3 For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, Not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh.
They conspire and lurk, Watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.
Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn't kill you, know you and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt after my life to take it.
Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.
He said to David, You are more righteous than I; for you have rendered to me good, whereas I have rendered to you evil.
The kings of the earth take a stand, And the rulers take counsel together, Against Yahweh, and against his anointed,{The word "anointed" is the same as the word for "Messiah" or "Christ"} saying,
Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, If there is iniquity in my hands, If I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (Yes, I have delivered him who without cause was my adversary), Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it; Yes, let him tread my life down to the earth, And lay my glory in the dust. Selah. Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to kill him. Yahweh will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged.
They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And meditate deceits all day long.
The godly man has perished out of the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.
But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.'
The kings of the earth take a stand, And the rulers take council together, Against the Lord, and against his Christ{Christ (Greek) and Messiah (Hebrew) both mean Anointed One. (Compare Psalm 2)}.' For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 59
Commentary on Psalms 59 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 59
This psalm is of the same nature and scope with six or seven foregoing psalms; they are all filled with David's complaints of the malice of his enemies and of their cursed and cruel designs against him, his prayers and prophecies against them, and his comfort and confidence in God as his God. The first is the language of nature, and may be allowed; the second of a prophetical spirit, looking forward to Christ and the enemies of his kingdom, and therefore not to be drawn into a precedent; the third of grace and a most holy faith, which ought to be imitated by every one of us. In this psalm,
As far as it appears that any of the particular enemies of God's people fall under these characters, we may, in singing this psalm, read their doom and foresee their ruin.
To the chief musician, Al-taschith, Michtam of David, when Saul sent and they watched the house to kill him.
Psa 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 Sa. 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 his communion with God, and such a composure of mind as that he was never out of frame for prayer and praises; happy are those whose intercourse with heaven is not intercepted nor broken in upon by their cares, or griefs, or fears, or any of the hurries (whether outward or inward) of an afflicted state. In these verses,
Psa 59:8-17
David here encourages himself, in reference to the threatening power of his enemies, with a pious resolution to wait upon God and a believing expectation that he should yet praise him.