3For strangers have risen against me
         And violent men have sought my life;
         They have not set God before them.

4Behold, God is my helper;
         The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

5He will recompense the evil to my foes;
         Destroy them in Your faithfulness.

6Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
         I will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

7For He has delivered me from all trouble,
         And my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
O God, hear my prayer, and open your ears to the words from my mouth.

King James Bible
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.

Darby Bible Translation
O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

English Revised Version
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

Webster's Bible Translation
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

World English Bible
Hear my prayer, God. Listen to the words of my mouth.

Young's Literal Translation
O God, hear my prayer, Give ear to the sayings of my mouth,

Cross References

Psalm 5:1 For the choir director; for flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my groaning.

Psalm 17:6 I have called upon You, for You will answer me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.

Psalm 55:1 For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 54

The key of this psalm hangs at the door, for the title tells us upon what occasion it was penned-when the inhabitants of Ziph, men of Judah (types of Judas the traitor), betrayed David to Saul, by informing him where he was and putting him in a way how to seize him. This they did twice (1 Sa. 23:19; 26:1), and it is upon record to their everlasting infamy. The psalm is sweet; the former part of it, perhaps, was meditated when he was in his distress and put into writing when the danger was over, with the addition of the last two verses, which express his thankfulness for the deliverance, which yet might be written in faith, even when he was in the midst of his fright. Here, I. He complains to God of the malice of his enemies, and prays for help against them (v. 1-3). II. He comforts himself with an assurance of the divine favour and protection, and that, in due time, his enemies should be confounded and be delivered (v. 4-7). What time we are in distress we may comfortable sing this psalm.

To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil. A psalm of David, when the Ziphim came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

Verses 1-3

We may observe here, 1. The great distress that David was now in, which the title gives an account of. The Ziphim came of their own accord, and informed Saul where David was, with a promise to deliver him into his hand. One would have thought that when David had retired into the country he would not be pursued, into a desert country he would not be discovered, and into his own country he would not be betrayed; and yet it seems he was. Never let a good man expect to be safe an easy till he comes to heaven. How treacherous, how officious, were these Ziphim! It is well that God is faithful, for men are not to be trusted, Mic. 7:5. 2. His prayer to God for succour and deliverance, v. 1, 2. He appeals to God's strength, by which he was able to help him, and to his name, by which he was engaged to help him, and begs he would save him from his enemies and judge him, that is, plead his cause and judge for him. David has no other plea to depend upon than God's name, no other power to depend upon than God's strength, and those he makes his refuge and confidence. This would be the effectual answer of his prayers (v. 2), which even in his flight, when he had not opportunity for solemn address to God, he was ever and anon lifting up to heaven: Hear my prayer, which comes from my heart, and give ear to the words of my mouth. 3. His plea, which is taken from the character of his enemies, v. 3. (1.) They are strangers; such were the Ziphites, unworthy the name of Israelites. "They have used me more basely and barbarously than the Philistines themselves would have done." The worst treatment may be expected from those who, having broken through the bonds of relation and alliance, make themselves strangers. (2.) They are oppressors; such was Saul, who, as a king, should have used his power for the protection of all his good subjects, but abused it for their destruction. Nothing is so grievous as oppression in the seat of judgment, Eccl. 3:16. Paul's greatest perils were by his own countrymen and by false brethren (2 Co. 11:26), and so were David's. (3.) They were very formidable and threatening; they not only hated him and wished him ill, but they rose up against him in a body, joining their power to do him a mischief. (4.) They were very spiteful and malicious: They seek after my soul; they hunt for the precious life; no less will satisfy them. We may, in faith, pray that God would not by his providence give success, lest it should look like giving countenance, to such cruel bloody men. (5.) They were very profane and atheistical, and, for this reason, he thought God was concerned in honour to appear against them: They have not set God before them, that is, they have quite cast off the thoughts of God; they do not consider that his eye is upon them, that, in fighting against his people, they fight against him, nor have they any dread of the certain fatal consequences of such an unequal engagement. Note, From those who do not set God before them no good is to be expected; nay, what wickedness will not such men be guilty of? What bonds of nature, or friendship, or gratitude, or covenant, will hold those that have broken through the fear of God? Selah-Mark this. Let us all be sure to set God before us at all times; for, if we do not we are in danger of becoming desperate.

Calvin's Commentary

1. Save me, O God! by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. 2. Hear my prayer, O God! give ear to the words of my mouth. 3. For strangers are risen up against me, and the terrible ones have sought after my soul they have not set God before them. Selah.

1. Save me, O God! As David was at this time placed beyond the reach of human assistance, he must be understood as praying to be saved by the name and the power of God, In an emphatical sense, or by these in contradistinction to the usual means of deliverance. Though all help must ultimately come from God, there are ordinary methods by which he generally extends it. When these fail, and every earthly stay is removed, he must then take the work into his own hands. It was in such a situation that David here fled to the saints' last asylum, and sought to be saved by a miracle of divine power. By appealing, in the second part of the verse, to God as his judge, he asserts his uprightness. And it must strike us all, that in asking the divine protection it is indispensably prerequisite we should be convinced of the goodness of our cause, as it would argue the greatest profanity in any to expect that God should patronise iniquity. David was encouraged to pray for deliverance by the goodness of his cause and his consciousness of integrity; nor did he entertain a single doubt, that on representing this to God he would act the part of his defender, and punish the cruelty and treachery of his enemies.

2. Hear my prayer, O God! The language is expressive of his earnestness. He was led to this fervor of supplication by the extremity of his present circumstances, which is alluded to in the following verse, where he complains of being surrounded by men fierce, barbarous, and unrestrained by a sense of religion. There was no necessity for his informing God of a fact which was already known to him; but he disburdens his own heart by venting the cause of his fear and disquietude. By calling his enemies strangers, [288] he seems to refer to their barbarity, whether he applied the name to the Ziphites only, or, in general, to the whole army of Saul. Others consider him, in this term, to advert to their degeneracy as children of Abraham; and it is true that the Jews are repeatedly stigmatised by the prophets under this form of expression, when they had cast themselves out of the Church of God by their profligacy or impiety. But in this passage it seems to be used in a different sense. As even enemies are accustomed, in some measure, to respect the ties of kindred and relationship, David would point out to us the monstrous inhumanity of the men who now surrounded him, by the fact that they assaulted him as strangers, as persons who had never known him, or as if he had been born in some distant part of the world. He calls them, also, terrible ones, [289] not mighty, or powerful ones, as some have rendered the word; for that falls short of the meaning intended by David, which was, that they were divested of all humanity, and ready to rush upon him like wild beasts. Hence the fear with which he resorted to the protection of God. He adds, that they sought after his soul, to denote that nothing would content their insatiable cruelty but his life. And the better to express the unbridled nature of their fury, he tells us that they had no respect to God. The only thing which could be supposed, in the circumstances, to act as a restraint upon their minds, was the consideration of there being a judge in heaven to whom they were amenable for their conduct; and being insensible to this, what moderation could be expected of them?

Footnotes:

[288] For zrym, zairim, strangers, upwards of twenty MSS. have zdym, zoidim, the proud; and this is the sense given by the Chaldee Paraphrast. As the Ziphites were Jews, and of the same tribe with David, (Joshua 15:24,) and therefore not, strictly speaking, "strangers," some think that the proud is the true reading. But the Ziphites, as our Author justly observes, may be called "strangers," because they acted towards David the part of strangers and enemies, in seeking to deliver him into the hands of his unjust and cruel persecutor, Saul.

[289] Ainsworth reads, "Daunting tyrants." "Terrible dismayers, as Saul and his retinue, whose terror daunted many. See Psalm 10:18."

Links

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