Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 59
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 59
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 59
"Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: Set me on high from them that rise up against me." — Psalms 59:1 (ASV)
Defend me. —Literally, set me on high, i.e., place me on some lofty and secure height.
"For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul; The mighty gather themselves together against me: Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah." — Psalms 59:3 (ASV)
For, lo, they lie in wait ... —Better, for look, they have laid an ambush.
Mighty. —Perhaps with the idea of insolence in their strength.
Not for my transgression ... —Better, Without transgression or fault of mine, as in next verse.
"They run and prepare themselves without [my] fault: Awake thou to help me, and behold." — Psalms 59:4 (ASV)
They run and prepare. —These words might both be taken in a military sense. For “run,” see Psalms 18:29; Job 15:26; Job 16:14.
Help me. —Literally, as in margin, meet. It is found in a hostile sense, and never in the sense of helping. A suggested emendation, “Awake to my calling, and behold,” removes the difficulty.
"Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel, Arise to visit all the nations: Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah" — Psalms 59:5 (ASV)
Therefore ... —Better, Yea, even Thou ... Not only is there an emphatic “thou,” but the passion of prayer cannot exhaust itself without accumulating all the customary names of the Divine Being.
God of Israel. —This is added so emphatically because of the “heathen,” against whom aid is invoked.
All the heathen ... wicked transgressors. —These two terms are not synonymous, but contrasted. There were not only foreign, but domestic foes, namely, the party who, pretending to be loyal Israelites, were yet intriguing with the foreigners. The literal “coverers of wickedness” implies concealment and treachery.
"They return at evening, they howl like a dog, And go round about the city." — Psalms 59:6 (ASV)
A dog. —This comparison to the gaunt, half-starved wild dogs of an Eastern town has met us before (Psalms 22:16). The verbs should be rendered as futures here and in Psalm 59:15.
Make a noise. —Better, howl. (See Note, Psalms 55:7.) An English traveller has described the noise made by the dogs of Constantinople: “The noise I heard then I shall never forget. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down below me at Tophane; over about Stamboul; far away at Scutari; the whole 60,000 dogs that are said to overrun Constantinople appeared engaged in the most active extermination of each other without a moment’s cessation. The yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling were all merged into one uniform and continuous, even sound” (Albert Smith, A Month at Constantinople, quoted from Spurgeon’s Treasury of David).
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