Psalm 55:1-11

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.

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.