Psalms 59:17
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.
In Psalm 59 the writer is petitioning God and praising God at the same time. (Perhaps that ought to be a lesson in itself. Seldom, if ever, do you find a prayer in God's Word that doesn't have an element of praise, even in the most defined petition for help.) In this Psalm, in particular, the petition is for relief from the rulers of this world who are making false judgements and false rulings. Instead of fighting for the poor, needy and righteous, these rulers are false and corrupt. David, in this prayer, is lamenting over the social disorder and false accusers in his life. When we survey David's life we would conclude this is a time with Saul was hunting him to kill him. David's entire world went from the hero that killed Goliath to the musician that calmed the kings spirit, to wanted and hunted man King Saul wanted destroyed. David was hiding among the rocks with a band of other fugitives. He was feigning he was crazy to his enemies so they would not kill him. He was lying to those same enemies that he was on their side, a traitor to his own people. In the midst of that scene we see David in this psalm say the above statement. He states, "I will sing praises to you." How, in the midst of all this does he find strength to "sing praises to you?" He actually answers that question in the beginning of the verse by addressing the verse to God: "O my Strength." The Hebrew word for strength is used almost 100 times in the Old Testament and one of those times gives us a good glimpse into what David meet by using it:
Judges 9:51
But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower.
This verse gives us a strong sense of why David could sing praises in the midst of his being on the run. He didn't have strength in himself. He had strength in God, who was his tower he could run into for protection and deliverance. Note what he writes in the verse just prior to the one we are reading today:
Psalms 59:16
But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
David looked at God as the one who would have to destroy his enemy (and God would later do this) and the One David would trust and run to for relief. God is the God who is there for us. His steadfast love is always there. In contrast to the fickleness of King Saul, David knew God would never turn on him. In contrast to the nation of Israel who would, in the David's future, run him out of the kingdom, God would be faithful, in love, to him. Despite the calamity around us, God's steadfast love is always there.
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