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Psalm 54 · a question people ask

"Destroy them in your truth" (54:5). How can a prayer ask for that?

In the text

First, what the verse says. It has two lines: "He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth" (54:5). The first says what God will do; the second asks God to do it, "in your truth". The psalmist doesn't say he will act against anyone himself. And the verses around it are about God: "Behold, God is my helper" (54:4), and "For he has delivered me out of all trouble" (54:7). The psalm doesn't name its enemies, and these notes don't. Psalm 54 is not the only psalm that prays against enemies, and Christians read these prayers in more than one way. The chapter on Psalm 109 sets out the main readings, each resting on its verses, and chooses none. These notes don't choose either.

The verses

“Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the one who sustains my soul. He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth.”
Psalm 54:4-5 · World English Bible
“For he has delivered me out of all trouble. My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.”
Psalm 54:7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 54

Psalm 54: Save me by your name

Psalm 54's title quotes the Ziphites' question from 1 Samuel in the same Hebrew, and its last line, "out of all trouble" (54:7), has the same Hebrew words as the end of David's last words to Saul (1 Samuel 26:24). In between, the soul violent men sought is the soul the Lord sustains (54:3-4).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions