Psalms 55:3-13

3 conculcaverunt me inimici mei tota die quoniam multi bellantes adversum me

4 ab altitudine diei timebo ego vero in te sperabo

5 in Deo laudabo sermones meos in Deo speravi non timebo quid faciat mihi caro

6 tota die verba mea execrabantur adversum me omnia consilia eorum in malum

7 inhabitabunt et abscondent ipsi calcaneum meum observabunt sicut sustinuerunt animam meam

8 pro nihilo salvos facies illos in ira populos confringes Deus

9 vitam meam adnuntiavi tibi posuisti lacrimas meas in conspectu tuo sicut et in promissione tua

10 tunc convertentur inimici mei retrorsum in quacumque die invocavero te ecce cognovi quoniam Deus meus es

11 in Deo laudabo verbum in Domino laudabo sermonem in Deo speravi non timebo quid faciat mihi homo

12 in me sunt Deus vota *tua; % quae; reddam laudationes tibi

13 quoniam eripuisti animam meam de morte et pedes meos de lapsu ut placeam coram Deo in lumine viventium

Psalms 55:3-13 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.