Psalms 55:5-15

5 I am gripped by fear and trembling; I am overcome with horror.

6 I wish I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and find rest.

7 I would fly far away and make my home in the desert.

8 I would hurry and find myself a shelter from the raging wind and the storm.

9 Confuse the speech of my enemies, O Lord! I see violence and riots in the city,

10 surrounding it day and night, filling it with crime and trouble.

11 There is destruction everywhere; the streets are full of oppression and fraud.

12 If it were an enemy making fun of me, I could endure it; if it were an opponent boasting over me, I could hide myself from him.

13 But it is you, my companion, my colleague and close friend.

14 We had intimate talks with each other and worshiped together in the Temple.

15 May my enemies die before their time; may they go down alive into the world of the dead! Evil is in their homes and in their hearts.

Psalms 55:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

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.