Psalms 59King James Version
Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God. 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.
A night psalm: Saul has sent men to watch David's house to kill him. Enemies prowl like dogs, howling at evening, returning at dawn. But God laughs at them. David's refrain oscillates between 'my defence' and 'the God of my mercy.' He asks for them to be scattered but not destroyed quickly, lest the lesson be lost. He ends singing of God's power and mercy in the morning. The siege becomes a liturgy.
When enemies surround the house at night, the response is not terror but a specific rhythm: petition in the night, declaration at morning, praise for God's power that outlasts the siege.
verse: "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." Morning is structurally guaranteed even in the night.
Superscription: 'To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.' The incident is from 1 Sam 19:11, when Michal helped David escape through the window. The evening-morning rhythm of the psalm mirrors the actual surveillance schedule of the soldiers.
David as the besieged; Saul named in the superscription; the soldiers likened to howling dogs circling the city; God as laughter, defence, and mercy; the nations as wider witnesses.
Psalm 59 is the third psalm in the Michtam-Altaschith group (57-59) and the most explicitly military. The dog metaphor (vv6, 14) is vivid and recurs in ancient Near Eastern siege literature. The request not to destroy enemies too quickly (v11) is unusual in imprecatory psalms; the psalmist wants the lesson, not just the outcome.
For the night when you know danger is present outside and you cannot leave and you cannot make it stop. The psalm turns the waiting into a specific practice.
1[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.] Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.
2Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
3For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.
4They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.
5Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
6They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
7Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?
8But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.
9Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.
10The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
11Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
12For 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.
13Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.
14And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
15Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.
16But 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.
17Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.