Psalm 59 – God Triumphs over His Adversaries

Mar 15, 2026 | Pastor's Blog, Psalms

Timeless Biblical Truth.

God will destroy those who harm His innocent people

  1. Petition for deliverance: Believers may ask the LORD with confidence to give them victory over those who persecute them (1-10).
    1. Believers, who are innocent, may pray for deliverance (1-5). 1. Believers may urgently petition God for deliverance (1-2, 5). 2. Believers must not deserve persecution (3-4).
    2. Believers may rehearse the evil behavior of their enemies (6-7).
    3. Believers confess that God knows of their evil behavior and will give believers victory over them (8-10).
  2. Petition for justice: Believers ask God to deliver them and destroy the wicked thus demonstrating His sovereignty (11-15).
  3. Vow of praise: Believers vow to praise to God for His deliverance (16-17).
“How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is demanding, but simple. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.” J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 18. “‘Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all,’ said Thoreau a hundred years ago. Life is too short to waste time read-ing what is second-rate when it is possible, with the help of the many ex-cellent guides available, to steer by the stars.” Steve Barabas, Interpreting the Word of God, p. 243-244.

Questions for Second Milers

  1. What does David (i) desire for himself and (ii) on what basis (cf. 1 Sam 19: 1-18)?
  2. In what capacity does David want God to intervene to deliver him? On what basis?
  3. To what extent do you long for deliverance and vindication when you are being attacked?
  4. How does David describe his enemy? What is his relationship to them? Which of their sins does he find most damaging?
  5. Why is David so sure of that God will deliver him?
  6. Why is the obvious, but not-too-swift (the meaning of kill them not in v 11) punishment of the enemy so important to David?
  7. Summarize the characteristics of God which David praises.
  8. In what ways is God a fortress to you today?
  9. What is the theme of this psalm.
  10. Give your own short title to this psalm.

“We learn in order that we may do, and we have not truly learned until we do.” T. Norton Sterrett: How to Understand Your Bible, p. 31.

“There is no aspect of human experience that is not presented within the pages of biblical literature. It is worthy of note, too, that biblical literature shows a tendency to portray what is elemental and enduring in human ex-perience—God, nature, love, social relationships, death, evil, guilt, salvation, family life, judgment, and forgiveness.” Leland Ryken: The Literature of the Bible, p. 15.

The Bible Church of the Lakes