Psalm 55
Singing Reluctantly
The Psalms are a unique genre of literature with the scriptures. There is a lot we could say about that, but one way to summarize them is to see them is as "prayers crafted in response to experience, and set to music." Another way to say it, is that the Psalms have the unique role of both teaching us to pray, and guiding us as we pray. In his introduction to the book of Psalms in the Message Bible, Eugene Peterson writes:
“As a pastor I was charged with, among other things, teaching people to pray, helping them to give voice to the entire experience of being human, and to do it both honestly and thoroughly. I found that it was not as easy as I expected. Getting started was easy enough. The impulse to pray is deep within us, at the very center of our created being, and so practically anything will do to get us started - ‘help’ and ‘thanks!’ are our basic prayers. But honesty and thoroughness don’t come quite as spontaneously.”
As we continue this week in our series on the Psalms, we are looking at Psalm 55, one of the Psalms of Lamet (there are 74 of them, out of a total of 150 Psalms). Lament is not a word that we hear used a lot today. In fact, because lamenting is not a fun process to witness or go through, it is not always well tolerated today for lots of reasons, some of which are explored in the sermon. It is also why, for many people, this particular Psalm, as a Psalm of lament, is not one that are drawn to for more casual Bible reading. It is a song about anguish, betrayal, the desire to want to escape from it all . . . yet it is also, in the end, a Psalm about trust and hope. Not an easy one to sing, but one that can help walk us honestly and thoroughly through those times when we might be in similar places to where David was when he wrote the Psalm, or we know someone who is.
This is the Psalm that Pastor Ken explores in the sermon this week. If you would like to hear the sermon again, or perhaps for the first time, you can access our sermon library here. Or if you prefer, you can watch the livestream version here.
Psalm 55
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.
1 Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
2 hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3 because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.
4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”
9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.
11 Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.
12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God,
as we walked about among the worshipers.
15 Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive
to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.
16 As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change
—he will hear them and humble them,
because they have no fear of God.
20 My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
21 His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.
22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.