Today's Featured Psalm
Psalm 59

Read this Psalm

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
   protect me from those who rise up against me;
2 deliver me from those who work evil,
   and save me from bloodthirsty men.

3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
   fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
   4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
   5 You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
   spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

6 Each evening they come back,
   howling like dogs
   and prowling about the city.
7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths
   with swords in their lips—
   for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

8 But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
   you hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my Strength, I will watch for you,
   for you, O God, are my fortress.
10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
   God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

11 Kill them not, lest my people forget;
   make them totter by your power and bring them down,
   O Lord, our shield!
12 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,
   13 consume them in wrath;
   consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
   to the ends of the earth. Selah

14 Each evening they come back,
   howling like dogs
   and prowling about the city.
15 They wander about for food
   and growl if they do not get their fill.

16 But I will sing of your strength;
   I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
   and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
   for you, O God, are my fortress,
   the God who shows me steadfast love.

Scripture taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm Devotional
Rejoice in the Lord Always

The scene of this psalm is set in First Samuel 19:11 and following, when King Saul sent men to stake out David’s house at night and kill him. David escaped through a window under cover of darkness, which accounts for the description of his enemies as nighttime prowlers (Ps. 59:6, 14).

However, this scene of intrigue and escape only prompts David to think in broader terms of the sins of the nations and God’s just judgment on all workers of evil (vv. 5, 8). The contest between Saul and David is seen as a small part of a larger conflict with universal implications.

We can trace the origin of this conflict back to Genesis 3:15, when God put enmity between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This key passage, which serves as a sort of table of contents for redemptive history, envisions the struggle of Satan and his minions against Christ and His church. From this perspective, we can understand why David’s struggles against various enemies are so well documented in Scripture: David represents the seed of the woman in the line of Christ’s descent. Satan desires to destroy that line, but God preserves it so that Christ will come as promised. The events of 1 Samuel 19, and David’s commentary on those events in this psalm, document one battle in this war, allowing us to see God’s faithfulness in preserving the line of Christ.

Listen to this Psalm

Deliverance album art Free Me, My God (Psalm 59A)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Deliverance
Faithfulness album art I Wait for You (Psalm 59B)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Faithfulness