Psalm 59:1 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.
A Man with Enemies Needs God
Any life worth living is going to be a life that is going to be contested. It is going to be a life with enemies. Not that we should seek these, but the only way to avoid having enemies is to say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.
David was not that kind of person. So, David had enemies, including Saul. In Psalm 59:1 David says, “Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.” A man who has enemies needs God. Notice the possessive pronouns here, “my enemies” and “my God.” Ultimately, God is the only enemy you cannot afford to have. Sometimes we look at all the evil in this world and we shudder when we think about where that puts us. When God owns you, He owns your enemies. When God owns you, He owns everything else, and that is exactly what David realized in Psalm 59.
In the rest of the psalm David is basically giving his enemies to God. He says, “Awake to help me.” He says, “Bring them down, O Lord our shield.” He says, “Consume them.” This is about God’s actions and not David’s. The action David took was prayer. The action that God took was to take care of David’s enemies. That is why the psalm ends with David saying in verse 16, “But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou has been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.”
David asked God to watch over him, protect him, and take care of his enemies. His enemies, of course, had been busy pursuing him, but David was waiting on God and singing of God’s power.
You shouldn’t seek enemies, but you may have them. You may have enemies, but you are alright if you also have God.