Psalm 55:9

9 Swallow [them] up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

Psalm 55:9 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 55:9

Destroy, O Lord
Or "swallow up" ^F19, as Pharaoh and his host were swallowed up in the Red sea; or as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, were swallowed up in the earth; so all the enemies of Christ and his church will be destroyed; and death, the last of them, will be swallowed up in victory, ( Isaiah 25:8 ) . The Targum interprets it, "destroy", or "scatter their counsel": but this seems to be intended in the next clause;

[and] divide their tongues:
as at the confusion of languages at Babel, to which the allusion is: this had its accomplishment in Absalom's counsellors according to David's wish, ( 2 Samuel 15:31 ) ( 17:14 ) ; and in the Jewish sanhedrim in Christ's time, and in the witnesses they produced against him, ( Luke 23:51 ) ( Mark 14:59 ) ; and of which there is an instance in the council of the Jews, held on account of the Apostle Paul, ( Acts 23:7 ) ;

for I have seen violence and strife in the city:
in the city of Jerusalem, now left by David, and possessed by Absalom, by whom "violence" was done to David's wives, through the advice of Ahithophel; and "strife", contention, and rebellion, were fomented among the people: this David saw, understood, and perceived, by the intelligence brought him from time to time: and in the times of Christ the kingdom of heaven suffered "violence" in this place, and he endured the "contradiction" of sinners against himself.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (elb) "degluti", Montanus, Tigurine version; "absorbe", Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Psalm 55:9 In-Context

7 Behold, I would flee afar off, I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah;

8 I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind, from the tempest.

9 Swallow [them] up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; and iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it.

11 Perversities are in the midst thereof; and oppression and deceit depart not from its streets.