PSALMS LESSON 57
We will begin this lesson by giving chapter 59 in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 59
Verse 1 "My God, deliver me from those That are my enemies; And do
thou me defend from those that up against me rise."
Verse 2 "Do thou deliver me from them That work iniquity; And keep me
safely from the men of bloody cruelty."
Verse 3 "For, Lo, they for my soul lay wait: the mighty do combine
Against me, Lord, not for my fault, nor any sin of mine."
Verse 4 "They run, and without wrong in me, themselves they ready
make: Awake to meet me with thy help, And do thou notice
take."
Verse 5 "Thou therefore, Lord, the God of hosts, The God of Israel,
Awake to visit heathen all, nor spare those who rebel."
Verse 6 "They at the evening time return, They make a howling sound,
Even like a dog, and often walk about the city round."
Verse 7 "Behold, they belch out with their mouth, And in their lips
are words; For thus with confidence they say, Who now doth
hear our words?"
verse 8 "But thou, O lord, wilt laugh at them; And all the heathen
mock. While he's in power I'll wait on thee; For God is my
high rock.
Verse 9 "The God of all my mercies will With speed give help to me;
He my desire upon my foes Will cause my eyes to see."
Verse 10 "O Lord our shield, destroy them not, My people would forget;
But scatter thou, and humble them beneath thy power great.
Verse 11 "For their mouth's sin, and for the Which from their lips do
fly, words Let them be taken in their pride, Because they
curse and lie.
Verse 12 "In wrath consume them, them consume, That so they may not
be; And that in Jacob God doth rule To earth's ends let them
see.
Verse 13 "Let them at evening time return, And make a howling sound,
Even like a dog, and often walk about the city round."
Verse 14 "And let them wander up and down In seeking food to eat; And
let them grudge, when they shall not Be satisfied with
meat."
Verse 15 "But of thy power I'll sing; at morn Aloud thy mercy praise;
For thou a tower and refuge wast To me in troublous days."
Verse 16 "O God, thou art my strength, and I will praises sing to
thee; For God is my defence, a God of mercy unto me."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of chapter 59 of
Psalms. Psalms 59:1 "{To the chief Musician, Al-taschith, 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."
These Psalms are like all the Bible, in that we must try to learn
from them how better to live our life now. If we do not apply them to
our present situation, then we are just reading history. There are
prophetic messages pointing to the time of Jesus, and there are, also,
messages for our day, as well, in these lessons. Believers, throughout
time, have needed to sound out this same cry to God. The enemies of
the church are all around us. It is not a popular thing to be sold out
to Jesus. Even nominal Christians think you have lost your mind, if
you are seriously trying to accomplish something for God. Looking at
David in this, he was in great danger. His life was threatened on
every side. It was hard for him to know just who the enemy was.
Couldn't we say this about our situation, too? Do we really know who
is walking in agreement and who is not? One thing that really
impresses me with David, is the fact that he says, my God. God is God
of individuals. He is my God. Is He your God?
Psalms 59:2 "Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me
from bloody men."
In the last lesson, we found that there are people who plan to do
evil. They have dedicated their hands to the work of the devil. They
really enjoy destroying other people's lives. There are even some
people who are so sold out to the devil that, they get their thrills
shedding other people's blood. Perhaps, that is the type person
mentioned here.
Psalms 59:3 "For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty
are gathered against me; not [for] my transgression, nor [for] my sin,
O LORD."
The mighty, mentioned in this, are not the mighty as far as God
is concerned, but mighty in the sight of the world. They are not there
because of anything David has done. He has not sinned against them.
They just want to destroy him. Perhaps, the reason they would like to
destroy him is, because they do not want to lose their place of
authority with the people. We do know that the very reason that the
authorities in the temple in Jerusalem wanted to be rid of Jesus, was
because they were afraid they would lose their authority over the
people. He was a threat to them, because they could not do the
miracles that Jesus did, and the people were beginning to follow
Jesus, and leave them.
Psalms 59:4 "They run and prepare themselves without [my] fault:
awake to help me, and behold."
This is the very thing they did with Jesus. They followed Him
around to find something they could accuse Him of. They wanted to kill
Him, even at the beginning, but God protected Jesus right in the
middle of His enemies. David is saying, They are plotting to kill me,
God you are my only hope. David is asking God to just take a look, and
see the evil they are planning.
Psalms 59:5 "Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of
Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked
transgressors. Selah."
We see that David, unlike Jesus, wants his enemies destroyed.
Even, on the cross, Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do. When David uses the word hosts in the Scripture
above, he is saying, God of the armies. David is saying, they have
accused me unjustly, and I can not help myself, Lord. Bring your
armies and fight my battle for me.
Psalms 59:6 "They return at evening: they make a noise like a
dog, and go round about the city."
Have you ever noticed, dogs bark a whole lot more than they bite?
They are trying to frighten him by the noise. This is really not doing
harm to David, but is just to frighten him.
Psalms 59:7 "Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords
[are] in their lips: for who, [say they], doth hear?"
Their evil speech comes out of their mouth so regularly and so
uncontrolled, that it is like when a man belches. Swords are in their
lips means that their words are cutting words, bent on destroying
David. They are saying that David's God is not even hearing, or caring
what is happening to David.
Psalms 59:8 "But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt
have all the heathen in derision."
David knows that just because God has not rushed in, does not
mean that He will not punish them. God is longsuffering, hoping they
will repent. The word translated derision, here, means laugh to scorn,
or mock. This is saying that God will have the last laugh. It will be
mocking their laugh, here. His laugh will be unanswerable.
Psalms 59:9 "[Because of] his strength will I wait upon thee: for
God [is] my defence."
David realizes that his strength is not enough to come against
his enemies. He, also, realizes that they may be taunting him, but God
has not allowed them to hurt him. David knows, if he waits for God,
God will take care of this. He, also, realizes that God has defended
him until now, and will continue to defend him as long as he waits for
God.
Psalms 59:10 "The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let
me see [my desire] upon mine enemies."
How many times have we had God keep us from doing something that
would be harmful to us? That is what I see in this Scripture about
David. God does not want him to jump out and get ahead of God's
blessing. Though David is surrounded by the enemy, God will let David
see the overthrow of his enemies. If David will just wait until the
time is just right for God, David will experience victory. One of the
hardest things to do is wait on the Lord.
Psalms 59:11 "Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them
by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield."
David is saying, here, that if they die, that will not be a good
lesson for others looking on. He says scatter them, and the lesson
will be learned by the ones in the places they are scattered to, as
well as here. Strip them of their power and authority, but let them
live. The word, translated shield, here, means protector. Notice,
also, {our shield}. He is not just David's protector, but He is the
protector of all who believe.
Psalms 59:12 "[For] 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."
Pride comes just before a fall. Notice in the next Scripture,
where pride comes from. I John 2:16 "For all that [is] in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." Notice in the
following Scripture, the terrible consequences of those who love to
lie. Revelation 22:15 "For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and
maketh a lie." Lying is as bad a sin as murder then, because you wind
up in the same place as a murderer.
Psalms 59:13 "Consume [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."
The cursing and the lying have stirred David, until he is now
saying, let your wrath arise and destroy these evil ones. Not only
destroy them, but do it publicly, so that all the world will know what
you do to the evil ones of the earth. Way back in another lesson we
remember that, these are people who profess to know God. Remember,
judgement begins at the house of God. He rightly says at the end of
this, stop and think on these things.
Psalms 59:14 "And at evening let them return; [and] let them make
a noise like a dog, and go round about the city."
Now David is saying, let them do all their bragging and
threatening as loud as they want to. I know they are going to be taken
care of by my God.
Psalms 59:15 "Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if
they be not satisfied."
The dogs have lost their chance to devour David. Let them run
around looking for someone else to tear to pieces. Lord, let them be
angry when there is no one left to tear up.
Psalms 59:16 "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."
David has seen help on its way. The time to shout and sing
praises about the power of God is at the victory. The darkest hour is
just before the dawn. Dawn has come for David. He begins his praise of
God for protecting him through the dark night. Look at this, with me,
and learn from this. Though the night be dark and it seems there is no
way out, though our enemy surround us on every side and we are
outnumbered, our help is in the Lord. He will build a fence around us
and defend us. There is a dawn of a new day just around the corner.
Place your trust and faith in God, and He will not let you down.
Psalms 59:17 "Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God [is]
my defence, [and] the God of my mercy."
Just as David speaks of the mercy of God, we must realize that it
is only by the mercy of God that we are acceptable to Him. When we get
to the end of our self, then God can take over and win the battle for
us. Notice,that David is not taking any of the credit for the victory
here. He just praises God in word and song for God's favor in this.
That is what we must do, also. We are not saved by any of our great
ability and power. Jesus did it all for us. Our place is just to
believe and praise Him for what He has done.
Questions 57
1. If we do not learn to apply these lessons to our life now, why are
we reading them?
2. Why is it important to call God, my God?
3. What is an example of someone who is totally sold out to the
devil?
4. Who are the mighty mentioned in verse 3?
5. Why are they so determined to destroy David?
6. Who were the people that felt this same way about the Lord Jesus?
7. These evil ones followed Jesus around for what purpose?
8. What does David call the Lord in verse 5?
9. In verse 5, what was the contrast between what Jesus asked for His
enemies, and what David wanted for his?
10. What does the word hosts, in verse 5, mean?
11. What is meant by them making a noise like a dog?
12. Explain the statement, belch with their mouth.
13. The word translated derision, here, means what?
14. What does verse 9 say that David is assured of? What is the word,
prevent, saying in verse 10?
15. What is one of the hardest things for us to do after we pray?
16. Slay then not, lest _____ _______ ______.
17. David calls God, O Lord ___ _______ in verse 11.
18. The word translated shield, here, means what?
19. Pride comes before a ____.
20. Pride of life is not of the Father, but of the _______.
21. Name a few of the sins that will keep you out of heaven.
22. What two things have stirred David to the point, that he says for
God to consume them?
23. Where does judgement begin?
24. The dogs have lost their chance to devour David, so what are they
doing?
25. I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the ________.
26. When is the darkest hour?
27. What lesson can we learn from all of this?
28. ___ is my defense.
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