Historical Background
The historical information at the head of the Psalm states: “When Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him”. The narrative is found in 1 Samuel 19:11-17 where Michal, David’s wife, was instrumental in effecting David’s escape by letting him down through a window. Many writers find it difficult to equate this event with the context of Psalm 59, firstly, because they feel that the emphasis of the Psalm does not lend itself to this one event; and secondly, because of the references to the heathen (v.5,8,13) which they feel demands a much later date for the Psalm. On both counts, we feel that they show a lack of perception and a rigidity of mind that a little intelligent imagination would have helped to dispel.
In the first instance, we believe it to be important to realise that the historical information tells us the time in David’s life when the Psalm was composed. It may not be the only or primary subject with which the Psalm deals. Events, for instance, can be significant not just for themselves, but because they mark turning points in the writer’s life, or the end of a particular train of circumstances. Hence the thoughts of the writer would dwell, not on the one incident, but on the whole range of circumstances that culminated in the event highlighted. We feel this to be the case in this instance; and for this reason we give the brief outline of David’s experiences in the court of Saul.
There are two aspects of David’s life in the royal household. First, there was his occupation as a musician who soothed Saul with cunning playing on the harp; secondly, there was his position as a warrior, first armourbearer to the King, then as a captain in his own right. Three times in 1 Samuel 18 it is emphasised that David behaved himself wisely (v.5,15,30); in contrast, we are told three times that Saul was afraid of David (v.12.15,29).
No doubt by this time Saul knew that David had been anointed by Samuel to be King in his stead. Certainly Jonathan knew, and was prepared to accept the fact that he would never be king (1 Sam.18:1-3). Saul remonstrated with Jonathan because of his friendship with David, and told him bluntly that he would never be king while David lived (1 Sam.20:30-33). When the women sang, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam.18:6,7), the King was smitten with jealousy and was moved to exclaim, “What can he have more but the kingdom? and Saul eyed David from that day and forward” (1 Sam.18:8,9). Although in his rage, with his heart blinded by jealousy, Saul cast his javelin at David, it seems evident that, because of David’s popularity, Saul could not openly command that he be put to death. David conducted himself wisely; he gave no cause for Saul to take action against him; and perceiving that the Lord was with him, Saul was afraid of David. He was torn within, for his jealousy and envy drove him to try to kill David; yet his fear of God and of the people restrained him.
It has to be remembered, however, that there were many in that court who owed their positions to the patronage of Saul.They knew that if David became King, there would be no place for them amongst his councilors and servants (see 1 Sam.22:7). Their ends were served, therefore, by encouraging Saul to destroy David. No doubt they fed his jealousy with slanderous reports, and also by a whispering campaign sought to destroy David’s popularity with the people.
It was thus that David’s situation became more precarious. Unable to take direct action, Saul tried to destroy him by the hand of the Philistines through the expedience of offering his daughters in marriage. Perhaps also he thought that within his own family he might find some occasion against David. Acting prudently, David extricated himself from the offer of marriage to Saul’s eldest daughter Merab, but when Saul perceived that there was a genuine love between David and Michal, he instructed his servants to prepare secretly the ground for the marriage to take place; and although, as a dowry, Saul requested a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, by his valour David provided two hundred, and Saul became David’s enemy continually (1 Sam.18:12-20).
So the situation gradually changed, until Saul felt that he need no longer restrain himself. So he commanded Jonathan and his servants to kill David (1 Sam. 19:1). No doubt Jonathan was instrumental in protecting David for a while; but his position was becoming untenable. A climax was reached when Saul sent his servants to watch David’s house through the night and to kill him in the morning. Michal enabled David to escape, but it was the end of his sojourn in Saul’s court. From henceforth he would be a fugitive.
Saul’s pre-occupation with destroying David could not have been to the advantage of Israel, and it is likely that surrounding nations probing Israel’s defences would become aware of inherent weakness and begin to flex their military muscle. The flight of David would have encouraged them further, and perhaps they imagined that the time was ripe to spoil Israel, and in particular, to dispose of David himself, who, they were well aware, was a greater danger to them than Saul (see 1 Sam.21:11). All these factors, though not specifically recorded in the historical books, would have weighed on David’s mind at the time of the composition of the Psalms.
Structure
The Psalm seems to fall into easily-defined sections. We note first that there are two main parts, each ending with a similar refrain: “Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence” (v.9). The closing verse of the Psalm (v.17) reiterates these thoughts in similar language, easily identifiable, although having certain variations. These two major sections are both subdivided into two. Verses 1 to 5 end with a “selah”. Verse 6 begins “They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog”. Similarly verses 7 to 13 end with a “selah” and verse 14 begins, “And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog”. Thus we have:
Verses 1 – 5: David’s prayer for deliverance from those who sought his life.
Verses 6 – 9: His confidence in God and the bewilderment of his foes.
Verses 10 -13: God’s judgment on his enemies.
Verses 14 -17: Re-iteration of his faith, and frustration of his adversaries.
David’s prayer for deliverance (v.1-5)
“Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me” (v.1).
The Hebrew word rendered “defend” means ‘to exalt’. It is the verb from which is derived the epithet “high tower”, beloved of David as a description of the manner in which God protected him. Indeed, this idea of the high tower where his enemies could not reach him is a feature of the Psalm, for the actual word in used and translated “defence” in verses 9,16,17. Literally it means ‘a cliff’ or any ‘inaccessible place’ (Strongs). His confidence sprang out of his relationship with God, who was to him as a place of safety. In Him he was secure from all the machinations of his enemies; and the use of the figure in this Psalm is an indication of how soon David, a lone fugitive, had to seek refuge in such places.
“Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men” (v.2 NAV).
It is clear from David’s language that those who sought his life were not misguided men motivated by a false sense of loyalty to Saul, but, as we shall see, they were wicked men who knew precisely what they were doing. Their overwhelming concern was self-interest, and they would not hesitate to kill to achieve their ends. In the hands of such men, Saul, for all his jealousy and fear of David, was no more than a pawn to be used for their purpose. So, as the superscription to the Psalm indicates, they laid in wait and gathered against him. They had plotted secretly; now they moved against him openly.
Their hostility against him, however, was unprovoked. Always he had behaved himself with discretion. There was no transgression, sin or fault to be found in David as far as his behaviour towards them was concerned. He was innocent (v.3,4). So David pleads with God to awake out of His apparent slumber, “for they run and prepare themselves”. Both the words rendered “rise” and “prepare” have military associations. It is appropriate therefore that David should ask God “to meet him” (AVm), for this word also has military associations in its usage, e.g. “to meet as with an army” (Cambridge Bible).
These men were no better than the nations around. They had no thought for God or His purpose. They would have killed His anointed with no more compunction than an uncircumcised Philistine. So David’s thoughts revolve around all the enemies of God and His people; and having thought of God coming to his aid as with an army of the angelic messengers encamped around him, so now David declares:
“Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen; be not merciful to any wicked transgressors” (v.5).
We know that Doeg, an Edomite, was prominent among Saul’s servants; and, further to the comments in our consideration of the historical background, we wonder whether in Saul’s entourage there were others of foreign extraction who were prominent in seeking to destroy David. The Psalm would then be supplementing the information contained in the historical books and would give further grounds for David to extend his thoughts to “all the nations”. Perhaps, as in the case of Doeg and the priests of Nob, Saul may have had to rely to some extent upon foreign mercenaries to watch David and to carry out his bidding to kill him. In any event, conscious of the danger to Israel from the surrounding nations, and knowing they were watching and waiting as his enemies had done, David could not dissociate his own peril from individuals, from the determination of all worldly-motivated peoples to destroy Israel and frustrate the purpose of God.
David’s confidence & bewilderment of his adversaries (v.6-9)
After the pause (Selah) for meditation and reflection, David’s thoughts return to those who watched his house. David likens those who sought his life to the savage, half-wild dogs that roamed the city:
“They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: For who, say they, doth hear?” (v.6,7).
Ceaseless in their hatred, they not only watched through the day, but returned to continue their laying in wait throughout the night. Like the dog howling, hungry for food, so they greedily waited to swallow him up. From their mouths came forth a flood of evil words (“belch”, AV – the word means ‘to utter’, but not just in the sense of ordinary speech, but words that ‘gush forth’ – Strongs). The words were like swords, cutting and piercing, designed to destroy. There were no misgivings on their part; they scorned even the God of Israel to whom David cried, “For who”, they said, “doth hear?”They stand, however, indicted not only for their wickedness, but also for their foolishness and stupidity:
“But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision” (v.8).
Nothing could frustrate God who, sitting in the heavens, exercised His sovereignty over all the earth. This, of course, is the ultimate folly of the nations who comprise the kingdom of men; and it is interesting to reflect that these thoughts which through the Spirit filled the mind of David as a young man, were to be expressed again in a wider context about forty years later, when he would write Psalm 2 (v.1-4) in connection with the accession of Solomon to the throne. In this confidence David can exclaim:
“O my strength, unto thee will I watch. For God is my high tower” (v.9 Cambridge Bible).
Like Habakkuk (2:1), David had climbed the high tower of faith, from whence, safe from all the assaults of his foes, he could reflect on the fact that they could do nothing except it were permitted by the God who ruled in the kingdom of men and in whom he had put his trust.
God’s judgments (v.10-13)
“My merciful God shall come to see me, God shall let me see my desire on mine enemies” (v.10 NAV).
Here is a request that God would answer the prayer of verse 4 and see him victorious over his enemies. His desire, however, is interesting, for he asks not, initially, for their destruction, but for the confounding of their purpose, that they, in their shame, might come to realise their folly, and that others, beholding the calamity that has come upon them, might appreciate the folly of their way and be deterred from following in their steps.
“Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O LORD our shield. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak” (v.11,12).
The presence of the angelic host who watched over him seems to have been very much in David’s thoughts in the composition of this Psalm. We have seen the idea of ‘to meet as with an army’ and the emphasis on the Lord God of hosts in earlier verses. Here the word rendered “power” is interesting, for it also means ‘an army’ (Strongs). It has been variously translated elsewhere as “a band of men”, “a company of men” and, indeed, “an army”.
The sentiments expressed in these verses shows the differing methods God uses in dealing with men. Stubborn rebellion can bring sudden and swift destruction. Sometimes, however, God will bring men to appreciate His power and the utter futility of resisting His will. This principle is seen in the Gospels, when the Lord Jesus told the people of his day,
“And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt.8:11,12).
Of course, although God may seek to bring man to a recognition of his folly and an acknowledgement of His sovereignty, his ultimate fate remains unchanged.
“Consume them in thy wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah” (v.13).
We have written often of David’s God-consciousness. This Psalm emphasises a particular aspect of it, his awareness of God’s sovereignty and dominion over all the earth and the comfort this gave him. Nothing could happen unless God willed it so; everything was under His control. He was not only King in Israel, but also “the governor among the nations” (Ps.22:28). David’s awareness of this truth from an early age is seen in his words to Goliath:
“This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand … that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Sam.17:46).
David’s faith that God would frustrate his enemies (v.14-17)
The section opens with a repetition of the figure of verse 6, but with a significant difference. The same words are used, but with a different emphasis: “And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round the city. Let them wander up and down for meat and howl (NAV) if they be not satisfied” (v.14,15).
Whereas in verse 6 David had likened his enemies to wild dogs, hungry, gathering to lie in wait for their prey, now he describes them as dogs who cry to be satisfied of their hunger, wandering aimlessly in their search.It is the language of irony used to describe these malicious men who had been frustrated in their purpose. So in contrast David describes his own untroubled trust in God:
“But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy” (v.16,17).
Clearly David is looking back and reflecting on his experience, “for thou hast been my defence”. Here is a repetition of the thoughts and language used in earlier verses; but the dominant word is “sing”. It is a reminder to us of the happiness that, in the midst of all life’s troubles, should characterize the lives of those who have experienced the goodness of God. The heart overflows in praise to God; for though weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning.
“Upon Shushan-eduth”
The Psalm has a subscription (following Thirtle). Recent articles in “Bible Student” (‘The Titles of the Psalms’, Bro. & Sis. Ritmeyer) have suggested an alternate view to Thirtle’s suggestion. We have, however, followed him generally in this series, and therefore feel it appropriate to give some evidence that would support Thirtle’s view. The word “Shushan” means ‘Lily’ and the word
“Eduth” ‘testimony’. Lilies were associated with the spring when Passover was celebrated, and the word “Eduth” was connected with the law. These two ideas are brought together and illustrated by a passage from ‘The Temple – Its Ministry and Services’ by Edersheim:
The feast of unleavened bread may be said not to have quite passed until fifty days after its commencement, when it merged in that of Pentecost or ‘of weeks’. According to unanimous Jewish tradition, which was universally received at the time of Christ, the day of Pentecost was the anniversary of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai, which the feast of weeks was intended to commemorate. Thus as the dedication of the harvest – commencing with the presentation of the first omer on the Passover – was completed in the thank offering of the two wave loaves at Pentecost, so the memorial of Israel’s deliverance appropriately terminated in that of the giving of the law” (p.260).
Thirtle believed that the subscriptions were the work of Hezekiah who appended them to indicate the associations of the Psalms and when they could most appropriately be used in worship.
What is interesting is the fact that there is clear evidence that Hezekiah and Isaiah had this particular Psalm in mind at the time of Sennacheribis invasion and saw in his overthrow the fulfilment of the sentiments expressed by David. Thus we note the following words from Isaiah 37; the allusions to the Psalm are self-evident (all are from the N.A.V.):
“Then Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying, ‘O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, the one who dwells between the Cherubim. You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth” (v.15,16).
“Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, you alone” (v.20).
“This is the word which the LORD hath spoken … The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised you, laughed you to scorn” (v.22).
“Then the angel of the LORD went out … and when the people arose early in the morning, there were corpses – all dead” (v.36).
If, as has been suggested, the destruction of the Assyrian host was a “passover deliverance”, the appropriateness of the language of the Psalm would account for its selection to celebrate Shushan – Eduth and to be particularly associated by the Temple worshippers with that time of the year.
The Solution