Read
(For the music leader. To the tune “Don't Destroy.” A special psalm by David when Saul had David's house watched so that he could kill him.)
A Prayer for Protection
1 Save me, God! Protect me
from enemy attacks!
2Keep me safe from brutal people
who want to kill me.
3Merciless enemies, Lord,
are hiding and plotting,
hoping to kill me.
I have not hurt them
in any way at all.
4But they are ready to attack.
Do something! Help me!
Look at what's happening.
5Lord God All-Powerful,
you are the God of Israel.
Punish the other nations
and don't pity those terrible
and rebellious people.
6My enemies return at evening,
growling like dogs
roaming the city.
7They curse, and their words
cut like swords,
as they say to themselves,
“No one can hear us!”
8You, Lord, laugh at them
and sneer at the nations.
9You are my mighty fortress,
and I depend on you.
10You love me and will let me
see my enemies defeated.
11Don't kill them,
or everyone may forget!
Just use your mighty power
to make them tremble
and fall.
You are a shield
for your people.
12My enemies are liars!
So let them be trapped
by their boastful lies.
13Get angry and destroy them.
Leave them in ruin.
Then all the nations will know
that you rule in Israel.
14Those liars return at evening,
growling like dogs
roaming the city.
15They search for scraps of food,
and they snarl
until they are stuffed.
16But I will sing about
your strength, my God,
and I will celebrate
because of your love.
You are my fortress,
my place of protection
in times of trouble.
17I will sing your praises!
You are my mighty fortress,
and you love me.
Reflect
Psalm 59 is one of more than 70 psalms attributed to David, but one of only about a dozen that refer to specific occasions or circumstances in David’s story. The Bible tells us this is “a special psalm of David when Saul had David’s house watched so that he could kill him.” It was a desperate situation; David’s life was at stake, and we hear the distraught words ascribed to the one-day king of Israel.
“Save me, God! Protect me … Keep me safe!” he cries out to his Lord in verses 1 and 2.
Have you ever felt that kind of distress? Like you’re dangling precariously at the edge of some terrible precipice, about to go over at any moment? Your strength is waning. You’ve exhausted your own resources. Overwhelmed with urgency and despair, you want God to see your great need, to take notice, to swoop in and make every wrong thing right again.
And just in case we think God hasn’t noticed, then like David in verse 3, we might point out the injustice of our situation, and plead with God to take control.
“Do something! Help me! Look at what’s happening!”
For Christians—accustomed to hearing about the necessity of loving our enemies—the psalmist’s request that God punish his persecutors can fall harshly on our ears. But praying for the destruction of the wicked is really just an appeal to the justice of God.
The fact that such authentic prayers compose our Scriptures is reassurance that God can be trusted with our honesty. We need not be afraid to pour out our hearts before the King of the Universe.
Then, like David, we too may celebrate God as our “place of protection in times of trouble,” confident of his strength and love.
Respond
Eternal God, you are the One who sees. You see the circumstances of our lives, and into our innermost thoughts. Grant me your peace when I face the tumult, so that I might serve you well all the days of my life. For I ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Patricia Paddey
Patricia Paddey has worked with Canada’s mainstream media in positions at the CBC, CTV and The CNW Group. Since 1998, she has managed a thriving freelance business, creating print, broadcast and online content for Christian media and non-profit organizations. An award-winning writer, she has been published in a wide array of Canadian publications. With an undergraduate degree in Radio and Television Arts, she is pursuing an Master of Theological Studies part-time, and works as Director of Communications for Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto.