David’s psalms: Psalm 39–41, 53, 55, 58

King David was a prolific poet and songwriter, and some of his work has been passed down to us through the psalms. Many of these have no event recorded with them, so at the end of David’s life, we have a large group of ‘unallocated’ psalms.

Finding himself surrounded by enemies, David again turned to God, but Psalm 55 recorded a more personal aspect to what was happening.

Psalm 55

^1-4 Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me; I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught by the noise of the enemy,
because of the clamor of the wicked.
For they bring trouble upon me,
and in anger they cherish enmity against me.

Who was this friend?

^12-14 It is not enemies who taunt me—I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—I could hide from them.
But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend,
with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.

^20-21 My companion laid hands on a friend and violated a covenant with me
with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war;
with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords.

As always, David found his resolution in God.

^22-23 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
But you, O God, will cast them down into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.