1Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Defend me from those who rise
up against me.
2Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty
men.
3For look, they lie in wait for my life;
The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor
for my sin, O Lord.
4They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
Awake to help me, and behold!
5You therefore, O Lord God
of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the
nations;
Do not be merciful to any
wicked transgressors. Selah
6At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
7Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips;
For they say, “Who hears?”
8But You, O Lord, shall
laugh at them;
You shall have all the nations
in derision.
9I will wait for You,
O You his Strength;
For God is my defense.
10My God of mercy shall come to meet me;
God shall let me see my desire
on my enemies.
11Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your 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 the cursing and lying
which they speak.
13Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah
14And at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15They wander up and down for food,
And howl if they are not
satisfied.
16But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your
mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my
trouble.
17To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense, My God of mercy.
Preamble: This Psalm is one of David’s earliest Psalms, when he became aware of Saul’s desire to kill him (see 1 Samuel 19:9-20:42).
Commentary
Vs.
1-2
1Deliver me from my
enemies, O my God;
Defend me from those who rise
up against me.
2Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty
men.
David’s opens this Psalm with a passionate plea to our God to deliver him from his enemies and defend him from all those who had risen up against him. For though he was a loyal servant he was now desperately trying to escape Saul and his men who were seeking him in Jerusalem, and so David now knows that there was but a step between him and death.
Vs. 3-4 3For look, they lie in wait for my life;
The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor
for my sin, O Lord.
4They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
Awake to help me, and behold!
David's desperation and despair in prayer continues as he tells our God how he is being fiercely hunted by Saul’s men who had gone to his house at Saul’s orders to bring him to Saul so that he might kill him; but not for his transgression, or for his sin, since he had done nothing against Saul, or the kingdom, but only because Saul in his spiritually tormented and paranoid state now sees David as a “threat” to his own reign’s tenure. And so, Saul continually imagines David plotting all kinds of evil schemes against him to overthrow him, when none of it is true. What then can David do? For Saul will not be appeased, he’s tried that time and again, and Saul’s men, well there only interested in killing him, therefore David cries to God to awake and help him, to look upon what they are doing and save him. It is in these moments that even a mighty warrior like David needs and gains a deeper dependence upon our God.
Vs. 5 “You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the
nations;
Do not be merciful to any
wicked transgressors. Selah”
David’s cry now turns from justice for himself, to justice for our Lord, that He would look upon the unbelieving nations and wicked therewithin, and punish them all, and not be merciful to any wicked transgressors, since David has learned much about them through his own experiences in being hunted by them.
Vs. 6 “At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.”
And so while in hiding David observes their coming in and going out, he sees them return in evening to Jerusalem growling like dogs as they go all around the city still looking for him, and always wanting to harm him.
Vs. 7 Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips;
For they say, “Who hears?”
So confident are they in their wicked ways and lives that they openly belch while consuming their intoxicating drink well into the night hours. And with swords in their lips they defame David and boast of all their evil desires against him, for there is no fear of God in them, for they say, “Who hears”.
Vs. 8 “But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the nations
in derision.”
Though they think no one hears David knows that God hears them all, and He shall laugh at them when He repays them, everyone and every nation that has openly and boastfully rejected Him shall know the immense fury of the Lord. No one then shall be boastful or confident on that Day, for He shall have all the nations in derision.
Vs. 9-10 “I will wait for You,
O You his Strength;
For God is my defense.
10My God of mercy shall come to meet me;
God shall let me see my desire
on my enemies.”
Therefore David will wait for the Lord to avenge him, for both himself and even the nation of Israel collectively, for they will know God’s vengeance for them and defense of them. Therefore, David now boldly proclaims, “My God of mercy shall come to meet me; God shall let me see my desire on my enemies.” This promise then will apply to all who believe, who due justly and live righteously for Him.
Vs. 11-13 11Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your 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 the cursing and lying
which they speak.
13Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And let them know that God
rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah
David’s prayer here is heightened by his knowledge of God's defense of him, and yet he asks that God would not immediately avenge Himself on them, lest the people forget. For if God were to suddenly strike them down with one blow soon afterwards people would forget them and how they had united and exalted themselves against Him. Therefore, David asks that God first scatter them by His power, making them an astonishment wherever He drives them, so those who see them will fear how He by His power is dealing with them. Then as He does so bring them all down before all, for the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, (as there is no repentance from such people), therefore let them all be taken in their pride, and for the cursing that they speak, consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be, so that all will know that God rules in Jacob (i.e., all of believing Israel), even to the ends of the earth. Selah
Vs. 14-15 14And at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15They wander up and down for food,
And howl if they are not
satisfied.
David now returns to the present scene, the violent and vile men hunting for David’s life have now returned to the city, who growl like a dog as they go all around the city looking for him, wandering up and down its streets they also look for their food and they howl if they are not satisfied. Living only then to satisfy their basest bodily appetites, these are the most contemptable people of all.
Vs. 16-17 16But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your
mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my
trouble.
17To You, O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense, My God of mercy.
Even though dogs surround David, he still delights in singing to the Lord and praising His power:
"Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble."
For the Lord has been his (our) Strength, He is the One who upholds us all by His Power, and not only that the Lord is our defense, from ungodly and wicked men, but also Satan who rules over them. For our God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is David's refuge, our refuge, in the day of our trouble, amen.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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