It's Time to Change Your Tune
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Psalm 59:1-17 English Standard Version
Psalm 59:superscription
1. To the choirmaster:
2. according to Do Not Destroy.
3. A Miktam of David,
a. It is the fourth of five consecutive psalms (Pss. 56–60) categorized as miktam,4 and it shares with Psalms 57–58 the identical tune title ʾal tašḥet (“Do Not Destroy”).[1]
b. Judging from the titles of Psalms 56–60, we see literary threads that connect these psalms as a group (see table 1 in the unit on Ps. 56). Psalms 58 (58:3–5) and 59 (59:3–4, 6–7, 14–15) deal with the wicked who use the power of speech to destroy the objects of their malicious motivations.[2]
4. when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
a. Like Psalms 56–57 and 60, Psalm 59 also includes a historical note linking the psalm to an event in David’s life (this one recorded in 1 Sam. 19:11).[3]
i. 1 Samuel 19:11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”
1. The story is told in 1 Samuel 19, and is the earliest of all the incidents referred to by such psalm headings (except possibly that which lies behind Psalm 7). [4]
b. The word parallels between the psalm and 1 Sam 19:11 and 24 are of some interest (see Stuhlmueller, I, 275):
Watch:
in the title in a hostile sense; in a positive sense in v 10 of the psalm.
Morning:
in Ps 59:17 and in 1 Sam 19:11–12; Saul sent messengers to kill David in the morning.
Innocence:
in Ps 59:4–5 and 1 Sam 19:4; 24:10–12.
Seeing:
in sense of “seeing” in order to act in victory: Ps 59:5, 11 and 1 Sam 19:15; Saul sent messengers “to see David,” saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed”; also 1 Sam 24:11.
Dogs:
Ps 59:7–8, 15–16 and 1 Sam 24:14; also see 2 Sam 9:8 and 16:9, related to enemies of David.
Ambush:
Ps 59:4 and 1 Sam 24:11 (though a different verb is used).
Blood:
Ps 59:3 and 1 Sam 19:5; note 2 Sam 16:7–8.[5]
STANZA ONE (Psalm 59:1-5)
Psalm 59:1-2
1. (v.1) Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;
2. (v.2) deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.
a. The second colon suggests that as the attackers are lifting themselves on high, the suppliant asks to be lifted up higher; the root śāgabwill be taken up in the noun miśgābin vv. 9 and 17.[6]
b. Protect - More literally “Set me up high (from those rising against me).” The imperfect form following an imperative is a stylistic variation; see Dahood, I, 65–66. The word appears in noun form in vv 10, 17, 18.[7]
c. The word protect (1), like the kindred word ‘fortress’ (9, 16, 17), contains the thought of what is set high up, out of reach: hence neb’s phrase ‘be my tower of strength’. By contrast, David’s house was no protection, but a death-trap, as he realized (1 Sam. 19:12). Cf., as an extension of this comparison of refuges, Proverbs 18:10, 11 (mg.).[8]
d. The verb “protect” is from the same root as “fortress” in verses 9, 16, and 17, and implies elevation beyond reach, so that “rise up” belongs to the same picture language.[9]
Psalm 59:3a
1. For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
2. fierce men stir up strife against me.
Psalm 59:3b-4
1. (v.3) For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
2. (v.4) for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
a. One possible link between Psalm 59 and the tales of the Saul-David conflict might be the desperate protest of innocence (vv. 4c–5a), which echoes Jonathan’s plea on behalf of his dearest friend after he learned of his father’s intention to kill David: “He has not sinned against thee” (1 Sam 19:4).[10]
i. 1 Samuel 19:4 And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you.
3. Awake, come to meet me, and see!
a. The imperative translated “rouse yourself” literally means “wake up.” It is parallel to the verb “arise” in 59:4b.[11]
Psalm 59:5
1. You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
a. He calls God by his battle name (Lord God Almighty) and asks God to punish the nations and traitors.[12]
2. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
a. The verbs “rouse” and “get up/awake” express the idea of coming from sleep or other forms of inactivity into action.[13]
3. spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.
4. Selah
REFRAIN ONE (Psalm 59:6-10)
Psalm 59:6
1. Each evening they come back,
2. howling like dogs and prowling about the city.
Psalm 59:7
1. There they are, bellowing with their mouths with swords in their lips—
a. As in 55:21 and 57:4, the enemy’s verbal attacks are likened to vicious thrusts with a sword. [14]
2. for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
a. Their practical atheism (cf. Pss 14 and 53) makes them imagine they have no listener.[15]
Psalm 59:8
1. But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
2. you hold all the nations in derision.
a. Derision - to mock v. — to treat with contempt, for example, verbally.
b. Psalm 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
Psalm 59:9
1. O my Strength, I will watch for you,
a. Psalm 59:title when Saul sent men to watchhis house in order to kill him.
2. for you, O God, are my fortress.
Psalm 59:10
1. My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
2. God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
a. Psalm 54:7 For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
STANZA TWO (Psalm 59:11-13)
Psalm 59:11
1. Kill them not, lest my people forget;
1. The section begins with the eyebrow-raising plea for the attackers to be treated a little like the Canaanites, not annihilated but kept alive for the spiritual benefit of Israel (cf. Judg. 2:20–23; also Exod. 9:16). In asking for a relatively positive alternative to slaughter, the parallel colon uses a vivid verb (nûaʿ) that suggests people stumbling about because they are drunk or blind (Lam. 4:14) or perhaps wandering about because they have no home (Lam. 4:15).[16]
2. make them totter by your power and bring them down,
1. The suppliant restates the fate desired for the attackers. If they are not to be slain, their being put down (yārad hiphil) might have to have a different meaning from that in 55:23 [24], perhaps suggesting their removal from a position of power so that they can no longer be a threat (cf. 56:7 [8]).[17]
3. O Lord, our shield!
Psalm 59:12
1. For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,
a. V 1[2] seems to carry the idea of the act-consequence, a self-producing concept of retribution with the petition that the enemies be taken captive (caught or trapped) by their own arrogant pride (see Commenton 57:[6]).[18]
i. Psalm 57:6 They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
Psalm 59:13
1. consume them in wrath;
2. consume them till they are no more,
a. The New Testament speaks of the enemies of the gospel as dogs, who are ‘mutilators of the flesh’ (Phil. 3:2). According to Revelation, the opponents of the righteous are ‘the dogs, those who practise magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practises falsehood’ (22:15).[19]
i. Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
3. that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth.
a. 1 Samuel 17:46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
4. Selah (concludes the stanza c.f. v.5)
a. The Selah correctly distinguishes the main strophes from their musical and thematic concatenations (vv. [5]c and [13]c).[20]
REFRAIN TWO (Psalm 59:14-17)
Psalm 59:14-15
1. (v.14) Each evening they come back,
2. howling like dogs and prowling about the city.
a. Psalm 59:6 Each evening they come back,
b. howling like dogs and prowling about the city.
3. (v.15) They wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill.
a. Psalm 59:7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths with swords in their lips— for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
i. The colon then suggests either that the “dogs” have to spend the night scavenging (cf. Tg), or—if the negative carries its force into the second clause—that because they do not have food they cannot settle down for the night (cf. Syr). [21]
ii. In this case, the dangerous dogs of v 8 only whine for food in v 16. [22]
Psalm 59:16
1. But I will sing of your strength;
a. Psalm 59:8 But you, O Lord, laugh at them; you hold all the nations in derision.
2. I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
a. Metaphorically, the morning was the time when night and watching and waiting were over and a new day was at hand.[23]
b. (For the morning as a time of divine help and deliverance, see Pss 5:4; 30:6; 46:6; 49:15; 90:14; 92:3; 130:6; 143:8; Isa 33:2; etc.)[24]
3. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.
Psalm 59:17
1. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
2. for you, O God, are my fortress,
a. Psalm 59:9 O my Strength, I will watch for you, for you, O God, are my fortress.
b. Watching has turned to praise.
i. The “watching” for God in v 10 is fulfilled in the singing of praise in v 18 (note the change of verbs).[25]
ii. The final line repeats vv. 9–10a, with variations, like those of vv. 14–15 in relation to vv. 6–7. “I will make music” is an especially subtle change from “I will watch,” involving only one consonant (zāmar for šāmar in v. 10)[26]
3. the God who shows me steadfast love.
a. Psalm 59:10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
b. Verses 16–17 parallel vv. 8–10, though they constitute not merely a statement of confidence but also a commitment to give testimony to Yhwh’s protection when the crisis is over.[27]
One greater than David arose who was more innocent than David could ever claim to be, for whom enemies prowled about seeking his life. David’s enemies gathered together against the Lord and him, the Lord’s anointed, just as they would gather against Yahweh and Jesus, the anointed of the Lord. And as Pss 2:4; 37:13, and 59:8 (MT 59:9) assert, the Lord laughs and mocks at those with the audacity to seek to kill the one who has life in himself (cf. John 5:26).[28]
4 On these three terms, see the headings of Pss. 3; 4; 16.
[1] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 849.
[2] C. Hassell Bullock, Psalms 1–72, ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton, vol. 1, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 448.
[3] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 849.
[4] Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God, ed. J. A. Motyer, vol. 1, The Bible Speaks Today (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2001), 211–212.
[5] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 95.
[6] John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 214.
[7] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998).
neb The New English Bible, 1970.
mg. margin.
[8] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 229.
[9] Geoffrey W. Grogan, Psalms, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 115.
[10] Samuel Terrien, The Psalms: Strophic Structure and Theological Commentary, The Eerdmans Critical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003), 444.
[11] C. Hassell Bullock, Psalms 1–72, ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton, vol. 1, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 450.
[12] Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 238.
[13] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 97.
[14] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 851.
[15] Geoffrey W. Grogan, Psalms, The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 115.
[16] John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 219.
[17] John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 219.
[18] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 98.
[19] Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 239.
[20] Samuel Terrien, The Psalms: Strophic Structure and Theological Commentary, The Eerdmans Critical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003), 444.
Tg The Targum to the Psalms, as printed in Miqrāʾôt Gĕdôlôt, vol. 10 (repr., New York: Pardes, 1951)
Syr Syriac translation of the Psalms, as printed in The Old Testament in Syriac according to the Peshiṭta Version, part 2.3 (Leiden: Brill, 1980)
[21] John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 221.
[22] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 98.
[23] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 98.
[24] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 98.
[25] Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 98.
[26] John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 223.
[27] John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 213.
MT Masoretic Text
[28] James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, ed. T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger, vol. 1, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 552.