Psalm 59:1-7 “For the Chief Musician. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy.’ A poem by David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men. For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, LORD. I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me! You, LORD God of Armies, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah. They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city. Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, “For”, they say, “who hears us?”

Apparently “Do Not Destroy” is a versatile tune! This Psalm is connected to a particular event in David’s life:

1 Samuel 19:11 “Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.’ “

When we’re wronged and hurting we need to turn to God. Although the enemies here are physical, that isn’t always the case. We can also fight against anger, depression, frustration or grief. We need God’s help to face all of our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional enemies. We definitely need God’s help to overcome them! We pray, we read, we cry out, we seek help. It doesn’t matter if we feel weak or if they believe they are stronger. God will help us if we turn to him!

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…”

For additional worship: Psalm 59 “God is My Defense” (Ester Mui)

Psalm 58:7-11 “Let them vanish like water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt. Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun. Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike. The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men shall say, ‘Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.’ ”

It is probably worth noting that these types of Psalms assume that the wicked are unrepentant, and therefore fully deserve the Lord’s wrath. God’s mercy is always available, but there are many who refuse it. Indeed, there are those who continually rebel against God, His Word, and His servants. We understand that, although they may appear to be getting away with their rebellion in this life, there is a reckoning coming: “Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

Matthew 25:31-33 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.”

For additional worship: The Lord Is (Ross King)

Psalm 58:1-6 “For the Chief Musician. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy.’ A poem by David. Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men? No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth. The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skilful the charmer may be. Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, LORD.“

What do we do when we feel that our leaders are being unjust? We cry out to God and ask Him to intervene. And we see here a wonderfully poetic description of those whose hearts are hardened toward God and His Word. They are snakes with poisonous fangs who won’t respond to the charmer, or lions that can devour with their teeth. While we often feel that we shouldn’t pray these types of prayers because they seem so violent, perhaps we simply have too great a tolerance for wickedness and ungodliness. After all, we aren’t engaging in personal violence and vengeance with such prayers. We’re asking God for justice.

Romans 12:19 “Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, ‘Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.’ ”

For additional worship: Psalm 58 (Isaac Watts)

Judges, who rule the world by laws,
will you despise the righteous cause,
when in your court poor victims stand?
Dare you condemn the righteous poor,
and let rich crooks escape secure,
while gold and greatness bribe your hand?

Have you forgot, or never knew
that God will judge the judges too?
High in the heav’ns his justice reigns;
yet you invade the rights of God
and send your bold decrees abroad,
to bind the conscience in your chains.

A poisoned arrow is your tongue,
the arrow sharp, the poison strong,
and death attends where’er it wounds:
you hear no counsels, cries, or tears,
just as the cobra stops her ears
against the pow’r of charming sounds.

Break out their teeth, eternal God—
those teeth of lions dyed in blood—
and crush the serpents in the dust:
as empty chaff when whirlwinds rise
before the sweeping tempest flies,
so let their hopes and names be lost.

Thus shall the vengeance of the LORD
true peace and joy to saints afford,
and all that hear shall join and say,
“There is a God who rules on high,
a God who hears his children cry,
and will their suff’rings well repay.”

Psalm 57:6-11 “They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah. My heart is steadfast, God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises. Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp! I will wake up the dawn. I will give thanks to you, Lord, amongst the peoples. I will sing praises to you amongst the nations. For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies. Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.”

No matter what evil and ungodly people think, they will not win! They dig a pit and end up falling into it themselves.

Jude 14-15 “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him'”

We may face trouble for a time in this world. We may experience trouble because of other people. But it’s only for a time. We will be saved. Evil will be punished. God will be glorified! And we should praise Him because of that.

For additional worship: Immortal Invisible (Reawaken Hymns)

Psalm 57:1-5 “For the Chief Musician. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy.’ A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave. Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for my soul takes refuge in you. Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, until disaster has passed. I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me. He will send from heaven, and save me, he rebukes the one who is pursuing me. Selah. God will send out his loving kindness and his truth. My soul is amongst lions. I lie amongst those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be above all the earth!”

This may be written in response to the events in 1 Samuel 24 or 1 Samuel 22:1.

Do we have David’s confidence that God is with us when we are facing various trials? If we feel that we are surrounded by lions, who else can we turn to but God!

For additional worship: Be Exalted O God

Psalm 56:8-13 “You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book? Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this: that God is for me. In God, I will praise his word. In the LORD, I will praise his word. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.”

What a Psalm! What can man do to us? We are God’s! We are His forever! He knows our fears and our sorrows. We don’t need to be afraid. We just need to trust.

For additional worship: I Will Trust in You (Songs from the Psalms)

Psalm 56:1-7 “For the Chief Musician. To the tune of ‘Silent Dove in Distant Lands.’ A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me. My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.”

This Psalm reflects on the events in 1 Sam. 21:10–15. David asks God for protection, while expressing his trust and praising God’s Word.

Why the connection between trust in God and the praise of His Word? It’s pretty hard to trust if you don’t understand and believe in His promises!

For additional worship: Every Promise of Your Word (Keith and Kristyn Getty)

Psalm 55:16-23 “As for me, I will call on God. The LORD will save me. Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice. He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me. God, who is enthroned forever, will hear and answer them. Selah. They never change and don’t fear God. He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.”

David had a particular promise from God he could hold onto. While we don’t have those temporal promises for an earthly kingdom, we are a part of His spiritual kingdom now, with the literal kingdom yet to come! Until then we are His, and we have His promises, His presence, and His protection to trust in. Nothing can take us from Him. No-one can keep us from Him! We can cast our burdens on Him and know that He will sustain us.

Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, ‘For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

For additional worship: God is for Us (CityAlight)

Psalm 55:9-15 “Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her. Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets. For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company. Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is amongst them, in their dwelling.”

David was betrayed by both his son Absalom and his counsellor Ahithophel (2 Sam. 15:1–12; 16:15–23). He longs to have their plans confused and their betrayal punished. His experience with betrayal foreshadows Jesus’ betrayal by Judas.

Luke 22:48 “But Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?’ ”

Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man goes even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”

While we may resonate with David’s viewpoint, what if we turn it around and we’re the traitors?

For additional worship: Traitor’s Look (Michael Card)

Psalm 55:1-8 “For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David. Listen to my prayer, God. Don’t hide yourself from my supplication. Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me. My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me. I said, ‘Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest. Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.’ Selah. ‘I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.’ ”

There is an interesting reality here that isn’t readily apparent. Have you ever been in such trouble that you wished you had a shelter that you could run to and hide in? There may not be a physical shelter, but there is a spiritual shelter! We should run to God and beg Him for help when our souls are in anguish, which is what we see David doing here.

For additional worship: Sweet Hour of Prayer (Casting Crowns)