Psalm 59

“Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For look, they lie in wait for my life; the mighty gather against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord. They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine. Awake to help me, and behold! You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations; do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah” Psalm 59:1-5 (NKJV)

In filmmaking, it is important that a movie is matched with the perfect soundtrack.  What would a James Bond or Star Wars film be without their famous intro music?  But what if the soundtracks were flipped?  What if the Star Wars film began with the James Bond theme?  Something would be amiss.  Hollywood music is created specifically for the films they support.  It is also true for so many of these psalms.  In order to fully understand the song, it helps us to match the music with its “movie,” so to speak.  The subtitle/backdrop for today’s psalm is “When Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill David.”  We find that account in 1 Samuel 19.

“Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, ‘If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.’ So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, ‘He is sick.’ Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, ‘Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.’ And when the messengers had come in, there was the image in the bed, with a cover of goats’ hair for his head.” 1 Samuel 19:11-16 (NKJV)

It may have been no fault of David’s that these “ belching dogs” (as David sings) were roaming the town, looking to kill him.  But we see something odd in the movie's plot.  David’s wife, Michal (Saul’s daughter), was an idolater.  Quite a big one, at that, because she had an “image” (aka: idol) big enough to pass for a sleeping man within reach.  We kind of saw it coming, didn’t we?  The Lord has departed from Saul, so we can only assume that his family had departed from Him, as well.  Pomegranates don’t fall far from the tree!  Saul, in his own words, gave Michal as a wife to David as a snare (1 Samuel 18:21).  And Scripture says that Michal was barren, a sign of the Lord’s disfavor in Biblical culture. (2 Samuel 6:23)

When we read of the image with a “cover of goat's hair,” we are also reminded of Jacob, who covered himself with goat hair in order to trick his father Isaac into bestowing (to Jacob) his brother Esau’s blessing. (Genesis 27).  We chuckle at that simple yet profound little detail because we know that the blessing of kingship has been taken from Saul and given to David.  Through both this movie and its soundtrack, we are reminded that we, like David, must keep our focus on God, our fortress, strength, defense, and mercy!