The psalm is a prayer by one who is being unjustly harassed and someone who has also been betrayed by a friend.
Though despairing, David expresses ultimate confidence in God.
I. The Prayer of Distress (55:1-8).
II. The Prayer for Justice (55:9-15).
III. The Prayer of Assurance (55:16-23).
Psalm 55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my supplication.
This is the language of earnestness.
The psalmist was in deep affliction, and he pleaded, therefore, that God would not turn away from him in his troubles.
Psalm 55:2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
Psalm 55:4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Psalm 55:6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! [for then] would I fly away, and be at rest.
Psalm 55:8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm [and] tempest.
Psalm 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, [and] divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
"And divide their tongues":
As at the confusion of languages at Babel, to which the allusion is.
As in the confusion of Babylon when the wicked conspired against God. Jewish Sanhedrin in Christ's time, and in the witnesses they produced against Him (Luke 23:51).
Psalm 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me."
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