What is the meaning of Psalm 55:15?

Let death seize them by surprise

• David, betrayed by close companions (Psalm 55:12-14), pleads that judgment fall without warning, cutting short their schemes—much like sudden destruction overtakes the unrepentant in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 and Proverbs 29:1.

• The cry is not vindictive whimsy; it is an appeal that God’s justice interrupt wickedness before it spreads further (Psalm 7:9).

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let them go down to Sheol alive

• This recalls the literal event of Numbers 16:30-33, where Korah’s company was swallowed alive into the earth—an unmistakable sign that God Himself acted.

• David trusts the Lord to handle rebels with the same decisive hand shown against Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5-10).

• Sheol in the Old Testament denotes the realm of the dead; to enter it alive underscores the extraordinary nature of the judgment sought—God alone can cross the normal boundary between life and death (Deuteronomy 32:39).

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for evil is with them in their homes

• The petition rests on moral grounds: their houses are incubators of treachery, just as Micah 2:1 depicts those who “devise iniquity on their beds” and as Psalm 36:4 says, “He sets himself on a path that is not good.”

• Domestic settings, meant for covenant faithfulness (Deuteronomy 6:6-9), have become headquarters of deceit. This corruption merits covenantal curses (Deuteronomy 28:15-19).

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summary

Psalm 55:15 records David’s Spirit-inspired plea that the Lord intervene swiftly and visibly against persistent, house-rooted evil. He asks for sudden death, even a living descent into Sheol, not out of personal spite but to vindicate God’s righteousness and to halt the spread of treachery. The verse teaches that unrepentant wickedness invites decisive divine judgment, while reassuring the faithful that the Lord sees, knows, and will act.