Psalms 55

Listen to my prayer, God. Do not turn away when I beg you for help.

1Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

2Pay attention to me and answer me. My worry gives me no rest, and I am so upset that I groan out loud.

2Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

NoteWhere the King James has "make a noise," the Hebrew verb means to moan or be in turmoil, the restless sound of distress, not noise in the sense of commotion.

3It is because of what my enemy says, and because of the pressure from wicked people. They dump trouble on me, and in their anger they attack me with hate.

3Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

Note"Cast iniquity upon me" renders a Hebrew phrase that can mean either to topple trouble down onto someone or to hurl accusations at them; both senses fit here, and translators divide over which is meant.

4My heart is in deep pain inside me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.

4My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

5Fear and shaking have come over me, and horror has covered me completely.

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

6I said, "I wish I had wings like a dove. Then I would fly away and find rest."

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

7"Yes, I would wander far off and stay out in the empty desert." Selah.

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

NoteSelah appears seventy-one times in the Psalms and nobody knows what it means. It is left untranslated because it is probably a direction to the musicians (a pause, an instrumental break, or a cue to lift the voices), rather than part of the words being sung.

8"I would hurry to find shelter, away from the raging wind and the storm."

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

9Lord, break them apart and confuse the words they speak, because I have seen violence and fighting in the city.

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

Note"Divide their tongues" is a request that the plotters' speech be split and confounded so their scheme falls apart. The same image drives the Babel story in Genesis, where one shared language is confused into many and the building project collapses.

10Day and night they go around the city on top of its walls, and inside it there is trouble and wrongdoing.

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

NoteThe picture is of violence and strife patrolling the top of the city wall day and night, like the sentries whose job was to guard the city. The threat has taken the watchmen's place.

11Ruin is at work inside the city. Cheating and lies never leave its streets.

11Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.

12It was not an enemy who insulted me; I could have put up with that. It was not someone who hates me who bragged and rose up against me; I could have hidden from him.

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

13But it was you, a man just like me, my companion and my close friend.

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

NoteThe King James "my guide" can suggest a mentor or leader, but the Hebrew means someone of the speaker's own rank and intimate circle. The three terms (equal, companion, close friend) describe a peer, not a superior.

14We used to talk together and enjoy it. We walked into God's house side by side with the crowd.

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

Note"The house of God" is the sanctuary in Jerusalem, the central place of worship. Walking there "in company" refers to the crowd of pilgrims moving together in procession at a festival, a public, shared act, which is what makes the betrayal by a fellow worshiper sting.

15Let death take hold of them. Let them go down alive into the place of the dead, because evil is at home with them and among them.

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

NoteIn the King James, "quick" means alive, not fast. "Hell" here translates Sheol, the underworld where Hebrew tradition placed all the dead alike; it is the realm of the grave rather than a place of punishment. Going down there alive echoes the story in Numbers 16 where the ground opens and swallows rebels whole.

16As for me, I will call out to God, and the LORD will save me.

16As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.

17Evening, morning, and noon I will pray and cry out loud, and he will hear my voice.

17Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

NoteEvening comes first because the Hebrew day began at sunset, not at midnight. The three times name a full daily round rather than a fixed schedule of services.

18He has rescued me and brought me out of the battle safe and unharmed, for there were many with me in that fight.

18He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.

NoteThe last clause is genuinely ambiguous in Hebrew and reads roughly "for in many they were against me." It can mean many were arrayed against the speaker, or that many stood with him; ancient and modern translators split both ways.

19God will hear and will bring them low, he who has sat on his throne since long ago. Selah. Because they never change, they have no fear of God.

19God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.

Note"They have no changes" means their circumstances never turn against them, nothing in life ever knocks them down or forces them to reconsider. That untroubled run, not any argument, is given as the reason they have no fear of God.

20This friend attacked people who were at peace with him. He broke the agreement he had made.

20He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.

NoteA covenant was a formal sworn agreement, as binding as a legal contract and normally sealed with an oath before God. Here it is the pledge that held the two men together as friends or allies, which makes breaking it a sworn offense, not merely a disappointment.

21The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were swords pulled out and ready.

21The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

NoteButter here is curds (thick soured milk, a soothing food) and oil is olive oil, rubbed on the skin to soften and calm it. Both images are of something smooth and pleasant on contact, set against the drawn sword underneath.

22Hand over what weighs you down to the LORD, and he will hold you up. He will never let a person who does right be shaken loose.

22Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

NoteThe Hebrew noun behind "burden" occurs nowhere else in the Bible and means something like "what has been given to you" (your lot, or the load assigned to you), rather than a weight you picked up yourself.

23But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Men who kill and lie will not live out even half of a normal life. But I will trust in you.

23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

Note"The pit" is a standard Hebrew word for the grave or the underworld. "Half their days" measures against a normal full lifespan, which the ancient world counted as a reward and its opposite as a mark of a life cut short.