Psalms 59:9
Ver. 9. [Because of] his strength will I wait upon thee,.... Either because of the strength of Saul, who was stronger than David, he determined to wait upon the Lord for salvation and deliverance from him; or because of the strength of the Lord, which he expected from him, and therefore would wait upon him for it. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, and also the Chaldee paraphrase, render the words, "my strength will I keep for thee"; or "with thee". I ascribe all my strength unto thee; I expect every supply of it from thee, and put my trust and confidence in thee for it: so did Christ as man, and had strength from the Lord, according to his promise, Isa 50:7; and so every believer, Isa 14:24; for God [is] my defence; or "my high refuge"; or "high tower" {w}; see Ps 9:9; where he was defended and exalted, as is petitioned Ps 59:1; and was safe and secure from every enemy.{w} ybgvm "vice arcis sublimis", Tigurine version; Vatablus, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis, all to the same purport. Psalms 59:10Ver. 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me,.... Or "of my grace", or "goodness", as the Targum; see 1Pe 5:10. God is gracious in himself, and he has treasured up a fulness of grace in Christ: he is the donor of all the blessings of grace in the covenant; and the author of all internal grace in the hearts of his people; and who supplies them with more grace as they want it; and he is the Father of all temporal and spiritual mercies. The "Cetib", or writing, is wdox, "his mercy"; the "Keri", or reading, is ydox, "my mercy"; grace or mercy is the Lord's; it is his own, which he disposes of as he pleases; being given and applied, it is the believer's; all the grace and mercy in the heart of God, in his Son, and in his covenant, is the saints', which he keeps for them with Christ for evermore; "the God of my mercy", or "grace", is the same with "my merciful", or "my gracious God"; who goes before his people, as he does the Messiah, with the blessings of his goodness, Ps 21:3. It may be rendered, "hath came before me"; and denote the antiquity of his love, being before his people's to him, and the early provisions of his grace and mercy for them: or "doth prevent me": expressing the freeness of it; he not waiting for any duties, services, or conditions to be performed, but bestows his grace and mercy, notwithstanding much unworthiness: or "shall come before me"; designing the seasonable and timely application of mercy come before his fears, as it sometimes does the prayers of his people, Isa 65:24;God shall let me see [my desire] upon mine enemies; expressed in the following verses, Ps 59:11; or "vengeance upon them"; as the Targum paraphrases it; see Ps 58:10. Psalms 59:11Ver. 11. Slay thou not,.... Though they deserved to be slain, and the Lord seemed as if he was about to slay them, who was able to do it; he seemed to be whetting his glittering sword, and his hand to take hold of vengeance ready to execute it; wherefore intercession is made to spare them, which agrees with Christ's petition on the cross, Lu 23:34. The Targum adds, "immediately": slay them not directly, and at once; give them space for repentance; and so the Jews had: for it was forty years after the death of Christ before their destruction was: or the meaning may be, slay them not utterly; destroy them not totally: and so it was; for though multitudes were slain during the siege of Jerusalem, and at the taking of it, yet they were not all slain: there were many carried captive, and sent into different parts of the world, whose posterity continue to this day. The reason of this petition is,lest my people forget: the Syriac version renders it, "lest they should forget my people"; or my people should be forgotten. David's people, the Jews by birth and religion, though not as yet his subjects, unless in designation and appointment, and Christ's people according to the flesh: now if these had all been slain at once, they had been forgotten, like dead men out of mind: or Christ's special and peculiar people; his chosen, redeemed, and called ones, who truly believe in him, and are real Christians; and then the sense is, if full vengeance had been taken of the Jews at once, and they had been cut off root and branch, so that none of them remained, Christ's people would have forgot them, and the vengeance inflicted on them for their rejection of the Messiah; but now they are a continued and lasting instance of God's wrath and displeasure on that account, and they and their case cannot be forgotten. The Arabic version renders it, "lest my people forget the law"; its precepts and sanction, its rewards and punishments;scatter them by thy power; or let them wander up and down like fugitives and vagabonds in the earth, as Cain did, and as the Jews now do, being dispersed in the several parts of the world; and which was done by the power of God, or through the kingdom of God coming with power upon that people, Mr 9:1; or "by thine army" {x}; the Roman army, which was the Lord's, being permitted by him to come against them, and being made use of as an instrument to destroy and scatter them, Mt 22:7;and bring them down; from their excellency, greatness, riches, and honour, into a low, base, mean, and poor estate and condition, in which the Jews now are;O Lord, our shield; the protector and defender of his people, while he is the destroyer and scatterer of their enemies.{x} Klyxb "exercitu tuo", Michaelis, Vatablus. Psalms 59:12Ver. 12. [For] the sin of their mouth, [and] the words of their lips,.... The words may be read as one proposition, "the words of their lips [are] the sin of their mouth" {y}; they speak nothing but evil; whatever they say is sin; out of the abundance of their evil hearts their mouths speak: or "for the sin of their mouth" and lips; because of the calumnies cast by them on the Messiah, traducing him as a sinful man, a blasphemer, a seditious person, and even as one that had familiarity with the devil;let them even be taken in their pride; in their city and temple, of which they boasted, and prided themselves in; and so they were: or for their pride in rejecting the Messiah, because of his mean descent and parentage, and because his kingdom was not with outward pomp and observation; and being vain boasters of their carnal privileges, and works of righteousness, they refused to submit to the righteousness of God, and were neither subject to the law of God, nor to the Gospel of Christ;and for cursing and lying [which] they speak; for cursing the Messiah, pronouncing him accursed, and treating him as such, by hanging him on a tree; and for lying against him, saying that he was a Samaritan, and had a devil, and cast out devils by Beelzebub; and that he was a deceiver of the people, and a wicked man: for these things they were taken in their besieged city, as is here imprecated.{y} So Gejerus, Schmidt. Psalms 59:13Ver. 13. Consume [them] in wrath, consume [them],.... The repetition of the request shows the ardour and vehemency of the mind of the petitioner, and the importunity in which he put up the petition; and suggests that the persons designed were guilty of very great sins, deserving of the wrath of God, and which came upon them to the uttermost, 1Th 2:16;that they [may] not [be]; either any more in the land of the living; be utterly extinct, having no being in this world, Jer 31:15; or that they might not be in the glory and grandeur, in the honour, dignity, and felicity, they once were in; which best suits the present state of the Jews; and this sense better agrees with what follows;and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth; this is to be understood of the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed for ever, and is the ruler in Israel, King of saints; reigns over the house of Jacob, in his church, and among his people, wherever they are; even to the ends of the earth, where he has had, or will have, some that are subject to him: for his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, Ps 72:8; and this his government is known to men good and bad, by the judgments which he executeth; and particularly it is apparent that he is made Lord and Christ, and that he is come in his kingdom, and with power, by the vengeance taken on the Jewish nation.Selah; on this word, See Gill on "Ps 3:2". Psalms 59:14Ver. 14. And at evening let them return; [and] let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. What in Ps 59:6 is related as matter of fact, is here expressed by way of imprecation; and what is there taken notice of as their sin, is here wished for at their punishment; unless it can be thought that this should refer to the conversion and return of the Jews in the evening of the world, and to their humiliation and mourning for piercing Christ, and to their very distressed and uncomfortable condition they will be in, until they have satisfaction that their sins are forgiven them; See Gill on "Ps 59:6". Psalms 59:15Ver. 15. Let them wander up and down for meat,.... Like hungry dogs;and grudge if they be not satisfied; or murmur and howl as dogs when hungry, and can find nothing to eat; or "when they shall not be satisfied, and shall lodge" {z}; when they shall get nothing to satisfy their hungry appetite, and shall go to bed without a supper, and lie all night without food. The Targum is,"they shall wander about to seize the prey to eat, and will not rest till the are satisfied, and will lie all night;''that is, in quest of prey.{z} wnylyw "nec satiati cubabunt", Tigurine version; "famelici pernoctabunt", Michaelis. Psalms 59:16Ver. 16. But I will sing of thy power,.... In creating all things out of nothing; in upholding all things in being; in the redemption of his people; in their conversion and calling; in the preservation of them to eternal happiness; in the performance of his promises to them; in the destruction of their enemies; and in their protection:yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning; of providential mercies, which are new every morning; and of special mercy in the heart of God, in the covenant of his grace, in redemption, in regeneration, in the pardon of sin, and in eternal life and salvation;for thou hast been my defence; See Gill on "Ps 59:9";and refuge in the day of my trouble; whither he fled, and found protection and safety; See Gill on "Ps 9:9". Psalms 59:17Ver. 17. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing,.... That is, to God, whom he made his strength, and put his trust in for strength, and from whom he received it; and he therefore determined to sing praise to him for it, and give him the glory of it;for God [is] my defence: as before in Ps 59:9;[and] the God of my mercy; See Gill on "Ps 59:10".
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.