Psalms 55:5-15

5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

6 And I said, O that I had wings like a dove! [for then] I would fly away, and be at rest.

7 Lo, [then] I would wander far off, [and] remain in the wilderness. Selah.

8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm [and] tempest.

9 Destroy, O Lord, [and] divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they go about it upon its walls: mischief also and sorrow [are] in the midst of it.

11 Wickedness [is] in the midst of it: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.

12 For [it was] not an enemy [that] reproached me; then I could have borne [it]: neither [was it] he that hated me [that] magnified [himself] against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

13 But [it was] thou, a man my equal, my guide, and my acquaintance.

14 We took sweet counsel together, [and] walked to the house of God in company.

15 Let death seize upon them, [and] let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness [is] in their dwellings, [and] among them.

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.