Psalm 59:1-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 59:1-7

The title of this psalm acquaints us particularly with the occasion on which it was penned; it was when Saul sent a party of his guards to beset David's house in the night, that they might seize him and kill him; we have the story 1 Sam. 19:11. It was when his hostilities against David were newly begun, and he had but just before narrowly escaped Saul's javelin. These first eruptions of Saul's malice could not but put David into disorder and be both grievous and terrifying, and yet he kept up... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 59:1

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God ,.... David had his enemies in his youth, notwithstanding the amiableness of his person, the endowments of his mind, his martial achievements, his wise behaviour and conduct, and the presence of God with him; yea, it were some of these things that made Saul his enemy, who, by his power and authority, made others; see 1 Samuel 18:5 . Christ had his enemies, though he went about doing good, both to the bodies and souls of men, continually; the chief... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 59:2

Deliver me from the workers of iniquity ,.... See Gill on Psalm 6:8 ; and save me from bloody men ; such as Saul sent to kill David, as appears from the title of the psalm; and such as were concerned in the death of Christ; and such, are the enemies of God's people, the followers of the man of sin. The heap of words, the various expressions used in a way of petition, in this verse and Psalm 59:1 , show the distress the psalmist was in, and whom he represents; his importunity,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 59:3

For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul ,.... As the men did that watched his house, when Saul sent to kill him; so the Jews sought and lay in wait to take away the life of Christ; and very often was it the case of the Apostle Paul, that he was in danger of his life, through the lying in wait of the Jews; so Satan makes use of cunning devices, stratagems, and wiles, to ruin the souls of God's people, if possible; and false teachers lie in wait to deceive them. The emphasis lies upon the word... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 59:4

They run and prepare themselves without my fault ,.... Or, "without sin in me "; or "without punishment in them "; so the same word is rendered, 1 Samuel 28:10 . "They run", in an hostile manner, "against me", as the Syriac version adds; or like dogs up and down, about the city, to find him and kill him; see Psalm 59:7 . Or this may denote their readiness and swiftness to shed blood, Proverbs 1:16 ; "and prepare themselves" with weapon, with instruments of death, as the men did... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 59:1

Deliver me from mine enernies, O my God - A very proper prayer in the mouth of Nehemiah, when resisted in his attempts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem by Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, who opposed the work, and endeavored to take away the life of the person whom God had raised up to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. I conceive the Psalm to have been made on this occasion; and on this hypothesis alone I think it capable of consistent explanation. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 59:2

The workers of iniquity - Principally Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian; who were the chief enemies of the poor returned captives. Bloody men - The above, who sought the destruction of the Israelites; and particularly, that of Nehemiah, whom four several times they endeavored to bring into an ambush, that they might take away his life. See Nehemiah 6:1-4 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 59:3

For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul - For my life. See the passages referred to above. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 59:4

They run and prepare themselves - They leave no stone unturned that they may effect my destruction and prevent the building. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 59:1

Verse 1 1Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God! He insists upon the strength and violence of his enemies, with the view of exciting his mind to greater fervor in the duty of prayer. These he describes as rising up against him, in which expression he alludes not simply to the audacity or fierceness of their assaults, but to the eminent superiority of power which they possessed; and yet he asks that he may be lifted up on high, as it were, above the reach of this over-swelling inundation. His... read more

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