Psalms 55 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 55

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil¹ of David.

55:1   Give ear to my prayer, O God,
    and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2   Attend to me, and answer me;
    I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3   because of the noise of the enemy,
    because of the oppression of the wicked.
  For they drop trouble upon me,
    and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4   My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5   Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and horror overwhelms me.
6   And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
7   yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8   I would hurry to find a shelter
    from the raging wind and tempest.”
9   Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
10   Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
  and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11     ruin is in its midst;
  oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.
12   For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
  it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
13   But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
14   We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God’s house we walked in the throng.
15   Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16   But I call to God,
    and the LORD will save me.
17   Evening and morning and at noon
    I utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
18   He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for many are arrayed against me.
19   God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
  because they do not change
    and do not fear God.
20   My companion² stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
21   His speech was smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
  his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were drawn swords.
22   Cast your burden on the LORD,
    and he will sustain you;
  he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.
23   But you, O God, will cast them down
    into the pit of destruction;
  men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
  But I will trust in you.

Footnotes

[1] 55:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[2] 55:20 Hebrew He

Commentary

The problem of persecution; here a dear friend turns against David.

v1-3: Prayer in time of need; there was real personal distress. David describes his problem; the voice of the enemy, bringing accusations, lies, deceit; and the stares of the wicked, bringing injustice, anger, and cruelty.

v4-5: Personal suffering, each line ending with "me." There were those who targeted David, the godly man.

v6-8: It is no surprise that David wanted to escape to far off in the wilderness; compare Jer 9.1-2; 15.17-18. He looks for a place of shelter, far from the storms he has experienced. Although such feelings are genuine, the desire to flee may not be God's will, see v22. We can know God's upholding where we are, rather than seeking a different place and circumstances.

v9-11: David's prayer about the rampant and blatant sin. However, this is distinct from the personal attacks that he had experienced.

v12-14: Personal treachery is so hard to bear; Obad 7; Ps 41.9; the picture is of Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus; David clearly experienced something similar, and Paul also (2 Cor 11.26, "in perils among false brethren").

v15: Just as David prayed for the wicked in general (v9-11), so he prays for those who had personally attacked him.

v16-19: The proper response in prayer, confident that God will appear. Prayer is to be persistent, not because God is unwilling to answer, but because the issue is serious. Like Daniel, David prayed three times a day, each day.

His observation is that men do not repent since they do not fear God.

v20-21: Deceit and treachery, Prov 6.24; 7.5, 21; beware smooth words, even from "my companion." One so close may even attack his friends, his words hiding his true attitude.

v22-23: The conclusion; to cast our burdens upon the Lord. The Lord will never let us down, nor disappoint nor abandon us. There is judgment upon those who oppose God and His people.