God is My Helper

Psalm 54:1-7 English Standard Version

Psalm 54:title

1. To the choirmaster:

2. with stringed instruments.

a. c.f. Psalm 4, 6, 55, 61, 67, 76

3. A Maskil of David,

a. Psalm 54 belongs to a minicollection (Pss. 52–55) that is joined together by the phrase “A maskil of David.”[1]

b. The meanings usually suggested are (1) a skilled composition, or an “efficacious song” (one which is effective); (2) a psalm of understanding (wisdom); (3) a didactic psalm; (4) a meditation.[2]

4. when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

a. 1 Samuel 23:19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon?

i. The quotation of some words from 1 Sam 23:19 in [the superscription] reveals direct literary dependence on the Samuel text.[3]

ii. [A]lso in 1 Sam. 26:1, without “among us”.[4]

1. 1 Samuel 26:1 Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?”

Psalm 54:1

1. O God,

2. save me by your name,

3. and vindicate me by your might.

a. Every line [of this psalm] incorporates parallelism, in each case involving possible word pairs.[5]

b. Save = vindicate

i. Vindicate

1. to plead one’s cause:, help someone to get his rights

2. to contend with

3. to execute judgement[6]

c. Name = might

Psalm 54:2

1. O God,

2. hear my prayer;

3. give ear to the words of my mouth.

Psalm 54:3

1. For strangers have risen against me;

a. “To rise up against somebody” means “to exercise destructive power against”[7]

2. ruthless men seek my life;

a. 1 Samuel 23:15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.

3. they do not set God before themselves.

a. Psalm 53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

i. Psalm 86:14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.

1. Insolent (or ‘arrogant’, jb) is the reading of several Hebrew mssand the Targum, and is probably right, as against mt’s ‘strangers’.[8]

a. In the consonantal text the difference is between two very similar letters.[9]

2. Every Israelite reader of this chapter would have known where Ziph was: it belonged to the tribe of Judah.531 David was in home territory. [10]

4. Selah

Psalm 54:4

1. Behold,

a. Behold - Here!, There!, Look!, Now! a marker used to liven narrative, change a scene, emphasize an idea, call attention to a detail[11]

2. God is my helper;

a. helper n. — a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose.

3. the Lord is the upholder of my life.

a. Upholder - sustainer

i. Psalm 54:3b ruthless men seek my life

ii. Psalm 54:4 NKJVBehold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.

b. Lord: adon/Adonaï – lord, master

i. The poet uses three designations for God, ʾělōhîm, ʾădōnāy (literally, “my Lord”), and the divine name, Lord [v. 6], in meaningful sequence. The initial ʾĕlōhîm (vv. 1, 2, 3, 4) is transformed to “my Lord” (v. 4), which accentuates the growing intimacy between the supplicant and God.[12]

Psalm 54:5

1. He will return the evil to my enemies;

2. in your faithfulness put an end to them.

a. Faithfulness – truth as in NKJV

b. Put an end to them – silence them

c. Although the prayer of verse 5 looks (yet again) like vindictiveness, we should note three things. It hands over to God the responsibility for punishing David’s enemies; it asks him to do what is in line with his own faithfulnessand truth, that is, the right thing; and it recognizes that unchecked evil has a way of recoiling on itself.[13]

d. Romans 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

i. Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’

Psalm 54:6

1. With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

a. The freewill offering was simply a non-compulsory gift to God, and thus demonstrates the psalmist’s overwhelming gratitude (Lev. 7:16; cf. Exod. 35:29; 2 Chr. 31:14).[14]

i. Exodus 35:29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lordhad commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

2. I will give thanks to your name,

a. Psalm 54:1 O God, save me by your name,

3. O Lord,

a. LORD – yhwh Yahweh[15]

4. for it is good.

a. Psalm 52:9 I will thank you forever, because you have done it. I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

Psalm 54:7

1. For he has delivered me from every trouble,

2. and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

a. David’s confidence in God’s promises and certainty that God will always do what is in keeping with his own character leads him to say in 54:7 (MT 54:9) that the Lord has delivered him from every distress—as though it has already happened! And David knows that if his enemies are God’s enemies, they will all be defeated. Thus his eye will look in triumph upon them.[16]

b. Leaving the matter thus in God’s hands means that the psalmist, and we too in like circumstances, can have confidence that God’s people do win through in the end (v. 7, no doubt another prophetic perfect), can promise him our grateful obedience (v. 6a), and can already praise, as well as appeal to, his wonderful name (v. 6b; cf. v. 1).[17]

Psalm 54 reflects a chiastic structure as follows:201

54:1–2 Prayer

54:3 Enemies

54:4 God David’s Helper

54:5 Enemies Annihilated

54:6–7 Praise[18]

A. Psalm 54:1-2 name / prayer

B. Psalm 52:3 enemies

C. Psalm 54:4 God is my helper

B‘. Psalm 54:5 enemies

A‘. Psalm 54:6-7 name / praise

Psalm 54:1 O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might.

John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

1 Timothy 3:16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

[1]C. Hassell Bullock, Psalms 1–72, ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton, vol. 1, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 408. [2]Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 51–100, vol. 20, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 33. [3]Erhard Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 1: With an Introduction to Cultic Poetry, vol. 14, The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), 221. [4]C. Hassell Bullock, Psalms 1–72, ed. Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton, vol. 1, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 409. [5]John Goldingay, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 42–89, ed. Tremper Longman III, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 158. [6]Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 220. [7]Erhard Gerstenberger, Psalms Part 1: With an Introduction to Cultic Poetry, vol. 14, The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), 222. jb Jerusalem Bible, 1966. mt Massoretic Text. [8]Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 215. [9]Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973). 531 Cf. Josh. 15:55. [10]Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God, ed. J. A. Motyer, vol. 1, The Bible Speaks Today (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2001), 196. [11]James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament)(Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997). [12]Konrad Schaefer, Psalms, ed. David W. Cotter, Jerome T. Walsh, and Chris Franke, Berit Olam Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2001), 136. [13]Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God, ed. J. A. Motyer, vol. 1, The Bible Speaks Today (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2001), 198. [14]Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 227. [15]James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament)(Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997). MT Masoretic Text [16]James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, ed. T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger, vol. 1, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 525–526. [17]Michael Wilcock, The Message of Psalms: Songs for the People of God, ed. J. A. Motyer, vol. 1, The Bible Speaks Today (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2001), 198. 201 Similarly VanGemeren, Psalms, 447. [18]James M. Hamilton Jr., Psalms, ed. T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger, vol. 1, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 523.