Psalms 54:4-14

4 a voce inimici et a tribulatione peccatoris quoniam declinaverunt in me iniquitatem et in ira molesti erant mihi

5 cor meum conturbatum est in me et formido mortis cecidit super me

6 timor et tremor venit super me et contexit me tenebra

7 et dixi quis dabit mihi pinnas sicut columbae et volabo et requiescam

8 ecce elongavi fugiens et mansi in solitudine diapsalma

9 expectabam eum qui salvum me fecit a pusillanimitate spiritus et a tempestate

10 praecipita Domine divide linguas eorum quoniam vidi iniquitatem et contradictionem in civitate

11 die et nocte circumdabit eam super muros eius et iniquitas et labor in medio eius

12 et iniustitia et non defecit de plateis eius usura et dolus

13 quoniam si inimicus maledixisset mihi sustinuissem utique et si is qui oderat me super me magna locutus fuisset abscondissem me forsitan ab eo

14 tu vero homo unianimis dux meus et notus meus

Psalms 54:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us? Of the word "neginoth," See Gill on "Ps 4:1," title; and of "maschil," See Gill on "Ps 32:1," title. The occasion of writing this psalm were the discoveries the Ziphims or Ziphites made to Saul of David being in their neighbourhood; which they did twice, as appears from 1 Samuel 23:14. Which of these gave occasion to the psalm is not certain; it is very likely that it was composed after both had been made. These Ziphims were the inhabitants of a city called Ziph, which was in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:55, near to which was a wilderness, which had its name from the city in which David was when they came to Saul with this news of him.