20 He hath put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath profaned his covenant.
If I have rewarded evil to him that was at peace with me; (indeed I have freed him that without cause oppressed me;)
My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
And the king said to the couriers that stood about him, Turn and put the priests of Jehovah to death; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not inform me. But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Jehovah.
Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had given thee this day into my hand in the cave; and they bade me kill thee; but [mine eye] spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah.
And all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Jehovah; and they anointed David king over Israel.
And Absalom said to Joab, Behold, I sent to thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Why am I come from Geshur? it would have been better for me to be there still. And now let me see the king's face; and if there be iniquity in me, let him slay me. And Joab came to the king, and told him. And he called Absalom, and he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.
And Absalom sent emissaries into all the tribes of Israel, saying, When ye hear the sound of the trumpet, ye shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were invited; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew nothing. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, from Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. And the conspiracy gathered strength; and the people increased continually with Absalom.
And the man said to Joab, Though I should receive a thousand silver pieces in my hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Take care, whoever it be [of you], of the young man Absalom.
My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him;
And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
My soul hath long dwelt with them that hate peace. I [am for] peace; but when I speak, *they* [are] for war.
[As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him, in the midst of Babylon, shall he die. Neither shall Pharaoh with a mighty army and a great assemblage do anything for him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons. He despised the oath, and broke the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, yet hath he done all these things: he shall not escape. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: [As] I live, verily, mine oath which he hath despised, and my covenant which he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his head.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 55
Commentary on Psalms 55 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 55
It is the conjecture of many expositors that David penned this psalm upon occasion of Absalom's rebellion, and that the particular enemy he here speaks of, that dealt treacherously with him, was Ahithophel; and some will therefore make David's troubles here typical of Christ's sufferings, and Ahithophel's treachery a figure of Judas's, because they both hanged themselves. But there is nothing in it particularly applied to Christ in the New Testament. David was in great distress when he penned this psalm.
In singing this psalm we may, if there be occasion, apply it to our own troubles; if not, we may sympathize with those to whose case it comes nearer, foreseeing that there will be, at last, indignation and wrath to the persecutors, salvation and joy to the persecuted.
To the chief musician on Neginoth, Maschil. A psalm of David.
Psa 55:1-8
In these verses we have,
Psa 55:9-15
David here complains of his enemies, whose wicked plots had brought him, though not to his faith's end, yet to his wits' end, and prays against them by the spirit of prophecy. Observe here,
Psa 55:16-23
In these verses,