23 And Thou, O God, dost bring them down To a pit of destruction, Men of blood and deceit reach not to half their days, And I -- I do trust in Thee!
Not in his day is it completed, And his bending branch is not green.
Thou destroyest those speaking lies, A man of blood and deceit Jehovah doth abominate.
Lo, to peace He changed for me bitterness, And Thou hast delighted in my soul without corruption, For Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins.
And Abner turneth back to Hebron, and Joab turneth him aside unto the midst of the gate to speak with him quietly, and smiteth him there in the fifth `rib' -- and he dieth -- for the blood of Asahel his brother.
And Joab saith to Amasa, `Art thou `in' peace, my brother?' and the right hand of Joab layeth hold on the beard of Amasa to give a kiss to him; and Amasa hath not been watchful of the sword that `is' in the hand of Joab, and he smiteth him with it unto the fifth `rib', and sheddeth out his bowels to the earth, and he hath not repeated `it' to him, and he dieth; and Joab and Abishai his brother have pursued after Sheba son of Bichri.
`And also, thou hast known that which he did to me -- Joab son of Zeruiah -- that which he did to two heads of the hosts of Israel, to Abner son of Ner, and to Amasa son of Jether -- that he slayeth them, and maketh the blood of war in peace, and putteth the blood of war in his girdle, that `is' on his loins, and in his sandals that `are' on his feet; and thou hast done according to thy wisdom, and dost not let his old age go down in peace to Sheol.
A pit he hath prepared, and he diggeth it, And he falleth into a ditch he maketh. Return doth his perverseness on his head, And on his crown his violence cometh down.
Before your pots discern the bramble, As well the raw as the heated He whirleth away.
The sin of their mouth `is' a word of their lips, And they are captured in their pride, And from the curse and lying they recount. Consume in fury, consume and they are not, And they know that God is ruling in Jacob, To the ends of the earth. Selah.
Sheol and destruction `are' before Jehovah, Surely also the hearts of the sons of men.
Sheol and destruction are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied.
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,