Verses 10-13. - The enemies are still the main subject. Their pride, their cursing, their lying, are denounced (ver. 12). The psalmist trusts to "see his desire" upon them (ver. 10). First he begs that they may not be slain, but only "scattered abroad," so that they may remain as examples of God's vengeance for the warning of others (ver. 11). Then, forgetting this wish, he pleads for their capture and their utter destruction, without which God's glory will not be fully vindicated (vers. 12, 13). Verse 10. - The God of my mercy shall prevent me; or, according to another reading, God with his mercy shall prevent (i.e. anticipate) me. God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies (comp. Psalm 54:7).
59:8-17 It is our wisdom and duty, in times of danger and difficulty, to wait upon God; for he is our defence, in whom we shall be safe. It is very comfortable to us, in prayer, to look to God as the God of our mercy, the Author of all good in us, and the Giver of all good to us. The wicked can never be satisfied, which is the greatest misery in a poor condition. A contented man, if he has not what he would have, yet he does not quarrel with Providence, nor fret within himself. It is not poverty, but discontent that makes a man unhappy. David would praise God because he had many times, and all along, found Him his refuge in the day of trouble. He that is all this to us, is certainly worthy of our best affections, praises, and services. The trials of his people will end in joy and praise. When the night of affliction is over, they will sing of the Lord's power and mercy in the morning. Let believers now, in assured faith and hope, praise Him for those mercies, for which they will rejoice and praise him for ever.
The God of my mercy shall prevent me,.... Or "of my grace", or "goodness", as the Targum; see 1 Peter 5:10. God is gracious in himself, and he has treasured up a fulness of grace in Christ: he is the donor of all the blessings of grace in the covenant; and the author of all internal grace in the hearts of his people; and who supplies them with more grace as they want it; and he is the Father of all temporal and spiritual mercies. The "Cetib", or writing, is "his mercy"; the "Keri", or reading, is "my mercy"; grace or mercy is the Lord's; it is his own, which he disposes of as he pleases; being given and applied, it is the believer's; all the grace and mercy in the heart of God, in his Son, and in his covenant, is the saints', which he keeps for them with Christ for evermore; "the God of my mercy", or "grace", is the same with "my merciful", or "my gracious God"; who goes before his people, as he does the Messiah, with the blessings of his goodness, Psalm 21:3. It may be rendered, "hath came before me"; and denote the antiquity of his love, being before his people's to him, and the early provisions of his grace and mercy for them: or "doth prevent me": expressing the freeness of it; he not waiting for any duties, services, or conditions to be performed, but bestows his grace and mercy, notwithstanding much unworthiness: or "shall come before me"; designing the seasonable and timely application of mercy come before his fears, as it sometimes does the prayers of his people, Isaiah 65:24;
God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies; expressed in the following verses, Psalm 59:11; or "vengeance upon them"; as the Targum paraphrases it; see Psalm 58:10.
See my desire.--See Note, Psalm 54:7. (Comp. Psalm 92:11.)
God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies; expressed in the following verses, Psalm 59:11; or "vengeance upon them"; as the Targum paraphrases it; see Psalm 58:10.