Psalms 59:11-13

David Points Out To God That He Is A Victim Of Slander, Lies And Cursing And Asks Him To Deal With Them Accordingly (Psalms 59:11).

We should note that what David majors on is not the power of a great enemy, but on slanderous and lying words which are being spoken against him. This indicates a local situation where he is being falsely accused. He does not want them just to be killed out of hand (something that he knows God could do), but rather to be made a public example of, an example that will never be forgotten, an example that will reveal that God rules over all nations.

Psalms 59:11

‘Do not slay them, lest my people forget,

Make them wander to and fro by your power, and bring them down, O Lord our shield.'

David had no doubt that God could simply strike his enemies down where they were. But he asks Him not to do that, for if He did it would soon be forgotten, and then His people would simply forget it. It would be a seven day wonder. What he rather wants is that they might be made to wander to and fro (compare Psalms 59:15, same verb) or be ‘scattered', by God's power, and then brought down, by the One Who is Israel's shield. Wandering to and fro would well describe a mercenary's life, but here it may be the more prosaic thought of them wandering up and down in the city in vain as they wait to seize him (Psalms 59:15), something that the people would observe and remember, laughing continually behind their backs. Both, of course, may be in mind. They were to be constantly trying, never succeeding, until God brought them down. Their presence would be a constant reminder of what Saul was like and what he had tried to do to David, and how he had failed. David seemingly at this stage did not approve of foreign mercenaries lording it in Israel. In his view they were not needed. Did Israel not have their Sovereign Lord as their shield?

‘MY people' does not necessarily indicate that David was speaking as their king. It could equally well see him as identifying himself with his fellow countrymen against all their enemies, of which these foreign mercenaries reminded him. For he sees God as Israel's shield and protector. What need then of foreign mercenaries?

Psalms 59:12

‘For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,

Let them even be taken in their pride,

And for cursing and lying which they speak.'

He now describes what his charge is against these men. They have cursed him and lied against him, and behaved haughtily towards him. So he calls for them to be called to account for the sin of their mouth and the word of their lips. They had no doubt been convinced by Saul (they would not take much convincing) of how treacherous and dangerous David was, and as such men will, they had made it openly known with cursing and swearing. They wanted it known that they had been charged to deal with the infamous David. It was from those who overheard them that Michal may have obtained her intelligence (1 Samuel 19:11).

Psalms 59:13

‘Consume them in wrath, consume them,

So that they will be no more,

And let them know that God rules in Jacob,

To the ends of the earth. [Selah'

So whilst he did not want them simply struck down immediately, leaving him still open to further attacks by Saul's men (compare 2 Kings 1:9), he did want them to be dealt with in such a way that when they were consumed, to be no more, it would let men know that it is God Who rules in Israel (Jacob), even to the ends of the earth. ‘To the ends of the earth' would suit the idea that although the mercenaries moved on to pastures new, God would reach them wherever they were. It may be that he had in mind the story of the Exodus when the delayed judgment on Pharaoh eventually led to the nations learning of the glory of YHWH. But what we should note from this is that David's great concern, even at such a time, was not so much for his own safety as for the glory of God.

Many of these men, if they survived or remained with Saul that long, would be struck down on Mount Gilboa as they sought to defend Saul (1 Samuel 31:1 ff.). And even though that did not initially fulfil David's desire (what happened on Mt Gilboa could have been seen as suggesting that God did not rule in Israel), the situation was remarkably transformed when David rose to power and finally convincingly smashed the Philistine power. God's reputation was thus finally enhanced among the nations as a consequence of the mercenaries being consumed.

‘Consume them in wrath.' He wanted them consumed by God as One Who was angry at the fact that they had lied and cursed against the anointed of YHWH (1 Samuel 16:13), and had taken up arms against him. (Something which we know he himself would never do, in spite of Saul's unforgivable treatment of him - 1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel 26:11). He considered that by attacking him they were attacking God.

‘Selah.' A further pause for thought.