed upon him with their teeth." "All that
sat in the council looking steadfastly upon him saw his face as
it had been the face of an angel." Ac 6:15. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse 11. Slay them not, that they may be a
whetstone to others' faith—as the Spartans (mentioned in
Plutarch's Apothegms) refused to allow the destruction of a
neighbouring city which had often called forth their armies,
saying, "Destroy not the whetstone of our young men." Andrew
A. Bonar.
Verse 11. Slay them not:
"Live loathed and long
You smiling, smooth, detested parasites."
—W. Shakespeare.
Verse 11. The enemies must serve for monuments of the
divine righteousness, not less in the abiding wretchedness of
their race than by their own sudden destruction. Parallel to
this verse, and to Ps 59:6,14, is the curse which David utters
upon Joab, in 2Sa 3:29: "Let there not fail from the house
of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that
leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh
bread; "then the threatening of a man of God to Eli, in
1Sa 3:36, where, after announcing the violent death of the
evildoers themselves, corresponding to 1Sa 3:13 here, it is
said: "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is
left in thine house shall come and crouch to him (the new high
priest) for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall
say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests offices, that
I may eat a piece of bread." Christian expositors have all
along drawn attention to the fact, that the substance of our
verse, as that also of verses, 6, 14, has gone into fulfilment
on the Jews. "They have been scattered into all lands, and
must go and stand before the eyes of all Christians, as a living
witness that they have crucified the true Messiah and Saviour of
the world. So that if you see a Jew, think on this word."
(Arndt.) E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 11. Slay them not; namely, suddenly. Scatter
them. It should seem that he hath a relation to Cain's
punishment, whom God would not have killed, but would have him
to be a wanderer all the days of his life for a spectacle, and
an example of his judgments. Ge 4:12. Others translate it, shake
them namely, their degree of honour and glory. John
Diodati, 1576-1649.
Verse 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words
of their lips, etc. Albeit the persecutors do not accomplish
their purpose against the righteous; yet their pride, their
brags, their lies, their slanders, their curses against the
godly, are a sufficient ditty for damnation and wrath to come
upon them. David Dickson.
Verse 12. The words of their lips. The phrase, word
of the lips, is often used for empty loquacity and boasting;
the opposite of a word that is solid and founded on fact, as in
2Ki 18:20. "Thou speakest, but it is only a word of the
lips." Pr 14:23. "In all labour there is profit:
but the word of the lips tendeth only to penury." Hermann
Venema.
Verse 13. Consume them, emphatically, consume
them in wrath, that they may not be; which at first sight
seems contrary to his first desire, Slay them not; but it
is not so, for he speaks not of their life, as if he would have
them so consumed, that they should not remain alive; but he
desires only a consumption of their power, royalty, command,
etc. And so these words are a farther explication of his second
desire, Bring them down. He would have them so brought
down and consumed in their strength, dignity, command, wealth,
riches, that made them proud, that they never be able any more
to oppose God, hurt his people, trample upon religion and his
church; he would have them live. William Nicholson.
Verse 13. Consume them. I hear of sad doings in
Poland, of villages burnt down, of peaceable men deported to
Siberia by hundreds, of woman flogged; and when I look away to
that Warsaw market place where a woman, nearly naked, is being
publicly beaten, and when I see cruel Mouravieff smile as the
blood jets forth from the scourged shoulders, I will not deny
that I feel very much tempted to say, "Happy man, whose
bullet in fair flight should empty that saddle!" Am I
bloodthirsty in this? Am I vindictive? Do you condemn me for
this feeling? R. A. Bertram.
Verse 13. That they may not be. By the word
wmgyaw, that they may not be, may be understood either a
vile and wretched state in general, or even total destruction.
The former must indeed here be admitted, as is plain from
the context, yet not to the exclusion of the latter
sense; since a miserable condition, such as in a disease, issues
in destruction at length. Not to be is evidently by no
means rarely taken for to be nobody, to be wretched,
afflicted, despised. Compare Jer 31:15. Hermann Venema.
Verse 13. Selah. Though God be in all his words
Yea and Amen, yet in setting this seal of Selah
to this doctrine, he hath testified his will that he would have
all these things the better understood and the deeper imprinted;
that if the wicked go on to persecute the godly, Selah,
assuredly God will have them in derision; Selah,
assuredly God shall shiver their bones, shake their best
actions, and discover their impurity; Selah, assuredly
God's hand shall be heavy upon them, and they shall not discern
it to be his hand till they are consumed. Selah,
assuredly, verily, amen, this is a faithful, an infallible
truth; as the Lord liveth it shall be so. Abraham Wright.
Verse 14. Dog. Is it the influence of
Christianity extending its law of kindness to the lower animals,
or something in the nature of northern dogs and northern men
which makes dogs among us Anglo Saxons, and all the associations
connected with them, so entirely different from what they are in
the East? Imagine the effigy of an Oriental saint reposing with
its feet on a dog, like that of William the Silent, the heroic
Prince of Orange, on the faithful spaniel which rescued his life
in the night attack of the Spanish troops, and like so many a
sculptured knight of medieval times! The very presence of such
an image would, in Oriental eyes, be the greatest desecration an
enemy could inflict on a sacred edifice. And in the Bible how
exceedingly contemptuous, and how inapplicable to English dogs,
are the terms employed in describing canine habits. "They
grin like a dog, and go about the city, and grudge if they be
not satisfied; " "Without are dogs." What
possible resemblance is there between such a description and the
grave dignity of a Newfoundland; the sagacious, acute expression
of a terrier; the wistful, almost human eyes of our house
spaniels? But here at Tyre, as in most Eastern towns, the
familiar words came to us with all their true and forcible
meaning. The wolfish, hungry, masterless dogs which "go
about the cities (of Alexandria, for instance), gathering in
packs like jackals, prowling about for offal, and grudging if
they be not satisfied; "or the famished outcasts, like our
dogs at Tyre, prowling "outside" the city. To these we
may apply the highly unfavourable definitions of Scripture,
which every Englishman and Englishwoman must indignantly
disclaim on behalf of the loyal, faithful, patient creatures who
watch beside our homes like sentinels, and guard our flocks like
shepherds, and welcome us with ecstatic joy when we come home
again, and sometimes will even die rather than desert a master's
grave. From "Wanderings over Bible Lands and Seas,"
1862.
Verse 14. Those that repent of their sins when they
are in trouble, mourn like doves; those whose hearts are
hardened when they are in trouble, make a noise like dogs.
Matthew Henry.
Verse 16. Let them wander up and down, etc. A
beggarly and indigent, and so an unsatisfied and wearisome
condition, shall be their lot; the greatest worldly plague that
can fall on any—large appetites and no possessions or acquires
to satisfy them. Henry Hammond.
Verse 16. And grudge if they be not satisfied.
A contented man, if he has not what he would have, yet doth not
grudge, doth not quarrel with providence, nor fret within
himself; but those whose God is their belly, if that be not
filled and its appetites gratified, fall out both with God and
themselves. It is not poverty, but discontent that makes a man
unhappy. Matthew Henry.
Verse 16. The hunger of a dog is deservedly their
plague, of whom a resemblance of that unclean animal's
disposition hath been the sin. Reader, be it thy care to avoid
such sins, and cultivate a spirit of lively devotion; that,
instead of receiving thy portion where there is weeping,
wailing, and gnashing of teeth, thou mayest sing to the God of
thy mercy for ever. Benjamin Boothroyd.
Verse 16. We must not pass by the contrast with the
wretched condition of the wicked, which is indicated by the
pronoun hmh, they, in Ps 59:15, an ygaw, but I,
which are in exact antithesis; also the "evening, "mentioned
above, and the "morning, "now occurring for the
times of trouble and happiness, and the dog like noise of
the wicked, and the singing with joyful sound of David,
to pass by other particulars, likewise give to the diverse
states additional difference. Hermann Venema.
Verse 16. Cantabo and exaltabo, I will sing,
and I will sing aloud. Here is singing only of
God's power; but there is singing aloud of his mercy;
as if his mercy were more exaltable than his power, and that
reached the very heavens; this unto the clouds. Ps
26:5. From Humphrey Sydenham's Sermon, entitled, "The
Well toned Cymball," 1637.
Verse 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing.
Formerly he had said that the strength of his enemy was with
God, and now he asserts the same thing of his own. The
expression, however, which admits of two meanings, he elegantly
applies to himself in a different sense. God has the strength of
the wicked in his hands, to curb and to restrain it, and to show
that any power of which they boast is vain and fallacious. His
own people, on the other hand, he supports and secures against
the possibility of falling, by supplies of strength from
himself. John Calvin.
Verse 17. Unto thee, O my strength. In
opposition to the enemy's strength, Ps 59:9. Thy
power, or strength—the Hebrew word is the same (Ps
59:16)—is my strength. There is an elegant play on
similar sounds in the Hebrew for I will wait upon thee,
hrmva (Ps 59:9), and "I will sing, "hrmza A. R.
Faussett.
Verse 17. (first clause). As on account of Saul's
strength my watching was directed to thee; so now, no
account of thy strength vouchsafed to me, my singing
of praises also shall be directed to thee alone. Martin Geier.
Verse 17. Strength—Mercy. He joins these two
attributes, "strength" and "mercy",
very well; for take away strength from him, and he
cannot; remove mercy, and he will not, protect; both must go
together in any one that will defend; power, that he can,
mercy, that he will; otherwise it is but in vain to hope
for help from him David found God to be both, and for both he
extols him. William Nicholson.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. (first clause). Deliver me from
temptation, uphold me in temptation, cleanse me from the result
of temptation. The world, the flesh, the devil, and chiefly sin,
these are our enemies. We cannot escape them of ourselves, but
the Lord by providence and grace can rescue us.
Verse 2. (first clause). From being tempted by
their promises, cowed by their threats, corrupted by their
teaching, influenced by their example, injured by their slander,
hindered in usefulness by their opposition.
Verse 3. (first clause). The subtleties of
Satan. Watches for places, times, states, and ways in which to
assail us. Errors in doctrine, practice, spirit, set forth to
entrap us. "Ye are not ignorant of his devices." Or,
the diabolical ambush, discovered by watchfulness, and defeated
by faith.
Verse 4. The activity of the evil a rebuke for the
good.
1. Their activity, run.
2. Unanimity—they run.
3. Their care—prepare themselves.
4. Their readiness—without my fault.
Verse 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel.
This title furnishes an admirable topic.
Verse 9. The greatness of difficulty a reason for
prayer and faith.
Verse 10. (first clause). The divine
forwardness to bless.
Verse 11. The continuance of our enemies a salutary
ordinance of God for the prevention of an evil to which we are
very liable.
Verse 13 (last clause). God as the God of the
church, his government as such, known in all human history.
Verse 16. The heavenly chorister.
1. His song is sweet in contrast with the revilings of
others—but I.
2. It treats of subjects which terrify others—thy
power.
3. It grows louder on tender themes—thy mercy.
4. It has its choice seasons—in the morning.
5. It is tuned by experience—for thou hast.
6. It is all to God's glory—thy power, thy mercy, thou
hast.
Verse 17.
1. A doctrine—God is his people's strength.
2. An appropriation—"my strength."
3. A resolution. The song of gratitude for the past,
faith for the present, hope for the future, of bliss for
eternity.
WORKS UPON THE FIFTY-NINTH PSALM
In CHANDLER'S "Life of David,"
Vol. 1., pp. 85-89, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.