Embrace the Word for Monday, April 27, 2026
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Psalm 55 is an intense portrait concerning the pain of betrayal. The superscription identifies this Psalm as another by David: “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.” Psalms 52-55, in sharing the designation of “a Maskil” seems to be a sub collection of Psalms which speak of the opposition to David as king. Psalm 55 shares several links in particular with Psalm 54. Both Psalms have similar expressions of prayer—Psalm 54 states: “O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth” (54:2), while Psalm 55 states: “Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!” (55:1). Each Psalm pertains to betrayal, but they differ in where the betrayal unfolds—Psalm 54 occurs in the wilderness while David is on the run, where Psalm 55 occurs in Jerusalem and most likely causes David to be on the run. Both Psalms touch on the judgment of death that would befall the treacherous wicked (54:3; 55:15). Psalm 55 begins with crying out to the LORD expressing the sorrow over being betrayed (55:1-8); then calls on the LORD to put an end to the betrayer (55:9-15); and then concludes with a sense of confidence that the LORD will act, removing the threat of betrayal (55:16-23).
Psalm 55 opens with an urgent plea: “Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan” (55:1-2). David’s prayer reveals much urgency and great anxiety as he appeals to God to not ignore him, but show him compassionate attention. Thus, David’s prayer is revealing his belief that the solution to his predicament is found in turning to the LORD. In the face of intense distress, what David knows to do is pray. What David was up against entailed rowdy hostility, forceful oppression, evil harm, all motivated by a seething resentment: “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” (55:3).
David clearly describes how the cluster of traumatic circumstances impacted him: “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me” (55:4-5). David did not ignore or hide his feelings, but poured out before the LORD, in most vivid terms, his overwhelming sense of anguish, terror, fear, and horror. The events that David faced had profound affect on David internally. David expresses his initial thoughts about how he would have liked to respond: “And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest” (55:6-8). David wished he was anywhere but where he was. He wished he would be quickly transported to a safe place far from the danger he was encountering. David immediately yearned for any kind of shelter from the raging storm. But while David is honest about how he felt as well as what he felt he needed, he is also convictionally firm that what he honestly needed was his LORD. At a level even deeper than his feelings and his yearnings, David believed that his disturbing situation and the accompanying distressing feelings should be turned over to the LORD.
As David turns to the LORD he is convinced that his LORD is the One who would solve his troubles. David calls upon the LORD to do justice: “Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace” (55:9-11). David asks the LORD to destroy his enemies. Literally, David wants the LORD to swallow up his enemies as he uses the same term used, as the LORD dealt with Korah’s rebellion during Moses’ time: “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods” (See Numbers 16:23). David also prays for the LORD to divide their tongues, which seems to allude to the division of languages at the Tower of Babel incident (See Genesis 11). The reason for such strong requests for justice is rooted in the strong descriptions of injustice. David’s enemies fill the city with violence and strife; they do this day and night as they commit perversion and cause great trouble resulting in ruination, oppression, and fraud. The actions that David reports warrant the LORD opening up the earth to swallow them as well as stymying their wicked communications.
David turns his focus on one man in particular: “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. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng” (55:12-14). While David does not explicitly name the man, he does describe someone who was a close companion with whom David had shared mutual counsel and holy worship. David’s betrayer was a trusted ally and friend. This was personal. David did not see this coming, but in response to such devastating deception, David calls upon the LORD to implement a quick and sure judgment: “Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart” (55:15). With evil lodged deeply in his betrayer’s soul, the treacherous perpetrator was not merely against David, but against God who had placed David on the throne. Thus, we should not think that David’s prayer is a petty vendetta, but a clear pleading for true justice.
David stays focused upon the LORD as his pleading continued: “But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice” (55:16-17a). What therapeutic technique does David pursue as he faces a horrifically disturbing situation and its accompanying intensely distressing feelings? I am not sure David would understand what I just asked. David had the LORD and access to the LORD in prayer. We must guard against any modern notion that such archaic options have been surpassed by superior means and methods. David’s trauma was significant; perhaps one of the most acute forms of trauma: betrayal leading to genuine mortal harm. But David prayed and kept on praying. David prayed until the Spirit of God assured him with a sense of “the LORD will save me,” and “he hears my voice.” In fact, David’s confidence—more accurately—the Spirit’s work in David, causes him to explode with confidence: “He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah” (55:18-19a). David’s heart is filled with peace as he knows that the LORD will go to war on his behalf.
David points to the nature of his betrayer: “because they do not change and do not fear God. My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords” (55:19b-21). The LORD will humble those who resist change, for they refuse to fear God. Such an unrepentant former friend brought great sorrow to David and committed grave sins before God. But while his betrayer refused to turn from his evil ways, David kept turning to the LORD: “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” (55:23). And what David committed to in his own situation, he commended to the nation: “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (55:22).
As we reflect on Psalm 55 we should consider the violence of betrayal. Certainly, the LORD Jesus knows of the painful sorrow of a close companion’s betrayal: “After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (See John 13:21). One of the differences between the betrayal against Jesus and that which David experienced is that while Jesus was betrayed, He never betrayed anyone. Tragically, the pain that David felt from the hands of a betrayer, was a pain that he not only received, but also caused. Uriah had served David faithfully and sacrificially, but David betrayed him and ordered his demise [Uriah, the Hittite, was one of David’s mighty men (See 2 Samuel 23:39)]. One of the differences between us and the Lord Jesus Christ is that while we too have been betrayed, we have also betrayed. Perhaps our betrayal has been against the Lord Jesus Himself. In spite of the fact that no King has more right to the loyalty of His people, and no Father has more claim on the faithfulness of His children, we have been disloyal and unfaithful. But our hope is not in our ability to keep ourselves, but to be kept: “if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (See 2 Timothy 2:13). Our God loves to show His mercy. May such kindness always lead us to repentance (See Romans 2:4).
That’s all for Embrace the Word for Monday, April 27, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Wednesday, April 29, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalm 56.