#735 Distraught Psalm 55

Listen to my prayer, O God,

do not ignore my plea;

2 hear me and answer me.

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

3 because of what my enemy is saying,

because of the threats of the wicked;

for they bring down suffering on me

and assail me in their anger.

4 My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death have fallen on me.

5 Fear and trembling have beset me;

horror has overwhelmed me.

6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

7 I would flee far away

and stay in the desert;

8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,

far from the tempest and storm.”

9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,

for I see violence and strife in the city.

10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;

malice and abuse are within it.

11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;

threats and lies never leave its streets.

12 If an enemy were insulting me,

I could endure it;

if a foe were rising against me,

I could hide.

13 But it is you, a man like myself,

my companion, my close friend,

14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship

at the house of God,

as we walked about

among the worshipers.

15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;

let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,

for evil finds lodging among them.

16 As for me, I call to God,

and the Lord saves me.

17 Evening, morning and noon

I cry out in distress,

and he hears my voice.

18 He rescues me unharmed

from the battle waged against me,

even though many oppose me.

19 God, who is enthroned from of old,

who does not change—

he will hear them and humble them,

because they have no fear of God.

20 My companion attacks his friends;

he violates his covenant.

21 His talk is smooth as butter,

yet war is in his heart;

his words are more soothing than oil,

yet they are drawn swords.

22 Cast your cares on the Lord

and he will sustain you;

he will never let

the righteous be shaken.

23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked

into the pit of decay;

the bloodthirsty and deceitful

will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you. Psalm 55 NIV

Do not ignore my plea - Sometimes we have mulled a thing over in our mind, turned it and looked at it upon every angle, and yet this mulling is not yet praying. I don't know if David has already gone to God, but feels that he is left alone or that he has merely contemplated the situation, and come to find himself without a good solution. Short of employing the same tactics, most men would see no other way than to return evil for evil, so both, those that wish to hold a holy integrity and those that find the answer outside their means, must gain audience with Him Who is above all men's means. Lord, please hear me, because I know that Your guidance will be better than my own.

I am distraught - This is the matter, plain and simple, my distress is over what men are saying about me. They are plotting against me. How odd is the story of our Lord Jesus, knowing that their was a traitor so close to Him, yet so calmly telling him to go and do what was in his heart all along. This is the part that breaks for us, for we have a friend, a brother, a sister, mother, father and those that we have been is such close and trusting communion with for so long, I never saw it coming. I thought he was this way, yet now he acts as if he were my long appointed enemy. 

My heart is in anguish - This is a hurtful blow, not merely a slap on the face, not the strike of insolence upon the cheek, that makes the temper burn. Yes, we may feel the sting upon our ego, but the ego would most violently conceal the heart. The Psalmist does not spare his own pride but lays it out in song, my heart hurts. I am obsessed with fear, that death has drawn ever so close to me, that the whispers in the streets have become the wind upon my ear. Is that the shadow of the reaper? I dare not turn around lest we be face to face.

Oh that I had the wings of a dove - I would fly away and so far from this that they would never find me. I have tried that before, running, hiding, change of geography, but people don't change, and worse, I had not changed. My state before I ran came to be known as the good old days, for I chose the same sort and even worse to be around. Then I removed myself from people as much as I could, no closeness, no more bonds of trust, only the water and the woods. Children run away, men like the idea of it, but real men fall upon their knees. 

Confound their words - Lord, You did it before at Babel, the world was in a wicked and proud state, and they were living the lie, building the lie, that they could reach into the heavens, make themselves above the wrath of God. 

My close friend - This makes it most unbearable, and certainly dresses the lie all that much more, for it is one who knows me well. How strikingly familiar this seems, was not Uriah one of David's best men, more noble, and more worthy of the king's respect than many of his advisers and captains? Yet for all his good service to the king, David took his wife and had Uriah murdered. Maybe this is why David is found here in front of the Lord, pleading for God's ear, not as the injured proud, but as the humbled beggar. He could have meetings behind closed doors, he is a warrior and commands the respect of many strong, he could use cunning and calculation, but there is already too much violence, too much blood on his own hands.  

Let death take my enemies - He has lifted Goliath's head, but this is a friend who betrayed him. Some think this has to do with Absalom, his son, but as one commentator points out, David wanted not one hair to come missing from Absalom's head. This is something else, someone else, but David here chooses to bring it to the Lord rather than act on his own behalf, let the Lord deal between me and thee. 

As for me I call to God - He has come to his wits end, but rather than go mad, rather than rule or be ruled by fear, he calls upon the Lord. This is the best place for us to be, innocent of the evil, not wanting to take vengeance in our own hands, defend ourselves by causing more division or strife, but let the Lord, Who alone is righteous, judge. He looks for the composure of Christ, of God being mocked, of God staying His hand against a corrupt and wicked world, walking to Calvary, not My will, but Yours be done. There is only one way to win it all and that is to give up everything. The Lord saves me.

They have no fear of God - God will deal with them because they do not acknowledge Him. They know what God has said, and I know that God does not change, but they bank on that He has, that He will, or they are so satisfied with their lack of physical want that they do not see they are spiritually dead. 

Smooth as butter - My friend talks a good game, but the tongue is sharper than any two edged sword, to my face a healing oil, but to my back a piercing dagger. I do not want to fight this way, I cannot wear Saul's armor, I refuse to say the man's name, and maybe he will hear this song and repent, maybe I have left him that much room.

He will sustain you - He may not take you out of the storm, but you will know that He is master still in the storm. I will not wait till it passes to praise You, for You are God when things go my way and You are God still when they do not go the way I want or expect. Men may fail me, but You never change. I will call upon You, in You alone will I put my trust. 

5 For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends,and some of you will be put to death. 17 And you will be hated by everyone because of My name.…Luke 21: 15-17

3 The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly. 24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother. Proverbs 18: 23-24