Psalms 55

Psalms 551. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A didactic psalm. By David. The psalm is designated as a Maschil, because it might at first sight seem to have relation merely to a case of personal maltreatment and distress, whereas it is a general descriptio:a of the sufferings of God’s people, or the righteous as a class, at the hands of false friends and malignant enemies.

Although there seem to be allusions to the writer’s own experience, in the times both of Saul and Absalom, the whole description can be applied exclusively to neither. The only natural division of the psalm is the one suggested by the fact, that in the first part the sufferer complains of his enemies in general, Psalms 55:1-11; in the second, he singles out the case of one who had seemed to be his friend, but treacherously turned against him, Psalms 55:12-15; in the third, he confidently anticipates his own deliverance and the destruction of his enemies, Psalms 55:16-23.

2. (Psalms 55:1.) Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and hide not thyself from my supplication. This is the general introductory petition, which is afterwards amplified and rendered more specific. The last word strictly means a cry or prayer for mercy. See above, on Psalms 10:9. To hide one’s self is an expression used in the law to describe the act of wilfully withholding aid from one who needs it. See Deuteronomy 22:1-4, and compare Isaiah 58:7.

3. (Psalms 55:2). Hearken to me and answer me; I will give loose to my thought, and I will make a noise. The first verb means to attend, especially to one speaking, to listen, to hearken. See above, on Psalms 5:2; Psalms 10:17; Psalms 17:1. Answer or hear, in the sense of of receiving a prayer favourably. See above, on Psalms 3:4; Psalms 38:15.

The literal translation of the next words is, I will suffer to wander itt my thinking, i.e. I will let my mind wander, or my thoughts rove as they will. He is resolved not only to think freely but to express his thoughts aloud. The same use of the Hebrew verb occurs in Micah 2:12. The thinking or meditation here meant is reflection on his sufferings, to which the Hebrew verb is specially applied. With the whole verse, and with this clause in particular, compare Job 7:11.

4. (Psalms 55:3). From the voice of the enemy, from before the persecution of the wicked; for they will shake over me iniquity, and in wrath will oppose me. He now declares from what his distress arises. The preposition, in Hebrew as in English, has a causal meaning, or at lest suggests a relation of cause and effect. From the voice, i.e. because of it. From before or from the face conveys the same idea still more strongly, by a kind of personification of the evil dreaded.

Persecution of the wicked: compare the oppression of the enemy, in Psalms 42:9. Shake over me, or cause to slide upon me, a striking figure for the wilful infliction of evil on another. Iniquity may here be put, as it sometimes is, for active wickedness towards others, the cause of suffering rather than suffering itself. With this clause compare Psalms 41:8. Oppose me, be my adversaries, whether in the way of resistance or assault. The Hebrew verb is a cognate form to that from which comes Satan or the Adversary.

5. (Psalms 55:4). My heart writhes in the midst of me, and terrors of death have fallen upon me. The future form of the first verb implies an apprehension that the pain will continue and be permanent. In the midst of me, inside of me, within me. He is not merely involved in outward troubles, but pained at heart. Terrors of death might be strictly understood as meaning fear or dread of death; but it agrees better with the strong figurative language of the first clause, to take it in the sense of deadly, mortal terrors. An analogous expression is death-shade or shadow of death. See above, on Psalms 23:4; Psalms 44:19. The figure of falling necessarily suggests the idea of infliction by a superior power.

6. (Psalms 55:5). Fear and trembling enter into me, and horror hath covered me. The future in the first clause represents the action as not yet completed, and might be rendered, they are entering or about to enter. The Hebrew verb with this preposition denotes more than come upon; it describes the terror as not only on him but within him. The word translated horror is a stronger synonyme of trembling, and might be translated shuddering or a shudder. Covered me, i.e. overspread or overwhelmed me.

7. (Psalms 55:6). And I said, who will give me a pinion like the dove? I will fly away and be at rest. This is equivalent to saying, if I had the pinions of a dove, I would fly away, etc. Who will give is an idiomatic optative expression, tantamount to saying, Oh that I had, &c. See above, on Psalms 14:7.

The word translated pinion properly denotes the penna major or flag-feather of a bird’s wing, and is here put poetically for the wings themselves. The two last verbs are in the paragogic or augmented form, expressing strong desire or settled purpose. See above, on Psalms 2:3. The last verb usually means to dwell, but has either the primary or secondary sense of reposing, resting. See above, on Psalms 37:3. The first verb is immediately dependent on the last of the preceding verse, a grammatical relation which may be expressed thus in our idiom: “horror hath covered me so that I say,” etc.

8. (Psalms 55:7). Lo, I will wander far, I will lodge in the wilderness. Selah. The lo or behold is tantamount to pointing with the finger, or to saying there! see there! The next phrase is highly idiomatic and literally means, “I will make remote to wander.” To lodge is here to take up one’s abode, to dwell, as in Psalms 25:13. The wilderness, not necessarily a barren desert, but an uninhabited region, the essential idea here being that of separation from human society, a strong though indirect mode of affirming its extreme corruption. The strength of the feeling which prompted this desire is indicated by a solemn pause.

9. (Psalms 55:8). I will hasten my escape from rushing wind, from tempest. Another construction of the first clause makes the verb intransitive and the noun a local one, as indicated by its form, I will hasten (to) my refuge. It is better, however, to give the hiphil verb its proper meaning, and nouns of the form here used denote not only the place of action bnt the act itself. My escape, literally an escape for me or for myself. The preposition in the last clause, though it properly means from, is constantly employed in Hebrew to denote or indicate comparison.

If thus explained in this case, it would make the clause descriptive of the speed with which he wishes to escape, more than the rushing wind and tempest. This sense is preferred by some interpreters; but the other is more obvious and simple, and is also recommended by the frequent representation of calamity under the figure of a storm or tempest, which would hardly have been joined with that of wind, if the only idea meant to be conveyed had been that of great velocity. 10. (Psalms 55:9). Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue; for I have seen violence and strife in the city. The first word properly means swallow up. See above, on Psalms 21:9. The object to be supplied is not their tongue but themselves. Divide their tongue, i. e. confound their speech or make it uninteligible, and as a necessary consequence confound their counsels.

There is obvious reference to the confusion of tongues at Babel (Genesis 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. The word translated cruelty denotes violent injustice, or injustice accompanied by violence. See above, on Psalms 7:16. In the city is supposed by some to mean nothing more than among men, in human society; but the words could hardly fail to suggest to any Hebrew reader the idea of the holy city, as the place directly meant, although the words themselves may be applied to any other place where the same state of things exist.

11. (Psalms 55:10). Day and night they will surround her on her wall; and iniquity and trouble will be in the midst of her. The Violence and Strife of the preceding verse are here personified as a besieging enemy. At the same time the interior is occupied by Iniquity and Trouble, no less formidable enemies. Her walls, those of the city mentioned in the foregoing verse. Iniquity and trouble are here, and often elsewhere, put together as cause and effect, the last denoting the distress or trouble which the wickedness of one man brings upon another. See above, on Psalms 7:14.
12. (Psalms 55:11). Mischiefs (are) in the midst of her, and from her street will not depart oppression and deceit. The first word in Hebrew necessarily suggests the two ideas of calamities and crimes, i.e. calamities occasioned by the crimes of others. See above, on Psalms 5:9; Psalms 38:12; Psalms 52:2; Psalms 52:7. The word translated street denotes a wide place, and is specially applied to the square or open space surrounding the gates of oriental cities, and used both for markets and for courts of justice. See Nehemiah 8:1; Nehemiah 8:3; Nehemiah 8:16.

The word therefore very nearly corresponds to the Greek agora and the Latin forum, and may be here used to suggest the idea both of legal and commercial malfeasance. Neither their markets nor their courts are ever free from these two forms of gross injustice, namely, fraud and violence.

13. (Psalms 55:12). For (it is) not an enemy (that) will revile me, else would I bear it; (it is) not one hating me (that) has magnified (himself) against me, else would I hide myself from him. The Hebrew word answering to else, is, in both these cases, the usual copulative particle, and the original construction seems to be, and (if it is) I will bear it, and (if it is) I will hide myself. See above, on Psalms 51:16. The act of reviling here includes both calumny and insult. The future in the first clause suggests the idea of an indignity or injury about to be endured.

As if he had said, “when I go orth among my neighbours, it is not my open enemy that will malign me.” But that such treatment had already been experienced, is intimated by the preterite of the last clause. The verb to magnify is here used reflexively or absolutely, as in Ps. xxxv. 26, xxxviii. 15 (16). There is no need therefore of supposing an ellipsis, or identifying this form of expression with the one in Psalms 41:9. Hide myself, literally be hidden; but the passive forms in Hebrew not unfrequently imply a reflex act, like the middle voice in Greek. The negation in this verse is of course not absolute but relative, and must be qualified by due regard to the circumstances of the case. That he was reproached and threatened by avowed enemies, is not only a frequent subject of complaint elsewhere, but sufficiently implied in Psalms 55:3 above.

The true solution of this seeming contradiction is, that he here passes from a general description of the prevalent iniquity to a particular case, in which his feelings were personally interested. In this particular case, it was not an open enemy that slandered or insulted him. It is therefore as if he had said, “But it is not of this open and unblushing wickedness that I especially complain, but rather of the perfidy of false friends.” Thus understood, the verse, instead of contradicting Psalms 55:3, presupposes what is there affirmed.

14. (Psalms 55:13). But thou, a man mine equal, my associate, my acquaintance. It is a striking illustration of the difference between the Hebrew and English idiom, that the former uses and at the beginning of this sentence, where in English but is absolutely indispensable. The word for man is that denoting frailty and mortality. See above, on Psalms 8:4; Psalms 9:19-20; Psalms 10:18. But it seems to be used here without any emphasis, in simple apposition with what follows, or as a vocative, thou, O man, mine equal.

This last expression is in Hebrew, according to my valuation, the noun being a technical term of the Mosaic Law, denoting the official estimation of the priest, in certain cases of redemption or pecuniary penalty. See Leviticus 5:15; Leviticus 5:18; Leviticus 27:12. The whole phrase here employed is understood by some to mean one whom I value, i. e. highly, or more specifically, one whom I value as myself. More probably, however, it means one who is (or may be) estimated at the same rate with myself, which is precisely the idea conveyed by the common version, my equal, one of my own rank and circle, my associate. This last is the sense put by the modern interpreters on the next word in Hebrew. The old translation (guide) rests on a doubtful etymology, and the authority of the ancient versions.

Acquaintance seems to be a weaker expression than the others; but the Hebrew word always implies very intimate association. See above, Psalms 31:11, and below, Psalms 88:8; Psalms 88:18.

15. (Psalms 55:14). (With) whom we take sweet counsel; in the house of God we march with noise. The future forms can only be accounted for by supposing that he here anticipates a violation of the laws of friendship which had not yet visibly occurred. The false friend, of whom he is complaining, seems to be one with whom he is still intimate, but whose defection he clearly fore saw. As if he had said, “With this man I must still continue to be associated, although he is eventually to betray me.” In this particular, the case described resembles that of our Lord and Judas Iscariot, which may indeed be considered as included in the general description. The form of the first clause is idiomatic and peculiar: who (or as to whom) together we will sweeten counsel, or rather confidential intercourse. See above, on Psalms 25:14.

The other clause may possibly mean, we march to the house of God. But the strict sense of the particle may be retained and the whole referred to solemn processions within the sacred enclosure or court of the tabernacle. With noise, i.e. with festive tumult. See above, on Psalms 42:4.

16. (Psalms 55:15) Desolations (are) upon them! They shall go down to Sheol alive! For evils are in their dwellings, in their heart. The optative form given to his sentence in most versions is entirely gratuitous. All that the Hebrew words express is a confident anticipation. The common version of the first words (let death seize upon them) is founded on the masoretic reading; but the best critics now prefer the older reading in the text, which, instead of a verb and a singular noun, exhibits one noun in the plural number, meaning desolations, and agreeing with the substantive verb understood.

Upon them, hovering or impending over them. Sheol, the grave, the state of the dead, the wide old English sense of hell. See above, on Psalms 6:6 (5). There is an obvious allusion to another great historical type of God’s retributory judgments, the destruction of Korah and his company, who went down alive into the pit, Numbers 16:33. The word quick, in the common English version of this sentence, is an adjective synonymous with living or alive, and not an adverb meaning soon or swiftly. Evils, i.e. evil deeds and evil thoughts.

In their heart, or inside, inner part, as in Psalms 5:10 (9), Psalms 49:12 (11): This is a much better sense than in the midst of them, among them.

17. (Psalms 55:16). I to God will call, and Jehovah will save me. The pronoun is emphatic, I on my part. While they are brought to desolation and to death, I, on the contrary, will call to God. If the use of two divine names has any significance beyond the requisitions of the parallelism, the meaning may be, “I will call to God, and as the covenant God of Israel he will save me.” Compare Psalms 18:4 (3).

18. (Psalms 55:17). Evening and morning and noon I will muse and murmur— and he has heard my voice. The first clause is supposed by some to prove that the observance of three stated hours of prayer was as old as David; others suppose the observance to have been suggested by the clause itself. But the natural and obvious division of the day here mentioned may have given occasion both to the clause and the observance. Muse and murmur is a combination descriptive of prayer, both as mentally conceived and audibly expressed. Murmur is perhaps not strong enough to convey the full sense of the Hebrew verb, which elsewhere means to make a loud noise.

See above, on Psalms 42:6; Psalms 42:11 (5, 10), Psalms 46:4; Psalms 46:7 (3, 6). The assimilation or confusion of the tenses in this verse by some translators is not only arbitrary but injurious to the sense. What is mentioned in the first clause as still future is recorded in the last clause as already past. As if he had said, “Thus did I resolve to pray, and now my prayer has been already made and answered.” Such transitions are among the characteristic beauties of the Psalter, and ought not to be gratuitously sacrificed, still less at the expense of violating usage and the rules of grammar.

19. (Psalms 55:18). He redeemed in peace my soul from the war against me, for many were with me. In peace, or with peace, as the result of this redemption. Against me, literally to me, the war that was to me, that I had. The last clause, to an English ear, conveys the idea that his friends or champions were many, but the meaning of the Hebrew is directly opposite, with me being used in such connections to denote a relation of hostility, as we speak of fighting, quarrelling, contending with one. In either case, the particle expresses really no more than joint or simultaneous action, the idea of enmity or opposition being gathered from the context.

The literal translation of the last clause is, in many were (those) with me, i.e. consisting in many. The adverse party was composed of many individuals. This usage of the in is strictly appropriate only to numerals. See Deuteronomy 10:22; Deuteronomy 28:62. 20. (Psalms 55:19). God will hear and answer them, and (He) inhabiting antiquity (will hear and answer those) to whom there are no changes, and (who) fear not God. As he has heard me in mercy, so will he hear them in wrath. As he has answered my prayer in the way described above, Psalms 55:18, so will he answer them in the way described below, Psalms 55:23. In this case, what is heard and answered is not prayer, but the voice of the enemy, Psalms 55:3, and his malignant slanders, Psalms 55:12. Inhabiting antiquity, or as the English Bible phrases it, he that abideth of old.

The first Hebrew verb, however, could not fail to suggest its primary meaning, which is to sit, and more especially to sit enthroned, as a sovereign and a judge. See above, on Psalms 9:4; Psalms 9:14. The phrase may therefore be said to represent God as having been a king and a judge from the remotest antiquity. The last clause is by some supposed to mean, that the persons here referred to undergo no moral change, but still persist in their refusal to fear God; by others, that they undergo no outward changes, no vicissitudes of fortune, and for that reason will not fear him. But as the word translated changes is repeatedly employed by Job in a military sense, to signify either an alternate service, as, for instance, in relieving guard, or a succession in the service, as when one corps is disbanded and another takes its place, some of the best interpreters suppose this clause to mean that those enlisted in this evil warfare have no such reliefs or discharges to expect, but must continue in the unremitting service of sin, and as a necessary consequence cannot fear God. The grammatical structure of the whole verse is peculiar, and can be made intelligible only by supplying the ellipsis.

21. (Psalms 55:20). He has stretched out his hands against his allies: he has profaned his covenant. This might seem at first sight to refer to God; but such a reference, if not forbidden by the nature of the acts alleged, would be at variance with the subsequent context, where the subject is undoubtedly the wicked enemy. The sudden change of number is in strict accordance with the usage of the Psalmists in speaking of their enemies, or in this case may arise from the same cause as in Psalms 55:12 above. See above, on Psalms 10:10. The word translated allies is the plural of one meaning peace, but seems to be poetically used here to denote those at peace with him, his friends or allies.

Compare the analogous expressions in Psalms 7:4), 41:9. To profane a covenant is to treat it as no longer sacred, and by implication to break it. Compare Isaiah 33:8. This is a varied repetition, under military figures, of the description in Psalms 55:12-14.

22. (Psalms 55:21) Smooth are the butterings of his mouth, and (yet) war (is in) his heart; soft are his words, more than oil, and (yet even) they are drawn (swords). To the charge of violence he adds that of treacherous hypocrisy, thus amplifying the laconic phrase oppression and deceit, in Psalms 55:11 above. The English Bible, following some older versions, assimilates the clauses by making both comparative, smoother than butter, softer than oil. But in order to sustain this construction of the first clause, it is necessary to change the pointing of one Hebrew word, and to supply another as the nominative of the plural verb, which cannot without violence agree with mouth. The letter prefixed to the first noun is a part of it, and not a particle meaning than or more than, and the whole word denotes preparations of butter, cream, or rather curdled milk, which is the meaning of the primitive noun. As to the adversative use of and in both these clauses, see above, on Psalms 55:13.

War (is in) his heart, or still more simply, because not requiring the insertion of the particle, war (is) his heart, i.e. his cherished wish and purpose. The word translated war is a poetical term, the same that is employed above in Psalms 55:18. In the last clause, even is supplied as well as yet, in order to convey, as far as possible, the emphasis of the Hebrew pronoun. And they themselves, i. e. the very oily words just mentioned, are drawn swords. This last expression is in Hebrew properly an adjective or participial form, but is specifically used in application to the sword, as brandished is in English, and so comes to be employed absolutely or as a substantive, expressing the entire complex idea of drawn swords, as weapons of attack, ready for use or on the point of being used forthwith.

23. (Psalms 55:22). Cast upon Jehovah (what) he gives thee, and he will sustain thee; he will never suffer the righteous to be moved. What he gives thee to endure, what he lays upon thee, cast thou upon him, by trusting in bim. The phrase he gives thee (or has given thee) may also be explained as a noun with a possessive pronoun, thy gift, not in the active sense of what thou givest, but in the passive sense of what is given to thee. Sustain does not here mean to hold up or support under the burden, but to nourish or sustain life by administering food and other necessaries, to provide for. Compare the primitive use of the Hebrew verb in Genesis 45:11; Genesis 47:12.

The common version of the last clause above given is a correct paraphrase of the original, the form of which is highly idiomatic. A literal translation would be, he will not give for ever moving (or movement) to the righteous. The verb to give is often used in Hebrew in the sense of allowing or permitting. The word translated moving is the one so often used to signify the violent disturbance of a person in the midst of his prosperity. See above, on Psalms 10:6; Psalms 16:8, etc.

24. (Psalms 55:23). And thou, God, wilt bring them down to the pit of corruption; men of blood and fraud shall not live out half their days. The first verb is a causative, and as such may be rendered, thou wilt cause them to descend. The word translated pit is the common term in Hebrew for a well, but is here used in a wile sense, including all such excavations. The next word is a derivative of the verb which means to corrupt or destroy. The sense of pit, as if derived from the verb which means to sink, would convert the phrase into a weak tautology.

See above, on Psalms 16:10. Men of bloods and deceit, i.e. bloody (or murderous) and deceitful men, as in Psalms 5:6 above. The literal translation of the last words is, they shall not halve their days, a form of expression copied in the margin of the English Bible, as well as in the Septuagint and Vulgate. The meaning of course is, that they shall not live half so long as they might have lived, but for their bloody and deceitful acts. This is not asserted as a general fact, but uttered as a threatening to the murderers and traitors whom the Psalmist had directly in his eye.