Psalm 59--Deliver Me from My Enemies

Psalm 59
English Standard Version

Deliver Me from My Enemies
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.
59 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.

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We've been reading recently how David believed that the LORD would provide justice and salvation, but that doesn't stop him from crying out to the LORD to save him in his moments of need, nor does it stop him from asking the LORD when it is that He is going to execute His justice and judgment on the wicked.

David sees all his enemies and the enemies of Israel circling around like when the wolves identify a weak or sick animal in the herd or flock, and they are readying to attack.  David cries out to the one who is the Good Shepherd to save him--one of the sheep of His pasture, but David also cries out to the Good Shepherd to teach the wolves a lesson that will make them too scared to ever come to attack one of His sheep again.  Just to scare them off for them to return another day is not peace of mind enough.  Day after day, night after night they return--like the dogs and wolves we hear howl at the moon.

David says that the LORD laughs at their arrogant boasts for they cannot harm Him or even reach Him.  The LORD is the Strength and Fortress of Israel (and David personally), and it is because of His steadfast love (there's that word hesed again) that David is sure that the LORD will give the victory to His people and defeat to their enemies.

David doesn't ask the Lord to kill his enemies, but to make them suffer so badly that the whole world would see what kind of decimation and destruction comes to a kingdom that wages war with the LORD and His people.  If his enemies were completely destroyed, then history would soon forget about them (including the LORD's people), but if they were defeated so severely so that they would never recover for say hundreds or maybe even thousands of years, then everyone would remember how they were a "once great" people who foolishly thought that the LORD, the God of Israel, could not touch them.  David wants these enemies to feel the wrath of God so hot on them that they will never again question the LORD, the God of Israel, and that they might even confess of their sins (such as their prideful, arrogant boasts)) and be saved themselves.

Each night they come back like dogs or wolves to taunt David, but day and night he sings songs of the strength of the LORD--the one who is David's Fortress, Strength, and Deliverer.  This is the one who shows steadfast love to David and all of His people, so they will not be afraid and will trust and hope in the Lord.