Psalm 55:12
For it is not an enemy who insults me; that I could endure. It is not a foe who rises against me; from him I could hide.
Sermons
The Compassionable, the Commendable, and the Censurable in LifeHomilistPsalm 55:1-23
The Outcry of a Soul in DistressT. W. Chambers, D. D.Psalm 55:1-23
A Picture of Corrupt City Life and Private LifeC. Short Psalm 55:9-15














I. CORRUPT CITY LIFE. (Vers. 10, 11.)

1. Corrupt in every part, on the walls and in the interior. Violence and strife reign unchecked universally.

2. Falsehood and deceit ruled in the market-place. (Ver. 11.) In the square, or market-place, near the gates, where was the general place of concourse, men cheated and deceived each other in their ordinary intercourse.

II. PICTURE OF CORRUPT PRIVATE LIFE. The sanctities of friendship were openly violated and renounced. The offence was aggravated by two things.

1. That he who had become the psalmist's enemy had been a closely intimate friend. Love had turned to hate, because of the triumph of evil designs or passions, or of "the whispering tongues that can poison truth."

2. Their friendship had been consecrated by religious associations. (Ver. 14.) A depraved life can sweep out of the mind the tenderest memories and the most holy associations, human and Divine.

III. THE PSALMIST PRAYS FOR GOD'S JUDGMENTS UPON THIS CORRUPT LIFE. The two forms of judgment which he imprecates are:

1. The judgment that fell upon the builders of Babel. (Ver. 9.) Discord among themselves and their counsels, so that they might destroy one another.

2. That they might go down to the grave alive. (Ver. 15.) Like Korah and his company, let them be carried away by death in the fulness of life and strength. The psalmist knew of none but violent means and temporal judgments by which such wickedness could be removed. - S.

I will freely sacrifice unto Thee: I will praise Thy name, O Lord, for it is good.
The closing verses of this simple little psalm touch very familiar notes. The faith which has prayed has grown so sure of answer that is already begins to think of the thank-offerings. This is not like the superstitious vow, "I will give so-and-so if Jupiter" — or the Virgin — "will hear me." This praying man knows that he is heard, and is not so much vowing as joyfully anticipating his glad sacrifice. The same incipient personification of the name as in verse 1 is very prominent in the closing strains. Thank-offerings — not merely statutory and obligatory, but brought by free, uncommanded impulse — are to be offered to "Thy name," because that name is good. Verse 7 probably should be taken as going even further in the same direction of personification, for "Thy name" is probably to be taken as the subject of "hath delivered." The Senses of the verbs in verse 7 are perfects. They contemplate the deliverance as already accomplished. Faith sees the future as present. This psalmist, surrounded by strangers seeking his life, can quietly stretch out a hand of faith, and bring near to himself the to-morrow when he will look back on scattered enemies and present, glad sacrifices! That power of drawing a brighter future into a dark present belongs not to those who build anticipations on wishes, but to those who found their forecasts on God's known purposes and character. The name is a firm foundation for hope. There is no other.

(A. Maclaren, D. D.).

Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my supplication.
Homilist.
I. THE COMPASSIONABLE. David appears here an object for pity and compassion, as the victim of —

1. Malignant oppression.

2. Overwhelming terror.

3. Foul treachery.

II. THE COMMENDABLE.

1. He lays all his troubles before Him who alone could help him. The fact that men in great trouble and danger, whatever be their theoretical beliefs, instinctively appeal to God for help, argues man's intuitive belief —(1) In the existence of a personal God;(2) In the accessibility of a personal God;(3) In the compassion of a personal God.

2. Under all his troubles he strives to maintain his confidence in God.(1) Men have burdens. What anxieties press upon the human soul, making the very frame to stoop, and the heart to break.(2) Men's burdens may be transferred to God. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord." How? By an unbounded confidence in His character and procedure.(3) Those who transfer their burdens on the Lord will be sustained. "He shall sustain thee." God gives men power to bear their burden, and will ultimately remove their burden from them.

III. THE CENSURABLE — HIS IMPRECATIONS. Revenge is a moral wrong; and what is morally wrong in the individual can never be right in any relationship or office that the individual may assume, or in any combination into which he may enter.

(Homilist.)

I. THE VIVID COMPLAINT (vers. 1-11). The singer's case is a sad one. His mind is restlessly tossed to and fro. Full of cares and anxieties he nowhere finds solid foothold, but continues distracted, and hence he must pour out his heart in groans and complaints. The reason is the voice of the enemy, that is, the reproaches and calumnies to which he is subjected. But word is accompanied by deed, for there is persecution as well as slander. Overwhelmed with horror, the one thought of the sufferer is escape. He longs for the pinions of a dove — itself the emblem of peace and quiet — that he may fly away and find repose.

II. THE TREACHEROUS FRIEND (vers. 12-15). The slanders of an avowed antagonist are seldom so mean and cutting as those of a false friend, and the absence of the elements of ingratitude and treachery renders them less hard to bear. "We can bear from Shimei what we cannot endure from Ahithophel." So, too, we can escape from open foes, but where can one find a hiding-place from treachery? Hence the faithlessness of a professed friend is a form of sin for which there is not even the pretence of excuse. No one defends it or apologizes for it. Yet it occurs, and sometimes, like the case in the psalm, under the sanctions of a religious profession, so that the very altar of God is defiled with hypocrisy. It is right, therefore, that such atrocious wickedness should receive its appropriate recompense.

III. THE ANTICIPATED RESULT (vers. 16-23). By a fine antithesis the speaker turns to describe his own course in opposition to that of others. They pursue wickedness and reach its fearful end. He, on the contrary, calls upon God, who is his one refuge in times of distress and anxiety. He lives in an atmosphere of prayer, which is expressed by his mention of the three principal divisions of the natural day. "Complain" and "moan" are the same words that occur in verse 2; only here they are accompanies by the assurance of being heard. God will assuredly redeem him from the heat of the conflict; and the interposition of His arm will be needed, for his adversaries are not few but many, too many for him to deal with alone. God therefore will hear and answer them just as He does to His own servant, but with a serious difference. His own He regards in mercy, others in judgment. God Himself so orders His providence that they are overtaken in their evil ways and plunged into the abyss. On the other hand, the sacred poet closes his lyric with a renewed asseveration of the only ground of his hope. As for me, whatever others may say or think, as for me, I trust in Thee.

(T. W. Chambers, D. D.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Adversary, Bear, Borne, Deals, Endure, Endured, Enemy, Evil, Exalted, Foe, Friends, Grief, Hated, Hater, Hates, Hateth, Hating, Hid, Hidden, Hide, Insolently, Insulted, Insulting, Kept, Magnified, Magnify, Myself, Outside, Raised, Raising, Reproached, Reproaches, Reproacheth, Secret, Strong, Taunted, Taunts
Outline
1. David in his prayer complains of his fearful case
9. He prays against his enemies, of whose wickedness and treachery he complains
16. He comforts himself in God's preservation oh him, and confusion of his enemies

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 55:4-14

     5799   bitterness

Psalm 55:12-14

     5501   reward, human
     5564   suffering, of Christ
     5798   betrayal
     5846   enjoyment
     5893   insults
     8841   unfaithfulness, to people

Library
July 9. "Cast Thy Burden on the Lord" (Ps. Lv. 22).
"Cast thy burden on the Lord" (Ps. lv. 22). Dear friends, sometimes we bring a burden to God, and we have such a groaning over it, and we seem to think God has a dreadful time, too, but in reality it does not burden Him at all. God says: It is a light thing for Me to do this for you. Your load, though heavy for you, is not heavy for Him. Christ carries the whole on one shoulder, not two shoulders. The government of the world is upon His shoulder. He is not struggling and groaning with it. His mighty
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

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

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