Psalms 59:10

"My God with his lovingkindness will meet me;

God will let me see my desire upon mine enemies.

Slay them not, lest my people forget.

Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down,

O Lord, our shield.

For the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips,

Let them even be taken in their pride,

And for cursing and lying which they speak.

Consume them in thy wrath, consume them so they shall be no more;

And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob.

Unto the ends of the earth. (Selah)"

"Let me see my desire upon mine enemies" (Psalms 59:10). "The words 'my desire' are not in the original (as indicated by the italics); and Spurgeon tells us that the Hebrew here means that, "David expected to see his enemies without fear."[15] This is only another example of instances in which 'supplied words' by the translators sometimes unintentionally change the meaning of the text.

"Lest my people forget" (Psalms 59:11). David's request here is that God would not slay his enemies at once, but subdue them, in order that their punishment might serve as an example to "my people." If God had destroyed his enemies at once, the people would soon have forgotten all about it.

"My people" (Psalms 59:11). This line seems to say that David, at the time of writing this psalm was already king, as some commentators suggest. We can hardly think of David, during the time when he was being pursued by enemies intent on killing him as speaking of Israel as 'my people,' although, of course, it was not impossible.

"Slay them not ... scatter them" (Psalms 59:11). This plea directed against the sudden and immediate death of his foes indicates that God surely has a use for wicked people. A woman once asked Adam Clarke, "Dr. Clarke, 'Why doesn't God just destroy all the wicked people and thereby put an end to sin?" Clarke replied, "My dear Lady, if God did a thing like that, there would not be enough righteous people left on earth to keep the lions and tigers from eating up the human race."

Kidner pointed out the following roles of wicked people on earth. "(1) God uses them as scourges (Isaiah 10:5f); (2) as tests of loyalty (Judges 2:22); (3) as hardeners (Judges 3:22); and (4), in this passage as object-lessons."[16] And to these we may add a fifth; (5) God uses one wicked nation to destroy another. "The king of Assyria," for example, was called God's razor (Isaiah 7:20); but later God used Babylon to destroy Assyria, etc."

Kidner also believed that this verse, "Inspired the line, 'Scatter her enemies, and make them fall,' in the British national anthem."[17]

"Sin of their mouth ... words of their lips ... cursing and lying" (Psalms 59:12). This emphasis upon the human tongue as an instrument of sin is amazing. The men charged here were murderers and assassins, also compared by the psalmist to a pack of vicious scavenger dogs; but here the sin singled out for emphasis was that of the tongue. This reminds us of the words of James, "If any man stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man" (James 3:2).

"Consume them" (Psalms 59:13). God's use of wicked men and nations to accomplish in some instances the will of God, which we noticed back in Psalms 59:11, does not obscure the ultimate intention of God to destroy the wicked. "Wait awhile" in Psalms 59:11, issues here as "Consume them."

As Dummelow said, "Zeal for God's glory is the one motive of the Psalmist's prayer, however vindictive some of his requests may appear."[18]