My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 55.01
1 – To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 – Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 – because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
The history of this psalm is unknown, but we can deduce a few items from the psalm to give us David’s situation. First off, it appears David is speaking primarily of a good friend who has turned on him, a betrayer, even called out as a covenant breaker!
Secondly, this is no idle threat, for David describes his condition including the “terrors of death”, and of horror overwhelming him.
David was in deep trouble, with his life on the line, not knowing how close he was to being destroyed. A constant stress, a continual pain and agony of mind and soul. A period of time when the Lord did not answer his prayers, for his repetition of seeking God to give ear, to not hide, and to attend to David, smacks of disappointment in previous efforts of prayer to God. The stress builds, and the heart is failing, and the LORD seems to be quiet.
Note that the basis of his prayer is depending on the mercy of God, that he realizes he has no other claim at this time. He is an experienced man of God, realizing his failings in front of God and depending on God’s mercy for his rescue. As the Lord had promised his kingdom to be forever, it was not promised to David that he would live a long and extended life and as such, David understood that his life could be cut short without any blemish on the Lord’s promises to him. Yet he calls on the mercy of God for deliverance in this time of terror.
What was the source of this terror you may ask? David gives us the reason in verse 3.
Noise of the enemy/Oppression of the wicked
As we have mentioned in earlier posts, the Old Testament prophets, when writing in poetry, would use a method of “rhyming” thoughts as opposed to our method of rhyming the last words in a couplet of phrases. In two verses, the author would say the same thing with a slight expansion or clarification of the previous phrase. I think this is happening here.
The oppression of the wicked is equivalent to the noise of the enemy. Threats, verbal attacks, intimidation causing a sense of imminent danger produced the stress residing in David’s heart. Words are powerful, and our words, whether intention or not, may cause tremendous stress in other’s lives. David’s enemies were certainly taking advantage of this type of warfare. Our enemy also does this!
An interesting connection, that will undoubtedly increase the readers understanding of David’s stress level is the two following phrases he uses in describing the type of stress he is undergoing. This is conjecture, but I find the connection interesting, and plausible.
When David speaks of the enemy “dropping trouble on him” this has a similar sound as when he was escaping from the City of David, from his own son Absalom’s treachery.
1 Samuel 15:14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
David continues with the description of the enemies motives, calling it a grudge. Both Absalom and his chief counsellor Ahithophel may be described in this manner.
We know the background to Absalom’s grudge, and his ability to hold a grudge for extended periods. When Amnon rapes his sister, he holds a grudge for two years before acting on it! But then his grudge comes to fruition (as unforgiven grudges always do) in his planning and executing the premeditated murder of his brother. Absalom’s next grudge is exercised when he spends 4 years after returning to Jerusalem, grooming the populace for his rebellion against the king. Grooming the populace to accept him in order to take the kingdom from his father. Right in the City of David, right under the nose of his father!
As for Ahithophel, David’s actions in having Uriah murdered in battle may be coming back to bite him. Consider Ahithophel’s relation to Bathsheba.
2 Samuel 23:34 – Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai of Maacah, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,
2 Samuel 11:3 – And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
Catch it? Bathsheba, it appears, was the granddaughter of Ahithophel. Consider the ramifications of that.
This psalm may be speaking of David’s condition in the potential loss of his kingdom, and if the kingdom was lost, surely his life was forfeit! At the hands of his son and/or his friend.
Treachery, mirroring the very treachery of an apostle who turned on the Messiah. David was spared from experiencing the results of the enemies threats, but for the Messiah, the threats were realized, for He was crucified, He was put to death by His enemies.
He experienced so much more than we can imagine, and His cause was to rescue us from those who hate us. We are to walk in the same manner as He did, loving His enemies and proving it through His sacrificial life and death.
But let it be known that our deliverance may not be as David’s deliverance, but nevertheless, we can and should trust Him in the times when the noise of the enemy is loudest.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
Considering the Bible 