Psalm 59:1-5 - "Awake

Awake to help me, and behold! You therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah Many Bible scholars believe that Psalm 59 is possibly one of the first psalms that David wrote. From the title we know that David was the writer and that he intended for it to be used as a song of worship in the temple. It is interesting to remember that David was no doubt a poet and he would express his thoughts, his feelings, and the emotions of his heart in writing these poems. Most of David’s psalms were born out of the times of tremendous trials and adversity that he faced in his life. Many of the hymns and praise songs we sing in our church services today are from the musicians and writers’ heartbreak and life experiences. Psalm 59 is also another "destroy not" Psalm of David. When he gives us this statement in one of his titles, David is reminding us that the person God preserves Satan cannot destroy. The historical background to Psalm 59 comes from 1 Samuel 19, which begins with King Saul telling his men to kill David. But David always seemed to find a friend to help him when his case was peculiarly dangerous. On this occasion that friend was from his enemy's household.  It was Michal, Saul's daughter, who also had become his wife. On former occasions it had been Jonathan, Saul's son. God has amazing ways of caring for us! Psalm 59 is a Michtam psalm, which means it is one that is written to be engraven in the mind and memory, in the heart and life. God used David to write at least half of the psalms. Even though David is the writer, writing them out of his life experiences, God is the author who inspires David to write them to be a part of His Holy inspired, infallible Word!  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Apostle Paul also tells us in Romans 15:4: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” David expressed his grief, his pain, his feelings of rejection, his heartaches, his troubles and trials to the LORD in his poems, which for the most part are prayers. So often instead of praying, we are complaining, groaning and telling everyone else about our trouble and pain. The focus of Psalm 59 is on God Who is the Deliverer (vv. 1-9), and Who is the Judge (vv. 10-17). We should note David's repeated "statement of faith" in verses 9 and 17. David waited and watched for God to work, and then he sang praises to the Lord for His mercies. God's people can always turn to the Lord for deliverance in times of danger and testing because He hears our prayers (vv. 1-2). "Defend me" means "set me on high," for David saw the Lord as his fortress and high tower (Psalms18:2; 20:1; 46:7, 11; 91:14). However, David's prayer wasn't a substitute for action, for "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). Michel's warning and immediate action saved his life, and her use of the "dummy" in the bed helped to buy time for her husband to get to Samuel in Ramah. But it was the Lord who answered prayer and orchestrated the escape. The Lord also knows our hearts (vv. 3-4) and recognized that David was innocent of the charges Saul's men were making against him (Psalm 7:1-5; see 1 Samuel 20:1 and 24:11).  No doubt, there is a place and time to share our hearts with those that we believe the Lord puts in our lives during our trials to comfort and help us, and who will encourage us. But first, like David, we should learn to take our burdens to the LORD and find from the Scriptures patience and comfort, and that will give us the hope we need. Who knows how the Lord might then use us to be a blessing to others because of the testimony of His grace that we experienced in the time of our need! God bless!