NOTES for Psa 59

Hounded, harried, and persecuted by his enemies, a man cries out to God for protection and for the punishment of the lawless. We have encountered such a cry of despair many times, and it might seem that here too we see something similar. Yet here we see new features breaking through what has already become familiar.

First of all, the psalmist does not ask for the enemies to be destroyed; he asks only that they be scattered. Of course, in his dreams of the enemies wandering hungry, the desire for revenge is no less evident, but even such a disposition is a step toward softening the established treatment of enemies in those days. Moreover, in calling upon the Lord to visit all nations and destroy the wicked among them, the psalmist—accustomed to viewing the Gentiles as enemies—nevertheless does not call for the wholesale destruction of the nations themselves.

The Gentiles are still powerful, and the psalmist does not forget this, but their earthly strength is nothing beside the strength given by the Lord. It is He who makes strong those who take refuge in Him.