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 Sau... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE EAR TO MY PRAYER, O GOD,.... Which was for that which is just and right, and equitable to be given, as the word n used signifies; being promised in the covenant of grace, ratified and confirmed by the blood of Christ, Not only David was a man much given to prayer, as well as was the sweet psalm... [ Continue Reading ]
ATTEND UNTO ME, AND HEAR ME,.... So as to answer, and that immediately and directly, his case requiring present help; I MOURN IN MY COMPLAINT; or "in my meditation" p; solitary thoughts, and melancholy views of things. Saints have their complaints, on account of their sins and corruptions, their ba... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE OF THE VOICE OF THE ENEMY,.... Of Absalom, as Arama; or of Ahithophel, who gave out he would smite the king only, 2 Samuel 17:2; and so of any spiritual enemy, as sin, Satan, and the world, when they threaten dominion and tyranny; and of the Scribes and Pharisees reproaching Christ, as being... [ Continue Reading ]
MY HEART IS SORE PAINED WITHIN ME,.... At the civil war in his kingdom; at the battle likely to ensue between his forces and Absalom's, and at the issue of it; see Jeremiah 4:19; this was true of Christ in the garden, when his soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death, and he was in pain, as a woman i... [ Continue Reading ]
FEARFULNESS AND TREMBLING ARE COME UPON ME,.... Fear and dread of mind, and trembling of body; AND HORROR HATH OVERWHELMED ME; or "covered me"; he was in the utmost consternation and surprise at what he apprehended would be the issue of things; so Christ in the garden is said to be "sore amazed", M... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I SAID, OH THAT I HAD WINGS LIKE A DOVE,.... The psalmist pitches upon this creature, partly to suggest that his enemies pursuing him were like the ravenous hawk, and he like the harmless, innocent, and trembling dove; and partly because of its swiftness in flying. Aben Ezra thinks the dove is m... [ Continue Reading ]
LO, [THEN] WOULD I WANDER FAR OFF, [AND] REMAIN IN THE WILDERNESS,.... So David did when he fled from Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:23; so gracious souls desire to be; not in the wilderness of the people; but to be solitary as in a wilderness, clear of the company of wicked men, as Jeremiah wished for, Jere... [ Continue Reading ]
I WOULD HASTEN MY ESCAPE FROM THE WINDY STORM [AND] TEMPEST. Of an army of rebellious subjects, bearing down all before them, and threatening with utter ruin and destruction; so a powerful army of enemies invading a country is signified by a storm and tempest, Isaiah 28:2; and may be expressive of... [ Continue Reading ]
DESTROY, O LORD,.... Or "swallow up" s, as Pharaoh and his host were swallowed up in the Red sea; or as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, were swallowed up in the earth; so all the enemies of Christ and his church will be destroyed; and death, the last of them, will be swallowed up in victory, Isaiah 25:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
DAY AND NIGHT THEY GO ABOUT IT, UPON THE WALLS THEREOF,.... That is, "violence" and "strife" go about the walls of it continually; men of violence and contention are the only watchmen of it: a city must be sadly guarded that has no better watch than this; MISCHIEF ALSO AND SORROW [ARE] IN THE MIDST... [ Continue Reading ]
WICKEDNESS [IS] IN THE MIDST THEREOF,.... All manner of wickedness; abominable wickedness; wickedness as arrived to its highest pitch, and as having filled up its measure; see Ezekiel 9:4; DECEIT AND GUILE DEPART NOT FROM HER STREETS; where truth was fallen, and equity could not enter, Isaiah 59:14... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR [IT WAS] NOT AN ENEMY [THAT] REPROACHED ME,.... An open and avowed one; a Moabite or a Philistine; such an one as Goliath, who cursed him by his gods; but one of his own country, city, court, and family, who pretended to be a friend; his son Absalom, according to Arama: so it was not one of the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT [IT WAS] THOU,.... The Targum is, "but thou Ahithophel"; of whom the words are literally to be understood, and so they are in the Talmud u; and mystically and typically of Judas; A MAN MINE EQUAL; "a man", and not a beast, nor a devil; but a man, from whom humanity, kindness, and tenderness mig... [ Continue Reading ]
WE TOOK SWEET COUNSEL TOGETHER,.... Not in religious matters; for in these the testimonies of the Lord were David's counsellors, Psalms 119:24; but in civil things: hearty counsel is one branch of friendship, and which greatly sweetens it, Proverbs 27:9; as this may be applied to Christ and Judas,... [ Continue Reading ]
LET DEATH SEIZE UPON THEM,.... Ahithophel and his accomplices, Judas and the men with him; as a mighty man, as the king of terrors, and shake them to pieces. Or, "let him exact upon them" a; as a creditor upon the debtor, and demand the debt of punishment for sin: or let him come upon them at an una... [ Continue Reading ]
AS FOR ME, I WILL CALL UPON GOD,.... Not upon a creature, on idols and images, on angels or saints departed; but upon God, in his time of trouble, for salvation and deliverance from enemies; who is able to save. This is to be understood of calling upon God in prayer; as Psalms 55:17 explains it, and... [ Continue Reading ]
EVENING, AND MORNING, AND AT NOON, WILL I PRAY,.... These being the stated times of prayer with the Jews, and which continued to later ages, Daniel 6:10. These times, they say b, were fixed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: the morning prayer by Abraham, according to Genesis 22:3, the prayer of the "min... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH DELIVERED MY SOUL IN PEACE FROM THE BATTLE [THAT WAS] AGAINST ME,.... That is, God had preserved his life, and delivered him safe and sound from many a battle which was fought against him, and might seem at first to go against him; and had given him peace and rest from all his enemies before... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD SHALL HEAR AND AFFLICT THEM,.... That is, either he shall hear the prayers of his servant, imprecating evils upon his enemies, Psalms 55:9; and shall bring them down upon them, in answer to his requests; or it may be, rendered, "God shall hear and answer them" c; he shall hear their blasphemies... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH PUT FORTH HIS HANDS,.... The psalmist returns and describes, in this verse Psalms 55:3, the cruelty, perfidy, and hypocrisy of his false friend; who had stretched forth his hands AGAINST SUCH AS BE AT PEACE WITH HIM, or he pretended to be at peace with. So Ahithophel put forth his hands aga... [ Continue Reading ]
[THE WORDS] OF HIS MOUTH WERE SMOOTHER THAN BUTTER,.... Such were the words of Ahithophel, when in counsel with David; and such the words of Judas, when he said to Christ, "hail, master", and kissed him, Matthew 26:49; BUT WAR [WAS] IN HIS HEART; even a civil war, rebellion against his prince; tha... [ Continue Reading ]
CAST THY BURDEN UPON THE LORD,.... These are either the words of the Holy Ghost to David, according to Jarchi; or of David to his own soul in distress, and may be directed to any good man in like circumstances. The word rendered "burden" signifies a gift and so the words are translated by many, "cas... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU, O GOD, SHALL BRING THEM DOWN,.... Ahithophel and his accomplices in the conspiracy against David, Judas and the wicked Jews concerned in Christ's death; and did not believe in him; INTO THE PIT OF DESTRUCTION, or "corruption" i; either the grave, where bodies being put corrupt and putrefy... [ Continue Reading ]