Psalms 55 - Introduction

LV.

This is one of the most passionate odes of the whole collection — bursts of fiery invective alternating with the most plaintive and melancholy reflections: it has supplied to Christianity and the world at least two expressions of intense religious feeling, the one (Psalms 55:6) breathing despair, the other (Psalms 55:22) the most restful hope.

Its date and authorship must be left in the region of mere conjecture. The traditional ascription to David cannot on any ground be maintained. That Ahitophel is the subject of Psalms 55:12; Psalms 55:20, is contrary to all we know of the history of the rebellion of Absalom, for the poet describes himself as obliged to support the outrages of his quondam friend in the same city with him, when he would gladly fly if he could. Such a situation could not have been David’s; for if he had had such full knowledge of the plots preparing against him he would, as he easily might, have crushed it in its early stages. And it must be noticed that the Psalm does not represent the author as the victim of a revolution, but of oppression (Psalms 55:3). The frightful picture of disorder arising from disorganisation of the government, given in Psalms 55:9, is most inapplicable to the state of Jerusalem in David’s reign.

In the absence of any definite historic indication, it is better to give up all attempts to recover the individual singled out for everlasting infamy in Psalms 55:12; Psalms 55:20. The rest of the poem speaks of enemies in the plural, and the individual on whom the poet especially turns may only be the representative of a class — the class of perfidious Israelites who, forsaking national and religious traditions, sided with the foreign oppressors, and, as usual in such cases, carried their animosity to the party they had betrayed to the bitterest end. The rhythmical structure is not fairly marked, but the epithetic parallelism predominates.

Title. — See title, Psalms 4.