Psalms 59:5

Thou. The pronoun receives additional force from its position at the beginning of the sentence.

Lord God of hosts. See on Ps. 24:10; see also Ps. 80:4, 19; 89:8; Isa. 1:9.

God of Israel. See on Ps. 14:7; see also Ps. 72:18. This series of titles calls attention to God’s infinite power and His peculiar regard for His children (see Vol. I, pp. 170–173).

To visit. Heb. paqad, a word describing not only the act of visiting but also what the visitor accomplishes by his visit (see on Ps. 8:4). Here the object of the visit is evidently to punish.

All the heathen. The psalmist includes in his prayer not only his wicked, personal enemies, but all the enemies of God (see on Ps. 2:1; 9:5).

Be not merciful. For an explanation of the spirit of seeming vindictiveness to which David gives expression in vs. 5, 8, 10–15, see p. 624.

Selah. Compare v. 13. The term appears at corresponding positions in the two major sections of the psalm (see Introduction to Ps. 59). On the meaning of “selah” see p. 629.