For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.

1Give ear to my prayer, O God;
         And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

2Give heed to me and answer me;
         I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,

3Because of the voice of the enemy,
         Because of the pressure of the wicked;
         For they bring down trouble upon me
         And in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4My heart is in anguish within me,
         And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5Fear and trembling come upon me,
         And horror has overwhelmed me.

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

7“Behold, I would wander far away,
         I would lodge in the wilderness.

8“I would hasten to my place of refuge
         From the stormy wind and tempest.”

9Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongues,
         For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

10Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
         And iniquity and mischief are in her midst.

11Destruction is in her midst;
         Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.

12For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,
         Then I could bear it;
         Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,
         Then I could hide myself from him.

13But it is you, a man my equal,
         My companion and my familiar friend;

14We who had sweet fellowship together
         Walked in the house of God in the throng.

15Let death come deceitfully upon them;
         Let them go down alive to Sheol,
         For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

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

17Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur,
         And He will hear my voice.

18He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me,
         For they are many who strive with me.

19God will hear and answer them—
         Even the one who sits enthroned from of old—

20He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;
         He has violated his covenant.

21His speech was smoother than butter,
         But his heart was war;
         His words were softer than oil,
         Yet they were drawn swords.

22Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you;
         He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

23But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction;
         Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.
         But I will trust in You.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a maskil by David. Open your ears to my prayer, O God. Do not hide from my plea for mercy.

King James Bible
<A Psalm of David.>> Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:

Darby Bible Translation
{To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments: an instruction. Of David.} Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

English Revised Version
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

Webster's Bible Translation
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

World English Bible
Listen to my prayer, God. Don't hide yourself from my supplication.

Young's Literal Translation
To the Overseer with stringed instruments. -- An instruction, by David. Give ear, O God, to my prayer, And hide not from my supplication.

Cross References

Psalm 10:1 Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

Psalm 27:9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation!

Psalm 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.

Psalm 61:1 For the choir director; on a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer.

Psalm 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications!

Lamentations 3:56 You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help."

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 55

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 (v. 1-8). II. He prays that God would manifest his displeasure against his enemies, and pleads their great wickedness and treachery (v. 9-15 and again v. 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 (v. 16-19 and again v. 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.

To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil. A psalm of David.

Verses 1-8

In these verses we have,

I. David praying. Prayer is a salve for every sore and a relief to the spirit under every burden: Give ear to my prayer, O God! v. 1, 2. He does not set down the petitions he offered up to God in his distress, but begs that God would hear the prayers which, at every period, his heart lifted up to God, and grant an answer of peace to them: Attend to me, hear me. Saul would not hear his petitions; his other enemies regarded not his pleas; but, "Lord, be thou pleased to hearken to me. Hide not thyself from my supplication, either as one unconcerned and not regarding it, nor seeming to take any notice of it, or as one displeased, angry at me, and therefore at my prayer." If we, in our prayers, sincerely lay open ourselves, our case, our hearts, to God, we have reason to hope that he will not hide himself, his favours, his comforts, from us.

II. David weeping; for in this he was a type of Christ that he was a man of sorrows and often in tears (v. 2): "I mourn in my complaint" (or in my meditation, my melancholy musings), "and I make a noise; I cannot forbear such sighs and groans, and other expressions of grief, as discover it to those about me." Great griefs are sometimes noisy and clamorous, and thus are, in some measure, lessened, while those increase that are stifled, and have no vent given them. But what was the matter? v. 3. It is because of the voice of the enemy, the menaces and insults of Absalom's party, that swelled, and hectored, and stirred up the people to cry out against David, and shout him out of his palace and capital city, as afterwards the chief priests stirred up the mob to cry out against the Son of David, Away with him-Crucify him. Yet it was not the voice of the enemy only that fetched tears from David's eyes, but their oppression, and the hardship he was thereby reduced to: They cast iniquity upon me. They could not justly charge David with any mal-administration in his government, could not prove any act of oppression or injustice upon him, but they loaded him with calumnies. Though they found no iniquity in him relating to his trust as a king, yet they cast all manner of iniquity upon him, and represented him to the people as a tyrant fit to be expelled. Innocency itself is no security against violent and lying tongues. They hated him themselves, nay, in wrath they hated him; there was in their enmity both the heat and violence of anger, or sudden passion, and the implacableness of hatred and rooted malice; and therefore they studied to make him odious, that others also might hate him. This made him mourn, and the more because he could remember the time when he was the darling of the people, and answered to his name, David-a beloved one.

III. David trembling, and in great consternation. We may well suppose him to be so upon the breaking out of Absalom's conspiracy and the general defection of the people, even those that he had little reason to suspect. 1. See what fear seized him. David was a man of great boldness, and in some very eminent instances had signalized his courage, and yet, when the danger was surprising and imminent, his heart failed him. Let not the stout man therefore glory in his courage any more than the strong man in his strength. Now David's heart is sorely pained within him; the terrors of death have fallen upon him, v. 4. Fearfulness of mind and trembling of body came upon him, and horror covered and overwhelmed him, v. 5. When without are fightings no marvel that within are fears; and, if it was upon the occasion of Absalom's rebellion, we may suppose that the remembrance of his sin in the matter of Uriah, which God was now reckoning with him for, added as much more to the fright. Sometimes David's faith made him, in a manner, fearless, and he could boldly say, when surrounded with enemies, I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. But at other times his fears prevail and tyrannise; for the best men are not always alike strong in faith. 2. See how desirous he was, in this fright, to retire into a desert, any where to be far enough from hearing the voice of the enemy and seeing their oppressions. He said (v. 6), said it to God in prayer, said it to himself in meditation, said it to his friends in complaint, O that I had wings like a dove! Much as he had been sometimes in love with Jerusalem, now that it had become a rebellious city he longed to get clear of it, and, like the prophet, wished he had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that he might leave his people and go from them; for they were an assembly of treacherous men, Jer. 9:2. This agrees very well with David's resolution upon the breaking out of that plot, Arise, let us flee, and make speed to depart, 2 Sa. 15:14. Observe, (1.) How he would make his escape. He was so surrounded with enemies that he saw not how he could escape but upon the wing, and therefore he wishes, O that I had wings! not like a hawk that flies swiftly; he wishes for wings, not to fly upon the prey, but to fly from the birds of prey, for such his enemies were. The wings of a dove were most agreeable to him who was of a dove-like spirit, and therefore the wings of an eagle would not become him. The dove flies low, and takes shelter as soon as she can, and thus would David fly. (2.) What he would make his escape from-from the wind, storm, and tempest, the tumult and ferment that the city was now in, and the danger to which he was exposed. Herein he was like a dove, that cannot endure noise. (3.) What he aimed at in making this escape, not victory but rest: "I would fly away and be at rest, v. 6. I would fly any where, if it were to a barren frightful wilderness, ever so far off, so I might be quiet," v. 7. Note, Peace and quietness in silence and solitude are what the wisest and best of men have most earnestly coveted, and the more when they have been vexed and wearied with the noise and clamour of those about them. Gracious souls wish to retire from the hurry and bustle of this world, that they may sweetly enjoy God and themselves; and, if there be any true peace on this side heaven, it is they that enjoy it in those retirements. This makes death desirable to a child of God, that it is a final escape from all the storms and tempests of this world to perfect and everlasting rest.

Calvin's Commentary

1. Give ear to my prayer, O God! and hide not thyself from my supplication. 2. Attend unto me, and answer me. I will wail [293] in my address, [294] and make a noise. [295] 3. By reason of the voice of the enemy, under the affliction of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they fight against me.

1. Give ear to my prayer, O God! From the language with which the psalm opens, we may conclude that David at this time was laboring under heavy distress. It could be no ordinary amount of it which produced such an overwhelming effect upon a saint of his distinguished courage. The translation which has been given of 'ryd, arid, I will prevail, does violence to the context, for, so far from boasting of the fortitude which would govern his address, he is anxious to convey an impression of his wretchedness, by intimating that he was constrained to cry out aloud. What is added in the third verse, By reason of the voice of the enemy, may be viewed as connected either with the first verse or that immediately preceding, or with both. By the voice some understand such a noise as is occasioned by a multitude of men; as if he had said, that the enemy was mustering many troops against him: but he rather alludes to the threatenings which we may suppose that Saul was in the habit of venting upon this innocent prophet. The interpretation, too, which has been given of the casting of iniquity upon him, as if it meant that his enemies loaded him with false accusations, is strained, and scarcely consistent with the context. The words are designed to correspond with the succeeding clause, where it is said that his enemies fought against him in wrath; and, therefore, to cast iniquity upon him means, in my opinion, no more than to discharge their unjust violence upon him for his destruction, or iniquitously to plot his ruin. If any distinction be intended between the two clauses, perhaps the fighting against him in wrath may refer to their open violence, and the casting of iniquity upon him [296] to their deceitful treachery. In this case, 'vn, aven, which I have rendered iniquity, will signify hidden malice. The affliction of the wicked is here to be understood in the active sense of persecution. And in applying the term wicked to his enemies, he does not so much level an accusation against them as implicitly assert his own innocence. Our greatest comfort under persecution is conscious rectitude, the reflection that we have not deserved it; for there springs from this the hope that we will experience the help of the Lord, who is the shield and defense of the distressed.

Footnotes:

[293] The verb 'ryd, arid, which Calvin renders, "I will wail," is rendered by Boothroyd, "I am distressed, confused, distracted." Mudge is of opinion that 'ryd, arid, is derived from yrd, yarad, to tincture, to drop, etc.; and hence he reads, "While I weep in my complaint."

[294] "Meditation or discoursing, talk, prayer, complaint. The Hebrew siach signifieth any large discourse or exercise of the mind or mouth, by busy musing, talking, praying, communing with one's self or others." -- Ainsworth.

[295] "Heb am in a violent tumultuous agitation, as the waves of the sea." -- Bishop Horne The original word hvm, hum, according to Gesenius, signifies "to put in motion, throw into commotion, consternation, to agitate; and Hiph to make commotion, to make a noise, spoken of an unquiet mind, internal commotion, Psalm 55:3."

[296] "Literally slide iniquity upon me; i.e., by oblique and artful insinuations they asperse my character. The sentiment of the whole line I take to be this, that the enemies of the Psalmist, by sly insinuations, brought him under the suspicion of the worst enemies, and then wreaked their malice upon him under the color of a just resentment." -- Horsley.

Links

Psalm 55 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

NIV / NLT / ESV / GWT / KJV / ASV / DRB

Jump to Previous Occurrence
Chief Contemplation David Director Ear Hearing Hide Ignore Instruction Instruments Leader Maschil Maskil Musician Neginoth Overseer Plea Prayer Psalm Request Shut Stringed String-Music Supplication Thyself

Jump to Next Occurrence
Chief Contemplation David Director Ear Hearing Hide Ignore Instruction Instruments Leader Maschil Maskil Musician Neginoth Overseer Plea Prayer Psalm Request Shut Stringed String-Music Supplication Thyself

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

Alphabetical: A And David director do ear For from Give God hide ignore instruments Listen maskil music my not O of plea prayer stringed supplication the to With Yourself

Bible Browser

Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety.
My heart is disquieted within me. Tearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.--Ps. lv. 4. Thou hast proved and visited my heart in the night season--Ps. xvii. 3. Nevertheless though I am sometimes afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee.--Ps. lv. 3. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?--Ps. xxvii. 1. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fear.--Ps. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

The Arrest
Our study of the closing scenes of the life of our Lord begins at the point where He fell into the hands of the representatives of justice; and this took place at the gate of Gethsemane and at the midnight hour. On the eastern side of Jerusalem, the ground slopes downwards to the bed of the Brook Kedron; and on the further side of the stream rises the Mount of Olives. The side of the hill was laid out in gardens or orchards belonging to the inhabitants of the city; and Gethsemane was one of these. …
James Stalker—The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ

If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin...
21. If then to sin, that others may not commit a worse sin, either against us or against any, without doubt we ought not; it is to be considered in that which Lot did, whether it be an example which we ought to imitate, or rather one which we ought to avoid. For it seems meet to be more looked into and noted, that, when so horrible an evil from the most flagitious impiety of the Sodomites was impending over his guests, which he wished to ward off and was not able, to such a degree may even that just …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish.
THIS remarkable man was prepared by very peculiar circumstances for his important work; and in his instance also it may be seen, how that infinite wisdom which guides the development of the kingdom of God amongst men, is able to bring great things out of what seems insignificant to the eyes of men. Patrick, called in his native tongue Succath, was born A. D. 372, in a village between the Scottish towns of Dumbarton and Glasgow, (then appended to England,) in the village of Bonaven, since named in …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament