Read Psalm 59
Perhaps you can understand why David prays with such passion in this Psalm. At great risk to his own life, David defeated Goliath for Saul. To win Michal’s hand in marriage, he destroyed two hundred more Philistines. And though Saul tried twice before to kill him, David still served him loyally. Saul, his father-in-law, had invaded the sovereignty of his house and tried to kill him. Why? Simply because he was jealous! David was not just frustrated, he was maddeningly disappointed. He was beside himself trying to figure out how the man he fought for out of love, his family member, could hate him so terribly; it was irrational. In addition, he was gravely disappointed that his outreach to Saul had been ineffectual.
It is only human to be disappointed because the peace that you desire is good. However, your disappointment can lead to unbelief if you are looking to something or someone other than God to bring peace. There are two corrections that must be made to your thinking if you are looking to earthly sources for peace. First, you must look to Christ alone for your strength. That is how David addresses his Lord in the chorus repeated in vv.9 and 17. Then, you must be prepared to be visited with an internal peace rather than an external one necessarily. David is not calmed by the fact that his house becomes a fortress or that Saul begins to love him. By David’s finding his strength in the Lord, God becomes his refuge, and God's love becomes his comfort.
Christ is our only strength, and because he is, we must watch for him and sing to him. The chorus occurs as I said in vv.9 and 17. The two occurrences are virtual duplicates except for one word. In the first, David says he will watch for the Lord. In the second, he says he will sing.
What does it mean to watch for the Lord? First, it means not obsessing about those who offend us. If we do, we will always be disappointed and eventually devolve into unbelief. We have only to look at their characteristics and see why that is so. Look at how David describes his and see if you do not find some similarities with those that have offended you this Christmas.
So what do you do in the midst of disappointment in this world? You must get your eyes off of the enemies and put them on the Lord.
First, they are bloodthirsty (vv. 1-4, 6). In David’s case, they were crouching beneath his windows looking for an opportunity to shed literal blood. Second, their speech is cutting (v. 7). David seems more concerned about what his offenders are saying than with the fact that they might kill him. There are times when sticks and stones breaking bones would be preferable to what people are saying against us.
However, like David, we must not focus on our enemies but on God, our strength. Look at all of his characteristics listed by David in his address in verse 5. ! LORD is Yahweh, the personal name of God by which he revealed himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The meaning of Yahweh is that God is self-sufficient and has all resources by which to redeem his people. He is also God Almighty, Lord of Hosts (Elohim Sabaoth). He is the Lord of Israel’s army and especially of the angelic band that stands behind all of his people. So what do you do in the midst of disappointment in this world? You must get your eyes off of the enemies and put them on the Lord. You must watch for him to work.
In David’s second chorus, he moves from quietly watching for the Lord to singing in full faith that God will take care of him. In Hebrew the words translated “watch” and “sing” are only different by one letter. Perhaps David would have us see that watching for God to work is only one step away from singing. If your eyes of faith are fixed on the God who is your strength, your fortress, and your love, then you cannot help but burst forth in praise.
David praises God because he anticipates the destruction of the wicked (vv. 10-14) and realizes the total dissatisfaction experienced when one refuses to find their strength in Christ. Surely if you are looking at the blessings you have in your Redeemer in contrast to the dissatisfying life of your offenders, you will recognize that, but for his grace, their life would be yours. Then you will not be able to keep from singing.
We have an even greater confidence than David, because Christ, the redemption the world has awaited from the beginning, has come. The Advent of Christ enables us to watch with confident hope, knowing that God provides the redemption we need and to sing with praise for this immeasurable gift.