seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 54[a]For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil(b) of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?”
1 Save me, O God, by your name;
vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.
vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.
3 Arrogant foes are attacking me;
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
people without regard for God.[c]
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
people without regard for God.[c]
4 Surely God is my help;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
7 You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.
7 You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
a. Psalm 54:1 In Hebrew texts 54:1-7 is numbered 54:3-9.
b. Psalm 54:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
c. Psalm 54:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
This commentary is from the easy English site.
Saul wanted to kill David. David went to Ziph to hide from Saul. Ziph was near where David's family lived. David gave help to the people of Ziph to fight their enemies. The enemies were the Philistines. But the men of Ziph betrayed David. This means that they told Saul where David was. This was wrong because:
· David had given them help
· David was one of their tribe (a tribe is *like a big family).
A snake is an animal. In the Bible, it is often a picture of Satan. Satan is God’s great enemy. When Jesus called people "snakes", he meant that they were friends of Satan. "A snake in the grass" is an enemy that you think is a friend. The men of Ziph were like this with David.
The important word (or key word) in the psalm is name. In verse 1 we read "because of your name". This means "because of all that your name means". What does God’s name mean? It means many things, but one is that he will give help to his servants. In verses 6 and 7 we find the name again. But now it is different!
In verses 1 - 3 David is asking for help because of God’s name. In verses 4 - 7 David has received God’s help, so he *praises God’s name.
This tidbit is from the enduringword.com site.For strangers have risen up against me: David’s troubles came from the Ziphites, as noted in the title of this psalm and in 1 Samuel 23:14-24. The Ziphites were Israelis; they were even of the same tribe as David (Judah). Yet their betrayal of David was so contrary to both David and God’s cause that David could rightly refer to them as strangers, as oppressors who sought David’s life.
So David is feeling betrayed by his own people.... the king [Saul, the pretty boy from a good family] is jealous of David and wants him dead so the kings son can take the throne instead of popular David. The Ziphites.... they were loyal to Israel.... so they were loyal to the throne.... and they turned David in....
In today's lingo.... this whole song could be paraphrased into one line..... "What were they thinking Lord?"
