1
God, listen to my prayer. Pay attention to my cry for help.
2
Hear me and answer me. My thoughts upset me. I'm very troubled.
3
I'm troubled by what my enemies say about me. I'm upset because sinful people stare at me. They cause me all kinds of suffering. When they are angry, they attack me with their words.
4
I feel great pain deep down inside me. The terrors of death are crushing me.
5
Fear and trembling have taken hold of me. Panic has overpowered me.
6
I said, "I wish I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away and be at rest.
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil [A Psalm] of David. The occasion of this psalm was either the persecution of Saul, or the conspiracy of Absalom. Some think it was written when David understood that the inhabitants of Keilah would deliver him into the hands of Saul, 1 Samuel 23:12; and others when the Ziphites attempted a second time to do the same, 1 Samuel 26:1; but since a single person is spoken of that magnified himself against him, Psalm 55:12; and Ahithophel seems to be designed; it may be thought rather to be written on account of Absalom's rebellion, and Ahithophel's counsel against him; who is considered by many Christian interpreters as a type of Judas, the betrayer of our Lord; and, indeed, there are many things in this psalm, if not the whole, which may be truly applied to Christ, as will be seen in the following exposition of it.