Psalm 55:9-15

9 Lord, confuse^[a] and confound their speech,^{[b] [c]} for I see violence and strife in the city;

10 day and night they make the rounds on its walls. Crime and trouble are within it;^[d]

11 destruction is inside it; oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.

12 Now, it is not an enemy who insults me- otherwise I could bear it; it is not a foe who rises up against me- otherwise I could hide from him.

13 But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion and good friend!^[e]

14 We used to have close fellowship; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.

15 Let death take them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.

Psalm 55:9-15 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Or destroy
• [b] Lit and divide their tongue
• [c] Gn 10:25; 11:7
• [d] Hab 1:3
• [e] Ps 41:9