Psalm 59

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 To the choirmaster: according to “Do Not Destroy”. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

1-5                   1^st Prayer

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; from those who rise up against me protect me. ² Deliver me from those who work evil, and from blood-thirsty men save me.

שגב (sagav) = “to raise up out of reach”

 ³ For behold, they lie in wait for my life; strong ones stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, Adonai, ⁴ for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Awake, come to meet me, and see! ⁵ You, Adonai, God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those wicked traitors. Selah

בגד (bagad)  = “garment”       OR     (bogeid) = “traitor”

6-10

Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. ⁷ There they are, bellowing/spewing with their mouths with swords in their lips – for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

נבע (nava) =  “bellow/spew”

נבא (nava) = “pour forth/prophesy”

⁸ But You, Adonai, laugh at them; You hold all the nations in derision. ⁹ [Because of] his strength, I will stand watch for You, for God is my fortress. ¹⁰ God of His loving kindness – He will meet me; God will show me my watchful enemies.

11-13                             2^nd Prayer

Do not kill them, lest my people forget; scatter them by Your power and bring them down, our shield and Lord. ¹² The sin of their mouth is the word of their lips; let them be trapped in their pride for the cursing and lies that they utter. ¹³ Finish them in wrath; finish them till they are no more, that they may know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah

14-17

Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. ¹⁵ They wander about for food and growl if they do not get their fill. ¹⁶ But I will sing of Your strength; I will sing aloud of Your steadfast love in the morning. For You have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. ¹⁷ O my Strength, I will sing praises to You, for You, O God, are my fortress, the God of my loving kindness.

REFERENCES:

Attribution

1Samuel 19:11  Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”

Verse 1

Psalm 20:1  May Adonai answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securelyon high (שגב, sagav)!

Psalm 91:14  “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high (שגב,sagav), because he has known My name.”

Deuteronomy 2:36  From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high (שגב, sagav) for us. Adonai our God gave all into our hands. [1^st app.]

Verse 5

Provebs 21:18  The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor (בגד, bogeid) for the upright.

Verse 7

Psalm 94:4  They pour out (נבע, nava) their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.

Psalm 119:171  My lips will pour forth (נבע, nava) praise, for You teach me Your statutes.

2Peter 2:22  What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Verse 8

Psalm 2:4  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

Verse 11

Genesis 4:12  “When you [Cain] cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall be a vagrant (נוע, nua) and a wanderer on the earth.”

Exodus 20:18  Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled (נוע, nua), and they stood far off

Verse 13

Genesis 2:1-2  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished (כלה, calah), and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished (כלה, calah) His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.