Psalms

Psalms 55

23 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1Listen to my prayer, God. Don’t hide yourself from my supplication. 2Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan 3because 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. 4My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me. 5Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me. 6I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest. 7Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.” 8“I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.” 9Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her. 11Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets. 12For 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. 13But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. 14We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company. 15Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling. 16As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me. 17Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice. 18He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me. 19God, who is enthroned forever, will hear and answer them.
They never change, who don’t fear God. 20He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. 21His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
22Cast your burden on Yahweh and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. 23But 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.

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What others are saying

4 commentators · 48 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17143

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–8

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…

v. 9–15

David here complains of his enemies, whose wicked plots had brought him, though not to his faith's end, yet to his wits' end, and prays against them by the spirit of prophecy. Observe here, I. The character he gives of the enemies he feared. They were of the…

v. 16–23

In these verses, I. David perseveres in his resolution to call upon God, being well assured that he should not seek him in vain (Psa 55:16): "As for me, let them take what course they please to secure themselves, let violence and strife be their guards…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176323

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

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…

v. 2

Attend unto me, and hear me,.... So as to answer, and that immediately and directly, his case requiring present help; I mourn in my complaint; or "in my meditation" (p); solitary thoughts, and melancholy views of things. Saints have their complaints, on…

v. 3

Because of the voice of the enemy,.... Of Absalom, as Arama; or of Ahithophel, who gave out he would smite the king only, 2 Samuel 17:2; and so of any spiritual enemy, as sin, Satan, and the world, when they threaten dominion and tyranny; and of the Scribes…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–18753

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1–8

In this first group sorrow prevails. David spreads forth his deep grief before God, and desires for himself some lonely spot in the wilderness far away from the home or lurking-place of the confederate band of those who are compassing his overthrow. "Veil not…

v. 9–16

In the second group anger is the prevailing feeling. In the city all kinds of party passions have broken loose; even his bosom friend has taken a part in this hostile rising. The retrospective reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel which is contained…

v. 17–23

In the third group confidence prevails, the tone that is struck up in Psa 55:17 being carried forward. Evening morning, and noon, as the beginning, middle, and close of the day, denote the day in its whole compass or extent: David thus gives expression to the…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187119

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

The terms of the last clause express full indulgence of grief.

v. 3

oppression--literally, "persecution." they . . . iniquity--literally, "they make evil doings slide upon me."

v. 4

express great alarm.

World English Bible — Public domain