Chapter Fifty-Nine

In Ps 59:2 the occasion for the composition of the psalm is indicated—the campaign of Joab, David’s commander, against the Edomites, which ended with their defeat. This campaign took place after the end of the first war with the Syrians in the north (2 Sam 8:1-16), during which the Edomites, taking advantage of the defenselessness of the southern borders of Judah, produced complete devastation there. David was grieved by this event and wrote the psalm, which fully corresponds both to the situation of his military operations at that time and to the future state of affairs.

O God, You have cast us off, You have sent upon the people a cruel trial (3–5). Gather and inspire again those who fear You and deliver them (6–8). David is confident of his victory over enemies, the Moabites and Edomites submit to him by divine revelation, and the Lord Himself will lead him to their capital, with whom David will bring low all his enemies (9–14).

Psalm 59:4. You have made the earth quake; You have split it open: heal its fractures, for it shakes. The attacks of the Edomites on the southern borders of Judah are depicted by David as a “quaking of the earth,” its shaking, that is, as a threat and danger to the very existence of Judah in the sense of an independent political entity. These concerns are not an exaggeration. War in the north and the concentration of all military forces for the struggle with the Syrians opened a free passage to the Edomites up to Jerusalem, which was only two days’ journey from the borders of Edom. An unobstructed movement of the Edomites to the north would have compressed David’s army: on one side stood the forces of the Syrians, and from behind came the forces of the Edomites. The danger was great, and with the possible destruction of David’s army it threatened the political independence of the entire Hebrew people.

Psalm 59:5. You have given Your people a hard test; You have made us drink wine that makes us stagger. “You have made us drink wine that makes us stagger”—wine mixed with intoxicating substances that produce dizziness. David expresses here the feeling of amazement at the events taking place, which seemed to testify to the abandonment of the Hebrews by God.

Psalm 59:6. Give to those who fear You a banner, that they may rally to it because of the truth, “Give a banner.” The comparison is taken from military operations when a raised banner gathers around it defenders, concentrates strength, and a fallen banner means defeat. The meaning of the expression is: inspire and gather the defenders of the people against the Edomites. “For the sake of truth”—for the restoration of the true, correct, assured existence of the Hebrew kingdom.

Psalm 59:8. God has spoken in His sanctuary: “I will triumph; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth: “God spoke in His sanctuary.” Probably the revelation is meant which David received from the Lord in the temple through the urim and thummim of the high priest. The following words: “I will triumph, I will divide” and so on belong to David and indicate that under the influence of this revelation there arose in him boldness and faith in victory over his enemies. These words cannot be referred to God, for all their content speaks of military victory and political predominance over enemies, which is not characteristic of God and in which He has no need (see especially verses 10, 11, 12). “Shechem” (modern Nablus) was located in the center of the trans-Jordan Palestine, and the Valley of Succoth was in the Jordan valley.

Psalm 59:9. Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is the strength of my head, Judah is my scepter, Gilead (the tribes of Reuben and Gad) was the trans-Jordan part of Palestine, Manasseh (the tribe of Manasseh) was located there as well; Ephraim’s tribe is called “the strength of my head” for its preponderant influence in Judea because of its numerical superiority; “Judah is my scepter” because kings of the Hebrew people were chosen from it. The two latter tribes were in the cis-Jordan region—the first tribes were in the north of Palestine, the latter in the south. Thus here are indicated all the boundaries of Palestine and the then kingdom of Judah, to show the firmness of the kingdom of Judah and the fruitlessness of enemy attacks.

Psalm 59:10. Moab is my washbasin; over Edom I will cast my shoe. Shout to me, O land of the Philistines! Moreover, David’s authority will expand through the subjugation and conquest of the Moabites and through victory over the Edomites, actually soon won by David (2 Sam 8:2; 1 Chr 18:1-6) in the Salt Valley. “Moab is my washbasin”—a basin used for washing the feet of travelers. The expression shows that the Moabites will occupy a subordinate, servile position in relation to the Hebrews, which came to pass: they were forced to pay tribute to the Hebrews after their defeat. “I will cast my shoe over Edom.” To cast a shoe means to trample; the Edomites were defeated by Joab and trampled, humiliated. “Shout to me, O land of the Philistines!”—greet me as your master, and may the land of the Philistines. The greeting of the defeated by the victor could soften their fate. Many wars of David with neighboring peoples ended with victories, and this was true in the struggle with the Philistines.

Psalm 59:11. Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Psalm 59:12. Is it not You, O God, who have cast us off, and do You not go forth, O God, with our armies? The same Lord who has now cast off the Hebrews will lead David against the Edomites, and this means victory is his.

Psalm 59:14. With God we will accomplish mighty deeds; He will tread down our enemies. “With God we will accomplish mighty deeds”—David’s strength lies not in his military skill but in God’s favor and protection of him.