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It is the conjecture of many expositors that David penned this psalm upon occasion of Absalom's rebellion, and that the particular enemy he here speaks of, that dealt treacherously with him, was Ahithophel; and some will therefore make David's troubles here typical of Christ's sufferings, and Ahithophel's treachery a figure of Judas's, because they both hanged themselves. But there is nothing in it particularly applied to Christ in the New Testament. David was in great distress when he penned this psalm. I. He prays that God would manifest his favour to him, and pleads his own sorrow and fear, Ps 56:1-8. II. He prays that God would manifest his displeasure against his enemies, and pleads their great wickedness and treachery, Ps 56:9-15,20,21. III. He assures himself that God would, in due time, appear for him against his enemies, comforts himself with the hopes of it, and encourages others to trust in God, Ps 56:16-19,22,23. In singing this psalm we may, if there be occasion, apply it to our own troubles; if not, we may sympathize with those to whose case it comes nearer, foreseeing that there will be, at last, indignation and wrath to the persecutors, salvation and joy to the persecuted.

This psalm is entitled "A Psalm of David," and there is every reason to believe that it is properly ascribed to him. It is addressed to "the chief Musician" - to be by him set to appropriate music, that it might be employed in the public worship of God. See the notes at the title to Psalm 4:1-8. On the word "Neginoth" in the title, see also the note in the Introduction of Psalm 4:1-8.

The occasion on which the psalm was composed is not indicated in the title, nor can it be with certainty ascertained. The author of the Chaldee Paraphrase refers the psalm to the time of Absalom and to his rebellion, and this is also the opinion of the Jewish expositors in general. They suppose that the psalm was composed on occasion of the departure of David from Jerusalem, when he had heard of the rebellion, and that the psalm has special reference to the time when, having fled from the city, and having come to the ascent of the Mount of Olives, while all was consternation around him, he learned that Ahithophel also was among the conspirators, which was the consummation of his calamity, 2 Samuel 15:31. Others suppose that the psalm was composed when David was in Keilah, and when, surrounded by foes, he was apprehensive that the inhabitants of that place would deliver him into the hand of Saul, 1 Samuel 23:1-12. Of all the known events in the life of David, the supposition which regards the psalm as composed during the rebellion of Absalom, and at the special time when he learned that the man whom he had trusted - Ahithophel - was among the traitors, is the most probable. All the circumstances in the psalm agree with his condition at that time, and the occasion was one in which the persecuted and much-afflicted king would be likely to pour out the desires of his heart before God. Paulus and DeWette have remarked that it is evident from the psalm that the enemies to whom the author refers were inhabitants of the same city with himself, and that the danger was from treason within the walls of the city, Psalm 55:1 O. This seems not improbable, and this agrees well with the supposition that the scene of the psalm is laid in the time of the rebellion of Absalom.

The contents of the psalm are as follows:

(1) The prayer of the psalmist that God would hear his cry, Psalm 55:1-3.

(2) a general description of his trouble and sorrows, as being so great that he was overwhelmed, and such as to make him wish for the wings of a dove that he might fly away, and be at rest, Psalm 55:4-8.

(3) the causes, or sources of his trouble, Psalm 55:9-14;

(a) The general fact that he was surrounded by enemies; that there were violence, strife, and mischief in the city, Psalm 55:9-11.

(b) The particular fact that someone in whom he had put confidence, and who had been his special friend, was, to his surprise, found among his enemies, and had proved himself faithless to him, Psalm 55:12-14.

(4) his earnest prayer for the destruction of his enemies, Psalm 55:15.

(5) his own confidence in God; his reliance on the divine mercy and protection in the time of trouble and danger; and his assurance that God would interpose in his behalf, Psalm 55:16-21.

(6) a general exhortation, as a practical lesson from all that had occurred, to trust in God - to cast every burden on him - with the assurance that the righteous would never be moved, but that the wicked must be subdued, Psalm 55:22-23.

David, in great danger and distress from the implacable malice of his enemies, calls on God for mercy, Psalm 55:1-5; wishes he had the wings of a dove, that he might flee away, and be at rest, Psalm 55:6-8; prays against his enemies, and describes their wickedness, Psalm 55:9-11; speaks of a false friend, who had been the principal cause of all his distresses, Psalm 55:12-14; again prays against his enemies, Psalm 55:15; expresses his confidence in God, Psalm 55:16-18; gives a farther description of the deceitful friend, Psalm 55:19-21; encourages himself in the Lord, and foretells the destruction of his foes, Psalm 55:22, Psalm 55:23.

The title, "To the chief Musician upon Neginoth, A Psalm of David, giving instruction." This is the same as the preceding, Psalm 54:1-7 (note), which see.

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 55

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.

LV.

This is one of the most passionate odes of the whole collection—bursts of fiery invective alternating with the most plaintive and melancholy reflections: it has supplied to Christianity and the world at least two expressions of intense religious feeling, the one (Psalm 55:6-7) breathing despair, the other (Psalm 55:22) the most restful hope.

Its date and authorship must be left in the region of mere conjecture. The traditional ascription to David cannot on any ground be maintained. That Ahitophel is the subject of Psalm 55:12-14; Psalm 55:20-21, is contrary to all we know of the history of the rebellion of Absalom, for the poet describes himself as obliged to support the outrages of his quondam friend in the same city with him, when he would gladly fly if he could. Such a situation could not have been David’s; for if he had had such full knowledge of the plots preparing against him he would, as he easily might, have crushed it in its early stages. And it must be noticed that the Psalm does not represent the author as the victim of a revolution, but of oppression (Psalm 55:3-4). The frightful picture of disorder arising from disorganisation of the government, given in Psalm 55:9-11, is most inapplicable to the state of Jerusalem in David’s reign.

In the absence of any definite historic indication, it is better to give up all attempts to recover the individual singled out for everlasting infamy in Psalm 55:12-14; Psalm 55:20-21. The rest of the poem speaks of enemies in the plural, and the individual on whom the poet especially turns may only be the representative of a class—the class of perfidious Israelites who, forsaking national and religious traditions, sided with the foreign oppressors, and, as usual in such cases, carried their animosity to the party they had betrayed to the bitterest end. The rhythmical structure is not fairly marked, but the epithetic parallelism predominates.

Title.—See title, Psalms 4.

Despair, sorrow, indignation, faith, find expression by turns in this pathetic record of persecution embittered by the treachery of an intimate friend, which is a companion to Psalms 41, and should be carefully compared with it. The title ascribes it to David, and its occasion has generally been supposed to be the rebellion of Absalom and the treachery of Ahithophel, whose name the Targum introduces in Psalm 55:16 (A.V. 15). Much of the Psalm is sufficiently appropriate to David’s circumstances to account for its having been regarded as an expression of his feelings at that bitter crisis: but a closer examination makes it difficult, if not impossible, to suppose that it was actually written by him.

There is no hint that the writer is a king whose authority is threatened by a formidable insurrection. Would David have called Ahithophel “a man mine equal”, even though the king’s confidential adviser was styled his ‘friend’ (2 Samuel 15:37; 2 Samuel 16:17)? The Psalmist appears to be still in the city and unable to escape from it, living in the very midst of his enemies, whose hostility is open and unconcealed: but it was not until after he had fled from the city that David was informed of Ahithophel’s treachery (2 Samuel 15:31); it was at Hebron, not in Jerusalem, that Absalom’s conspiracy made head and broke out; David’s adherents in Jerusalem were sufficiently strong to prevent any rising until Absalom’s arrival, and whatever preparations for rebellion may have been made there were carefully concealed; when David resolved to flee, he had no difficulty in effecting his escape. Moreover although David’s administration of justice seems to have been lax or inadequate (2 Samuel 15:2 ff), it is difficult to believe that Jerusalem can have been such a hotbed of discord and disorder and iniquity as the Psalm describes; and still more difficult to imagine that David should use the language of this Psalm in regard to a state of things for which he was largely responsible.

With this negative conclusion we must remain content. It is impossible to determine with certainty by whom or even at what period the Psalm was written. It has been suggested that Jeremiah was the author, and that the treacherous friend of Psalm 55:13 was Pashhur, by whom Jeremiah was scourged for predicting the destruction of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 20). The circumstances which seem to form the historical background of the Psalm resemble those described in the Book of Jeremiah (cp. e.g. Jeremiah 5, 6); similarities of language appear to connect the Psalm with Jeremiah’s prophecies (cp. Jeremiah 9:2 ff, and references in the notes); Pashhur, as a priest, was Jeremiah’s ‘equal.’ There is however not the slightest indication in the Book of Jeremiah that Pashhur had ever been the prophet’s intimate friend; the similarities of thought and language fall far short of proving identity of authorship; and all that can really be said is that the circumstances of the Psalmist receive valuable illustration from the prophecies of Jeremiah. The Psalmist may have been a contemporary of Jeremiah; but he may have lived in the reign of Ahaz or Manasseh, or in some other period when a weak government allowed Jerusalem to become the prey of faction, and in the ambitions of party moral obligations were contemptuously disregarded and old ties of friendship ruthlessly ignored, while the dominant party for the time being heaped insult and injury upon their defeated rivals, and even their lives were not secure. Readers of Thucydides will recall his reflections upon the Corcyræan massacre (Hist. iii. 82 ff), and the history of the French Revolution will supply modern illustrations.

In a MS. of Jerome’s Latin Version the Psalm bears the title, Vox Christi adversus magnatos Judaeorum et Judam traditorem, ‘The voice of Christ against the chiefs of the Jews and the traitor Judas.’ It is not indeed, any more than Psalms 41, a prediction of the treachery of Judas; but every such experience of the faithlessness of trusted friends was a foreshadowing of the experience of the Son of Man. He fathomed the depths of human baseness and cruelty and ingratitude. The experience of the righteous in former generations was ‘fulfilled’ in His.

The Psalm falls into three nearly equal divisions. In the first of these, despair, in the second, indignation, in the third, trust, is the dominant note. Shorter stanzas of six lines may be traced in the greater part of the Psalm, but either this scheme was not completely carried out, or it has been broken by corruption of the text.

i. The Psalmist begins with an urgent prayer that God will hear him in his distress (Psalm 55:1-3 a); he describes its nature, and its effect upon him (Psalm 55:3 b – Psalm 55:5); and in language of pathetic beauty, expresses his longing to escape to some quiet refuge (Psalm 51:6-8).

ii. Suddenly his tone changes. In vehement indignation he invokes confusion upon the counsels of his enemies, and describes the tyranny of iniquity which is supreme in the city (9–11). What makes their hostility most intolerable is that the leader of the faction was once his intimate friend (Psalm 55:12-14). May they meet the fate they deserve (Psalm 55:15)!

iii. In a calmer tone he expresses his confidence that God will deliver him (Psalm 55:16-18), and judge his arrogant and godless foes (Psalm 55:19); and as he mentions them, his mind naturally reverts to the base hypocrisy of the arch-traitor (Psalm 55:20-21). In conclusion he reassures himself by contemplating the contrast between Jehovah’s care of the righteous and His judgement of the wicked (Psalm 55:22-23).

Ps 55:1-23.

In great terror on account of enemies, and grieved by the treachery of a friend, the Psalmist offers an earnest prayer for relief. He mingles confident assurances of divine favor to himself with invocations and predictions of God's avenging judgments on the wicked. The tone suits David's experience, both in the times of Saul and Absalom, though perhaps neither was exclusively before his mind.

1. hide not thyself, &c.--(compare

Ps 13:1; 27:9),

withhold not help.

Give ear to my prayer - See the notes at Psalm 5:1; Psalm 17:6. This is the language of earnestness. The psalmist was in deep affliction, and he pleaded, therefore, that God would not turn away from him in his troubles.

And hide not thyself from my supplication - That is, Do not withdraw thyself, or render thyself inaccessible to my prayer. Do not so conceal thyself that I may not have the privilege of approaching thee. Compare the notes at Isaiah 1:15. See also Ezekiel 22:26; Proverbs 28:27; Leviticus 20:4; 1 Samuel 12:3. The same word is used in all these places, and the general meaning is that of "shutting the eyes upon," as implying neglect. So also in Lamentations 3:56, the phrase "to hide the ear" means to turn away so as not to hear. The earnest prayer of the psalmist here is, that God would not, as it were, withdraw or conceal himself, but would give free access to himself in prayer. The language is, of course, figurative, but it illustrates what often occurs when God seems to withdraw himself; when our prayers do not appear to be heard; when God is apparently unwilling to attend to us.