Psalm 59
Did you read Psalm 59? Come on, Please DON’T read my words before you read God’s words.!!!!
David is acting like a king by being concerned about the people and what they will learn from a situation and how God handles it, even before he is the king. David is not just concerned for his own safety and the personal justice of a situation, but he wants to teach an important theological lesson. David wants God’s actions and way of handling this situation to reveal something lasting of God’s power and character to His people. As a Christian you are an ambassador of the King. So in every situation where we call out to God for rescue, our goal should be to bring lasting glory to the character of God. We should desire that the people remember who God is and how God works.
Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons;
stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees,
O Lord our shield.
Psalm 59:11
What would I conclude from the terrorist that prowls in the night? What will be the response of this rude, crude, gang of ruthless cutthroats? They say unrepeatable things and they have no fear of God, man or beast. These hired mercenaries are completely inhuman. So what will a godly response to such fear and anxiety be?
Singing to God?! Joyous singing about God. Singing about God’s love. Praise and affirmations of the safety and strength found in God.
But as for me, I will sing about your power.
Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.
For you have been my refuge,
a place of safety when I am in distress.
O my Strength, to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.
Psalm 59:16-17
I want to write about how I read this Psalm rather than give you a main point and outline. Because the reading was so alive and real to me I wanted to try to recreate this understanding as I received it. If for no other reason than not to forget myself what I heard today.
I am thankful for the context that is in the note above the Psalm. Even the tune to which it is sung rings with significance.
“regarding the time Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
To be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”
(in English above v.1, in het Nederlands v. 1)
I’m quite sure that this Psalm is very literal and not just figurative speech. So I think these soldiers sent to trap David are rude, crude guys, trying to strike terror in the hearts of David’s household and anyone in the neighbourhood. When I visited Albania several years ago I was confronted a few times by the packs of stray mongrel dogs that roam free there. They are mangy and very dangerous. I can imagine such packs of dogs in David’s time and I can imagine that fear of these dogs would be used by the sneaky crude soldiers to scare people and to distract people. Some soldiers dotted around the house were making noises like a dog. But also crude talk, and belching v.7 (according to the NASB) But there are also hints of poetic description as David says they have swords in their lips, unless they are using their daggers for eating? They think they are getting away with murder.
6 They come out at night,
snarling like vicious dogs
as they prowl the streets.
7 Listen to the filth that comes from their mouths;
their words cut like swords.
“After all, who can hear us?” they sneer.
They think they won't be found out. But it is God who, David says, will have the last laugh. V.8
8 But Lord, you laugh at them.
I don’t think these tough guys bent on killing have just disappeared. And David is definitely afraid.
4…Wake up! See what is happening and help me!
5 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,
wake up and punish those hostile nations.
It is an interesting accusation David is making against God. To suggest God is not on the job, or that it has escaped God's attention. Twice David says Wake up. He is afraid. He sees the personal danger. David is not cocky like some name-it-and-claim-faith-fool. He understands the danger. But after thinking the situation through, David sees the potential purposes of God. I am often confronted with my own little world, set against the bigger purposes of God. David doesn’t want God to simply send them away or silently assassinate these mocking murderous mercenaries in the night. David wants to use his peril and rescue as a way to teach the people a lasting lesson that is unforgettable about the glory and power of God.
Can I step out of my fears and my peril and see God’s bigger purposes in other people’s lives? In the church, in the community, in the city, in our land?
Do not kill them, or my people will forget;
Scatter them by Your power and bring them down,
Lord, our shield.
Psalm 59:11 NASB
As I reread verse 11 again for the many-eth time this morning, now from the NASB, I wonder if David doesn’t want them to be converted, changed, brought over to God’s side. To bend the knee to God. To change allegiance.
Was Psalm 22:16, which is clearly pointing to Jesus, also drawing from David’s Psalm here in chapter 59? And wasn’t Jesus literally surrounded by soldiers, whipped up by a crowd of hell-bent killers, feeling invincible and mocking Jesus, the son of David? Could these “loyal” to Caesar guys have seen and heard the triumphal entry the day before? Could they know the history of the Jews, those particularly difficult rebels in the Roman empire and could they have known the stories of David? Could they be mocking Jesus as the son of David? Saying to the Jews, You guys got no King!!!
Isn’t this battle really for who serves the real king? My battle, your battle, every battle.
My mental health battle, my sin battle, the soldiers mocking Jesus, the fears mocking my faith. Aren’t they all calling into question MY King Jesus?
So what do I do?
Sing! Sing about God’s love.
Heart, that sounds like a plan. Thanks David.
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| Handwritten Psalm 59 |
I have a few lingering thoughts, don’t let fear and sinful temptations, failures and disturbing habits steal your joy. Sing instead about God. It will help.
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