Psalms 54:2

"Hear my prayer, O God;

Give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers are risen up against me,

And violent men have sought after my soul:

They have not set God before them. (Selah)"

The greatness of David is seen in the fact that in whatever difficulty he found himself, he always turned to God in prayer. Here he earnestly pleaded for God's help against unbelieving enemies.

"Strangers are risen up against me" (Psalms 54:3). These were the Ziphites who had no business whatever meddling in the affairs of Israel. They were pagans "who set not God before them." Furthermore, their willingness to help Saul may have been due to Saul's involvement with their pagan gods. Saul had even named one of his sons Ethbaal, after the old Canaanite god Baal. God's rejection of Saul was undoubtedly due, at least partially, to his tolerance of such pagan deities.

"They have not set God before them" (Psalms 54:3). As Spurgeon said, "David felt that atheism lay at the bottom of the enmity that pursued him."[1] This, of course, points squarely at the pagan Ziphites.