Psalm 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,

There is no stated context for this psalm but internally there are hints that it was composed during Absalom’s rebellion. Not only had his own son turned against him but some of David’s trusted advisors as well. The pain of betrayal hovers over this psalm and it triggers David’s initial response: “Listen!” In classic lament style, David asks for God to hear his prayer, pay attention, and answer. David is not being disrespectful here as if God were distracted and needed David’s rebuke, but he is simply stating how he feels. He feels as if God is hiding somewhere, that He has abandoned him. Honestly, that is often my first response when something bad happens, “Where were you God? Why didn’t you stop this from happening?” As I think about so many of the tragedies that I’ve seen happen to others, that is one of the first questions that comes to mind. It must have been the same for David. He had already been through a lot of trauma that was of his own doing. Having repented and restarted (Psalm 51), perhaps this pain inflicted by his son seemed unfair. David had made things right with God, why couldn’t everyone else? I suspect Absalom’s rebellion was rooted in both his own pride and in the negative things he learned from his father -- manipulation, lust, abuse of power. He was the negatives of David in the extreme. It’s been said that what the teacher does in moderation, the student does in excess. Perhaps the same is true of parenting. Turning against one’s father, particularly in the patriarchal culture of ancient Israel was a dramatically bad thing to do. David must have been caught off guard by this and stunned. Who could imagine that his primary enemy would be a member of his own household? In the midst of this, David is grieving to the point that he says he is restless in his complaint and is making a lot of noise. David can’t sleep, can’t clear his mind, can’t stop moaning. Psychologists today might say he was battling insomnia, anxiety, and depression. There are times our pain is so great we just want to scream and cry out. Perhaps there is something cathartic about vocalizing our pain, even if there are no meaningful words. This is the place David found himself, begging for God to come beside and listen. 

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.

David’s moaning and noise-making in the previous verse corresponds with the voice of his enemy. It is the power of words that is cited here as the weapon of oppression. Indeed this was the case with Absalom’s rebellion which began as a propaganda attack to undermine the credibility of the king. The ability of political leaders to communicate their message and persuade the population is one of their most important functions, and David’s power to do so has been usurped by a pervasive sense that he is no longer fit for the job. This was propagated by Absalom and those he had rallied around himself, including some of David’s former officials. This political turmoil no doubt felt like oppression. At some level David had to acknowledge his own responsibility for his credibility gap. He had lived in hypocrisy for over a year, and everyone knew about it. Be that as it may, his enemies were intent on “dropping trouble” on him. In their wrath they refused to let go of their convictions about him, bearing a grudge against him that led them to outright hatred. This is what happens in politics when the quest for power becomes your god. You say false things about your opponent and then you begin to believe them and convince others of them as well. Before you know it you have poisoned the opportunity for a productive relationship unless one or both parties is willing to forgive and move forward. Unfortunately this reconciliation never happened with Absalom and the conflict was resolved with a sword.  

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.

The language of David’s suffering is graphic. It begins with the condition of his heart. The Hebrew idiom suggests turmoil as the word “anguish” literally means to writhe and whirl. This suggests that the center of David’s being is off balance, it is spinning out of control, dizzying him with thoughts and feelings that he cannot resist. This is one of the first things we feel when faced with trauma, a sense of being moved by forces we cannot stop. Next, there are the terrors of death, this overwhelming feeling of the inevitability of death, impending doom. His heart may be uncertain, but one thing he is certain of -- he is going to be dead soon. Uncertainty and confidence are placed side by side in these two poetic lines. Fearfulness and shaking have become his posture, both literally and figuratively, and he is absolutely horrified (lit. covered in shuddering) at the situation. “Impending doom” is the phrase that comes to mind when reflecting on these verses. It is that sense that the final outcome is known before it happens. One can wish it were otherwise, but it doesn’t change anything. David looks ahead to the future and only sees loss. Absalom has the numbers and the influence, David has been driven from his city, and it’s only a matter of time before he is captured and killed. Shamed and disgraced, having lost much of his moral authority, his life appears to be on a path that will end in quick death. Once more he becomes the hunted. For us today these verses describe the condition of grief quite well. Imagine receiving horrifying news -- a tragic accident, a terminal diagnosis, the threat of divorce or a runaway child. Any of these can send us reeling, and they happen every day. David’s experience is the human experience, and David in his prayer is simply laying it all out before God, describing exactly how he feels. We have that same privilege in prayer. Through faith we can cast our cares on the LORD, unload our burdens, graphically describe how we are feeling as if he were right beside us, somehow holding us in his strong arms. As David shudders, shakes, and sobs, the greatest love in the universe surrounds him and assures him that he is not alone and that this season will pass.   

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.”

David’s response to the overwhelming dread that he feels is to escape. In the stages of grief this would most likely correspond with denial. “This isn’t happening, and maybe if I change my environment it will all go away.” It’s a tempting thought, which is why we go there, but it doesn’t work. Our problems travel with us. Coincidentally, the Hebrew word for dove is jonah, and of course this is what Jonah did -- he tried to fly away from the place where God had told him to go. He thought he would flee the metaphorical tempest of Nineveh, but he found himself in a real tempest in the Mediterranean. It’s easy to identify with David’s desire to escape and be at rest. David doesn’t even necessarily want to go to a better place, just a far away place. He’d rather live in the desert wilderness than the tumultuous city where he now lives. So it’s not the destination, it’s the distance -- “Any place but here.” But it’s not up to us to choose the times and places where we live, (a wise wizard once said). We must somehow find rest in the storm not from the storm. There are many unhealthy ways to escape. There are addictions: food, porn, video games, alcohol, drugs -- anything to distract. There are coping mechanisms: busy-ness, laziness, avoidance, denial, self-isolation, self-harm. There are philosophical escapes that lead to atheism, nihilism, or hedonism. All of these lead to the same place: the wilderness. They are wings that carry us to loneliness and greater grief. David will ultimately find his wings and his rest, but they will not take him away from the storm, they will sustain him through the storm. They are the wings of faith where even the head winds become the means for soaring ever higher. Psalm 11:1 is an  interesting parallel to this psalm. In this psalm David is wrestling with the same type of overwhelming challenge as he is in Psalm 55 as the very foundations of society are shaking and his enemies have their arrows drawn at him. He says, “In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain?’” In other words, “Why would I run? The LORD is my refuge. I will take shelter in Him, not in the wilderness.” This is where David will ultimately land in Psalm 55 when he says in the final verse, “But I will trust in you.” Escape to the wilderness is not the answer and yet that is the choice that so many make. “Find rest, my soul, in God alone” (Psalm 62:1).

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.

David prays for a curse upon his enemies and then describes the deteriorating condition of society. His prayer is that the Lord would destroy them and divide their tongues. The metaphor of a divided tongue suggests cutting the tongue in such a way that it no longer functions for speech. Metaphorically it means to confound or confuse so that the wicked can no longer coordinate their actions. This is a parallel to Genesis 11 and the dispersing of the people through languages. David prays for the same type of divine intervention to prevent the flourishing of wickedness in society. It’s notable that this curse is reversed on Pentecost when people in a variety of languages heard the gospel in their own language as the tongues of fire separated and rested above the apostles. The gospel not only has the power to accomplish personal salvation but also nurture societal health and human flourishing. David has witnessed the disintegration of his city, a slide that began with his own moral lapse and now is bearing full fruit with Absalom’s rebellion. Violence and strife, iniquity and trouble, oppression and fraud in the economic system -- these are symptoms of a society where people live as if there were no God (see Psalm 53). All of these things are facilitated by words, communication, and so David prays for a disruption in that communication. It’s not too difficult to see the parallels in modern society with the advent of the internet, smartphones, and social media. Our capacity to communicate widely has increased exponentially and with it the capacity for both good and evil. Misinformation, exaggeration, manipulation, and outright lies told so convincingly -- these plague our society. We pray with David that tongues would be divided, that false communication would be thwarted, that oppression and fraud be removed from the marketplace. Mutual trust is the fabric of society, and when that fabric is frayed and torn, the result is human suffering on a massive scale. 

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.

These are the verses that lead us to believe that David is writing this psalm during Absalom’s rebellion. His own son turned against him along with some of his advisors and generals. This put David at a distinct disadvantage because they knew him so well. One of the first rules of warfare is to “know thy enemy”. Those who initiated this palace coup knew David quite well and could exploit his weaknesses. For one, David was unwilling to kill Absalom, (just as he was unwilling to kill Saul). Doing so would have likely ended the coup sooner, but David couldn’t bring himself to kill his own son, who could? The poetry in verse 13 is abrupt -- four words that describe David’s adversary: a man (the poetic word, enosh, is used here); my equal (in context likely referring to someone of similar social status and nationality); my intimate companion (used elsewhere in the OT in the context of marriage); and my acquaintance, the one who knows me. The word acquaintance is not strong enough here. The word is based on the common Hebrew word for knowing by experience. David’s adversary had experiential knowledge of him as we’ll see in the following verses. How true it is that the greatest emotional pain that we can experience is often dealt to us by members of our own family. This was certainly David’s experience and he speaks for many as he articulates the pain of betrayal. Jesus experienced this not only directly from his friend Judas but also from all of the disciples except John who abandoned him in his hour of need. When trust has been betrayed, know that Jesus knows exactly what that feels like and he is with you in it, just as he was with David. 

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.

David’s betrayer was once a very close friend with whom he used to take sweet counsel together. The phrase “sweet counsel” connotes secrets. In other words they shared the kind of trust that allowed them to share their most personal secrets. This is a deep male friendship where each party had a level of trust for the other that allowed them to be quite vulnerable. This is why the betrayal stings so much. Not only were they united in their personal lives, but they were united in worship, attending the religious festivals together. They worshipped side by side with thousands of others, singing the songs and offering the sacrifices, saying the prayers, and enjoying the unity of their common faith. This intimate personal and spiritual connection was suddenly and surprisingly shattered when David’s best friend turned on him. The initial shock must have been met with denial. “How could he?!” This is the level of betrayal that spouses feel when adultery takes place. It’s the level of betrayal that a parent feels when a child walks away. This happens every day in this world, and David’s response is perfectly natural. It is the human response: “You’ve suddenly destroyed me and our relationship, may your life be suddenly destroyed.” Verse 15 contains a strong curse (an imprecation), asking for death to take them by surprise, just as their betrayal had taken David by surprise. This is another example of the principle of retribution. The Bible teaches that justice is woven through the fabric of the moral universe and every wrong done to another is ultimately punished. This punishment is to be in God’s hands because only he knows the heart. The phrase, “go down to Sheol alive” suggests that death takes them suddenly, no opportunity to say goodbye or make things right. May death be swift and final. They are irredeemable in David’s estimation for that have allowed evil to make itself at home in their most secret places. This is the link between these two verses. These two men once dwelt together in sweet friendship, worshiping together with the community, and now because evil has come to dwell in the heart of one, they will be separated forever by death. To be clear, David is not taking justice into his own hands. He is praying a curse because this is how he feels. This is how anyone would feel when they have experienced this level of personal betrayal. This is raw honesty borne of deep pain.  

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.

If the previous two verses are the most painful of the psalm, these two may be the most hopeful. In anguish and anger over the betrayal of the closest of friends, David resists the urge to lash out and instead reaches us. He calls to God and expresses confidence that He will save him. Not just once, but three times a day, David comes before God to make his case. Following the Hebrew thinking of time, he begins in the evening when it’s darkest, and then the morning when there is hope of a new day, and then at noon when hope doesn’t seem to have been fulfilled yet. And then the cycle repeats. His prayer consists of a complaint and a moan. The word for complaint is often translated meditation, particularly in the psalms. These are his musings, his grumblings, those thoughts that he cannot shut down as he replays everything in his mind. The word for moan is more often translated as roar, growl, or disturbance. Sometimes our groaning is vocalized in a cry where there are no words. The New Testament describes the Holy Spirit interceding for us in groanings too deep for words to express (Romans 8:26), so apparently groaning in the language of God as well. It is universal. It’s comforting to know that our prayers do not have to be carefully crafted soliloquies in perfect English. A complaint and a moan will do. It doesn’t even have to make sense to anyone else because God understands. We know this most certainly because he’s been there before and is with us now. He was betrayed by a friend, his rule overthrown by a mob, driven from the city to die on a cross where he cried out, forsaken by God. He cried out in the evening in the garden, in the morning on the cross, and in the afternoon when he breathed his last and cried out, “it is finished.” David’s solution to his predicament is simple. In fact, it is too simple for a modern man who wants complex analysis of the situation to see it from every angle and assess responsibility (usually it’s someone else’s fault), to psychoanalyze everything, categorize, take it apart, and put it back together again. David just prays three times a day and pours his heart out to God, confident that everything will be resolved. Why do we have to make it so complicated?

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.

David’s confidence is in full bloom here as he states the future as if it were the present. He is sure that God will redeem his soul in shalom - peace, safetly, completeness, wholeness. Soul and life are the same word in Hebrew, with a core meaning of breath, so both may be implied. The battle that David is in the midst of is one for both his life and his soul. An army is pursuing him to kill him and that army is led by his own son -- that is soul-crushing. And while David doesn’t know the specifics of how God will redeem this unthinkable situation, he still believes. He trusts that his prayer is heard and favorably received. Those that are arrayed against him, that seem so indomitable will be humbled. And while David pleads for the life of his son, he must know that his victory means the defeat and humiliation of his son -- a bitter pill to swallow. Verse 19 presents an unlikely comparison between the ancient God, who dwells forever and the enemies of David who do not change and do not fear God. Just as God has been around from the beginning (and before), so evil has been entrenched in human history from its earliest moments. There are things that are true about human nature that have always been true and will always be true until God redeems everything. We take comfort in knowing that God has always been sovereign from before time began. He is the ancient God, who was and is and is to come, the eternally existing one. And as long as humans have breathed on this planet, there have been those that do not honor him or bend their lives in any way towards his good will. So David recognizes that his enemies will suffer defeat and this is simply the way the world works. There is a benevolent, eternal God who has made known his ways. Those that choose to disregard that God and his words get exactly what they wish, their free will is intact. They get a life without God. Instead of getting God, they get themselves. David believes in this eternal justice of God and can be confident that he will be redeemed because he has chosen to fear God and change his life to conform to His purposes. 

20 My companion [Hebrew He] 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.

The treachery of David’s friend was accomplished by way of deceit. He spoke as smooth as butter, his words softer than oil. These sound like metaphors we might apply to politicians today who have lost their way. They will say and do anything to get power and have embraced the “ends justify the means” philosophy. Butter and oil are notoriously slippery, tasty and effective lubricants for cooking. So to follow the metaphor, this politician can use words as lubricants and flavor enhancers to get us to swallow a bitter pill. Absalom rose to power by speaking to disenchanted young men, convincing them that the old king was out of touch and had lost his moral authority (He was probably right about that actually). He took this opportunity of the king’s weakness to convince other power hungry young men that a violent coup was the way to turn the tables. We see this played out politically in our own times as politicians and their media allies use words to influence the nation. But David sees the reality -- the knives are out. The traitor stretches out his hands toward his friends, no one is safe from his power quest. He has violated his covenant -- he can’t be trusted to keep a promise. War is in his heart -- he relishes the thought of playing the role of the disruptor. His words are drawn swords -- sharpened and ready to slice and spill blood. As I apply this text today, there are faces of modern politicians come to mind. However, they are all of the party I didn’t vote for. I’m confident that others see the faces of the party that I voted for. Politics is a messy business. Had I been alive in David’s day, there’s a good chance I might have been on Absalom’s side. Right and wrong, good and bad are not always clear in the midst of these things, especially when words can be so skillfully used to manipulate others. My prayer today is for God to help me see the truth, to cut through the politics and the news and see the truth and align my life and my thinking with that. The character of David’s adversary was rotten to the core even while he presented a strong outward persona. Time and pressure reveal whether a person has the character of a diamond or a lump of coal. This was true of David as Absalom’s coup played out and David got the upper hand. History is written by the winners, and Absalom is the one whose reputation was forever tarnished by his rebellion. In our times it is not just the politicians but now an entire media industry that spins narratives as well. Objective journalists are hard to find because many have embraced the “ends justify the means” philosophy and are merely mouthpieces for the party. As a result, Americans have either tuned out altogether or they are tuning in to one side only -- the side that gives us the butter and oil that we don’t think is butter and oil. It’s most likely butter and oil. 

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.

As a pair, these two verses are the epitome of the psalmist’s theology. They come at the end of this psalm and in the middle of this group of psalms in which David is wrestling with wicked and treacherous personal enemies (Psalms 52-29). Simply stated, it is a message of “Trust in God. He is good and he is just.” First we can trust Him with our burdens. This is one of the few uses of the covenant name of God, YHWH, in this section of the psalms. This is significant as David recalls this name that was first revealed to Moses when Israel was enslaved in Egypt. The “burden” of verse 22 also hearkens back to the burden of slavery that Israel first bore and then cast upon the LORD. The image of throwing a burden is fascinating. I’m imagining a bag of cement on the shoulder being transferred to another, not truly “thrown”. The heavier an item is, the more difficult to actually throw, so this is more likely a transfer of weight. “Take the weight that you are carrying and transfer it to YHWH”. This is echoed in the New Testament in Jesus’ invitation to rest, to take up his yoke and walk with him, and in I Peter 5:7 where this verse is quoted, “cast your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you.” In exchange for your burden, the LORD promises to sustain you and keep you from tottering and falling over. This is stated as a categorical truth: He will never let the righteous be moved. The second truth here is that God is just and in that same way that God can be trusted with your burden, he can be trusted with your anger and need for vengeance. He will see to it that the men of treachery and murder will be cast down into the pit of pits and quickly. They will be cut down in mid-life. Justice will be swift and satisfying when we leave it up to God. This is an aspect of the burden that the LORD wants us to cast on Him -- the burden of bitterness, anger and vengeance. It is said that bitterness is a poison that we prepare for our enemies and then drink ourselves. David doesn’t take his bitterness out against anyone here but rather places his trust in God to do justice His way in His time. And so the final statement is, “I will trust in you,” a summary statement of this and so many of the psalms. This psalm is classified as a lament, and like all laments, there is an element of confidence and hope, typically at the end as we walk with the psalmist through the intense pain that comes from betrayal by a family member and treachery from trusted confidants. No specific solution is presented, and no action is prescribed for fixing things. The “fixing” is in the praying of this psalm itself, when we honestly express our pain along with our unshakeable trust that God sees, God carries our burden, and He will see that justice is satisfied ultimately. In Jesus we see YHWH is taking up the cross, humanity’s burden of sin and death, and carrying it on our behalf -- the perfect justice and wrath of the Father poured out on his beloved son, to make right all the wrongs and to reconcile us to himself and to one another.