Homilist Psalm 59:1-17 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.… I. THE ENMITY OF MAN TOWARDS MAN. 1. From the description that David here gives of his enemies, we learn that — (1) They hated him with a deadly hate. They sought nothing less than his life; they were "bloody men."(2) They hated him without a cause. "Without my fault."(3) They hated him with furious rage. They are represented as furious beasts of prey, as ravenous dogs, as malignant slanderers, whose words are cutting as a "sword," from whose mouth belches the lava of abuse. (4) They hated him with persistent effort. They watch in the day, wait in ambush, return at night, and thus on until their fiendish purposes are attained. 2. The fact that men are thus enemies to men — (1) Argues human apostasy. At some time or other there has happened in human life a moral earthquake which has riven the social body into pieces. (2) Reveals the need of Christ. He reconciles man to man by reconciling all men to God. II. THE APPEAL OF SELFISHNESS TO HEAVEN. What merit is there in such a prayer as this? Can it ever meet acceptance with that God who willeth not the death of a sinner, and who is not "willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"? III. THE CONFIDENCE OF PIETY IN GOD. Despite all the imperfections of David's character, the root of the matter was in him. "I will sing aloud of thy mercy," etc. Perfection of character is only gradually reached. "The acorn," it has been said, "does not become an oak in a day; the ripened scholar was not made such by a single lesson; the well-trained soldier was not a raw recruit yesterday; it is not one touch of the artist's pencil that produces a finished painting; there are always months between seed-time and harvest; even so, the path of the just is like the 'shining light' which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.} Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.WEB: Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me. |
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