Listen to my prayer, God. Don’t hide yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan
because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me.
My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest.
Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.”
“I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.”
Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.
Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.
We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling.
As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me.
Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice.
He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me.
God, who is enthroned forever, will hear and answer them. They never change, who don’t fear God.
He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden on Yahweh and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 1. Give ear to my prayer, O God! From…
1. Give ear to my prayer, O God! From the language with which the psalm opens, we may conclude that David at this time was laboring under heavy distress. It could be no ordinary amount of it which produced such an overwhelming effect upon a saint of his distinguished courage. The translation which has been given of אריד, arid, I will prevail, does violence to the context, for, so far from boasting of the fortitude which would govern his address, he is anxious to convey an impression of his wretchedness, by intimating that he was constrained to cry out aloud. What is added in the third verse, By reason of the voice of the enemy, may be viewed as connected either with the first verse or that immediately preceding, or with both. By the voice some understand such a noise as is occasioned by a multitude of men; as if he had said, that the enemy was mustering many troops against him: but he rather alludes to the threatenings which we may suppose that Saul was in the habit of venting upon this innocent prophet. The interpretation, too, which has been given of the casting of iniquity upon him, as if it meant that his enemies loaded him with false accusations, is strained, and scarcely consistent with the context. The words are designed to correspond with the succeeding clause, where it is said that his enemies fought against him in wrath; and, therefore, to cast iniquity upon him means, in my opinion, no more than to discharge their unjust violence upon him for his destruction, or iniquitously to plot his ruin. If any distinction be intended between the two clauses, perhaps the fighting against him in wrath may refer to their open violence, and the casting of iniquity upon him to their deceitful treachery. In this case, און, aven, which I have rendered iniquity, will signify hidden malice. The affliction of the wicked is here to be understood in the active sense of persecution. And in applying the term wicked to his enemies, he does not so much level an accusation against them as implicitly assert his own innocence. Our greatest comfort under persecution is conscious rectitude, the reflection that we have not deserved it; for there springs from this the hope that we will experience the help of the Lord, who is the shield and defense of the distressed.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 The earnestness of his prayer declareth the vehemency of…
The earnestness of his prayer declareth the vehemency of his grief insomuch as he is compelled to burst out into cries.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–23 Psa 55:1 « To the chief Musician on Neginoth,…
Psa 55:1 « To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David. » Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
A Psalm of David] Whether made upon occasion of his flight from Keilah, 1Sa 23:2, or from Absalom, 2Sa 15:16. Idem est argumentum, et idem usus huius Psalmi atque, superioris, saith Beza; this and the former psalm are of the same argument and for the same use. It is most probable that this psalm was written when Absalom was up, and Hushai related unto Zadock the troubled state of the city, 2Sa 17:15, with which compare Psa 55:9-11 of this psalm. For thereupon David, put into a great perturbation, as Psa 55:4-5, wished for the wings of a dove, not the pinions of a dragon, that he might fly far away.
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Ver. 1. Give ear to my prayer, O God] David’s danger was present, his prayer therefore is pressing, being not the labour of his lips, but the travail of his heart. The breath that cometh from the lips is cold, not that which cometh from the lungs.
Hide not thyself] As men when they are not willing to be sued unto will not be seen.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 Turn not away thy face and ear, as one…
Turn not away thy face and ear, as one resolved not to hear nor help.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 9, 16 In these verses we have,
In these verses we have,
I. David praying. Prayer is a salve for every sore and a relief to the spirit under every burden: Give ear to my prayer, O God! Psa 55:1, Psa 55:2. He does not set down the petitions he offered up to God in his distress, but begs that God would hear the prayers which, at every period, his heart lifted up to God, and grant an answer of peace to them: Attend to me, hear me. Saul would not hear his petitions; his other enemies regarded not his pleas; but, "Lord, be thou pleased to hearken to me. Hide not thyself from my supplication, either as one unconcerned and not regarding it, nor seeming to take any notice of it, or as one displeased, angry at me, and therefore at my prayer." If we, in our prayers, sincerely lay open ourselves, our case, our hearts, to God, we have reason to hope that he will not hide himself, his favours, his comforts, from us.
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II. David weeping; for in this he was a type of Christ that he was a man of sorrows and often in tears (Psa 55:2): "I mourn in my complaint" (or in my meditation, my melancholy musings), "and I make a noise; I cannot forbear such sighs and groans, and other expressions of grief, as discover it to those about me." Great griefs are sometimes noisy and clamorous, and thus are, in some measure, lessened, while those increase that are stifled, and have no vent given them. But what was the matter? Psa 55:3. It is because of the voice of the enemy, the menaces and insults of Absalom's party, that swelled, and hectored, and stirred up the people to cry out against David, and shout him out of his palace and capital city, as afterwards the chief priests stirred up the mob to cry out against the Son of David, Away with him - Crucify him. Yet it was not the voice of the enemy only that fetched tears from David's eyes, but their oppression, and the hardship he was thereby reduced to: They cast iniquity upon me. They could not justly charge David with any mal-administration in his government, could not prove any act of oppression or injustice upon him, but they loaded him with calumnies. Though they found no iniquity in him relating to his trust as a king, yet they cast all manner of iniquity upon him, and represented him to the people as a tyrant fit to be expelled. Innocency itself is no security against violent and lying tongues. They hated him themselves, nay, in wrath they hated him; there was in their enmity both the heat and violence of anger, or sudden passion, and the implacableness of hatred and rooted malice; and therefore they studied to make him odious, that others also might hate him. This made him mourn, and the more because he could remember the time when he was the darling of the people, and answered to his name, David - a beloved one.
III. David trembling, and in great consternation. We may well suppose him to be so upon the breaking out of Absalom's conspiracy and the general defection of the people, even those that he had little reason to suspect. 1. See what fear seized him. David was a man of great boldness, and in some very eminent instances had signalized his courage, and yet, when the danger was surprising and imminent, his heart failed him. Let not the stout man therefore glory in his courage any more than the strong man in his strength. Now David's heart is sorely pained within him; the terrors of death have fallen upon him, Psa 55:4. Fearfulness of mind and trembling of body came upon him, and horror covered and overwhelmed him, Psa 55:5. When without are fightings no marvel that within are fears; and, if it was upon the occasion of Absalom's rebellion, we may suppose that the remembrance of his sin in the matter of Uriah, which God was now reckoning with him for, added as much more to the fright. Sometimes David's faith made him, in a manner, fearless, and he could boldly say, when surrounded with enemies, I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. But at other times his fears prevail and tyrannise; for the best men are not always alike strong in faith. 2. See how desirous he was, in this fright, to retire into a desert, any where to be far enough from hearing the voice of the enemy and seeing their oppressions. He said (Psa 55:6), said it to God in prayer, said it to himself in meditation, said it to his friends in complaint, O that I had wings like a dove! Much as he had been sometimes in love with Jerusalem, now that it had become a rebellious city he longed to get clear of it, and, like the prophet, wished he had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that he might leave his people and go from them; for they were an assembly of treacherous men, Jer 9:2. This agrees very well with David's resolution upon the breaking out of that plot, Arise, let us flee, and make speed to depart, Sa2 15:14. Observe, (1.) How he would make his escape. He was so surrounded with enemies that he saw not how he could escape but upon the wing, and therefore he wishes, O that I had wings! not like a hawk that flies swiftly; he wishes for wings, not to fly upon the prey, but to fly from the birds of prey, for such his enemies were. The wings of a dove were most agreeable to him who was of a dove-like spirit, and therefore the wings of an eagle would not become him. The dove flies low, and takes shelter as soon as she can, and thus would David fly. (2.) What he would make his escape from - from the wind, storm, and tempest, the tumult and ferment that the city was now in, and the danger to which he was exposed. Herein he was like a dove, that cannot endure noise. (3.) What he aimed at in making this escape, not victory but rest: "I would fly away and be at rest, Psa 55:6. I would fly any where, if it were to a barren frightful wilderness, ever so far off, so I might be quiet," Psa 55:7. Note, Peace and quietness in silence and solitude are what the wisest and best of men have most earnestly coveted, and the more when they have been vexed and wearied with the noise and clamour of those about them. Gracious souls wish to retire from the hurry and bustle of this world, that they may sweetly enjoy God and themselves; and, if there be any true peace on this side heaven, it is they that enjoy it in those retirements. This makes death desirable to a child of God, that it is a final escape from all the storms and tempests of this world to perfect and everlasting rest.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–22 Give ear to my prayer, O God,.... Which was…
Give ear to my prayer, O God,.... Which was for that which is just and right, and equitable to be given, as the word (n) used signifies; being promised in the covenant of grace, ratified and confirmed by the blood of Christ, Not only David was a man much given to prayer, as well as was the sweet psalmist of Israel; but the Messiah, as man, was much and often engaged in this work, in the days of his flesh, Luk 6:12;
and hide not thyself from my supplication; made for mercies and blessings, which spring from the free grace and goodness of God, which is the sense of the word (o) here used; and such are all mercies, whether temporal or spiritual; for none are merited by men: and from his supplication for such things the psalmist desires, that as he would not be as one deaf to him, so that he would not hide his eyes, or refuse to look upon him, and deny his, requests; see Isa 1:15.
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(n) "orationem meam", i.e. "secundum judicium"; so Arana. (o) "my supplication for grace", Ainsworth.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 David complains to God, ver. 1-8. Prays for help…
David complains to God, ver. 1-8. Prays for help against his enemies, ver. 9-15. Assures himself of God's protection, ver. 16- 18. And their destruction, ver. 19-23. To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A psalm of David.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 David, in great danger and distress from the implacable…
PSALM LV
David, in great danger and distress from the implacable malice
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of his enemies, calls on God for mercy, 1-5;
wishes he had the wings of a dove, that he might flee away,
and be at rest, 6-8;
prays against his enemies, and describes their wickedness, 9-11;
speaks of a false friend, who had been the principal cause of
all his distresses, 12-14;
again prays against his enemies, 15;
expresses his confidence in God, 16-18;
gives a farther description of the deceitful friend, 19-21;
encourages himself in the Lord, and foretells the destruction
of his foes, 22, 23.
NOTES ON PSALM LV
The title, "To the chief Musician upon Neginoth, A Psalm of David, giving instruction." This is the same as the preceding, which see. Ps 54:1
Verse 1. Give ear to my prayer] The frequency of such petitions shows the great earnestness of David's soul. If God did not hear and help, he knew he could not succeed elsewhere; therefore he continues to knock at the gate of God's mercy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 Psa 55:1-3. Hide not thyself from my supplication —…
Psa 55:1-3. Hide not thyself from my supplication — Either as one unconcerned and not regarding it, or as one displeased, and resolved not to hear nor help. I mourn and make a noise — I cannot forbear such sighs and groans, and other expressions of grief, as discover it to those about me. The word ואהימה, veahimah, here rendered and make a noise, is translated by Chandler, and am in the greatest consternation. He was brought into such immediate danger, as that he scarcely knew what method to take to avoid the destruction which threatened him. Because of the voice of the enemy — That is, their clamours, and threats, and slanders, and insolent boastings; all which are hateful to thee, as well as injurious to me. They cast iniquity upon me — They make me the great object of their wicked and mischievous practices; or rather, they lay many crimes to my charge falsely, as if by my own wickedness I was the cause of all my calamities. And in wrath they hate me — Their anger and rage against me is not a sudden and transitory passion, but has increased and ripened into constant malice and settled hatred.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–23 Give ear to my prayer - See the notes…
Give ear to my prayer - See the notes at Psa 5:1; Psa 17:6. This is the language of earnestness. The psalmist was in deep affliction, and he pleaded, therefore, that God would not turn away from him in his troubles.
And hide not thyself from my supplication - That is, Do not withdraw thyself, or render thyself inaccessible to my prayer. Do not so conceal thyself that I may not have the privilege of approaching thee. Compare the notes at Isa 1:15. See also Eze 22:26; Pro 28:27; Lev 20:4; 1Sa 12:3. The same word is used in all these places, and the general meaning is that of “shutting the eyes upon,” as implying neglect. So also in Lam 3:56, the phrase “to hide the ear” means to turn away so as not to hear. The earnest prayer of the psalmist here is, that God would not, as it were, withdraw or conceal himself, but would give free access to himself in prayer. The language is, of course, figurative, but it illustrates what often occurs when God seems to withdraw himself; when our prayers do not appear to be heard; when God is apparently unwilling to attend to us.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 55
Psalms 55
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David
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Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and hear me:
I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked:
For they cast iniquity upon me,
And in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sore pained within me:
And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,
And horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, O that I had wings like a dove!
For then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off,
And remain in the wilderness. Selah.
8 I would hasten my escape
From the windy storm and tempest.
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues:
For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:
Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof:
Deceit and guile depart hot from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it:
Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;
Then I would have hid myself from him:
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal,
My guide, and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together,
And walked unto the house of God in company.
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell:
For wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God;
And the Lord shall save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud:
And he shall hear my voice.
18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me:
For there were many with me.
19 God shall hear, and afflict them,
Even he that abideth of old. Selah.
Because they have no changes,
Therefore they fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him:
He hath broken his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart:
His words were softer than oil,
Yet were they drawn swords.
22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
And he shall sustain thee:
He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction:
Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in thee.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its Contents and Composition.—The language of the Psalm is pictorial and powerful, its turns of thought bold, its expressions striking and peculiar, the meanings of the words in part obscure and disputed, the individual clauses abrupt, the transition in topics and thoughts is sudden and rapid; all this is in accordance with the excited feelings and the change in the experiences of a man who takes refuge in prayer to God, but in such great anxiety (Psa_55:1-5) that he wishes that he had wings to fly into the wilderness for safety (Psa_55:6-8), away from the city, which is full of violence, strife, and cunning (Psa_55:9-11), where a previously trusted friend has taken sides with his enemies (Psa_55:12-14), whose sudden and complete ruin the Psalmist desires, on account of their wickedness (Psa_55:15). Whilst he continually calls upon God, and in the assurance of being heard, gains confidence in his deliverance from the many enemies which fight against him, they do not turn away from their wickedness to God (Psa_55:16-19), but associate with flattering, hypocritical, and unfaithful men (Psa_55:20-21). With reference to all these afflictions I and pains the Psalmist keeps before his own soul the exhortation to persevering devotion to Jehovah, in the assurance of His assistance of the righteous, and His punishment of the evil doers (Psa_55:23). He concludes with a strong expression of his personal trust in God. All is so pithy, lively and individual that there is no reason to go back from the historical references to a typical reference to Jesus, the Jews and Judas (Stier, after older interpreters), or to let them pass out of view in the devotional interpretation of the Psalm as a model prayer of a pious man in affliction through the ungodly, particularly through unfaithful friends (Luther, Geier, J. H. Mich., Hengstenberg). The historical references, however, lead neither to the Maccabean times, with reference to the high-priest Alkimos (Olsh.), nor to the prophet Jeremiah and the anarchical period of the invasion of the Scythians, in which the prophet was at variance with the authorities (Hitzig), nor to a prince in the period of the internal commotion during the last century before the destruction of Jerusalem (Ewald). None of these references have any such evidence that we should abandon the Davidic composition. In retaining this reference to David, however, we are not to think of Doeg, Psalms 52, or the Ziphites, Psalms 54, or of David’s being shut up in Keilah in the time of Saul (1 Samuel 23), but of Ahithophel’s unfaithfulness and the rebellion of Absalom (Chald., the Rabbins, and most interpreters), and indeed not after the outbreak of the rebellion, but shortly before it. Its composition accordingly was shortly after Psalms 41(Delitzsch).
Changes of Reading.—The supposition that in many passages single verses have been taken out of their original connection (Hupfeld), mistakes the character of the impassioned discourse; and the proposals to change many words are sometimes ingenious, but unnecessary, since the present readings may likewise be explained, and the change is immaterial to the sense.
Str. I. [Ver 2. I reel to and fro in my complaint and must groan.—The reference here is to the movement of the soul, the restless reeling to and fro of thoughts and cares (Hupf.). Perowne: “אָרִיד, from a verb, רִיד (the Kal, not Hiphil, from רוּד), which occurs in three other passages, Gen_27:40; Jer_2:31; Hos_12:1. The meaning assigned to it by the older versions and the Rabbins is different in different places. Here the LXX. have ἐλυπήθην, Chald. אֶתְרַעֵם, murmuro. Later commentators follow Schultens and Schröder in referring it to the Arab root=vagari, discurrere. Properly, it signifies to wander restlessly, especially as homeless, without fixed abode, etc. This is probably the meaning in Gen_27:40, ‘when thou wanderest,’ i. e., becomest a free nomad people (not as in the A. V., ‘when thou shalt have the dominion’). Here it is used of the restless tossing to and fro of the mind, filled with cares and anxieties. The optative or the cohortative expresses the internal necessity, as in Psa_88:15. Comp. Böttcher, Lehrb. 965, 5; Ewald, § 228 a.—C. A. B.]
Psa_55:3. The burden of the wicked.—The parallelism does not compel us to read: צַעֲקַת cry (Olshausen, Hupfeld), since the reading: עָקַת, has been proved in Hebrew through the Hiphil in Amo_2:13, and a derivative, Psa_66:11; and neither of these passages give the meaning of oppression, need (most interpreters), but that of burden, which is suitable here, so that we need not think of the Aramaic word which is used by the Chald. for צרה, Jer_16:19; Jer_19:9, and which is added, Jer_13:21, so as to get the meaning of pressure (Hitzig) or anxiety (Delitzsch).—[They roll mischief upon me.—The idea is that their mischief was rolled down upon the Psalmist as from a wall or tower, the weight of which, its burden caused him to reel and groan.
Psa_55:4. My heart writhes within me.—The trouble is not merely an external one, it affects his bowels, his vitals, his inmost soul.—Terrors of death.=those which threaten death (Hupfeld).
Psa_55:5. Horror hath overwhelmed me.—Barnes: “That is, it had come upon him so as to cover or envelop him entirely. The shades of horror and despair spread all around and above him, and all things were filled with gloom. The word rendered horror occurs only in three other places: Eze_7:18, rendered (as here) horror; Job_21:6, rendered trembling; and Isa_21:4, rendered fearfulness.”—C. A. B.]
Str. II [Psa_55:6. Wings like the dove.—Hupfeld: “This is a figure of rapid flight, as elsewhere the clouds, Isa_60:8, and eagle’s wings, Exo_19:4; Deu_28:49; 2Sa_1:23; Rev_12:14. A still stronger figure of far distant flight are the wings of the morning, Psa_139:9.”—Fly away and abide.—So Hupfeld, Delitzsch, Moll, et al. This is more literal and more in accordance with the parallelism than the translation: “be at rest” of the A. V. and many ancient and modern interpreters.
Psa_55:7. Flee far away, lodge in the wilderness.—This is the usual refuge place of the persecuted and the oppressed, whither David had often fled and wandered and lodged, comp. Jer_9:2.—C. A. B.]
Psa_55:8. A place of refuge from the violent winds, from the tempest.—The proposal to read סוּפּה (Hupfeld), instead of סֹעָה would give an easy expression, but an unendurable tautology, since the following word, סַעַר means precisely the same, namely, storm. In order to avoid this tautology, they then suppose a gloss (Clericus, Hupfeld), which is yet more objectionable than to take the last expression in the sense of an apposition, whereby the unusual word of the text would be more closely defined, whose meaning as “rushing, that is to say, violent” wind (Chald., and most ancient interpreters), may be gained through the Arabic (most recent interpreters after A. Schultens). רוּחַ סֹעָה is then a figure of the angry breath of enemies, Jdg_8:3; Isa_25:4 (Hitzig), of the rude actions of those who surrounded David which were directed to his ruin (Delitzsch), against which the severely-visited king could oppose no weapons, from which he would flee away to a peaceful place of refuge, as the shy dove, unfitted for the battle, with, its wings, which are noiseless and hold out for a long time, 2Sa_1:23; Isa_60:8; Psa_139:9. For this sense it makes no difference whether we take the verb as Kal after Psa_71:12=I would hasten my escape (parallel with Psa_55:7, I would flee far away), or whether we take it as Hiphil, after Isa_5:19; Isa_60:12=I would hastily provide a place of refuge for myself. In both interpretations it is again possible to regard the מִן as comparative=quicker than the wind (many interpreters after Vatab. and Drusius, likewise Hengstenberg and Hupfeld); but this is not advisable, because the haste of the flight has been already otherwise expressed.
[Str. III Psa_55:9 ּ 2Destroy, Lord, divide their tongues.—Alexander. “The first word properly means swallow up. See above, Psa_21:9. The object to be supplied is not their tongue, but themselves. Divide their tongue, i. e., confound their speech, or make it unintelligible, and as a necessary consequence, confound their counsels. There is obvious reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen_11:7-9), as a great historical example of the way in which God is accustomed and determined to defeat the purposes of wicked men and execute His own.”
Psa_55:10. They go about it upon the walls thereof.—Perowne: “Most probably ‘the wicked,’ mentioned Psa_55:3, who are the subject, and hardly ‘violence and strife’ (Psa_55:9) personified, as the ancient versions render, and as the Rabbinical commentators generally suppose. The figure may perhaps be borrowed from sentinels keeping their watch upon the walls; others think from besiegers watching the walls in order to find some weak point. In the former case we must render ‘upon, in the latter, ‘round about’ the walls. But neither figure need be pressed. The walls in this clause of the verse are parallel to the interior of tie city in the next clause, so that the whole city may be represented in all its parts to be full of wickedness.”
Psa_55:11. Depart not from her (public) places.—These were the large open squares or open spaces at the gates of the oriental cities, where were the markets, the courts of justice, and general places of public concourse. The Hebrew word corresponds with the Greek agora, the Latin forum, and is only imperfectly represented by the market-places and public squares of modern times.—C. A. B.]
[Str. IV Psa_55:12. For not an enemy is it.etc.—Perowne: “For gives a special reason for the prayer in Psa_55:9, his eye falling upon one in particular among the crowd of enemies and evil doers. This is a sufficient explanation of the use of the particle, which is often employed rather with reference to something in the mind of the speaker, than in direct logical sequence.”—I should bear it.—Hupfeld: “I should know how to bear it as an evil unavoidable among men, to which one finally submits; whilst such an experience from friends is to be endured with the utmost difficulty.”—I could hide myself from him,i.e., as David did from Saul when he used his power against him, but this he could not do from a secret, treacherous foe.
Psa_55:13. But thou,—a man of like estimation with myself.—Literally, according to my estimation, i. e., the estimation or worth which I put upon him, the suffix being regarded as the subject of the action. But this is not suitable here. It is better therefore to regard the suffix as objective=in accordance with the estimation in which I am held=of like estimation with me.—My companion and my intimate friend.—אַלּוּף is here not guide, as Gen_36:15 (the Rabbins and the older interpreters, likewise A. V.), but companion, associate, one joined in intimate communion, Pro_2:17; Pro_16:28 et al., טְיְדָּעִי is the Pual part, of ידע, and means one well-known—one with whom one is familiar as an acquaintance and intimate as a friend.
Psa_55:14. We made sweet together our intimacy.—The Hebrew word סוֹד is the same as that used in Psa_25:14, of intimate communion with God. By the mutual enjoyment of this intimacy they made it sweet for one another. This clause refers to private intimacy, the next to association in public, at the great festivals when in the throngs of the temple they went side by side.—C. A. B.]
Psa_55:15. Desolations upon them, let them go down to the world below alive.—יְשִימוֹת is confirmed by the local name, Eze_25:9 (Clericus, Gesenius, Hengstenberg, Hupfeld)=desolaliones, and it is unnecessary to read: יַשִּיא מָוֵת, instead of it, although most MSS. by a division into two words point to this reading, which is followed by the ancient versions and Rabbins, and is approved by most interpreters. For the explanation is very different and uncertain. It is explained after the derivation: death brings upon them forgetfulness (Aben Ezra), or: mors debitum exigat s. exactorem agat (Kimchi, Piscator, J. D. Mich.), or: death comes upon them (Septuagint, Syriac), or surprises them (Luther), falls upon them (Sym., Calvin, Geier, Rosenm., et al.), ensnares them (Delitzsch), bounces upon them (Böttcher). Still less necessary is it to change the first word into יַשִּׁים=let death be torpid on their account3 (Hitzig). For although the going down to Sheol alive is to take place, and this is not used=in full powers of life, Pro_1:12 (Hupfeld), of sudden and unexpected death in general (Calvin), but with a living body with reference to the ruin of the band of Korah, Num_16:30 sq., there is no inconsistency here with the preceding statement, whatever sense is given to it. The allusion is moreover to be accepted the more since there is likewise a reference to ancient times in Psa_55:9, in פַּלַּג, Gen_10:25, which explains the choice of the word בַּלַּע (comp. Isa_19:3), and reminds us of destruction by division and confusion of tongue =language (בַּלַל, Genesis 11); so likewise in Psa_55:19, where God is called “the one sitting from primeval times,” with expressions which are used of the judicial sitting of God upon His throne, Deu_33:27; Psa_9:4; Psa_9:7; Psa_74:12; Hab_1:12. Yet it does not follow from this that the “desolations,” Psa_55:15, allude to the ruin of Sodom and Gomorrah (Hengstenberg).—For wickedness is in their dwelling, within them.—There is no reason to make בְּקִרְבָּם here the same as בְּקִרְבָּהּ, Psa_55:10-11, with the view that we are to think here likewise of the interior of the city, to regard it in connection with the preceding words, which do not mean=in their assembly (Aquila, Symm., Jerome), but=in their dwelling (Septuagint, Chald.), as a hendiadys=in the midst of their dwelling (Geier, Rosenm., et al.), or to explain it=in their midst, that is to say, among them (J. H. Mich.), which would render it really superfluous, and therefore it might be omitted (Luther). Moreover it is hardly a gloss (Hupfeld), but rather an explanatory apposition designating the breast of the enemy, as the true dwelling or more accurately the storehouse, the barn (Hag_2:19) of their wickedness. Yet it is easiest to regard it as a climax, since we cannot see why such a combination of dwelling and heart should be unsuitable, as Olshausen and Hupfeld contend.
Str. V [Psa_55:17. Evening and morning and at noon.—The three principal parts of the day, usually observed as the special times of prayer among the Orientals. Or it may perhaps be a poetical expression for the whole day,=at all times, without ceasing.—Complain and groan.—The same words as in Psa_55:2.
Psa_55:18. From the war against me.—Some take קרב as an infinitive, and translate: that they may not draw nigh me (the ancient versions, Luther, Hitzig, Delitzsch, et al.) This gives a good sense. But it is better to take it as the substantive=war. Some again translate the לִי as the dative of reference (Perowne, Alexander, et al.), but it is better to consider it as the prep, against and translate with Hupfeld, Moll, et al.: war against me.—For with many are they against me.—The translation of the A. V. “with me” is literal, but conveys a wrong meaning. The Heb. preposition like the English with, has a double use, mutual action may be co-operative or antagonistic. Thus we say: fight with=against, to be angry with=against. The meaning here as determined by the context is clearly against.—C. A. B.]
Psa_55:19. God will hear and answer them—and indeed He that sitteth on the throne of old, Selah!—those who have no change and who fear not God.—It is unnecessary to suppose that a short clause has fallen off before יַעֲנֵם somewhat as “the cry of the righteous,” to which the answer of God might refer (Olsh.); or to read יַעֲנֵנִי=He will answer me (Hupfeld). For the supposition of a play upon words for the sake of the explanation “He will humble them” (the ancient versions, Kimchi, Geier, et al.) is indeed scarcely tenable so far as the language is concerned, yet the idea of an answer in a real sense by judgments (Venema, Hengst.), or with allusion to the same in irony (Calv., Stier, De Wette) is indeed admissible, especially if the “hearing” is referred not to the complaining prayer of the Psalmist, but to the raging of the enemies (Hengstenberg, Delitzsch). Yet if hearing and answering are taken in the usual sense of prayer and its answer (for they certainly are in mutual relation to one another), then we are not forced to understand the close of the verse of the ungodly who continue in wickedness, but to change יָרְאוּ into יָלְאוּ (Hitzig) in order to be able to understand the clause as of (the pious “with whom there is no evil and who do not weary God,” Isa_7:13; Jer_15:6. It is objectionable and unnecessary to explain away the first half of this clause after the Arabic, as “with whom there is no respect for oaths” (Ewald), although the reference to the ungodly is to be retained. The word חֲלִיפוֹת means not exactly change of mind (Chald.), but it may be referred to this (Delitzsch) or rather, since the word does not occur elsewhere in the moral sense, but designates a change of condition (Job_14:14) and is used elsewhere of changing the clothing, of guards and laborers, it may refer to the fact that they have received no dismission from their posts upon the city walls (Hengst.), or better, in general of a change of their conduct and behaviour in every respect, to which likewise the plural refers. To think of ragged people, who have no clothing to change, and are ungodly from barbarousness (Cleric.) is as far from the context as the explanation that those who experience no change of fortune easily become proud, and have no fear of God (Aben Ezra, Calvin, J. D. Mich.) So likewise the following clause does not allow us to think of the unchangeableness of God, for which למוֹ is changed into לוֹ (Kimchi, Venema). The סֶלַה here is neither strange (Hupf.) nor to be changed into סִלָּה=auferet eos (Venema), more properly abstulit, rejecit,Lam_1:15 (Hupf.), comp. Psa_68:32.
Str. VI [Psa_55:20. The individual traitor again becomes prominent as the profaner of the solemn covenant of intimate friendship.—C. A. B ]
Psa_55:21. Smooth are the words of butter of his mouth.—מַחֲמָאת is a denominative of חֶמְאָה (for its formation comp. Hupfeld)=made or consisting of butter or cream (Hitzig, Delitz.) The things of butter of the mouth are not the lips (Ewald), but the words, and we have a very usual metaphor (Hupf.) instead of a comparison. In order to gain a comparison here in strong parallelism with the following clause of the verse=smooth as butter (Chald., Symm., Jerome, Luther, Calvin) the first syllable has sometimes been changed into מֵ after 2 codd. de Rossi (De Wette, Maurer, Olsh.), or the usual reading has been explained in this sense as a comparative (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Gesenius). But this gives rise to difficulties of construction which call for further alterations of the text, or inadmissible and forced explanations.4
Str. 7 Psa_55:22. That which is laid upon thee.—The interpretation of יְחָבְךָ as a perfect and an elliptical clause=what He has given thee, that is to say, imparted to thee (Hupfeld), hence: thy gift (Calvin), or thy lot (Kimchi, J. H. Mich.); or as an imperfect=and He will endow thee (Hitzig), is not so good as the interpretation of it as an accusative of the object (Delitzsch). But yet its derivation from יהב =give, impart, must be maintained (Böttcher), which explains the Chald. translation of מְנַת, Psa_11:6; Psa_16:5, by a word from this root and the use of it in the Talmud for a burden. To accept this latter meaning here, (Jerome, Aben Ezra, Isaki, Ewald) is an unnecessary limitation of the idea. It is the same with the translation: care, trouble (Sept., Syr., Luther, et al.) which besides seem to regard יָהַב as = יָאַבPsa_119:131, whose radical meaning is: desire. 1Pe_5:7 does not enable us to decide; still less the following verb, which not only means sustentare, to support with nourishment (Hengst.), but properly tenere, sustinere, and hence likewise “maintain,” Psa_112:5 (Hupf., Delitzsch), and it agrees well with the “to be moved” which is directly mentioned.
Psa_55:23. Depth of the pit.—This is not to be translated: well or pit, or depth of destruction (most interpreters after the ancient versions [so A. V.]), but: pit of the grave (Hitzig), or since the reference is to Sheol (Cleric.) and not to the grave, better: hole of sinking (Delitzsch) Eze_36:3; Pro_8:31, or depth of the grave. The connection of synonyms serves to strengthen the idea. The meaning “well” is derived from the idea that it is dug out.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. There are times of trouble, when terrible and harassing appearances may put even a believer in great uneasiness of heart, anxiety, and excitement, so that he knows not how to advise or help himself, and would rather flee away ; but at last his soul is quieted and comforted by taking refuge with God in prayer, and whilst he sinks back in faith into the assurance of the love and righteousness of God he regains courage for further warfare, patience to persevere in sufferings, hope in the delivering and judging interposition of God, and confidence in the hearing of his prayer.
2. Among the phenomena of evil times, “under the pressure of which even a David” is somewhat dejected, and thinks not as usual of springing over the walls (Berl. Bib.), belong particularly on the one side the rapid increase and the bold advance of ungodliness and unrighteousness in all classes of society, on the other side, the no less relentless than inconsiderate rupture of the bands of previous communion whereby love is changed into hate, friendship into hostility, trust into treachery and hypocrisy.
3. Prayer has so great importance for the sanctification of the life and strengthening in the communion with God on the one hand, and the danger is so great on the other hand of being distracted by the pressure of the world and the pliability of human nature, that we can hardly dispense with a daily exercise of prayer in connection with a fixed order of prayer. And although the three periods of prayer, evening, morning, and noon, did not appear as legally prescribed until later times (Dan_6:11; Act_10:9), yet they have been connected with the characteristic changes of the day from the most ancient times.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
So long as a man can pray, though anxious, he does not despair.—The wickedness of men may prepare much injury for us, but God’s righteousness does not endure the victory of evil.—When new enemies join old foes, and former friends are found among them, then we should search carefully for the causes of this hostility.—It is often worse in the world than we imagined in quiet times, but God can do infinitely more than all that we ask and understand.—We cannot escape that which our life brings with it in the world, but we may in the severest conflict gain the victory over the worst enemies through the assistance of God.—He who does not stand on God’s side cannot hope in God.—We should not rely upon the world, our friends, ourselves, but solely upon the faithful God alone.—We must oppose God’s righteousness, faithfulness, and truth, against the wickedness, unfaithfulness, and hypocrisy of men.—Strength of faith does not disclose itself as insensibility to suffering, but as the power to be comforted with God, to hope in God, overcome through God.
Starke: God lets us feel our weakness, when we fall into great fear and extreme anxiety, in order that we may see what we are without Him and what He is to us.—As long as the builders of Babel are united, they would take heaven by storm; but as soon as God divides their tongues all their prospects fail. Thus easily can God put His enemies to shame.—How cautious a Christian should be in the selection of friends.—The best friendship and union of spirits is when we are of one mind and heart before God.—Would you overcome by faith, then your heart must not depend upon any creature, but upon God alone, whose power is shown the most in weakness.
Osiander: Those who persecute the pious transgress the commandments of God in many ways, and become involved, generally, in horrid sins and blasphemies.—Franke: It is vain to talk of Christ and His sufferings if you remain far away from His mind and cross.—The true saving knowledge of sin is gained only by considering rightly the sufferings and death of Christ.—Arndt: God cannot hide Himself from our prayers, prayer finds Him out and presses through the clouds to Him. God’s fatherly heart does not admit of His hearing us crying and imploring and not turning to us.—Tholuck: When smitten by a friend we not only gain an enemy, but likewise lose a friend.—David cannot grasp the answer with his hands, but can with his faith.—Taube: The persevering prayer of faith finally gains the victorious assurance of a hearing.
[Matt. Henry: If we in our prayers sincerely lay open ourselves, our case, our hearts to God, we have reason to hope that He will not hide Himself, His favors, His comforts from us.—Gracious souls wish to retire from the hurry and bustle of this world, where they may sweetly enjoy God and themselves; and if there be any true peace on this side of heaven, it is they that enjoy it in those retirements.—Barnes: How often do we wish that we could get beyond the reach of enemies; of sorrows; of afflictions! How often do we sigh to be in a place where we might be assured that we should be safe from all annoyances; from all trouble! There is such a place, but not on earth.
Spurgeon: If our enemies proudly boast over us we nerve our souls for resistance, but when those who pretend to love us leer at us with contempt, whither shall we go?—If any bonds ought to be held inviolable, religious connections should be.—There is justice in the universe, love itself demands it; pity to rebels against God, as such, is no virtue.—We pray for them as creatures, we abhor them as enemies of God.—We need in these days far more to guard against the disguised iniquity which sympathizes with evil, and counts punishment to be cruelty, than against the harshness of a former age.—It is the bell of the heart that rings loudest in heaven.—A father’s heart reads a child’s heart.—The crisis of life is usually the secret place of wrestling.—He who is without trouble is often without God.—C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[2][Perowne: “The tone of sadness and melancholy now gives way to one of hot and passionate indignation. He would have escaped if he could from that city of sinners, who vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their ungodly deeds, but as he could not do this, he would gladly see God’s judgments executed upon them.”—C. A. B.]
[3][That is, let them be years in dying, let them go down alive into hell, as those buried alive.—C. A. B.]
[4][The metaphor of the butter that issues from the mouth is to be compared with the honey that drops from the strange woman’s lips, Pro_5:3. The comparison of the words with oil is in Pro_5:3 of her mouth. Comp. Sol. Son_4:11, where milk is united with honey. The strong contrast of war in the heart and drawn swords here, may be compared with the bitterness of wormwood and the sharp two-edged sword, Pro_5:4,—C. A. B.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23 The terms of the last clause express full indulgence…
The terms of the last clause express full indulgence of grief.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–23 1. Give ear… hide not thyself—Strong, anthropomorphic words. His…
1. Give ear… hide not thyself—Strong, anthropomorphic words. His urgent cause requires instant personal attention and public action. God seems to conceal himself, or not to hear, when he withholds or delays the sensible answer of prayer. Isa_1:15; Lam_3:56
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 1–3 a. The Psalmist’s passionate appeal to God for…
1–3 a. The Psalmist’s passionate appeal to God for a hearing in his distress.
1. Give ear &c.] Cp. Psa_54:2.
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hide not thyself] As the unmerciful man turns away from misfortune and suffering which he does not want to relieve (Deu_22:1; Deu_22:3-4; Isa_58:7); or as though my prayer were the prayer of a hypocrite (Isa_1:15). Cp. Psa_10:1; Lam_3:56.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (2) I mourn.—A verb found in this form only…
(2) I mourn.—A verb found in this form only in three other passages, always with the idea of restlessness—e.g., Gen_27:40, of the roving life of a Bedouin; Jer_2:31, of moral restlessness; Hos_12:1, of political instability. Here it may either indicate that bodily restlessness which often serves as an outlet of grief:
“Hard mechanic exercise,
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Like dull narcotics, numbing pain,”
or the distracted state of the mind itself.
And make a noise.—Better, and must roar, the form of the verb expressing the compulsion which the sufferer feels to give vent to his feelings in groans and murmurs. (See Note on Psa_42:5.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–23 THIS psalm has been assigned to Jeremiah by Hitzig,…
THIS psalm has been assigned to Jeremiah by Hitzig, and by others to an unknown writer of the seventh century B.C. But no solid grounds have been shown for setting aside the traditionary evidence of the "title," which ascribes it to David. It is Davidic in its depth of feeling, in its abrupt transitions (vers. 9, 15, 20), and in its reference to a faithless friend, who is the chief cause of the writer"s sufferings. (vers. 12-14, 20, 21; comp. Psa_41:9) The Davidic authorship is accepted by Hengstenberg, Dr. Kay, and Canon Cook. The probable date of the psalm is the time of Absalom"s rebellion. David, still a dweller at Jerusalem (vers. 9-11), has become aware of the conspiracy which has been formed against him (vers. 3-8), and of the participation in it of his "familiar friend," Ahithophel (vers. 12-14). He is already contemplating flight from Jerusalem (vers. 6-8), since he knows that his enemies seek his life (ver. 4). Under these circumstances, he pours out his soul to God, first depicting in eight verses (vers. 1-8) his desperate condition and longing for deliverance; then, in seven verses (vers. 9-15), describing the prevailing wickedness and ungodliness; and finally, in eight verses (vers. 16-23), giving vent to a feeling of confidence that God will come to his aid in answer to his earnest prayers," afflict" his enemies, and rescue him from their hands.
Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. (comp. Psa_54:2; and, for the second clause, see Psa_13:1 Psa_27:8 Psa_69:17 Psa_89:46, etc.)
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HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Ver. 1. The godly man in three aspects.
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." David felt this. Often had he been in trouble, but never perhaps had he been brought so low before. Evils dreaded had become realities. The dark clouds, long gathering, had now burst over him in furious tempest. Absalom, his dearly loved son, has risen in revolt, and multitudes flock to his standard. Even old companions in arms desert, and the very friend most trusted turns traitor. It was a terrible time. The aged monarch, sad and dispirited, his name traduced, his tenderest feelings outraged, his life and kingdom threatened, is compelled, with the few found faithful, to seek safety in flight. (2Sa 15) But even then there was no rest for the king. His mind is in a turmoil; his heart is borne down by cruel doubts and fears, and the sorrows of death compassed him about. But in the dark hour he found rest and hope in God. The good man is presented in this psalm as
I THE SUBJECT OF GREAT MENTAL DISTRESS. (Vers. 1-8) The cares of a divided house and the complaints of a disaffected people pressed heavy on David"s soul. But worse things still troubled him private sorrows, which he could tell only to God. Human nature is not changed. Trials are much the same now as they were three thousand years ago. How thankful should we be for such a record as we have in this psalm! We are taught that when sorrow comes it is not as if any strange thing happened to us. We see as in a glass how others have suffered, and we learn from them not only how to be patient, but where to find sure relief. How many, in all ages, since the days of David, have found, in his confessions and prayers, words wherewith fitly to express the surging feelings of their hearts!
II THE VICTIM OF SOCIAL TREACHERY. We mix with our fellowmen. We have our friends and, it may be, our enemies. However it be, we cannot live long without knowing something of the bitterness of disappointment and the pain of betrayal. In such circumstances we have need to walk circumspectly. We must watch and pray, lest our grief should pass into unholy passion, and our just resentment rise to cruel revenge.
There is a better way. Bather let the sense of injury breed in us a hatred of all injury. Bather let the feeling that we suffer wrongfully move us to sympathy with all others suffering in like manner. Bather let the faithlessness of man make us rejoice the more in the faithfulness of God, whose care of us never ceases, and whose love never fails.
III THE OBJECT OF DIVINE DELIVERANCE. "As for me" (ver. 16) marks the difference between the godly and the ungodly, and points the way to the true Resource in every trouble. Help comes largely from prayer (ver. 17). Recollection of past deliverances is reviving (ver. 18). There is also comfort from a clearer insight into the purposes and doings of God (ver. 19). But the great relief, even when face to face with the most grievous trials, is in casting all our cares upon God, who careth for us (ver. 22). The burden which is too heavy for us, and which is crushing us to the earth, we roll upon God, and therefore enter into rest and assured hope. The last words of the psalm are a fit watchword for life and for death But I will trust in thee. W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-8. The true and the false way of encountering the difficulties of life.
Sorrow, danger, and terror had come upon the psalmist with the force of a tempest. He thinks of two ways of escape casting himself upon God and flight. Suggests the true and the false way of encountering the difficulties of life.
I TAKE THE FALSE FIRST. "Oh that I had wings," etc.! (vers. 6-8). W e must conquer difficulties, not fly from them:
1. Because the post of difficulty is often the post of duty. And we find no rest in flight, because we have sought to evade or neglect our duty.
2. The post of difficulty is the post of discipline. Difficulty is one of the Divine instruments of our training; gives health and strength.
3. Solitude brings an exchange of difficulties, and does not free us from the power of the world. It is better to fight the battle of life than for the heart to prey upon itself apart from the fellowship of men and women.
II THE TRUE WAY OF ENCOUNTERING THE DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE. By seeking the help of God. (Vers. 1, 2)
1. God will help us to a greater faith. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith" faith in Divine help, and faith in the good and righteous cause.
2. God will inspire us with a truer courage. "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
3. God will give to those who are faithful all needed strength. Will fulfil the promise, "As thy dayor, "need is so shall thy strength be.
4. Victory is easier to us than to the psalmist, through Christ. Faith in God through faith in Christ will give every believer the victory. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–23 Title. To the Chief Musician on Neginoth. Another song…
Title. To the Chief Musician on Neginoth. Another song to be accompanied by stringed instruments. The strain is at one time mournful, and at another softly sweet. It needed the chief musician's best care to see that the music was expressive of the sentiment. Maschil. It is not a mere personal hymn, there is teaching in it for us all, and where our Lord shines through David, his personal type, there is a great deep of meaning. Of David. The man of many conditions, much tried, and much favoured, persecuted but delivered and exalted, was from experience enabled to write such precious verses in which he sets forth not only the sorrows of common pilgrims, but of the Lord of the way himself.
Subject. It would be idle to fix a time, and find an occasion for this Psalm with any dogmatism. It reads like a song of the time of Absalom and Ahithophel. It was after David had enjoyed peaceful worship (Ps 55:14), when he was or had just been a dweller in a city (Ps 55:9-11), and when he remembered his former roamings in the wilderness. Altogether it seems to us to relate to that mournful era when the King was betrayed by his trusted counsellor. The spiritual eye ever and anon sees the Son of David and Judas, and the chief priests appearing and disappearing upon the glowing canvas of the Psalm.
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Division. From Ps 55:1-8, the suppliant spreads his case in general before his God; in Ps 55:9-11, he portrays his enemies; in Ps 55:12-14, he mentions one special traitor, and cries for vengeance, or foretells it in Ps 55:15. From Ps 55:16-19 he consoles himself by prayer and faith; in Ps 55:20-21 he again mentions the deceitful covenant breaker, and closes with a cheering exhortation to the saints (Ps 55:22), and a denunciation of destruction upon the wicked and deceitful (Ps 55:22).
Ver. 1. Give ear to my prayer, O God. The fact is so commonly before us, otherwise we should be surprised to observe how universally and constantly the saints resort to prayer in seasons of distress. From the Great Elder Brother down to the very least of the divine family, all of them delight in prayer. They run as naturally to the mercyseat in time of trouble as the little chickens to the hen in the hour of danger. But note well that it is never the bare act of prayer which satisfies the godly, they crave an audience with heaven, and an answer from the throne, and nothing less will content them.
Hide not thyself from my supplication. Do not stop thine ear, or restrain thy hand. When a man saw his neighbour in distress, and deliberately passed him by, he was said to hide himself from him; and the psalmist begs that the Lord would not so treat him. In that dread hour when Jesus bore our sins upon the tree, his Father did hide himself, and this was the most dreadful part of all the Son of David's agony. Well may each of us deprecate such a calamity as that God should refuse to hear our cries.
Title. Maschil. This is often prefixed to those Psalms in which David speaks of himself as being chastened by God, inasmuch as the end of chastisement is instruction. Simon de Muis, 1587-1644.
Whole Psalm. A prayer of the Man Christ in his humiliation, despised and rejected of men, when he was made sin for his people, that they might be made the righteousness of God in him, when he was about to suffer their punishment, pay their debt, and discharge their ransom. Utter depravity of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; betrayal of Messiah by one of the twelve whom he had ordained to the apostolical office, and who was Messiah's constant attendant in all his ministerial circuits. Premature and punitive death of the traitor Judas, and of others banded together to crucify the Lord of glory. John Noble Coleman, M.A., in "A Revision of the authorised English Version of the Book of Psalms, "1863.
Ver. 1. In the first clause he uses the word ytlkt, that he might indicate that he merely sought justice from God as a Judge; but in the second he implores the favour of God, that if perchance the prayer for justice be less becoming to himself as a sinner, God may not deny his grace. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 1. Hide not thyself from my supplication. A figure taken from the conduct of a king who debars an offender from seeing his face (2Sa 14:24), or from an enemy, who conceals himself from the ox, etc.; that is, pretends not to see it, and goes away, leaving it (see De 22:1, 3, 4 Isa 58:7); or, from a false friend, or an unkind person, who, foreseeing that he may be entreated by a miserable and needy man, will not let himself be seen, but seeks to make his escape. Martin Geier, 1614-1681.
Ver. 1. (second clause).
I. An evil to be dreaded: Hide not thyself, etc.
1. By long delay in an urgent case.
2. In the sinner's case by refusing to hear altogether. II. Causes which may produce it.
1. In the man.
2. In the prayer itself.
3. In the manner of the prayer. III. Evils which will follow a list which the preacher can readily think of. IV. Remedies for the evil. There is none of it should continue; but heart searching, repentance, importunity, pleading the name of Jesus, etc., will lead to its removal.
In CHANDLER'S "Life of David, "Vol. 2., pp. 305-315, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.
Psalms 55:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 14, 17, 19, 22 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide…
Psa_55:1-23
Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my supplication.
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The compassionable, the commendable, and the censurable in life
I. The compassionable. David appears here an object for pity and compassion, as the victim of--
1. Malignant oppression.
2. Overwhelming terror.
3. Foul treachery.
II. The commendable.
1. He lays all his troubles before Him who alone could help him. The fact that men in great trouble and danger, whatever be their theoretical beliefs, instinctively appeal to God for help, argues mans intuitive belief--
(1) In the existence of a personal God;
(2) In the accessibility of a personal God;
(3) In the compassion of a personal God.
2. Under all his troubles he strives to maintain his confidence in God.
(1) Men have burdens. What anxieties press upon the human soul, making the very frame to stoop, and the heart to break.
(2) Mens burdens may be transferred to God. Cast thy burden upon the Lord. How? By an unbounded confidence in His character and procedure.
(3) Those who transfer their burdens on the Lord will be sustained. He shall sustain thee. God gives men power to bear their burden, and will ultimately remove their burden from them.
III. The censurable--his imprecations. Revenge is a moral wrong; and what is morally wrong in the individual can never be right in any relationship or office that the individual may assume, or in any combination into which he may enter. (Homilist.)
The outcry of a soul in distress
I. The vivid complaint (Psa_55:1-11). The singers case is a sad one. His mind is restlessly tossed to and fro. Full of cares and anxieties he nowhere finds solid foothold, but continues distracted, and hence he must pour out his heart in groans and complaints. The reason is the voice of the enemy, that is, the reproaches and calumnies to which he is subjected. But word is accompanied by deed, for there is persecution as well as slander. Overwhelmed with horror, the one thought of the sufferer is escape. He longs for the pinions of a dove--itself the emblem of peace and quiet--that he may fly away and find repose.
II. The treacherous friend (Psa_55:12-15). The slanders of an avowed antagonist are seldom so mean and cutting as those of a false friend, and the absence of the elements of ingratitude and treachery renders them less hard to bear. We can bear from Shimei what we cannot endure from Ahithophel. So, too, we can escape from open foes, but where can one find a hiding-place from treachery? Hence the faithlessness of a professed friend is a form of sin for which there is not even the pretence of excuse. No one defends it or apologizes for it. Yet it occurs, and sometimes, like the case in the psalm, under the sanctions of a religious profession, so that the very altar of God is defiled with hypocrisy. It is right, therefore, that such atrocious wickedness should receive its appropriate recompense.
III. The anticipated result (Psa_55:16-23). By a fine antithesis the speaker turns to describe his own course in opposition to that of others. They pursue wickedness and reach its fearful end. He, on the contrary, calls upon God, who is his one refuge in times of distress and anxiety. He lives in an atmosphere of prayer, which is expressed by his mention of the three principal divisions of the natural day. Complain and moan are the same words that occur in Psa_55:2; only here they are accompanies by the assurance of being heard. God will assuredly redeem him from the heat of the conflict; and the interposition of His arm will be needed, for his adversaries are not few but many, too many for him to deal with alone. God therefore will hear and answer them just as He does to His own servant, but with a serious difference. His own He regards in mercy, others in judgment. God Himself so orders His providence that they are overtaken in their evil ways and plunged into the abyss. On the other hand, the sacred poet closes his lyric with a renewed asseveration of the only ground of his hope. As for me, whatever others may say or think, as for me, I trust in Thee. (T. W. Chambers, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 55
Psalms 55
THE situation of the psalmist has a general correspondence with that of David in the period of Absaloms rebellion, and the identification of the traitorous friend with Ahithophel is naturally suggested. But there are considerable difficulties in the way of taking that view. The psalmist is evidently in the city, from which he longs to escape; but Ahithophels treachery was not known to David till after his flight. Would a king have described his counsellor, however trusted, as "a man my equal"? The doubt respecting the identity of the traitor, however, does not seriously militate against the ordinary view of the date and occasion of the psalm, if we suppose that it belongs to the period immediately before the outburst of the conspiracy, when David was still in Jerusalem, but seeing the treason growing daily bolder, and already beginning to contemplate flight. The singularly passive attitude which he maintained during the years of Absaloms plotting was due to his consciousness of guilt and his submission to punishment. Hitzig ascribes the psalm to Jeremiah, principally on the ground of the resemblance of the prophets wish for a lodge in the wilderness {Jer_9:2} to the psalmists yearning in Psa_55:6-8. Cheyne brings it down to the Persian period; Olshausen, to the Maccabean. The Davidic authorship has at least as much to say for itself as any of these conjectures.
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The psalm may be regarded as divided into three parts, in each of which a different phase of agitated feeling predominates, but not exclusively. Strong excitement does not marshal emotions or their expression according to artistic proprieties of sequence, and this psalm is all ablaze with it. That vehemence of emotion sufficiently accounts for both the occasional obscurities and the manifest want of strict accuracy in the flow of thought, without the assumption of dislocation of parts or piecing it with a fragment of another psalm. When the heart is writhing within, and tumultuous feelings are knocking at the door of the lips, the words will be troubled and heaped together, and dominant thoughts will repeat themselves in defiance of logical continuity. But, still, complaint and longing sound through the wailing, yearning notes of Psa_55:1-8; hot indignation and terrible imprecations in the stormy central portion (Psa_55:9-15); and a calmer note of confidence and hope, through which, however, the former indignation surges up again, is audible in the closing verses (Psa_55:16-23).
The psalmist pictures his emotions in the first part, with but one reference to their cause, and but one verse of petition. He begins, indeed, with asking that his prayer may be heard; and it is well when a troubled heart can raise itself above the sea of troubles to stretch a hand towards God. Such an effort of faith already prophesies firm footing on the safe shore. But very pathetic and true to the experience of many a sorrowing heart is the psalmists immediately subsequent dilating on his griefs. There is a dumb sorrow, and there is one which unpacks its heart in many words and knows not when to stop. The psalmist is distracted in his bitter brooding on his troubles. The word means to move restlessly, and may either apply to body or mind, perhaps to both; for Eastern demonstrativeness is not paralysed, but stimulated to bodily tokens, by sorrow. He can do nothing but groan or moan. His heart "writhes" in him. Like an avalanche, deadly terrors have fallen on him and crushed him. Fear and trembling have pierced into his inner being, and "horror" (a rare word, which the LXX here renders darkness) wraps him round or covers him, as a cloak does. It is not so much the pressure of present evil, as the shuddering anticipation of a heavier storm about to burst, which is indicated by these pathetic expressions. The cause of them is stated in a single verse (Psa_55:3). "The voice of the enemy" rather than his hand is mentioned first, since threats and reproaches precede assaults; and it is budding, not fullblown, enmity which is in view. In Psa_55:3 b "oppression" is an imperfect parallelism with "voice," and the conjectural emendation (which only requires the prefixing of a letter) of "cries," adopted by Cheyne, after Olshausen and others, is tempting. They "fling down iniquity" on him as rocks are hurled or rolled from a height on invaders-a phrase which recalls Davids words to his servants, urging flight before Absalom, "lest he bring down evil upon us."
Then, from out of all this plaintive description of the psalmists agitation and its causes, starts up that immortal strain which answers to the deepest longings of the soul, and has touched responsive chords in all whose lives are not hopelessly outward and superficial-the yearning for repose. It may be ignoble, or lofty and pure; it may mean only cowardice or indolence; but it is deepest in those who stand most unflinchingly at their posts, and crush it down at the command of duty. Unless a soul knows that yearning for a home in stillness, "afar from the sphere of our sorrow," it will remain a stranger to many high and noble things. The psalmist was moved to utter this longing by his painful consciousness of encompassing evils; but the longing is more than a desire for exemption from these. It is the cry of the homeless soul, which, like the dove from the ark, finds no resting place in a world full of carrion, and would fain return whence it came. "O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and we are unquiet till we find rest in Thee." No obligation of duty keeps migratory birds in a land where winter is near. But men are better than birds, because they have other things to think of than repose, and must face, not flee, storms and hurricanes. It is better to have wings "like birds of tempest-loving kind," and to beat up against the wind, than to outfly it in retreat. So the psalmists wish was but a wish; and he, like the rest of us, had to stand to his post, or be tied to his stake, and let enemies and storms do their worst. The LXX has a striking reading of Psa_55:8, which Cheyne has partially adopted. It reads for Psa_55:8 a "waiting for Him who saves me"; but beautiful as this is, as giving the picture of the restful fugitive in patient expectation, it brings an entirely new idea into the picture, and blends metaphor and fact confusedly. The Selah at the close of Psa_55:7 deepens the sense of still repose by a prolonged instrumental interlude.
The second part turns from subjective feelings to objective facts. A cry for help and a yearning for a safe solitude were natural results of the former; but when the psalmists eye turns to his enemies, a flash of anger lights it, and, instead of the meek longings of the earlier verses, prayers for their destruction are vehemently poured out. The state of things in the city corresponds to what must have been the condition of Jerusalem during the incubation of Absaloms conspiracy, but is sufficiently general to fit any time of strained party feeling. The caldron simmers, ready to boil over. The familiar evils, of which so many psalms complain, are in full vigour. The psalmist enumerates them with a wealth of words which indicates their abundance. Violence, strife, iniquity, mischief, oppression, and deceit-a goodly company to patrol the streets and fill the open places of the city! Psa_55:10 a-is sometimes taken as carrying on the personification of Violence and Strife in Psa_55:9, by painting these as going their rounds on the walls like sentries; but it is better to suppose that the actual foes are meant, and that they are keeping up a strict watch to prevent the psalmists escape.
Several commentators consider that the burst of indignation against the psalmists traitorous friend in Psa_55:12-14 interrupts the sequence, and propose rearrangements by which Psa_55:20-21, will be united with Psa_55:12-14, and placed either before Psa_55:6 or after Psa_55:15. But the very abruptness with which the thought of the traitor is interjected here, and in the subsequent reference to him, indicates how the singers heart was oppressed by the treason; and the return to the subject in Psa_55:20 is equally significant of his absorbed and pained brooding on the bitter fact. That is a slight pain which is removed by one cry. Rooted griefs, overwhelming sorrows, demand many repetitions. Trouble finds ease in tautology. It is absurd to look for cool, logical sequence in such a hearts cry as this psalm. Smooth continuity would be most unnatural. The psalmist feels that the defection of his false friend is the worst blow of all. He could have braced himself to bear an enemys reviling; he could have found weapons to repel, or a shelter in which to escape from, open foes; but the baseness which forgets all former sweet companionship in secret, and all association in public and in worship, is more than he can bear up against. The voice of wounded love is too plain in the words for the hypothesis that the singer is the personified nation. Traitors are too common to allow of a very confident affirmation that the psalm must point to Ahithophel, and the description of the perfidious friend as the equal of the psalmist does not quite fit that case.
As he thinks of all the sweetness of past intimacy, turned to gall by such dastardly treachery, his anger rises. The description of the city and of the one enemy in whom all its wickedness is, as it were, concentrated, is framed in a terrible circlet of prayers for the destruction of the foes. Psa_55:9 a begins and Psa_55:15 ends this part with petitions which do not breathe the spirit of "Father, forgive them." There may be a reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel in the prayer of Psa_55:9. As then the impious work was stopped by mutual unintelligibility, so the psalmist desires that his enemies machinations may be paralysed in like manner. In Psa_55:15 the translation "desolations" follows the Hebrew text, while the alternative and in some respects preferable reading "May death come suddenly" follows the Hebrew marginal correction. There are difficulties in both, and the correction does not so much smooth the language as to be obviously an improvement. The general sense is clear, whichever reading is preferred. The psalmist is calling down destruction on his enemies; and while the fact that he is in some manner an organ of the Divine purpose invests hostility to him with the darker character of rebellion against God, and therefore modifies the personal element in the prayer, it still remains a plain instance of the lower level on which the Old Testament saints and singers stood, when compared with the "least in the kingdom of heaven."
The third part of the psalm returns to gentler tones of devotion and trust. The great name of Jehovah appears here significantly. To that ever-living One, the Covenant God, will the psalmist cry, in assurance of answer. "Evening, and morning, and noon" designate the whole day by its three principal divisions, and mean, in effect, continually. Happy are they who are impelled to unintermitting prayer by the sight of unslumbering enmity! Enemies may go their rounds "day and night," but they will do little harm, if the poor, hunted man, whom they watch so closely, lifts his cries to Heaven "evening, and morning, and noon." The psalmist goes back to his first words. He had begun by saying that he was distracted as he mused, and could do nothing but groan, and in Psa_55:17 he repeats that he will still do so. Has he, then, won nothing by his prayer but the prolongation of his first dreary tone of feeling? He has won this-that his musing is not accompanied by distraction, and that his groaning is not involuntary expression of pain, but articulate prayer, and therefore accompanied by the confidence of being heard. Communion with God and prayerful trust in his help do not at once end sadness and sobbing, but do change their character and lighten the blackness of grief. This psalmist, like so many of his fellows, realises deliverance before he experiences it, and can sing "He has redeemed my soul" even while the calamity lasts. "They come not near me," says he. A soul hidden in God has an invisible defence which repels assaults. As with a man in a diving bell, the sea may press on the crystal walls, but cannot crush them in or enter, and there is safe, dry lodging inside, while sea billows and monsters are without, close to the diver and yet far from him.
Psa_55:19 is full of difficulty, and most probably has suffered some textual corruption. To "hear and answer" is uniformly an expression for gracious hearing and beneficent answering. Here it can only mean the opposite, or must be used ironically. God will hear the enemies threats, and will requite them. Various expedients have been suggested for removing the difficulty. It has been proposed to read "me" for "them" which would bring everything into order-only that, then, the last clauses of the verse, which begin with a relative ("who have no changes," etc.), would want an antecedent. It has been proposed to read "will humble them" for "will answer them," which, is the LXX translation. That requires a change in the vowels of the verb, and "answer" is more probable than "humble" after "hear." Cheyne follows Olshausen in supposing that "the cry of the afflicted" has dropped out after "hear." The construction of Psa_55:19 b is anomalous, as the clause is introduced by a superfluous "and," which may be a copyists error. The Selah attached is no less anomalous. It is especially difficult to explain, in view of the relative which begins the third clause, and which would otherwise be naturally brought into close connection with the "them," the objects of the verbs in a. These considerations lead Hupfeld to regard Psa_55:19 as properly ending with Selah, and the remaining clauses as out of place, and properly belonging to Psa_55:15 or Psa_55:18; while Cheyne regards the alternative supposition that they are a fragment of another psalm as possible. There is probably some considerable corruption of the text, not now to be remedied; but the existing reading is at least capable of explanation and defence. The principal difficulty in the latter part of Psa_55:19 is the meaning of the word rendered "changes." The persons spoken of are those whom God will hear and answer in His judicial character, in which He has been throned from of old. Their not having "changes" is closely connected with their not fearing God. The word is elsewhere used for changes of raiment, or for the relief of military guards. Calvin and others take the changes intended to be vicissitudes of fortune, and hence draw the true thought that unbroken prosperity tends to forgetfulness of God. Others take the changes to be those of mind or conduct from evil to good, while others fall back upon the metaphor of relieving guard, which they connect with the picture in Psa_55:10 of the patrols on the walls, so getting the meaning "they have no cessation in their wicked watchfulness." It must be acknowledged that none of these meanings is quite satisfactory; but probably the first, which expresses the familiar thought of the godlessness attendant on uninterrupted prosperity, is best.
Then follows another reference to the traitorous friend, which, by its very abruptness, declares how deep is the wound he has inflicted. The psalmist does not stand alone. He classes with himself those who remained faithful to him. The traitor has not yet thrown off his mask. though the psalmist has penetrated his still retained disguise. He comes with smooth words; but, in the vigorous language of Psa_55:21, "his heart is war." The fawning softness of words known to be false cuts into the heart, which had trusted and knows itself betrayed, more sharply than keen steel.
Psa_55:22 has been singularly taken as the smooth words which cut so deep; but surely that is a very strained interpretation. Much rather does the psalmist exhort himself and all who have the same bitterness to taste, to commit themselves to Jehovah. What is it which he exhorts us to cast on Him? The word employed is used here only, and its meaning is therefore questionable. The LXX and others translate "care." Others, relying on Talmudical usage, prefer "burden," which is appropriate to the following promise of being held erect. Others (Hupfeld, etc.) would read "that which He has given thee." The general sense is clear, and the faith expressed in both exhortation and appended promise has been won by the singer through his prayer. He is counselling and encouraging himself. The spirit has to spur the "soul" to heroisms of faith and patience. He is declaring a universal truth. However crushing our loads of duty or of sorrow, we receive strength to carry them with straight backs, if we cast them on Jehovah. The promise is not that He will take away the pressure, but that He will hold us up under it; and, similarly, the last clause declares that the righteous will not be allowed to stumble. Faith is mentioned before righteousness. The two must go together; for trust which is not accompanied and manifested by righteousness is no true trust, and righteousness which is not grounded in trust is no stable or real righteousness.
The last verse sums up the diverse fates of the "men of blood and deceit" and of the psalmist. The terrible prayers of the middle portion of the psalm have wrought the assurance of their fulfilment, just as the cries of faith have brought the certainty of theirs. So the two closing verses of the psalm turn both parts of the earlier petitions into prophecies; and over against the trustful, righteous psalmist, standing erect and unmoved, there is set the picture of the "man of blood and deceit," chased down the black slopes to the depths of destruction by the same God whose hand holds up the man that trusts in Him. It is a dreadful contrast, and the spirit of the whole psalm is gathered into it. The last clause of all makes "I" emphatic. It expresses the final resolution which springs in the singers heart in view of that dread picture of destruction and those assurances of support. He recoils from the edge of the pit, and eagerly opens his bosom for the promised blessing. Well for us if the upshot of all our meditations on the painful riddle of this unintelligible world, and of all our burdens and of all our experiences and of our observation of other mens careers, is the absolute determination, "As for me, I will trust in Jehovah!"
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Superscription.—“To the Chief Musician on Neginoth.” See introduction to…
INTRODUCTION
Superscription.—“To the Chief Musician on Neginoth.” See introduction to Psalms 54 “Maschil,” an instruction. Hengstenberg: “The Psalmist wishes to show how, in such a situation of excitement, a person should conduct himself; how he should carry up what has occasioned it to God, and compose himself to rest again through the consideration of God’s love and righteousness.”
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Occasion.—We have no doubt that the psalm has an historical reference; but to what occasion it refers cannot now be determined with certainty. Barnes: “Of all the known events in the life of David, the supposition which regards the psalm as composed during the rebellion of Absalom, and at the special time when he learned that the man whom he trusted—Ahithophel—was among the traitors, is the most probable. All the circumstances in the psalm agree with his condition at that time, and the occasion was one in which the persecuted and much-afflicted king would be likely to pour out the desires of his heart before God” (2Sa_15:10-31).
A CRY FROM A SOUL IN DISTRESS
(Psa_55:1-8.)
This cry of the troubled Psalmist reveals—
I. The cause of his distress. This was the conduct of his enemies as set forth in Psa_55:3 :
1. Their evil speeches. “Because of the voice of the enemy.” At this time David was assailed with reproaches, slanders, and threats (2Sa_15:3-4). (See “The Hom. Com.,” on Psa_41:5-9; Psa_42:2.)
2. Their wicked deeds. “Because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me.” Hengstenberg renders the last clause thus: “for they bend mischief over me.” And Conant: “For they cause mischief to impend over me.” Absalom and Ahithophel and their followers were doing their utmost to take away both the kingdom and the life of the poet-king. Their evil doings were an intolerable burden to him, beneath which his heart fainted and his strength failed.
3. Their deadly hatred. “In wrath they hate me.” Hengstenberg: “In wrath they persecute me.” Conant: “In anger they lay a snare for me.” They had nursed their ambitious and wicked schemes until their hearts were full of deep and deadly hatred against him who stood in the way and prevented their attainment. “There was in their enmity both the heat and violence of anger, or sudden passion, and the implacableness of hatred and rooted malice.”
II. The description of his distress. The Psalmist represents himself as suffering—
1. Great mental anxiety. This seems to be the idea of the second clause of Psa_55:2. “I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise.” Moll: “I reel to and fro in my complaint and must groan.” Conant: “I am restless in my complaining and disquieted.” Perowne: “אָרִיד from a verb, רִיד, which occurs in three other passages, Gen_27:40; Jer_2:31; Hos_12:1. Properly it signifies to wander restlessly, especially as homeless, without fixed abode, &c. Here it is used of the restless tossing to and fro of the mind, filled with cares and anxieties.” The mind of David was at this time exercised by the most anxious thought as to the measures he should adopt, and the course he should pursue for his own safety and the good of his distracted realm.
2. Deep pain of heart. “My heart is sore pained within me.” Moll: “ ‘My heart writhes within me.’ The trouble is not merely an external one, it affects his bowels, his vitals, his inmost soul.” David was deeply wounded in the innermost and most sensitive part of his nature. His own son whom he loved was the head and origin of the rebellion. “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” And his bosom friend whom he trusted, Ahithophel, was chief counsellor of the rebels. Well may his “heart writhe within” him.
3. Overwhelming and unspeakable dread. “The terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.” Hengstenberg: “The terrors of death seize the Psalmist, because the enemies threaten his life.” Barnes: “ ‘Horror hath overwhelmed me.’ Marg., as in Heb., ‘covered me.’ That is, it had come upon him so as to cover or envelop him entirely. The shades of horror and despair spread all around and above him, and all things were filled with gloom. The word rendered horror occurs only in three other places; Eze_7:18, rendered (as here, horror; Job_21:6, rendered trembling; and Isa_21:4, rendered fearfulness. It refers to that state when we are deeply agitated with fear.” If we think of the scenes and circumstances through which David was passing, we shall see that they were likely to occasion feelings so deep and painful and dreadful, that even the strong language here used does not adequately express them. “The ingratitude and rebellion of a son,—the fact of being driven away from his throne,—the number of his enemies,—the unexpected news that Ahithophel was among them,—and the entire uncertainty of the result, justified the use of this strong language.”
III. His desire in his distress. “And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove,” &c. He desires to escape quickly from the wrath and strife of men to the peace and safety of Nature’s retirements,—to get away from the falsity and cruelty of human society into the solitudes of true and kindly Nature. Jeremiah: “Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.”
“Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless contiguity of shade,
Where rumour of oppression and deceit,
Of unsuccessful or successful war,
Might never reach me more. My ear is pain’d,
My soul is sick with every day’s report
Of wrong and outrage with which earth is fill’d.”—Cowper.
The Psalmist desired to depart
(1) quickly. “Wings like a dove” is a figure of rapid flight. “I would hasten my escape.”
(2) Completely. “I would wander far off.” “I would make the distance far by wandering.” He would completely separate himself from the strife and tumult of the city and human society.
(3) Permanently. “I would flee away, and abide.” “This is more literal, and more in accordance with the parallelism than the translation, ‘be at rest,’ of the A. V.;” and is adopted by Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Hupfield, Moll, et al.
1. This desire was natural. There was no feeling of revenge in it. He did not sigh for the wings of a hawk to fly upon the prey, but for those of the innocent dove, to escape from the birds of prey. Suffering as he was from men whom he had loved and trusted, it was natural that David should long to escape from man to nature, and to have done with the faithless and ungrateful.
2. This desire was mistaken. If he had obtained his wish, the issue would probably have been disappointing. Our well-being and joy depend on our inner condition, not on our outward circumstances. If the brain and heart be unquiet themselves, neither society nor solitude can give them rest. If the peace of God be in the soul, the world’s most tumultuous and trying scenes cannot deprive us of it.
3. This desire was significant. To us it clearly suggests that there is for man a place as well as a state of rest. The longing of the heart for rest is prophetic of a realm where peaceful souls dwell amid peaceful circumstances. There is a world into which sin and sorrow and strife never enter; but it is not here. Our rest, our home, is not here. “Arise ye and depart; for this is not your rest,” &c.
IV. His prayer in his distress. “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me.” These petitions involve a large measure of faith in God.
1. In His accessibleness. David believed in the possibility and privilege of man speaking unto his Maker. He regarded God as the hearer of prayer.
2. In His intreatibleness. “Hide no Thyself,” &c. Arnd: “In great straits, it seems as if God hides Himself from us, as the prophet Jeremiah speaks in chap. 3 of his Lamentations: ‘Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.’ But our gracious God cannot hide Himself from our prayer; the prayer does still press through the clouds and find Him. God’s fatherly heart does not permit Him to hear us cry and beg, without turning to us, as a father when he bears his children cry.” David regarded God as the answerer of prayer.
3. In His sufficiency. The Psalmist was convinced that if God graciously received his prayer and entertained his case, it would be well with him notwithstanding the malice and might and multitude of his foes. “He is able to do exceeding abundantly,” &c.
CONCLUSION.—Learn:
1. That the best of men in this world are exposed to severest trials.
2. That religion does not make men insensible to pain and grief.
3. That religion provides for men an all-sufficient resource in trial. Prayer to a gracious, all-wise, and almighty Friend.
4. That religion faithfully promises full and blessed satisfaction to man’s craving for rest.
(1) Here the rest of faith, satisfied affections, &c.—rest amidst trial, peace in conflict.
(2) Hereafter, in addition to this rest of soul, complete rest from conflict, trial, suffering, and sin.
“There shall no tempests blow,
No scorching noontide heat;
There shall be no more snow,
No weary wand’ring feet;
So we lift our trusting eyes
From the hills our fathers trod.
To the quiet of the skies
To the Sabbath of our God.”
—Hemans.
SAD SCENES AND PAINFUL EXPERIENCES
(Psa_55:9-15.)
“The tone of sadness and melancholy now gives way to one of hot and passionate indignation;” and the poet sketches the sad scenes which he had witnessed in the city, and the painful experiences through which he had passed.
I. Sore evils in the city. “I have seen violence and strife in the city,” &c., Psa_55:9-11.
1. The evils were manifold in form. Here we have:—
(1) Rebellion against the civil power. “Violence and strife in the city.”
(2) Extortion and fraud in commerce. “Deceit and guile depart not from her streets.” Hengstenberg: “There depart not from its market oppression and deceit.” Conant: “From her market-place depart not extortion and deceit.” The word which is rendered “streets” and “markets” denotes “the large open spaces at the gates of the oriental cities, where were the markets, the courts of justice, and general places of public concourse.” Every phase of life seems to have become depraved. “Wickedness was in the midst” of the city.
2. The evils were universal in extent. They were “in the city” and going “about it upon the walls;” they were “in the midst thereof” and in the open spaces before the gates. “The city was wholly and utterly filled with wickedness.”
3. The evils were continuous in their activities. “Day and night they go about,” &c. They “depart not,” &c. Wickedness was unwearied and incessant in its doings.
4. The evils were painful in their results. “Mischief and sorrow are in the midst of it.” Conant: “Trouble and sorrow are within her.” The whole city in all its parts and at all times was full of wickedness; and the result was distress and grief. Where wickedness abounds, misery will not be wanting. Sin is the fruitful parent of sorrow. It is well that trouble does follow transgression. We wonder not that David’s heart was stirred with grief and indignation as he beheld the city so filled with untiring wickedness and sore anguish. No person of enlightened piety can contemplate the sins and sorrows of a great city without emotions of deep grief and earnest solicitude.
The poet also sketches some of his own painful experiences.
II. Base treachery in friendship. “For it was not an enemy that reproached me,” &c., Psa_55:12-14. We see here:—
1. Friendship enjoyed. The Psalmist dwells upon this point with touching minuteness. He shows us a friendship:
(1) Of great intimacy and trust. “A man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.” “Mine equal.” “Friendship, according to the rule, ‘binds only equals,’ and these, wherever it actually obtains, with peculiarly intimate bonds.” “My guide.” “אַלּוּף is here not guide, but companion, associate, one joined in intimate communion.” Barnes: “The phrase ‘mine acquaintance’ is a feeble expression, and does not convey the full force of the original, which denotes a more intimate friend than would be suggested by the word ‘acquaintance.’ It is language applied to one whom we thoroughly know, and who knows us; and this exists only in the case of very intimate friends.” David had regarded Ahithophel as such a friend.
(2) In holiest engagements. “We walked unto the house of God in company.” More correctly: “We walked into the house of God in the festal crowd.” They united as dear friends in acts of sacred worship to the one God. “The fellowship of devotion entwines the hearts of men with the most tender cords.” Such friendships should triumph over death itself.
(3) Affording great pleasure. “We took sweet counsel together.” Literally: “We sweetened counsel together.” Their familiar converse was mutually delightful. In public and in private, in religion and in politics, their friendship had been most intimate and confiding and pleasurable.
2. Friendship violated.
(1) By slander. “It was not an enemy that reproached me.” This trusted friend had taken part with his detractors and calumniators (2Sa_15:31).
(2) By base and cruel opposition. “Magnify himself against me.” Conant: “Hath acted proudly against me.” The treacherous man was seeking to accomplish the downfall and ruin of David, that he might thereby rise to greater distinction and power. So the tender and holy bonds of friendship, which should ever be softer than gossamer, yet stronger than cable, were utterly outraged.
3. Friendship injured and complaining. David felt that he had been bitterly wronged, and very pathetically he complains of the wrong. His complaint suggests that the hostility of those we counted friends, is—
(1) More painful than that of enemies. “It was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it.” Berleb. Bible: “For from such one would expect nothing better, and might still find consolation respecting it from one’s friends.” The treachery of those whom we have taken into our innermost confidence is one of the most bitter of life’s experiences.
(2) More perilous than that of enemies. “Then I would have hid myself from him.” We can guard against the injuries of an open, or of a suspected enemy; but who can guard against the injuries of a secret, treacherous foe, whom we regard and trust as a friend?
(3) More criminal than that of enemies. Such hostility outrages the tenderest and holiest feelings, and violates the most sacred obligations. Such were some of the painful experiences of the poet at this time. Alas, that thousands have drank of the same bitter cup!
“Where you are liberal of your loves and counsel
Be sure you be not loose; for those you make friends,
And give your hearts to, when they once perceive
The least rub in your fortunes, fall away
Like water from ye, never found again,
But where they mean to sink ye.”
—Shakespeare.
“And what is friendship but a name,
A charm that lulls to sleep!
A shade that follows wealth or fame,
And leaves the wretch to weep!”
—Goldsmith.
See “The Hom. Com.,” on Psa_41:9.
III. Earnest prayer in suffering. David prays for—
1. The defeat of his enemies’ plans by the division of their counsels. “O Lord, divide their tongues.” Alexander: “Confound their speech, or make it unintelligible, and, as a necessary consequence, confound their counsels. There is obvious reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel (Gen_11:7-9), as a great historical example of the way in which God is accustomed and determined to defeat the purposes of wicked men and execute His own.”
2. The sudden destruction of his enemies. “Destroy, O Lord.” Hengstenberg: “Devour, Lord.” The word properly signifies, swallow up. “Let death seize upon them, let them go down quick into hell.” Conant’s translation is more accurate: “Desolations are upon them; they shall go down alive to the under world.” There is a reference here to the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num_16:33). David prays that a similar destruction may befall his enemies. And the reason upon which his prayer is based is that “wickedness is in their dwellings, among them.” Let them perish because of their wickedness.
CONCLUSION.—
1. Be careful in the selection of friends and the formation of friendships.
2. Prize true friends.
“The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel.”—Shakespeare.
“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly,” &c.
3. Yet confide not too fully in any human friend; for even the truest may fail us in life’s great needs for lack of power to aid, &c.
4. God alone is supremely trust-worthy. He cannot fail either in faithfulness or in power, &c.
A TRIUMPHANT CONFIDENCE
(Psa_55:16-23.)
In this portion of the Psalm the poet expresses his assured hope of deliverance from all his enemies and dangers. Consider—
I. The nature of his confidence. “As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me,” &c.
1. His confidence was comprehensive. He trusted that
(1) God would destroy his enemies. “God shall hear and afflict them.” Hengstenberg: “God shall hear and answer them.” He would hear the angry voices of the wicked, and in judgment He would give them a sharp answer. “Thou, O God, shalt bring them down to the pit of destruction,” &c. “The pit of destruction” is Sheol. The idea is, that God would cut them off even as the Psalmist had already prayed Him to do.
(2) God would save him. He regards this salvation as including (α) Support and preservation during his trials and dangers. “He shall sustain thee, He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” (β) Deliverance from his trials and dangers. “The Lord shall save me … He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me.” He was quite confident that God would deliver him in safety from those who were making war against him. This confidence had brought peace to him in the midst of danger, and he had an assured hope of the restoration of outward peace. This is a confidence which every believer in the Lord may cherish as regards his salvation from inward and from outward enemies. If our trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ our complete triumph and our full salvation are gloriously certain.
2. His confidence was strong. There is no trace of hesitation or doubt in the declaration of the Psalmist. He speaks with the clear accent of assured conviction. He is so certain of his deliverance that he speaks of it as already accomplished. “He hath redeemed my soul in peace,” &c. He is as sure of the victory as if it were already won. Such confidence
(1) honours God,
(2) imparts courage and strength, and
(3) insures a rich reward.
3. His confidence was intelligent. It was neither ignorant nor presumptuous, but intelligent and reverent. He does not helplessly and unreasonably look to God to save him by miracle; but recognises the fact that salvation is given to us in the use of the means. He mentions as means to his deliverance—
(1) Prayer. “As for me, I will call upon God,” &c. He resolves to pray frequently. “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray.” Moll: “The three principal parts of the day, usually observed as the special times of prayer among the Orientals. Or it may, perhaps, be a practical expression for the whole day, equivalent to, at all times, without ceasing.” He resolves to pray fervently. “I will pray and cry aloud.” Hengstenberg: “I will meditate and cry aloud.” Conant: “I will lament and sigh.” Moll: “Complain and groan.” The idea seems to be that his feelings were deep and strong, and that he would give to them appropriate expression in prayer to God. Deep emotions cannot be restrained in their utterance within the limits of formal and ordinary expressions. Such were the emotions of the Psalmist.
(2) Trust. He regarded the continuance of his confidence as essential to his salvation. Hence he exhorts himself—“Cast thy burden upon the Lord;” and he resolves, “I will trust in Thee.” The continued exercise of faith is an essential condition of calmness and strength and conquest. And we know from the history that, in grappling with the rebellion of Absalom and the treachery of Ahithophel, David not only prayed and trusted, but planned and laboured also. To faith and prayer he added thought and effort (2 Samuel 15-18.). In all this the poet is an example to us. Our confidence in God should be intelligent. The faith which is inculcated and encouraged in the Bible, and which God has promised to reward, is sublimely reasonable. It is a discerning, strong, victorious thing. And God has promised to crown the exercise of it with His blessing.
II. The grounds of his confidence. The Psalmist shows to us that his faith was based on—
1. The number of his enemies. “For there were many with me.” Moll: “The translation of the A. V. ‘with me’ is literal, but conveys a wrong meaning. The Heb. preposition, like the English with, has a double use, mutual action may be co-operative or antagonistic. Thus we say: fight with = against, to be angry with = against. The meaning here as determined by the context is clearly against.” The rebel army that was waging war against David was a numerous one (2Sa_15:12; 2Sa_17:11; 2Sa_18:7). David took encouragement from this fact to expect the interposition of God for his salvation. When our enemies are many and strong, then God will interpose for us, if our cause be righteous, and our trust reposed in Him (2Ki_6:13-18; 2Ch_20:12; 2Ch_20:23-25).
2. The character of his enemies. They were—
(1) Irreligious. “They fear not God.” They lived in open disregard of God.
(2) Persistent in evil. “They have no changes.” The word חֲלִיפוֹת, translated “changes,” is used in Job_10:17; Job_14:14, in a military sense, signifying discharges, relief-troops. Accordingly Hengstenberg translates: “To whom there is no discharge,” and interprets it as signifying “they who incessantly and constantly serve sin and fear not God.” Or it may mean that there was no change in their conduct. They were not occasional, but persistent, evil doers. Thus in the latter part of Psa_55:19 we have a compendium of Psa_55:9-11.
(3) Treacherous. “He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” The use of the singular points to some one who was pre-eminent in treachery, e.g., Ahithophel. These verses are a compendium of Psa_55:12-14.
(4) Cruel. The Psalmist speaks of them as “bloody and deceitful men.” Violent and cruel were they in heart and in action. The wickedness of his enemies is to David a ground of assurance that God will deliver him from their base designs and doings. While God is God He must be hostile to men of such character. He must oppose and thwart their designs. He must deliver His servants from them.
3. The ancient sovereignty of God. “He that abideth of old.” Hengstenberg: “He who is throned of old.” Moll: “He that sitteth on the throne of old.” (Comp. Psa_74:12; Hab_1:12.) The deeds by which the Lord had manifested His righteous sovereignty in past ages encouraged the Psalmist to expect His interposition for his deliverance from present perils. M. Henry: “Mortal men, though ever so high and strong, will easily be crushed by an eternal God, and are a very unequal match for Him.” Arndt “It is a great consolation when one is in trouble and persecution to think how God still lives, and has always proved Himself to be a gracious God towards those who fear Him.”
Such, then, was the sure basis upon which the triumphant confidence of the distressed and imperilled poet-king rested.
CONCLUSION.—See the conquering power of faith in God, and exercise it. See it in David. In Paul (2Co_4:8-18). “This is the victory that over-cometh the world, even our faith.”
MAN’S BURDEN AND SUSTAINER
Psa_55:22. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord; and He shall sustain thee.”
This verse is variously translated. Margin: “Cast thy gift upon the Lord,” &c. Hengstenberg: “Cast upon the Lord thy salvation, and He shall take care of thee,” &c. Gesenius: “Cast upon Jehovah what He hath given (or laid upon) thee; that is, thy lot.” Fuerst: “Leave to God the lot, intrust God with it. According to another meaning of יָהַב (to give up, to impose) יְהָב may signify a burden.” Moll: “That which is laid upon thee.” Conant: “Cast thy burden on Jehovah,” &c.
I. Man is burdened. This fact is too painfully obvious to require proof. Physically many are burdened by severe labours and sufferings. Mentally many are burdened by anxieties, perplexities, over-tasked brain, &c. Our social relations, which are frequently of much benefit and blessing to us, are seldom free from cares, sorrows, and distresses. Even the religious life has its burdens for man. Religion itself is not a burden; but, by becoming religious, a man becomes sensible of burdens that he did not feel before. The mysteries of the Divine administration of human affairs, the imperfection of our individual life, the seeming abortiveness of much of our effort for the good of ourselves and others, seasons of spiritual darkness, &c.—these are burdens. The fact that we are burdened is significant.
1. It indicates that man is not in unison with the Divine order. God did not create man with a load, did not make him to be burdened, &c.
2. It indicates also the greatness of human nature. We feel the burden, we struggle against it, we bear up under it, we strive to be rid of it. In this we have a reminiscence of a free and blessed past, and a pledge of a free and glorious future. Our sense of the burden is an augury of approaching release from it.
II. Man is exhorted to cast his burden upon the Lord. We have a strong tendency to strive to bear our own burden “even when we are almost sinking beneath it. In itself this tendency is good. It is the principle of self-reliance leading us to attempt self-help. But this tendency has become corrupted by association with pride and a false independence. Hence, when man is being crushed by it, in imagined self-sufficiency, he refuses to take his burden to the Lord. Spiritual weakness is ever boastful, while spiritual strength is ever humble. We mistake weakness for strength when we refuse to cast our burden upon the Lord. There are some who do not take their burden to the Lord because their ideas of Him are false, arising from a heart alienated from Him. They say—“God does not care for man; we may suffer, we may perish; but He does not care. He is indifferent, even if He be not cruel to us.” Estrangement from God explains this. David exhorts his soul to cast its burden upon the Lord, &c. “The strong part of the soul speaks to the weak.” Or he speaks as one of the suffering righteous, and in their name. So let the troubled children of God do now. But how can we cast our burden upon the Lord? By believing prayer. Lay all at the foot of God’s throne: tell Him all your troubles, even as a child tells all its sorrows to its mother. You know how the heart is relieved by unfolding its burdens to a dear friend. We can tell all to God—nothing is too secret, nothing too sacred.
III. Man is encouraged to cast his burden upon the Lord by the assurance of his support. “He shall sustain thee.” How?
1. By removing the burden. The poverty that crushes, the mystery that bewilders, the suffering that distresses, in answer to prayer He sometimes removes.
2. By disclosing the design of the burden. When we know the reason of our troubles, in many instances their chief painfulness is gone, and we bow reverently to the will of God.
3. By increasing our strength, so that we shall not be crushed by its load. This is, perhaps, His most frequent method of relief. This the text distinctly promises, “He shall sustain thee.” “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
4. By unfolding to us a bright future. The toil and burden will not continue long: then rest and joy, &c.
CONCLUSION.—The character of God, the promises of His Word, and the experience of His people in all ages, unite in encouraging us to trust the assurance, and comply with the precept of the text.
PRECEPT AND PROMISE
(Psa_55:22.)
I. The duty enjoined. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord.” A person’s burden is his trouble, his care, or whatever disturbs the peace of his mind. There is no trouble in heaven; there was none in Eden; and believers in Christ will be delivered from trouble when they shall be delivered from sin (Isa_35:10).
To have a refuge in trouble is a great privilege.… God has made Himself to be as a refuge through the mediation of Jesus Christ (Joh_14:6; Eph_2:18), … God is a suitable refuge: He can sustain; He can deliver; He is all-sufficient, &c.… By precept, by promise, by the example of others, and the deliverances which they have experienced, we are encouraged to “cast our burden upon the Lord.” We should do so—
1. When oppressed with a sense of sin and guilt.
2. In times of temptation.
3. In times of trouble. There are personal troubles, family troubles, troubles from providential changes, e.g., Job’s, and troubles from the wickedness of our fellow-men, and the treachery of professed friends.
4. In seasons of affliction. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord.” Go to Him as you would to your best friend, and pour out your wants before Him.
II. The promises with which this precept is enforced.
1. “He shall sustain thee.” This implies that, if we make God our refuge,
(1) He will save us from despondency. He will sustain us with hope.
(2) He will impart to us spiritual strength. “As thy days so shall thy strength be.”
(3) He will overrule all our trials and afflictions for our good.
2. “He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” This promise applies to those who make God their refuge, and in all their trials pursue a course of holy obedience. It implies—
(1) That they shall not be drawn aside by their trials from the path of obedience.
(2) That they shall not be moved from the source of their comfort.
(3) Some read the words, they shall not be moved for ever, implying that they shall not be utterly cast down.
APPLICATION.—
1. Learn the importance of faith in the Divine promises.
2. In making God our refuge in our troubles we must be in the path of duty.
3. The miserable condition of those who have not God for their refuge.
4. The privilege of having God for our refuge shows the value and the importance of religion.
5. How awful will be the end of those who never make God their refuge!—Abridged from an unpublished MS.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. Don’t spend your time in wishing for wings,…
Psa 55:6
I. Don’t spend your time in wishing for wings, or for anything else that is impossible. Not that there is anything wrong in a wish, unless we wish for what is wrong. Wishes will come flying into our minds, as little birds sometimes hop in at an open window. But do not pet, and feed, and fondle them. Let them fly away again. Wishing is profitless work, even for possible things.
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II. God gave David something much better than wings. Read vers. 16, 17, 22, of Psalm lv., and look at the last six words of ver. 23, and you will see how this was. Often God denies our wishes that He may give us something better than we ask or think. The Lord Jesus needed no wings to fly up to heaven. And we need no wings to get near enough to Him to talk to Him. Ask Him to help you to use your hands and feet in His service. Love to Him will be better than the winged shoes you read of in the old Greek fables. It will make your feet swift and your hands nimble for every duty and every kindness.
E. R. Conder, Drops and Rocks, p. 120.
References: Psa 55:6.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 12; W. Wilkinson, Thursday Penny Pulpit, p. 1 vol. iii., p. 301; G. Dawson, Sermons on Daily Lifeand Duty.
Psa 55:6-8
I. This is the cry of the faithful soul overpressed by temptation.
II. It is the sigh of the heart, weary of the strain of spiritual aspiration and effort.
III. It is the cry of a man who is forced to be spectator of a dread conflict.
IV. But man is not only a spectator of the conflict. He is bound to be the servant of the Divine kingdom, and in sympathy with the Lord of the kingdom, to bear all the burden of it on his heart. "Oh that I had wings like a dove!" that I might be loosed from this weary task, and cease to be bound to think and to care for thankless, senseless men.
V. We believe in progress; we believe in the golden pictures of the prophets; we believe in the reign of the Lord Jesus over all hearts, in all worlds. But eyes grow weary with expectation. "Where is the promise of His coming?"
VI. To comfort a man is to make him strong by standing by him. This is our strength to bear, to hope: the Lord is with us.
J. Baldwin Brown, The Higher Life, p. 266.
I. This sigh of David is the sigh of many men. We find it in literature; we find it in our own hearts; it is a part of our life. We get tired of the daily sameness of life. We are tired of the unrelenting past, tired of the dreary present, tired of the uncertain future. We are tired of the weary struggle in our own hearts, the to and fro conflicting witnesses of impulse and repression, broad, rejoicing, sunlit tides of spiritual emotion, leaving behind them the flat, oozing shores of ebbing enthusiasm.
II. This being the fact regarding human life, where is the remedy? The great resource in every perplexity is to look to Christ. He, too, though sinless, was forced to sigh for the sad world of sin and death; but the sigh had scarcely been uttered when once more He was engaged in works of mercy and thoughtful care. For sorrow and disaster, for weariness and discouragement, God has given four great and perfect remedies: (1) action; (2) patience; (3) faith; (4) hope. One day, not far hence, we too shall have the wings of a dove. Though we have lain among earth’s sods, yet at death, if we be God’s children, we shall all be as the wings of a dove which is covered with silver wings, and whose feathers are like gold.
F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 1 (see also Ephphatha, p. 123).
References: Psa 55:8, Psa 55:22.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xii., p. 16. Psa 55:11.—A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 289. Psa 55:12, Psa 55:14.—G. Forbes, Voice of God in the Psalms, p. 220.
Psa 55:19
No changes! We must not take the expression in a hard and narrow literal sense, or it would be true of no man. The changes of which the Psalmist speaks mean changes that disturb, changes that unhinge all plans and arrangements, changes that frustrate hopes, changes that, like earthquakes, upheave, when least expected, fair fields and smiling villages. These are the changes which some men have not, and because they have them not they fear not God.
I. It is a melancholy fact that the general tendency of prosperity is to produce self-confidence and forgetfulness of God. When the hand is full, and the purse is full, and the heart has all it can wish, what danger there is lest men should forget God!
II. Even health can be a peril. It can be a source of temptation. It can stimulate men to sin. The best work and the most work is not done by the strongest men and women in the world, especially the work which is of a moral and spiritual kind.
III. The absence of change produces hardness of nature. No man can understand the sorrows, and therefore no man can truly succour the sorrows, of others who is perpetually preserved from having sorrows of his own.
IV. The absence of change produces neglect of eternity. "Soul, take thine ease," is a very common feeling among those whose circumstances are on the whole fairly pleasant. They have no desire to see God, no desire to be with God. Let them be without changes, and they do not feel that God is essential to them at all, and they do not fear Him.
V. All the changes of this life which unsettle us, derange our schemes, and destroy our pleasures are meant to appeal to us and to remind us that "here we have no continuing city," that this is not our rest. That is a glorious moment when the soul can say, and feel as well as say, "Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come."
E. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 311.
References: Psa 55:19.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 327; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 249; J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. i., p. 127.
Psa 55:22
A great part of the burden of daily life is the sin that is in it. Take out the sin, and there will not be much burden left.
I. As regards those common burdens which every one bears, God says, "Cast thy burden on the Lord." It is very difficult to sympathise with one another’s burdens; and of course each, knowing only his own, thinks his own the heaviest. Christ alone can sympathise with all. But your burden is the one main thing you have to do with, suited for present discipline, a selected, ordained, adjusted thing—"thy burden." Leave the balancing, and trust the Balancer.
II. What is casting? It needs an effort to believe. It needs an effort to do the first step; it needs an effort to make it once and for ever. What is the way? (1) Take loving views of Jesus—of His sympathy, His nearness, His power, His undertakings, His interest, personal, in you. (2) Open to Him your whole heart, not the burden only, but what surrounds it. (3) Do not go back to your own castings. Put them too far away for that.
III. Observe how the Lord deals with cast burdens. He does not say, "I will take away thy burden," but "I will sustain thee." To this end He will unite Himself to you more closely, so that, just as the ivy on the rock, you will both borrow a strength from the rock not your own and pass on to the rock the pressure that you feel. He will be "your arm every morning," on which leaning you cannot faint. He will feed you with such hidden manna that you will grow so strong that you can carry anything.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 8th series, p. 147.
References: Psa 55:22.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 30. Psalm 55—A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 240; J. Hammond, Expositor, 1st series, vol. iv., p. 67. Psa 56:3.—A. Rowland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiii., p. 404.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 The apostate.
The apostate.
To the chief musician, on stringed instruments: Maskil of David.
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With the fifty-fifth psalm we reach the close of this Maskil series, and find the last word as to the wicked one. He has been seen in a certain relation to the dwelling-place of God, the "tent" in which He has sojourned among men. We have seen him also among the mass of the godless -atheists in heart -who carry to its height the lawlessness and rebellion of the last days. Here we go back to see how he has broken the bands and cast off the yoke of the Most High. Once an associate of the godly, and moving among the throng of worshipers in the house of God, he is become the persecutor of the righteous, the profaner of his covenant with God and man, his profession all through is shown to be mere subtlety and treacherous wickedness, under which Jerusalem itself becomes like another Babel, and its inhabitants invite a corresponding doom.
These psalms share the character of all prophecy in needing to be put together in order to their full understanding. They are not meant for "private" or "separate interpretation" (2Pe 1:20). They are connected together by the common title of Maskil as instruction for the men of understanding, the wise who are to instruct others (Dan 11:33; Dan 12:3). Put together, the awful figure of Antichrist emerges clearly enough, and in harmony with prophecies elsewhere, both Christian and Jewish. Like some image formed in the rock, you must catch it at the right angle to discern it; while when there, its features are too marked and many to be possibly mistaken.
The accompaniment of "stringed instruments" is justified as the psalm goes on; though it begins with a wail of sorrow and an inward tumult under which the numerical structure for awhile seems to be lost, but to manifest itself again as faith more firmly lays hold upon divine strength, and the light of a new day begins to penetrate the gloom.
1. The first three verses give us the cry to God, with the cause of the cry, -the voice of the enemy and the oppression of the wicked, by whom the suppliant is traduced as well as suet with open violence. The conjunction of these things is too common to need much comment. Slander makes malice take the form of righteousness; and the strongest tyranny finds the necessity of justifying itself after this manner. Involuntarily it does homage to the moral government of God, even while its homage is itself immoral. "They cast iniquity on me," says the sufferer, "and in anger persecute me."
2. The next section dwells upon the misery of the remnant amid the general departure from God. They long to escape from the city which is yet to them the city of God; but defiled, profaned, the Spirit of Christ makes them cry out for separation from it. Accordingly opportunity is given them, as we know (Mat 24:15 seq.), and they are found outside it in the first psalm of this book.
The distress is extreme, and the confusion of mind seems to affect the numerical structure itself, which here at least I am unable to trace in two out of the five verses. This may be, of course, only from dullness of sight on my own part, or because the numbers themselves have not been traced out sufficiently in their application in the sphere of human emotion. Yet the only other place in these psalms in which we have hitherto found such an absolute failure (Psa 10:8-10) is so near akin to this one as at least to suggest a designed connection between them. The former psalm; like the present, gives us a picture of the wicked one; and there the alphabetic construction fails, as well as (and to a greater extent than) the numerical. Thus there seems purpose manifest in this. In the present psalm, however, there is this difference, that the failure is not found in that part of it which speaks of Antichrist himself, but in that which speaks of the effect of the evil in the awful horror and dread which well-nigh overwhelm the godly. This is plainly a great difference, and must justly raise the question again, Is it anything more than a failure of discernment, such as here and there may well be expected in a first endeavor to trace out the numerical clue. On the other hand, it is still possible that as in the tenth psalm the moral disorder is reflected in the structural one, -God’s government appearing for a while to be lost in the uprising of human will against it, -so here may be intimated the blur of vision that may be induced by the contemplation of successful wickedness, even on the part of the righteous, and against which the thirty-seventh psalm warns us. In this case, may not the irregularity of the alphabetic structure of both the ninth and tenth psalms (even where it does not fail) point to a similar perturbation? especially as only in the mind of man can the government of God lapse at all, even for a moment.
And is not this indeed an evil so great and so universal as to make it necessary to enforce the warning upon us in an exceptional manner? Alas, how the disorder manifest in the world tends to induce a similar disorder, even among those who dread and abhor it! as with an infectious disease, the dread of which increases the susceptibility of infection. How the simple lesson needs to be continually repeated in our ears, that "God sitteth upon the throne, judging right." How little frankly do we accept this first postulate of faith! and if there be but hesitation here, how the vision fails, how the heart sickens and faints, what a collapse is there of strength! And is it not so in the psalm before us? —
"My heart is writhing within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me! Fear and trembling is come upon me; and horror hath wrapped me round!"
Then notice how in the next verse the numerals appear again: for not without meaning is it that the dove, the type of heavenly purity and love and sorrow, -the symbol of the Spirit of Christ, as in the gospels, -is named here rather than any other bird. The wing of the dove bore Christ indeed into the scene of sin and misery to deliver men; but here, when grace has been rejected, and the sin of men has ripened as just ready for the harvest, the dove is preparing for her flight away. Holiness now means only separation from stubborn rebellion and implacable enmity to God; and now the solitude of the wilderness attracts her: the earth is become truly that; and judgment is foreseen, -a tempest of wrath, from which she would hasten the escape of those that sigh and cry for these abominations.
3. And now the city is brought before us -Jerusalem; though her name cannot now be named; she does not answer to it. Rather is she now Babylon, and with the doom of Babylon upon her. Violence and strife issue naturally in divided tongues, into which her whilom unity is broken up. Strife characterizes her, and with violence goes about her walls, which instead of shutting out the evil, shut it in. Cavernous depths of wickedness yawn in the midst of her; and openly in her public streets stalk all the time oppression and deceit.
4. Now we come to the apostate. Not an open enemy had he been in that case it would have been easy to turn away from him as such. But he had been one admitted to terms of equality, an associate, an intimate; nor that only, but professedly also among the godly, and among the throngs frequenting the house of God. Thus we see what bonds had been broken through -Godward as well as manward. For him and those with him the psalmist predicts the sudden calamity of the apostates in the wilderness, death surprising them in such a way that Sheol might seem to swallow them up alive. This is another link with prophecy: for it is written of the two great confederates in evil in the fast-hastening day of the Lord, that they shall be taken and cast alive into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20).
5. The fifth section of the psalm displays in contrast with all this the assured hope of the righteous. He calls upon God, from whom the wicked had departed; he knows that God will save him. Complain and groan though he may, it is to One who hears his voice. And redemption is realized at last from the midst of many enemies, who are incapable of doing him the harm they seek to do.
6. But again he returns to speak of the wicked one and his company. He sees the Unchangeable and Eternal setting Himself against the unchanging stubbornness of impenitent sinners. Again he singles out one special one among these, marking him out by another sign which is very distinct in prophecy, the breach of the covenant. So the angel says to Daniel of the "prince that shall come," that "he shall confirm a covenant" -make a binding agreement -"with many for one week" -of years; "and in the midst of the week shall he cause sacrifice and oblation to cease." Idolatry takes the place of the worship of the true God: "for the overspreading (or ’wing’) of abominations there shall be a desolator" (Dan 9:27,
Heb.). Thus we have the "abomination of desolation" afterwards referred. to (Dan 11:31; Dan 12:11; Mat 24:15); and the nature of the broken covenant is plainly shown. Israel back in the land is sheltered by it in the setting up again of their old ritual worship: the "prince" or his representative in the land takes his place with the rest in apparently heartfelt homage to the King of kings. For the first half of the week he is the smooth-tongued hypocrite described in the psalm. Then comes a change; the cessation of prescribed legal offerings; the setting up of idolatry in its place: "he hath put forth his hands against those that were at peace with him; he hath profaned the covenant." This completes the instruction of these Maskil psalms.
7. The seventh and last section closes therefore now with the contrary portions of the righteous and the wicked; in which God appears at last as Jehovah -Israel’s God. How the covenant-Name here shines out in contrast with all human dependence! That treacherous covenant they had trusted in, and it had deceived them; now, "cast thy burden on Jehovah, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." On the other hand, "Thou, Jehovah, shalt bring them down to the pit of destruction: men of blood and deceit shall not live half their days; but I will trust in THEE."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The author of this Ps. can hardly be David,…
The author of this Ps. can hardly be David, for he speaks as a citizen of a distracted city rather than as its king, and the friend of whom he complains is his equal and not his subject. There is really nothing to fix the date of the Ps., though some of the experiences of Jeremiah may illustrate it. It falls into three portions, which have been described as marked by despair (Psa_55:1-8), indignation (Psa_55:9-15), and trust (Psa_55:16-23).
3. Cast iniquity upon me] attack me with wicked devices, as they might roll down stones on an enemy.
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6. A dove] the wild rock-dove, which can fly fast and far.
8. Hasten my escape] RV 'haste me to a shelter.'
9. Divide their tongues] with a confusion like that of Babel.
13. Guide.. acquaintance] RV 'companion.. familiar friend.'
14. Unto.. company] RV 'in the house of God with the throng.'
15. Quick into hell] RM 'alive into Sheol.' For the light in which we are to regard such imprecations see Intro.
18. From the battle that was against me] RM 'so that none came nigh me.' There were many with me] RV 'they were many that strove with me.'
19. Because, etc.] RV (with comma after old) 'The men who have no changes, and who fear not God.' By 'changes' we may understand ups and downs of fortune, or pauses in their wickedness. A slightly different reading would give, 'who have no faithfulness.'
23. Bloody] RV 'bloodthirsty.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v15 Or, the grave.
hell
Or, the grave.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Psalm 55
Psalm 55
In the Throes of the Great Tribulation
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1. Prayer for help (Psa 55:1-3)
2. Longings to escape (Psa 55:4-8)
3. The great tribulation (Psa 55:9-21)
4. The comfort of hope (Psa 55:22-23)
The man of sin, the Antichrist, stands out prominently in this Psalm. Because of him and his oppression, the godly remnant calls for help. They are overwhelmed with horror and beholding the abomination, they wish for wings like a dove and escape from the storm and the tempest of the great tribulation. This is in accordance with Mat 24:15-16, which refers to the same time. They will actually flee to the mountain and will be away from Jerusalem as we learned in Psa 42:1-11. The great tribulation has begun and of Jerusalem it will be true “wickedness is in the midst thereof, deceit and guile depart not from her streets.” And this wicked one, the Antichrist, is one of the nation, not a stranger, the man with a flattering tongue, who even walked in the house of God. And now his character and the character of his followers is exposed as they turn against the godly. Hence the imprecatory prayer (Psa 55:15). Here is the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy, the last seven years, divided into half. In the first half the Antichrist is the man who claims friendship, with words smooth as butter, but in the middle of the week he breaks the covenant and puts his hands against such as are at peace with him (Psa 55:20). Psa 56:1-13; Psa 57:1-11; Psa 58:1-11; Psa 59:1-17; Psa 60:1-12
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 A Complaint of False Friends.
A Complaint of False Friends.
To the chief musician on Neginoth, to be rendered with the accompaniment of stringed instruments in public worship, Maschil, a psalm of David.
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v. 1. Give ear to my prayer, O God, as usual, a strong expression for listening attentively; and hide not Thyself from my supplication, pretending to withhold His answer to David’s earnest and importunate pleading.
v. 2. Attend unto me, marking closely what he had to say, and hear me. I mourn in my complaint, reeling to and fro in painful meditation, which seemed to lead to no solution, and make a noise, groaning with pain,
v. 3. because of the voice of the enemy, as he was compelled to hear it, because of the oppression of the wicked, the burden laid upon him by their hatred; for they cast iniquity upon me, the picture being that of a heavy load rolled down from a tower or mountain, making him moan and groan with its weight, and in wrath they hate me, acting against him with deceit and treachery.
v. 4. My heart is sore pained within me, his inmost soul writhing with the agony laid upon him; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me, such as threatened death, taking away all hope of life.
v. 5. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, like enemies attacking him, and horror hath overwhelmed me, its shades enveloping him and filling him with the deepest gloom.
v. 6. And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! a figure of powerful and rapid flight, for then would I fly away and be at rest, find a haven of security somewhere far from the oppression and treachery of the enemies.
v. 7. Lo, then would I wander far off, flee to a great distance, and remain in the wilderness, the usual place of refuge for the persecuted and oppressed. Selah.
v. 8. I would hasten my escape, hurrying with the greatest speed to a place of refuge, from the windy storm and tempest, for the rushing violence of the enemies intended his ruin. Such was the situation in which David found himself, not unlike that which sometimes threatens Christians even in our days; hence his pleading cry.
v. 9. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, swallowing them up and confounding their speech and therefore also their counsels; for I have seen violence and strife in the city, Jerusalem having become a hotbed of anarchy under the influence of the conspirators.
v. 10. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof, the enemies keeping a careful watch, spying upon the righteous; mischief also and sorrow, harm of every kind, are in the midst of it.
v. 11. Wickedness is in the midst thereof, due to the treacherous agitation of the conspirators; deceit and guile depart not from her streets, from the open spaces or public concourses near the gates where the treacherous plans were passed on to others.
v. 12. For it was not an enemy that reproached me, since in the case of an open adversary the situation would not have been so serious; then I could have borne it, for one expects no other treatment from an outspoken enemy, one endures his hostility; neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me, seeking to carry out plans prompted by false ambition; then I would have hid myself from him, a course which he could not pursue with regard to a secret, treacherous foe, concerning whom one never knows when he will strike.
v. 13. But it was thou, a man mine equal, whom David esteemed of the same rank with himself, my guide and mine acquaintance, rather, "my companion and my intimate friend," the reference probably being to Ahithophel, the Gilonite, 2Sa 15:12.
v. 14. We took sweet counsel, enjoying the intimacy of friendship, together and walked into the house of God in company, associating also in public, at the great festivals of Israel, when their close companionship was witnessed by all the people. Such conduct in betraying the love of a pure friendship fills David with righteous anger, causing him to call upon God for revenge.
v. 15. Let death seize upon them, the treacherous friends, and let them go down quick into hell, into the realm of death, with a living body as in the case of Korah, Num 16:30; for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them, within the hearts. This was said without a feeling of personal hatred and vengeance, as a call for the punishment of God upon such as were wicked beyond the hope of correction.
v. 16. As for me, placing his own person in emphatic opposition to his enemies, I will call upon God, in fervent and constant prayer; and the Lord shall save me, that being the firm conviction of his faith.
v. 17. Evening and morning and at noon, the three principal periods of the day usually observed as special times of prayer, will I pray and cry aloud, complaining and moaning; and He shall hear my voice.
v. 18. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle, or war, that was against me, granting him peace and security; for there were many with me, rather, "for with many are they against me," a multitude being arrayed against him.
v. 19. God shall hear and afflict them, hearing their fierce tumult and answering them as the stern Judge, even He that abideth of old, the Refuge of the believers from everlasting to everlasting. Selah. Because they have no changes, were unwilling to turn from their evil conduct, their treacherous behavior, therefore they fear not God. It is such people whom the vengeance of the Lord will strike.
v. 20. He, the treacherous friend described above, hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him, profaning the solemn covenant of intimate friendship; he hath broken his covenant, that of mutual faithfulness.
v. 21. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, with oily hypocrisy, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, dripping smoothness and good will, yet were they drawn swords, his entire behavior being hypocrisy and deceit. For his own consolation David cries out:
v. 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, the word referring to every believer’s lot in life, whatever may be laid upon him according to the gracious will of his heavenly Father, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved, preventing the believer’s sinking to the ground under the burden assigned him.
v. 23. But Thou, O God, shalt bring them, the false friends, down into the pit of destruction, to the pit or depth of the grave, a prey of an unwelcome death; bloody and deceitful men, who delight in treachery and violence, shall not live out half their days, not live half as long as ordinary conditions would seem to warrant. But I will trust in Thee, the believers of all times joining him in this implicit trust in God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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For the chief musician
"This is for the director of music to use in worship"
on stringed instruments
"people should play stringed instruments with this song"
A maschil
This may refer to a style of music. See how you translated this in Psalms 32:1
Give ear to my prayer
Giving one's ear represents listening. AT: "Listen to my prayer" (See: Metonymy)
do not hide yourself from my plea
Refusing to pay attention to his plea is spoken of as hiding himself from it. AT: "do not ignore my plea" (See: Metaphor)
because of the voice of my enemies
Here "voice" represents what they say. AT: "because of what my enemies say" (See: Metonymy)
they bring trouble on me
Causing trouble is spoken of as bringing trouble. AT: "they cause me to have great troubles" or "they do wicked things to me and so I suffer" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
David
pray
God
plea
rest
trouble
voice
oppress
evil
persecute
anger
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 12, 19, 22, 23 Ps 55 The psalmist is faced with adversaries whose…
Ps 55 The psalmist is faced with adversaries whose leader is a former friend (55:12-14), and he is overwhelmed with anguish. He turns to the Lord in prayer and commits himself to the Lord for redress (55:22-23). Jesus experienced similar suffering when his friend (Judas) betrayed him. He also experienced the answer to the psalmist’s prayer: (1) by taking the place of the wicked and receiving their judgment (Isa 53:7-9), and (2) by committing himself to the Father, who rescued (Luke 23:46) and rewarded him (Isa 53:10-12).
55:1-3 The occasion for this prayer is an attack by an enemy.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.