Psalms 54:1-3

David Prays To Be Delivered From The Hands Of Saul (Psalms 54:1).

Psalms 54:1

‘Save me, O God, by your name,

And judge me in your might.

Hear my prayer, O God,

Give ear to the words of my mouth.'

David calls on God to deliver him ‘by His Name', in other words by the character and attributes that that Name reveals. It would be in His Name that David was anointed by Samuel to be Saul's replacement (1 Samuel 16:12), which David no doubt saw as giving him the right to God's protection. It was to Samuel that David first fled when he recognised that he was no longer safe from Saul's jealousy (1 Samuel 19:18). He was also relying on what that Name revealed of loyalty to those who observed His covenant (which Saul had failed to do).

‘Judge me in Your might.' He calls on God as ‘the Strong One' to consider his case and act accordingly, demonstrating a verdict in favour of David by acting in might on his behalf. Confident that he is in the right, David calls on God to hear his prayer, and listen to what he has to say..

Psalms 54:3

‘For strangers are risen up against me,

And violent men have sought after my life,

They have not set God before them. [Selah

He points out to God that strangers and violent men have risen up against him and are seeking his life, because they have not given consideration to God's purposes. They are not looking to God for guidance (something that David constantly did. See for example, 1 Samuel 23:9; 2 Samuel 2:1). ‘Strangers' regularly signifies ‘foreigners' of whom there may well have been a good number in Saul's standing army. Having come to dwell in Israel they would be content to be on full time duty because they possessed no land which had to be cultivated (they may have included the Habiru of 1 Samuel 14:21. Habiru (landless people) were often mercenaries). One such was Doeg the Edomite who might well have been in David's mind. (David's mighty men also included non-Israelites). Or ‘strangers' may refer to the Ziphite wilderness dwellers, who lived lives separately from ‘civilised society'.