Text -- Psalms 59:11-17 (NET)

59:11 Do not strike them dead suddenly, because then my people might forget the lesson. Use your power to make them homeless vagabonds and then bring them down, O Lord who shields us! 59:12 They speak sinful words. So let them be trapped by their own pride and by the curses and lies they speak! 59:13 Angrily wipe them out! Wipe them out so they vanish! Let them know that God rules in Jacob and to the ends of the earth! (Selah) 59:14 They return in the evening; they growl like a dog and prowl around outside the city. 59:15 They wander around looking for something to eat; they refuse to sleep until they are full. 59:16 As for me, I will sing about your strength; I will praise your loyal love in the morning. For you are my refuge and my place of shelter when I face trouble. 59:17 You are my source of strength! I will sing praises to you! For God is my refuge, the God who loves me.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 59:11

¹ tn Heb “do not kill them, lest my people forget.”

sn My people might forget the lesson. Swift, sudden destruction might be quickly forgotten. The psalmist wants God’s judgment to be prolonged so that it might be a continual reminder of divine justice.

² tn Heb “make them roam around by your strength and bring them down, O our shield, the Lord.”

NET Notes: Psa 59:12

¹ tn Heb “the sin of their mouth [is] the word of their lips.”

NET Notes: Psa 59:14

¹ tn Or “howl”; or “bark.”

² tn Heb “go around.”

NET Notes: Psa 59:15

¹ tn Heb “if they are not full, they stay through the night.”

NET Notes: Psa 59:16

¹ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

² tn Heb “and my shelter in the day of my distress.”

NET Notes: Psa 59:17

¹ tn Heb “my strength, to you I will sing praises.”

² tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

³ tn Heb “the God of my loyal love.”