Psalms 55:12-14

Foremost among the Psalmist's enemies is one who had formerly been one of his most intimate and trusted friends. He interrupts the denunciation, which he resumes at Psalms 55:15, to relate what is the bitterest ingredient in his cup of suffering. The burning indignation of the preceding and following verses gives way for a moment to a pathetic tone of sorrowful reproach. There is no need to suppose, with some critics, that these verses are misplaced, and ought to follow or precede Psalms 55:6. The sudden transition is most true to nature: Psalms 55:9 describe the general situation; then for the moment the thought of the personal injury which constitutes its most poignant bitterness eclipses every other thought; and in Psalms 55:15 indignation against the whole mass of his enemies breaks out again.