May 21, 2009
WHAT IF . . .
Psalm 59
Carlos Ramirez
Central Truth
God’s purpose is bigger than my pain.
Key Verse | Psalm 59:9
You are my source of strength! I will wait for you!
For God is my refuge.
(Psalm 59:9)
Psalm 59
Deliver Me from My Enemies
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam 1 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
1
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
2
deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3
For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
4
for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5
You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
6
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think,
2
59:7
Hebrew lacks they think
“will hear us?”
8
But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
10
My God in his steadfast love
3
59:10
Or The God who shows me steadfast love
will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
11
Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter
4
59:11
Or wander
by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield!
12
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13
consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
14
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 who shows me steadfast love.
Dive Deeper | Psalm 59
David’s life was in danger. He was being hunted by men whose purpose was to kill him. So David desperately cried out to God saying: “Deliver me, protect me, rescue me, and punish.” Who did he want to see punished? Evildoers, his attackers, violent men. He even went so far as to say, “Have no mercy on any treacherous evildoers.” (Psalm 59:5) In other words, “Wipe them out.”
We know that God answered David’s prayer and rescued him from his enemies. But what if God’s deliverance looks different from our request? What if we pray, “Have no mercy on the evildoers that are after us,” and God’s answer is to offer His mercy to our enemies? What if God uses troubled times to call our enemies to Himself?
As I read through Psalm 59, I related to the psalmist. I remember when I also prayed, “Lord, wipe out my enemies.” I was asking for justice or protection, but I must admit that it felt good to seek revenge.
That’s the story of my own family when four close relatives were kidnapped and then brutally killed. In my anguish, I prayed for God’s justice. He answered, but not as I had hoped, and I wrestled with that. Yes, the perpetrator was arrested and imprisoned. But God chose to extend His grace to the man who murdered my family. While in jail, he became a devoted believer. The man who killed people I loved! So I had a choice to make. Could I accept that God’s grace is for all sinners (including our worst enemies)? It took some time, but I chose to forgive. In doing so, I experienced even more healing as I trusted Him as never before.
Sometimes, our enemies are people. But we have other adversaries, too. Today, I also pray for protection from such attackers. Enemies like pride, selfishness, unforgivingness, fear, and passivity. Issues of my heart. My desire is that I will be just as fervent in my prayers for God to “wipe out” these enemies that are obstacles to my intimacy with Him.
Discussion Questions
1. Who or what are your enemies today?
2. When was the last time that you prayed for someone who hurt you deeply?
3. When you don’t like God's answers, will you begin to look for a bigger purpose that He has in your life?