Psalm 54

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

1 O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

2 O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

This prayer of David originates from one of two circumstances where he was betrayed by the Ziphites. Like Doeg in Psalm 52, the Ziphites were likely motivated by their desire to gain favor with Saul, thus they betrayed Saul’s enemy David by revealing his location. It made sense politically to acquiesce to the one in power at the time, but it didn’t work out well either time. The first time, David is able to get away and although he is pursued, Saul is drawn away when he receives word of a Philistine attack elsewhere. The second time, David is able to draw Saul out into the wilderness where he has an opportunity to kill him in his sleep. So even as we read the opening verses of this prayer, we can see how God answered it affirmatively both times. David has two petitions: save/vindicate me and hear/listen to me. David had been falsely accused of being a traitor. Although he was unquestionably loyal to Saul, the king felt threatened by this popular and gifted young man, Rather than build a mutually beneficial relationship, Saul chooses to eliminate his potential rival (as is customary for fallen human beings). In the process, Davis has been falsely accused of being a traitor and he seeks the restoration of his honor from the One who is just. As long David was on the run and if he had been killed by Saul, the assumption would have been that God has spoken his justice. It was thought that when bad things happened to you it was because of God’s just judgment. In short, you must have done something to deserve it. This is why in David’s case the saving is linked with the vindicating. If David is saved from Saul’s sword it will be proof of his innocence and his reputation will be restored. This is why it is significant in the second case where the Ziphites betrayed him, David has the opportunity to kill Saul, but chooses not to. His reputation is more important than defeating his rival. He was committed to doing the honorable thing by not raising his sword against the king. He could do this because he trusted God to judge justly. Thus, he did not have to take justice into his own hands. This is how we defeat injustice -- by praying and trusting that God will do justice. Yes, we are commanded to do justice and be like our Father in that way, but when circumstances leave you powerless (like David), trust in God’s justice and vindication. Do not resort to violence. This is one of the frequent themes of the psalms. The way to achieve justice is through non-violence. 

3 For strangers [insolent men] have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah

The first step in David’s prayer is to lay the situation out before God. He has asked for salvation and vindication and this is the reason why. Strangers (referring to the Ziphites), men who do not know him and have nevertheless made wrong judgments about him, and oppressors have risen against him. For them the ends justify the means and they will stop at nothing to take his life. David is literally being hunted by men who seek to advance themselves at his expense. The key to their behavior is in the final line: “They do not set God before themselves”. First, they are not worshipers of God. They are the embodiment of the fool in Psalm 53. They have said in their hearts, “there is no God”, and so they have no value for human life (“they devour people like bread”). “Setting God before you” is another way of saying “worship Him” as one might worship an idol or anything else that they are focused on in front of themselves. The god that we worship determines our value system. Without setting a true God that is worthy of our worship before us, we place the next candidate in line, namely, ourselves. These men have become gods unto themselves and their ruthless actions are evidence of this. This verse is repeated almost identically in Psalm 86:14.

4 Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

5 He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them.

The word behold here suggests a sudden appearance or realization. In spite of the fact that enemies and strangers are rising up against me (v. 3), David says to himself, “Look, God is my helper.” This is a classic lament psalm where David requests an audience with God, lays out the problem succinctly, finds an answer to the problem, and then makes a promise to trust and worship. These verses are the answer to David’s dilemma. God is his helper and the Lord (adonai) is the one who supports his soul. The word translated life here is the Hebrew nephesh, It has a broad meaning, but includes the idea of the soul, the deepest part of a person, that part which is eternal in nature, our identity, that part of us that communes with God. When we are under threat we don’t just need help to stay alive, we need help to keep our souls alive. The Lord is our soul support. He speaks truth to our deepest parts and sustains us in the midst of our questions. David is confident of God’s forthcoming actions. Convinced that God is just, he believes God will return the evil of David’s enemies back to themselves. This is how God’s justice typically works: people who do bad things suffer negative consequences at their own hands. The evil they intend for others comes back to bite them. They dig a pit and fall into it. They set a trap for another and it springs on them. David believes that this is the way God’s moral universe works, so he prays, “In your truth (faithfulness) put an end to them.” In God’s reality, justice is always done. The perpetrator always pays a price. That price may not be paid immediately, or even in this life, but it will be paid. For those who believe in Jesus, that price is paid by God himself through the cross of Christ, and it is gratefully received by those who will accept it.  

6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

7 For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

Having reminded himself of  the helping and supportive nature of the LORD, David is confident that he will be delivered from his current situation. He vows to worship with a freewill offering, one not required by the law, but one given purely out of gratitude. These offerings were a symbolic way of expressing thanks “just because”. Furthermore, David will “give thanks to the Lord’s name”, the name representing God himself. YHWH’s name is good. This is his essential nature. This is evidenced by the way that He delivers David from every trouble so that he can triumph over his enemies, putting them to shame. It is not clear whether this psalm was written before or after David’s deliverance. The initial verses of the psalm suggest an imminent crisis, so I assume that these verses are worded from the same perspective. Verse 6 looks to the future and describes what David will do (sacrifice a freewill offering and give thanks) and verse 7 is in the past tense (God has delivered, David has looked). Even though God has yet to deliver and David has yet to triumph, David writes as if these things had already happened. So great is his confidence in the supportive nature of YHWH. When we pray we should express that same time of confidence, visualizing the answer, and acting as if the prayer were already answered. The New Testament speaks of this confidence as well in 1 John 5:14,15 -- And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. David models this truth for us and teaches us to pray with confidence. David worships and gives thanks in advance of the answer because he is confident that he has been heard, his cause is just, and God is good. Pray with confidence.