Stand By Me – Psalm 59
Ben E. King was a souls singer from the 60s and 70s and is best known for a song entitled “Stand by Me.” It is interesting that this song was based on a Gospel song written in 1905 by a Protestant preacher named Charles Albert Tindley. That song may be familiar to you as it begins, “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me…”
These same sentiments are expressed by David in Psalm 59, which I want us to study.
You will notice in the superscription of the psalm that it was written by David “when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.” That would place Psalm 59 in the context of 1 Samuel 19. When we look at 1 Samuel 19, we find that Saul is trying to kill David.
The way that our adversary, the Devil, works today is through deceit. He works in some way to get us to question and doubt the power of God, His love, His grace, His justice, His wrath, His truth in the Bible. That’s the battle we fight today, against the world forces in this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). So, even today, we call upon God to “stand by me.” Let’s look at this psalm…
STANZA ONE – THE CALL ON GOD FOR DELIVERANCE (59:1-5):
In this strophe, David calls on God for help through seven commands…
Verse 1 – Command #1 – David calls on God for deliverance. He describes these people through four expressions: 1.) His enemies, 2.) “those who rise up against me,” 3.) “those who do iniquity,” and 4.) “men of bloodshed.”
Verse 2 – Commands #2 & #3 – Deliver me. Save me. The focus of the psalm is deliverance from those who sin. In fact, David will use four different words for “sin” in this psalm: iniquity (wickedness, evil), “transgression” (vs 3; stepping beside or going beyond); “sin” (vs 3; missing the mark); and “guilt” (vs 4).
Verse 3 – This verse begins with “for,” showing the reason for the call.
The strophe contained in verses 4 & 5 has four commands…
Verse 4b – Commands #4 & #5 – Arouse yourself. See! Sometimes we feel like God is not watching, that God is not there, that He does not see.
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Commands #6 & #7. Awake. Do not be gracious. David says he’s going to leave vengeance in the hands of God. In 1 Samuel 24 and 26, God gives David a test to see if he will, in fact, leave vengeance in the hands of God. David, of course, passes the test.
STANZA TWO – DAVID’S ENEMIES VERSUS GOD – 59:6-10a:
David turns descriptive in these verses. He goes from talking to God to talking about his enemies and about God…
Verse 8 – God scoffs at the nations. The militant atheists of our day may write best-selling books and draw large crowds and laugh at the God of heaven and His Bible, but God will get the last laugh. No one mocks God with impunity.
Verse 10 – Not only is God powerful but God is also a God of “lovingkindness.” “Lovingkindness” is the grace of God. It is His commitment to be faithful to the covenant He made with man and the faithfulness that motivates God to keep that covenant despite man’s sin against the covenant. David mentions this “lovingkindness” of God here and in verses 16 & 17.
STANZA THREE – DAVID’S CALL FOR TEMPERANCE – 59:10b-13:
Verse 11 – There are three commands in this verse: Command #1 – Do not slay them. Command #2 – Scatter them by your power. Observe here the words David uses that have a military connotation. “Set me securely on high” from verse 1 is a cognate word for “stronghold” in verse 9. We also have “strength” (vs 9), “power” (vs 11) and “shield” (vs 11). Again, in verse 16, we have “strength” and “stronghold” and “refuge” and then “strength” and “stronghold” in verse 17.
STANZA FOUR – DAVID’S ENEMIES AND DAVID’S RESPONES TO GOD – 59:14-17:
The final strophe (verses 16-17) is David’s responses to God. Verse 16 – “But as for me,” is emphatic in Hebrew. What is David going to do? He will worship! He will sing of God’s strength. He will sing of God’s grace, God’s lovingkindness.
Verse 17 – David will sing praises to God. Why? Because God is his stronghold, his power. He is the God who shows David lovingkindness.
When you are in need, call on God to stand by you. He has the power to do what is right. He has the lovingkindness to do what is right.
–Paul Holland
