In 1894, a note was found by a French housekeeper in a waste basket at the German embassy in France. The note revealed a minor French military secret and was obviously written by someone in the French military. Suspicion soon fell on French army officer, Alfred Dreyfus. He was arrested, stripped of his military rank, publicly dismissed from the army in disgrace, and imprisoned on Devil’s Island in French Guiana. All this happened even though Dreyfus was innocent. Dreyfus was scapegoated because he was a Jew and antisemitism was rampant among the French military and political leaders of that time.
Within a short time, evidence began to emerge that Dreyfus was innocent. The news caused a scandal in French society and people wondered, “What kind of country are we that this kind of thing should happen?” Various artists, intellectuals and other leading figures began clamouring for a new trial for Dreyfus. However, a cover up continued, and it was not until twelve years later that Dreyfus was completely exonerated and restored to the military. The evidence that proved Dreyfus’ innocence pointed to the true spy, Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhaz. Even so, Esterhazy never faced any punishment at all for his crime during his lifetime.1
You may never get falsely accused of spying, but many of us have experienced the sensation of being surrounded by enemies. Perhaps it starts with a false accusation that results in public shame, private pain, and expensive legal fees. Maybe you are being smeared by invented gossip that circulates in your school, your workplace, your community, or online. Maybe a business associate is threatening to ruin you financially unless you bend to their will.
Enemies don’t always attack with weapons. Sometimes they use rumours, lawsuits, a cold shoulder, or a hidden desire to see you fail. Regardless of the weapons used, the pain is real. And when, to the best of our knowledge, we have done nothing to deserve or invite this attack, it makes the pain even worse. So where do we turn when enemies surround us and no human help comes? To address that question, let’s turn to Psalm 59.
Hated Without Cause
As we do that, we see that this Psalm, like others we looked at recently, relates to David and a particular moment in his life. And here is the background to that moment. After David killed the giant Goliath and God’s people were rescued from their enemies, the Philistines, King Saul brought David into his royal household. Because the Lord was with David, he had success in whatever Saul sent him to do. Recognizing this, Saul also made him a leader in his army. David’s renown grew so much that when Israel’s victorious forces would return, the women would sing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (1 Samuel 18: 7) Saul became very angry and jealous toward David, and tried to kill him twice. David escaped each time. Saul kicked David out of his household and put in command of a smaller force, but David continued to have success upon success. Saul became afraid because it was obvious to him that God’s presence and favour, which used to be with him, was now with David. Saul could also see that the people in his kingdom now loved David more than him.
Saul tried to set a trap for David by offering to give his daughter, Michal, to David in marriage if David could kill one hundred Philistines. But David killed two hundred Philistines, and because she loved David, Michal would not betray him. The Bible tells us, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. (1 Samuel 18:29)
Saul’s son, Jonathan, who was a dear friend to David, worked to reconcile his father and friend, and David was restored to Saul’s household. But then war with the Philistines broke out again and David continued to have great success. The old jealousies and anger within Saul resurfaced, and again he tried to kill David. When David escaped unharmed, Saul sent men to watch David’s house and kill him in the morning. Aware of the plot, Michal warned David and helped him escape during the night.
David’s Audacious Prayer
That’s the historical account of what happened but now let’s consider what this situation was like for David personally. Wanting to be liked by others is natural for us human beings. Positive social connections have helped human beings to support one another and survive in the past, and even today, when life is less harsh, having good relationships with others supports us in our physical and mental health. And so, it is painful for us when people attack or even hate us.
But I think that the pain is worse when we are hated or attacked, not because of some wrong thing we have done, but simply for being who we are. Alfred Dreyfus was innocent of any crime, yet his enemies persecuted him simply because he was a Jew. David did nothing wrong. He was simply following God’s leading for his life, and yet Saul was trying to kill him for that. The idea that doing the right thing will protect us from attack or danger is a lie. It simply is not true. You can do the right thing, and people could still attack you because you are doing the right thing.
This is David’s dilemma. Enemies have surrounded him and are waiting for the right moment to attack and destroy him. So he cries out, I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. (Psalm 59:4) Psalm 59 is another lament psalm, and lament psalms tend to have two parts: complaint and petition. David’s complaint—that he is surrounded by enemies who want to kill him even though he has done nothing wrong—makes sense to us. We would pray the same prayer to God if we were in his shoes.
But David’s petition is stunning. He boldly prays:
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
You, Lord God Almighty,
you who are the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
show no mercy to wicked traitors. (Psalm 59:4-5)
David is telling God what to do. In effect, David is saying, “Look at my situation, then be the God who you are, and deal with these enemies that surround me and want to kill me.” That’s incredible when you think about it.
And the reason that David can pray this audacious petition is because he knows God and his prayer is based, not on who David is or what he has done, but on who God is and what he does. David declares, My God in his steadfast love will meet me; God will let me look in triumph on my enemies. (Psalm 59:10 ESV) David is incredibly bold in his prayer for two reasons: First, he knows God’s kesed — he knows that God is faithful, loving, kind, and merciful. Second, David knows that in a world filled with evil, danger, and brokenness, only God’s kesed — his covenant love that never quits — makes new life and hope possible for us.
When problems and challenges arise, we tend to ask ourselves, “Why do things go wrong?” With this world as broken as it is, it would be more logical if we asked ourselves, “Why does anything go right?” The answer is God and his faithful, merciful love. If God does not intervene in this world and in our personal lives in tangible ways, we are utterly doomed. But because God is loyal, loving, and kind, we can live with bold confidence that he will rescue us from our enemies. The beauty and glory of creation testifies that God is powerful and can save us.
And the way God has shown up for his people across the centuries is evidence that he is moved by his own unfailing character to save us. When our first parents disobeyed God and were cast out of paradise, God — true to that same loyal love — promised to send a descendant of Eve who would crush evil and restore his people. When God’s people, through no fault of their own, found themselves enslaved in Egypt, God humbled a world superpower, miraculously brought them out of slavery, and gave them a land of their own.
David knew this big-picture pattern of God’s faithfulness, but he also knew it personally. As a young boy watching over his father’s sheep, David had a lot of time to think. He knew he wasn’t the oldest or biggest brother in his family. And yet God protected him as he fought against lions and bears that were trying to kill the sheep. It was bold faith in that same steadfast love that led David to confront Goliath’s taunts and stand before him with no armour to protect him and no weapon but a sling and five smooth stones. Again, God protected David, and his trust was rewarded. Because he had already seen this loyal love proven on both a national and personal level, David knew he could count on it now, with enemies all around and waiting to kill him.
We Can Trust in God & His Steadfast Love for Us
So, what does this mean for us? In times of great need, just like David, we can trust in God’s steadfast love and boldly pray for him to act.
In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a widow who persistently asks an unbelieving, unjust judge to give her justice in a dispute with her enemy.
The judge finally says to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” (Luke 18:4-5)
Then Jesus says, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. (Luke 18:6-8)
If persistent petitions can call forth a response from a judge who is faithless and false, how much more so can we expect rescue from a God whose justice, mercy, and covenant love are infinite?
God Suffers With Us
In the book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, Georgianna tells her story of what happened when her youngest daughter fell and was injured. One of the doctors at the hospital reported the case as severe child abuse and all three of Georgianna’s three daughters were taken away from her and her husband, Ted, for nine months. Georgianna writes:
I will never forget the first night away from our daughters. I was raging, crying out to God, screaming in agony. Then something powerful happened. A calmness and warmth spread through me. I was suddenly aware that God was right there, holding me, raging with me at the injustice, weeping with us, His children. In that moment, I never felt more protected in all my life.2
When the case came to trial, the judge declared that it was unfounded and threw it out before Georgianna and Ted even presented their defense.
In the aftermath of their exoneration, Georgianna and her family made repeated attempts to try to contact the children’s hospital where the whole ordeal began. Finally, the chief of staff and the doctor who made the accusation agreed to meet with them. During the meeting, Georgianna calmly described every aspect of her family’s harrowing experience. When she was done, both the chief of staff and the doctor admitted that mistakes were made and said they were sorry that this had happened to Georgianna and her family.
As she left the meeting, Georgianna hugged the doctor who had made the accusation. She writes:
“Trust me, I did not feel like showing love to that person, but God did. That was the most powerful healing and reconciliation I have ever experienced. God changed me in that moment, more than He had changed me through the entire tribulation… I believe that our story does have a happy ending, but the truth is, our story is never-ending. And I praise God that He is still writing chapters of our life. My family and I are humbly grateful for the suffering our Father endured with us. Without it, we would be comfortably living our “old normal,” instead of courageously living our “new normal.”3
Live in God’s Faithful Lovingkindness
Dear friends, the challenge I am setting before you today has three parts: First, immerse yourself in God’s faithful lovingkindness. We see it most clearly in the face of God the Son, Jesus Christ, who allowed himself to be surrounded by enemies who hated him because of his pure, loyal love. They beat and scourged him, then nailed him to a cross to suffer and die for sins that were not his own. Jesus placed himself in the care of his loving Father, and on the third day our Father raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus is alive and he now rules over all creation for you. And God tells us that now there is:
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)
Second, when enemies surround you and threaten to destroy you, boldly trust in God’s faithful lovingkindness and pray persistently and passionately to God. Because of Jesus, we know that God loves us, God is always with us, and we are forever safe with him.
And finally, live your life as a song of praise to God for his faithful lovingkindness. Despite the danger he faced, David closes this psalm with these incredibly beautiful words:
But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love. (Psalm 59:16-17). Amen.
Notes
1. “Alfred Dreyfus,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Dreyfus; accessed July 23, 2026).
2. Timothy Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering (Penguin, 2013), 126.
3. Keller, 127-129.
Farewell to Shadowlands 