Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 54:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 54:5. He shall reward evil — Saul and his courtiers, instead of having God's approbation, shall have his curse.

Cut them off in thy truth. — Thou hast promised to save me; these have purposed to destroy me. Thy truth is engaged in my defence; they will destroy me if permitted to live: to save thy truth, and to accomplish its promises, thou must cut them off.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 52-54 Those who act treacherously

When David fled from Saul he obtained urgently needed provisions from the priests at Nob (1 Samuel 21:1-9). He was seen by Doeg, an Edomite and a servant of Saul, who reported the matter to Saul. In a typical fit of mad vengeance, Saul ordered Doeg to kill all the priests at Nob, something that Doeg was very willing to do (1 Samuel 22:6-23). On hearing of Doeg’s butchery, David wrote a poem against him, which has been preserved in the Bible as Psalms 52:0 (see heading).

David denounces Doeg for his pride, treachery and hatred of all that is good (52:1-4). Doeg will surely meet a terrible death, which good people will recognize as a just punishment from God (5-7). His impending ruin is in contrast to the fruitfulness of the believer, who lives his life in the fellowship of God and his people (8-9).

Psalms 53:0 is a repetition of Psalms 14:0 with minor adjustments. The purpose in repeating it here was probably to add further comment on the character of Doeg described in the previous psalm. For notes on the psalm see commentary on Psalms 14:0.

Psalms 54:0 also belongs to the time of David’s flight from Saul. It was written against the people of the town of Ziph, who betrayed David to Saul when they found that he was hiding in the wooded hills nearby (1 Samuel 23:19-24). David prays to God to save him and punish his enemies (54:1-5). Confident that God will hear him, he looks forward to the day when he can show his gratitude to God by sacrifice (6-7).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Behold, God is my helper: The Lord is of them that uphold my soul. He will requite the evil unto mine enemies: Destroy thou them in thy truth.”

“The Lord is of them that uphold my soul” “This is a literal rendition of the Hebrew”;H. C. Leupold, p. 420. but the thought is not that the Lord is merely one of David’s helpers, but that it is no other than God himself who supports and aids all of those helpers who are helping David. “Like a string of zeroes, our many friends stand for nothing, unless the Lord sets himself as a unit in front of them; then their number is innumerable.”Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 248. Who were David’s human helpers? They were the “six hundred men”; they were the “thirty-three mighty men”; they were “all in Israel who loved the Lord,” and who prayed to be rid of the blatant paganism of Saul.

“He will requite the evil unto mine enemies” “The center of the Psalm is God’s faithfulness; therefore right will be vindicated and enemies will be punished.”Anthony L. Ash, p. 187. Nothing is further from the Spirit of God than the foolish notion that God is never really going to punish anybody.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He shall reward evil unto mine enemies - Margin, “those that observe me.” The original word here means literally “to twist, to twist together;” then, to press together; then, to “oppress,” or to treat as an enemy. The reference here is to those who pressed upon him as enemies, or who endeavored to crush him. The idea is that God would recompense them for this conduct, or that he would deal with them as they deserved.

Cut them off in thy truth - In thy faithfulness; in thy regard for what is right. This is simply a prayer, or an expression of strong confidence, that God would deal with them as they deserved, or that he would not suffer such conduct to pass without a proper expression of his sense of the wrong. There is no evidence that David in this prayer was prompted by private or vindictive feeling.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

5.He shall reward evil unto mine enemies As the verb ישיב , yashib, may be rendered he shall cause to return, ⁽²⁹²⁾ it seems to point not only at the punishment, but the kind of punishment, which would be awarded to his enemies, in the recoiling of their wicked machinations upon their own heads. Some give an optative signification to the verb, understanding the words to express a wish or prayer; but I see no reason why it should not be taken strictly in the future tense, and imagine that David intimates his certain expectation that this favor, which he had already prayed for, would be granted. It is by no means uncommon to find the prayers of the Psalmist intersected with sentences of this kind, inserted for the purpose of stimulating his faith, as here, where he announces the general truth, that God is the righteous judge who will recompense the wicked. With the view of confirming his hopes, he adverts particularly to the truth of God; for nothing can support us in the hour of temptation, when the Divine deliverance may be long delayed, but a firm persuasion that God is true, and that he cannot deceive us by his divine promises. His confidence of obtaining his request was grounded upon the circumstance that God could no more deny his word than deny himself.

(292) French and Skinner read, “May their mischief return upon those who watch me;” and observe, “that their mischief in Hebrew is the evil, and that the meaning is, the very evil which they devised against me. Compare Psalms 7:16.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 54:1-7

Psalms 54:1-7 is to the chief musician on a stringed instrument. A prayer of David. When the Ziphims came and said to Saul, "David is hiding down in the wilderness of Ziph." And so, even as he didn't care about Doeg telling Saul where he was, neither did he care about the Ziphims. So he has a few choice words for them.

Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God; and give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers [the Ziphites] are risen up against me, and the oppressors seek after my soul: and they have not set God before them. Behold, God is my helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto my enemies: cut them off in thy truth. I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye hath seen the desire upon my enemies ( Psalms 54:1-7 ).

So David's prayer that God would honor him, and take care of his enemies. so I have learned not to seek to defend myself, but to leave my defense completely in the hands of God. Now, if you want God to defend you, then you have to just commit yourself to the hands of God and not seek to defend yourself. God is my defense. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 54

David composed this individual lament psalm after the Ziphites had told King Saul where he was hiding (1 Samuel 23:19). He expressed great confidence in God’s protection of him in it. The psalm is a fitting prayer for any believer who is maligned by others.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David was confident that God would help and sustain him. He also believed God would punish those who opposed him, and he asked God to do so. He could pray this way because what his adversaries were doing was contrary to God’s will.

"The imprecation is not vindictive but expressive of trust in divine justice. Evil must be repaid." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 391.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Confidence in God 54:4-7

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He shall reward evil unto mine enemies,.... That eyed him as Saul did; that observed his haunts, where he resorted, and who were with him, as the Ziphites did under Saul's direction; as the Word m here used for "enemies" signifies: the mischief they had devised for him, he believed, would be returned upon their own heads; the pit they digged they would fall into themselves; and the net they had spread for others their own feet would be taken in. This was true as of David's enemies, so of Christ's, the wicked Jews, who narrowly watched him to take every advantage against him;

cut them off in thy truth; root and branch, as Saul, and his family, and his courtiers, quickly were, according to the truth of promises made to David, and of threatenings unto them.

m לשררי "observatoribus meis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.   5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.   6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.   7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

      We have here the lively actings of David's faith in his prayer, by which he was assured that the issue would be comfortable, though the attempt upon him was formidable.

      I. He was sure that he had God on his side, that God took his part (Psalms 54:4; Psalms 54:4); he speaks it with an air of triumph and exultation, Behold, God is my helper. If we be for him, he is for us; and, if he be for us, we shall have such help in him that we need not fear any power engaged against us. Though men and devils aim to be our destroyers, they shall not prevail while God is our helper: The Lord is with those that uphold my soul. Compare Psalms 118:7, "The Lord taketh my part with those that help me. There are some that uphold me, and God is one of them; he is the principal one; none of them could help me if he did not help them." Every creature is that to us (and no more) that God makes it to be. He means, "The Lord is he that upholds my soul, and keeps me from tiring in my work and sinking under my burdens." He that by his providence upholds all things by his grace upholds the souls of his people. God, who will in due time save his people, does, in the mean time, sustain them and bear them up, so that the spirit he has made shall not fail before him.

      II. God taking part with him, he doubted not but his enemies should both flee and fall before him (Psalms 54:5; Psalms 54:5): "He shall reward evil unto my enemies that observe me, seeking an opportunity to do me a mischief. The evil they designed against me the righteous God will return upon their own heads." David would not render evil to them, but he knew God would: I as a deaf man heard not, for thou wilt hear. The enemies we forgive, if they repent not, God will judge; and for this reason we must not avenge ourselves, because God has said, Vengeance is mine. But he prays, Cut them off in thy truth. This is not a prayer of malice, but a prayer of faith; for it has an eye to the word of God, and only desires the performance of that. There is truth in God's threatenings as well as in his promises, and sinners that repent not will find it so to their cost.

      III. He promises to give thanks to God for all the experiences he had had of his goodness to him (Psalms 54:6; Psalms 54:6): I will sacrifice unto thee. Though sacrifices were expensive, yet, when God required that his worshippers should in that way praise him, David would not only offer them, but offer them freely and without grudging. All our spiritual sacrifices must, in this sense, be free-will-offerings; for God loves a cheerful giver. Yet he will not only bring his sacrifice, which was but the shadow, the ceremony; he will mind the substance: I will praise thy name. A thankful heart, and the calves of our lips giving thanks to his name, are the sacrifices God will accept: "I will praise thy name, for it is good. Thy name is not only great but good, and therefore to be praised. To praise thy name is not only what we are bound to, but it is good, it is pleasant, it is profitable; it is good for us (Psalms 92:1); therefore I will praise thy name."

      IV. He speaks of his deliverance as a thing done (Psalms 54:7; Psalms 54:7): I will praise thy name, and say, "He has delivered me; this shall be my song then." That which he rejoices in is a complete deliverance--He has delivered me from all trouble; and a deliverance to his heart's content--My eye has seen its desire upon my enemies, not seen them cut off and ruined, but forced to retreat, tidings being brought to Saul that the Philistines were upon him, 1 Samuel 23:27; 1 Samuel 23:28. All David desired was to be himself safe; when he saw Saul draw off his forces he saw his desire. He has delivered me from all trouble. Either, 1. With this thought David comforted himself when he was in distress: "He has delivered me from all trouble hitherto, and many a time I have gained my point, and seen my desire on my enemies; therefore he will deliver me out of this trouble." We should thus, in our greatest straits, encourage ourselves with our past experiences. Or, 2. With this thought he magnified his present deliverance when the fright was over, that it was an earnest of further deliverance. He speaks of the completing of his deliverance as a thing done, though he had as yet many troubles before him, because, having God's promise for it, he was as sure of it as if it had been done already. "He that has begun to deliver me from all troubles, and will at length give me to see my desire upon my enemies." This may perhaps point at Christ, of whom David was a type; God would deliver him out of all the troubles of his state of humiliation, and he was perfectly sure of it; and all things are said to be put under his feet; for, though we see not yet all things put under him, yet we are sure he shall reign till all his enemies be made his footstool, and he shall see his desire upon them. However, it is an encouragement to all believers to make that use of their particular deliverances which St. Paul does (like David here), 2 Timothy 4:17; 2 Timothy 4:18, He that delivered me from the mouth of the lion shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom.