Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.

“"Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not." Above, the Psalmist showed the insult of enemies against himself. Here he sets down deliverance from them. And first he asks in general against all enemies. Second he asks specifically against certain ones, at "Deliver me from my enemies." Concerning the first he does two things. First he implores God's help against the evils which he suffers from enemies. Second, that having been heard he gives thanks, at "Have mercy on me, God, have mercy on me." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth at length the evils he suffers, as to sadness. Second, as to the constancy of the tribulation. "Have mercy on me, God, for he has trampled." In this Psalm, according to the Gloss, the Psalmist speaks in his own person, expressing the very tribulations which he was suffering. It can also be said in the person of the Church, or of the just man, or of Christ, insofar as he bears the figure of our weakness. The title: "Unto the end, in songs, the understanding of David." And the sense is, "the understanding of David," as if he were to say: this is the understanding of David, set in songs. And it is entitled from understanding, so that he who is in tribulation may know how to recognize the evils he suffers, and the goods he awaits, according to that of Proverbs 14: "the heart which knows bitterness, etc.," and so on. This Psalm, then, is divided into three parts. For first he sets forth the tribulation he was suffering. Second, the malice of his enemies, at "Cast down." Third he calls to mind the help of God shown to him, at "But I have hoped in God." Concerning the first he does two things. First he asks that his prayer be heard. Second he sets forth the tribulation, at "I have been made sorrowful." He says therefore, "Hear, O God, my prayer." This is when what one asks is affirmed by repeating the prayer. Nor is this superfluous, because the repetition of a prayer stirs up affection. James, at the end: "it avails much," etc. Sometimes, moreover, what is sought is obtained even though the prayer is not acceptable to God, as when a sinner asks — yet in this very asking he merits God's indignation. Psalm: "he gave them their petitions, and sent fullness into their souls," etc., "but while their food was yet in their mouths... the wrath of God came up upon them." Often one grants in anger what he refuses in mercy. And therefore he says, "and despise not my supplication." One's prayer is despised for two reasons: either because one asks for what ought not justly to be asked, or because one asks not devoutly but with pride. Psalm: "he has had regard to the prayer of the humble, and has not despised it," etc. The prayer of the Pharisee was despised because he prayed with pride; Luke 18; Psalm: "let my prayer be directed," etc. "Attend to me, and hear me." Here is described the order by which God accepts a prayer: namely, that he first holds the person praying as accepted, since one who asks is not accepted on account of his prayer, but rather the prayer of those already accepted is accepted on account of their petition. Whence it is said in Genesis 4: "the Lord had regard to Abel first, and to his offerings." "Attend to me," that is, receive me favorably. Or, attend to my affliction. Exodus 3: "I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people." "And hear me." Psalm: "hear, O God, my prayer, when I make supplication." "I have been made sorrowful." Here he sets forth the tribulations. And first he sets down the cause of the tribulation. Second, its gravity. Third, the remedy. The cause of the tribulation was the tribulation which he was suffering. This too applies to Christ: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." Now this tribulation of Christ can be considered as to its fruit, as to its manner, and as to its motive. The fruit of the tribulation of the saints is the exercise unto righteousness, as in trainings; and therefore he says, "in my exercise," that is, in the tribulation which you send in for the sake of exercise. "I have been made sorrowful." But against this, Proverbs 12: "whatever shall befall the just man shall not make him sorrowful." It must be said that the just man is not made sorrowful with the sorrow of the age which threatens death, but with the sorrow of penance which is according to God. Or it must be said that there is one sorrow which is a passion, and this corporeally imitates a passion, and this does not befall the wise man. There is another sorrow which is called a propassion, which is a sudden movement, and this sorrow was in Christ. And there is a twofold exercise unto righteousness. One is assumed voluntarily — 1 Timothy 4: "exercise yourself." The other exercise is one that is inflicted, of the kind spoken of here. The manner of tribulation is twofold. One is by words, namely by threatening. The other is when tribulation is inflicted by deeds, by persecuting. As to the first he says: "I was troubled at the voice of the enemy." One is troubled when the tranquility of the heart is wholly removed. "At the voice of the enemy" who threatens and blasphemes. Jeremiah 12: "my inheritance is become to me as a lion in the forest." As to the second he says, "and by the tribulation of the sinner," namely, brought upon me. Psalm: "many are they who persecute me." The cause of this tribulation is twofold: sometimes they trouble him out of settled malice, sometimes out of passion. As to the first he says, "for they have turned iniquities upon me," that is, they have carried out upon me the iniquity which they had thought to perpetrate. As to the second he says, "and in wrath they were troublesome to me." Genesis 49: "cursed be their fury." "My heart was troubled within me." Here is set down the greatness of the tribulation as to three things: because it is near, great, and effective. When someone wishes to set out grief at length, he says he was touched even to the heart. And therefore he says, "my heart was troubled within me," as if to say: not in outward things only, but even to his very heart he is wounded. Jeremiah 4: "I grieve in my bowels." The tribulation is also great, because among worldly things no evil is as great as death. Whence he says, "the fear of death," that is, fear concerning death, "has fallen upon me," because Saul wished to kill him. The tribulation is also effective, because fear, when it is strong, has a twofold effect: one in the body, namely trembling; the other in the soul, namely trepidation. And therefore he says, "fear and trembling of death have come upon me," that is, upon my powers as to the soul, "and darkness has covered me," that is, stupor has enveloped me. Or, "darkness," that is, evil men. Psalm: "they surrounded me like bees." "And I said: who will give me?" Above, the Psalmist set forth the affliction of heart which he suffered; now he sets down the remedy which he applied; and this remedy is chiefly the solicitude of contemplation, especially because in the works of the active life one is again held fast. Gregory: "the evils which press upon us here compel us to go to God." And concerning this he does two things. First he proposes the desire for the contemplative life. Second he shows what he did in disposing himself toward it. Third, what he awaits to be brought to completion by God. The second, at "behold, God." The third, at "I waited." In contemplation three things are required: facility of contemplating, the act of contemplation, and the effect. Facility is designated by feathers. Whence, being afflicted in the active life, he says, "I said, who will give me wings/feathers like a dove?" — considering that there is no remedy for escaping this affliction except through contemplation, and that he does not have the facility of escaping it, because he does not have feathers by which he might fly. And there is a threefold feather according to the three things which are required for contemplation. For first is required the ordering of the vicious affections, which is a certain disposition toward contemplation; and this is had through the moral virtues. Whence the feathers are the moral virtues, such as patience, humility, and so on. Malachi, at the end: "healing in his wings." Another feather is charity, which above all makes one fly into contemplation. Ezekiel 1: "and their wings were joined one to another." Another feather is wisdom; and by the feathers of wisdom truth is contemplated, because without those feathers one easily slips into errors if divine things are contemplated. Concerning these feathers, Isaiah 40: "they shall take feathers/wings as eagles," which signifies wisdom by its high flight. These things are said because they are not had at all in this life, and are given so that they might be had absolutely. And all these are given by God. Sometimes they are given to certain persons who, even if they have the feathers, nevertheless have them impeded, as with prelates when their resignation is permitted. And he says, "the wings of a dove," not of a raven. For the raven did not return to the ark, but the dove returned bearing a branch of green olive. Just as those fly like ravens who do not return to the ark through the affection of holiness, because they think of nothing but themselves — how, namely, they might track down some truth, as the philosophers do — but those fly like doves who both contemplate and return to their neighbors, teaching what they have contemplated, and who carry in their mouth the branch of green olive, dispensing the oil of mercy to their neighbors. For the dove is a clean animal, lovable, moaning; thus the saints are affected toward their neighbors and have compassion on them. Likewise it is a simple animal; thus the saints too have simplicity. Matthew 10: "simple as doves." The act of contemplation is signified by flight. "I will fly." In Sacred Scripture the progress of good works is designated by a threefold movement of an animal: namely by walking. John 12: "walk while you have the light." By running. Psalm: "the way of your commandments," etc. And by flying. Isaiah 40: "they shall fly and not faint." Walking is designated by the moral virtues, by which man lives in a human way. Running, by charity. Flight, by contemplation. According to Richard of St. Victor, contemplation is diversified just as the flight is diversified among birds. Sometimes birds fly upward, sometimes downward, to the right, to the left, forward and back, sometimes circling around. Sometimes, hovering suspended, they go forward and go back. So too in contemplation, to ascend is to consider lofty causes, to descend is to consider the lowest effects. Likewise, to go forward is to consider more the things opposed to one another which are held in common by many; to go back is when one considers private things. Likewise, from the right and from the left, when one considers certain circumstances. Circularly, when one considers the accidents of things; but when the individual thing is signified, then there is rest. The effect is designated when he says, "and I will rest," namely in consideration. This rest is had in this life. Wisdom 8: "entering into my house, I shall repose." And in the homeland. Psalm: "in peace, in the very same, I will sleep and I will rest." "Behold, I have gone far off, fleeing." Here is set down the disposition for contemplating. And first he shows what he avoided. Second, what he kept to. He avoided the impediments to contemplation, which are chiefly two, namely occupation with earthly things and with sin. And these two must be avoided in two ways, namely swiftly and effectually. Swiftly, so that it not be delayed; and therefore it ought to be done at once. Whence he says, "fleeing." Ecclesiasticus 21: "flee from sin as from the face of a serpent." Zechariah 2: "O, O flee out of the land of the north." Effectually, so that not only the act of sin but also the occasions of sin be avoided. And therefore he says, "I have gone far off," as if to say: I have abandoned all occasions of sin. Genesis 19: "do not stay anywhere in all the surrounding region." "And I remained in the wilderness." Sometimes one remains in solitude with respect to place, because he remains there bodily; sometimes with respect to soul, because even amid crowds he thinks upon the things that are of God. Hosea 2: "I will lead her into the wilderness." Lamentations 3: "he shall sit solitary." And these words, according to the Gloss, are otherwise expounded so as to be referred to Christ, who has feathers on account of charity, and flew away from the Jews and rested among the Gentiles, went far off from the Jews and remained in the faith of the Gentiles, which was a certain solitude. "I waited for him." Here he shows what he awaits from God, namely the help of God, which is the fulfillment of his desire. Psalm: "I waited for him who made me safe," etc. And therefore he says, "who would make me safe." And why? Because he alone is the savior. And from what does he save? From two things, on account of which he seemed to be moved to take up feathers: namely from the possibility of ruin, since he was being troubled among men. One is the sadness of heart, which believes it can find rest there. Whence he says, "from pusillanimity of spirit." He is too bold who seeks to find rest amid crowds. Isaiah 35: "say to the fainthearted: take courage." And "from the tempest," namely from the tribulation of men, save me, both temporal and spiritual. "Cast down, O Lord." In the preceding part the Psalmist set forth the affliction which he suffered from the wicked; here he treats of their malice. And first, describing the malice of sinners, he asks that it be hindered. Second he asks that it be punished with a penalty, at "let death come." Concerning the first he does two things. First he asks that their malice be hindered. Second he describes it, at "for I have seen iniquity." In two ways the wicked have the capacity and power to do harm: namely on account of the height of their position, and on account of the agreement of many into one. And this is dangerous; and therefore a twofold remedy ought to be applied against it. In one way, that they be cast down from their position. In another way, that division be placed among them. As to the first he asks, "cast down, O Lord," namely by removing them from their position, as if to say: cast them down by humbling them. As to the second he says, "and divide their tongues," because their malice is first in the tongue, with which they speak grandly. 1 Kings 2: "do not multiply speaking lofty things" — and because with the tongue, by speaking, they consent to evil. And a figure of this kind of division was in the Old Testament, where the tongues of the nations were divided; Genesis 11. "For I have seen iniquity." Here he describes their malice. And first he describes the common malice of the world. Second, the malice of some particular person, chief among them. He describes the common malice of the multitude first in general. Second in particular, at "day and night." In a multitude there is a twofold disorder: one on the part of the rulers, the other on the part of the people. For a city is well-ordered when the rulers rule justly and the people obey; otherwise it is not well disposed. And such a city is the world, in which neither do the rulers rule justly nor does the people obey. But the city of God is well-ordered. In the city of the world, then, "I have seen iniquity and contradiction." I have seen iniquity on the part of the rulers and judges. Isaiah 1: "your assemblies are iniquitous." Likewise I have seen contradiction against the rulers. Isaiah 41: "your people are like the soil, which is trampled." "Day and night." Here he shows it in particular. In any city there are three things: namely, the walls which surround it, the middle dwelling-place, and the streets. And the Philosopher distinguishes three kinds of men. By the walls are understood the princes and the great men of the city, who guard the people just as walls guard the city. Proverbs 25: "like a city open and without the circuit of walls, so," etc. Isaiah 62: "upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen," that is, princes and rulers. Isaiah 1: "your princes are unfaithful." And "day," namely by carrying out malice, "night" by devising it. Or "day" in prosperous things, "night" in adverse things. Whence he says, "iniquity shall surround them upon its walls," that is, the injustice of the princes shall surround the city of the world, just as walls surround a city. The middle of this city is the people, in whom "there is labor in the midst of it, and injustice" — as to the evil which they do, and thus zealous application to evil, when he says, "labor imposed." Jeremiah 9: "they have labored to act unjustly." Wisdom 5: "we have grown weary in the way of iniquity." And this very thing is the species of evil, and injustice. And this is understood passively, of the injustice which they suffer from the rulers, and the labor imposed upon them. The streets are public places, and there are those who carry on public trades, such as merchants, in whom there is manifest injustice, as through usury. Psalm: "who has not put out his money to usury." And therefore he says, "usury has not failed from its streets." Likewise hidden evils — whence he says, "and deceit." "If my enemy." Here he describes the malice of some singular and chief person within the multitude. And this perhaps refers either to Saul, or to Doeg the Idumean. And first he sets down the evil which could be tolerated in some way. Second he sets down the evil which is not tolerable. It is tolerable in some way that a man should suffer persecution from enemies. And therefore he first describes the persecution of enemies. And first on the part of the enemy who persecutes. Second on the part of the persecutor. Third on the part of the one who suffers the persecution. One who persecutes is sometimes called an enemy, namely when he carries out enmities outwardly. Ecclesiasticus 12: "never trust your enemy." Sometimes he carries out enmities while holding the enemy with hatred in his heart. Leviticus 19: "do not hate your brother in your heart." Now on the part of the persecutor there is a difference, because sometimes he who persecutes expressly speaks evils of the one he persecutes, whether by detraction or by doing injury; and this kind of persecution is called cursing. Whence he says, "if my enemy had cursed me." Psalm: "whose mouth with cursing, etc.," etc. Sometimes he does not speak evils expressly, but keeps an evil manner in speaking, because he speaks contemptuously. On the part of the one enduring, too, there is diversity, because sometimes he hears reproaches and endures them patiently. James, at the end: "you have heard of the patience of Job." Whence, "I would indeed have borne it." Sometimes he hides himself from the face of the enemy. Whence, "I would perhaps have hidden myself from him." Ecclesiasticus 8: "do not stand against the face of your enemy." John 8: "he hid himself." As to the diversity of the one persecuting, then, he says, "divide their tongues," etc., since I suffer not only from an enemy, but from a friend. As to the second he says, "if they had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him: but you, a man of one mind with me." Here he sets down the evil which is not tolerable, that is, that he suffers injury from friends, because no plague is more effective for harm than a familiar friend turned enemy. And he describes the enmity first as to interior things. Second as to exterior familiarity, at "who together with me." As to interior things he describes the evil according to three things. First, according to concord of mind/speech. Philippians 1: "you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind." And therefore he says: "but you, a man of one mind," as if to say: you have spoken evils to me; and so this is understood intellectually. And according to this it can be spoken of Saul, whose familiar he was. But in the Gloss it is expounded mystically in three ways: according as it applies to a believer, in one way; in another way according as it applies to Christ with respect to the Jews; in a third way according as it applies to Christ with respect to Judas. In the first way, then, any believer can say this when he suffers persecution from another believer. In the second way, Christ can say this of the Jews, who were of one mind, because they had bound themselves to his commandments. Exodus 14: "all that the Lord shall command us we will do." Third, as to Judas, who had bound himself to his counsels. And what he says, "my leader," is likewise expounded in three ways. In one way, according as someone can be called a leader because he gives good counsel and help, and afterward brings on persecution. Micah 7: "do not trust in a leader." In another way, of Christ with respect to the Jews, or of Judas, who is my leader not leading me, but established by me as a leader of the Gentiles. Romans 2: "you are confident that you are a leader." Or, of the priests, who are leaders among the people. But to Judas the apostle Christ says: you are a leader established by me, in one way because leader of the Christian people together with others to be led. Psalm: "the princes of Judah, their leaders." Or, a leader because established by Christ together with those who went before him wherever he himself was about to come. Luke 10. "My acquaintance" one believer can say to another believer, "who together with me took sweet foods," because they conversed together in the Church. Likewise the Jew was an acquaintance of Christ, who was conversant in the oracles of God. Romans 3. Likewise Judas, because Christ foreknew his malice. John 6: "one of you is a devil." Second, friendship consists in exterior familiarity. And this he shows in two things: namely, first in bodily and human matters, second in divine matters. In the first, those have friendship toward one another who converse together at table. And if this is understood of Christ speaking to Judas, then according to the Gloss he took bodily foods together with Christ at table. Psalm: "who ate my bread," etc. And he says "sweet," because the foods of those feasting together are wont to make minds sweet. Ecclesiasticus 6: "a friend is a companion at table." Thus too it can be said of any bodily intimate. There are also spiritual foods which Judas had taken together with Christ, namely the word of God. Ecclesiasticus 15: "he fed him with the bread of life," etc. God calls these "foods," because the words of God are sweeter than any bodily food. Psalm: "how sweet to my jaws," etc. In the second, therefore, he says, "we walked with consent." Jerome, on Matthew, says that there is nothing which makes people so distrustful of one another as diversity of faith and of divine worship. And this was especially so at the time of persecution, when fathers went before their sons, and the reverse. And thus unity of faith and religion is the greatest bond of love; and therefore it is the greatest malice to persecute those who are of the same worship. And it happens in two ways that some are of diverse worships. In one way, because one is not at all in that worship in which the other is, as when one is a Christian and the other a Jew or a Pagan; and such are not together in the house of God. Sometimes both are of the same religion, yet do not agree together, as a Catholic and a heretic; and he excludes these two when he says, "we walked together in the house of God," namely in the Church, 1 Timothy 3, which is the house of God — this the second. In the second way, when he says, "with consent." 1 Corinthians 1: "that you all say the same thing." But if we refer it to the Jews, then "in the house" means in Jerusalem. And likewise it was so with Judas, because Christ did not reject the bond of the old law. Matthew 5: "I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it." "Let death come upon them." Here he asks that a just penalty be applied to them. And first he asks that the penalty be inflicted. Second he shows the fault, at "for wickednesses." Concerning the first it must be known that here is set down the history which is found in Numbers 16, when Dathan and Abiram made a sedition. Moses made the others withdraw from them, and said that the Lord would do a new thing, that the earth should open, etc.; and immediately the earth was opened and swallowed them up. Alluding to that history, then, he says, "let death come upon them," as if to say: let punishment come upon them, because they commit a new kind of fault in persecuting a friend, that is, Christ; and this in two ways. In one way, so that the one clause determines the other, as if to say: let death come, and of such a kind that they go down into Hell. Or, so that there be two penalties: one of death, and the other of descent into Hell. For there Dathan and Abiram, who were the leaders, were punished differently, since they were swallowed up; but the others were killed by the fire that occurred in the camp. As to the lesser ones, then, he says: "let death come upon them." As to the greater ones: "and let them go down into Hell." And in these is designated a twofold penalty, which the Psalmist does not desire but foretells. One which they will endure in Hell after this life; the other which they suffer here in this life. After life they suffer the death of eternal damnation. Romans 6: "the wages of sin is death." Psalm: "the death of sinners is the worst." But in this life they go down into Hell, that is, into the abyss of vices. Proverbs 18: "the wicked man, when he has come into the depths," etc. Or, let them go down alive after this life, that is, let them go down with the affection which they have — which is their life — to Hell. Or, if it be said in the optative sense, then it is expounded thus: death, namely of righteousness, by which one dies inwardly to sin. Colossians 3: "you are dead, and your life," etc. "Let them go down alive" — the life of righteousness — into Hell through consideration, according to that of Isaiah 38: "in the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of Hell." And those who thus go down through the consideration of the punishments, in order to escape them, go down alive, not as ones dying. Ecclesiasticus 7: "remember your last end," etc. "For wickednesses." Here is set down the reason for the penalty, where first he sets down their hidden fault. Second he sets down their manifest fault. He alludes to that history of Numbers 16: "depart, depart from the tents of the wicked." "Wickednesses" are called hidden sins. Romans 13: "not in acts of impudence," etc. Whence, "in their tabernacles," that is, in secret. "In the midst," that is, in public. Isaiah 3: "they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom did." Job 11: "if the iniquity that is in your hand," etc. As to the manifest fault: "and injustice is not found," etc.; or according to another reading. There is a twofold kind of fault: sometimes, namely, from sudden surprise; sometimes from malice. The first sin, which is from sudden surprise, is as it were extrinsic to man. Kings, concerning the parable of Nathan about the traveler, namely the concupiscence which suddenly entered into David. Whence another reading does not have "in their tabernacles," but "in their lodgings," as it were adventitious, according to the Gloss. The sense is, as it were natural, this sin, because "in the midst of them," that is, in the midst of the heart. Thanks be to God.”

“In these verses we have, I. David praying. Prayer is a salve for every sore and a relief to the spirit under every burden: Give ear to my prayer, O God! Psa 55:1, Psa 55:2. He does not set down the petitions he offered up to God in his distress, but begs that God would hear the prayers which, at every period, his heart lifted up to God, and grant an answer of peace to them: Attend to me, hear me. Saul would not hear his petitions; his other enemies regarded not his pleas; but, "Lord, be thou pleased to hearken to me. Hide not thyself from my supplication, either as one unconcerned and not regarding it, nor seeming to take any notice of it, or as one displeased, angry at me, and therefore at my prayer." If we, in our prayers, sincerely lay open ourselves, our case, our hearts, to God, we have reason to hope that he will not hide himself, his favours, his comforts, from us. II. David weeping; for in this he was a type of Christ that he was a man of sorrows and often in tears (Psa 55:2): "I mourn in my complaint" (or in my meditation, my melancholy musings), "and I make a noise; I cannot forbear such sighs and groans, and other expressions of grief, as discover it to those about me." Great griefs are sometimes noisy and clamorous, and thus are, in some measure, lessened, while those increase that are stifled, and have no vent given them. But what was the matter? Psa 55:3. It is because of the voice of the enemy, the menaces and insults of Absalom's party, that swelled, and hectored, and stirred up the people to cry out against David, and shout him out of his palace and capital city, as afterwards the chief priests stirred up the mob to cry out against the Son of David, Away with him - Crucify him. Yet it was not the voice of the enemy only that fetched tears from David's eyes, but their oppression, and the hardship he was thereby reduced to: They cast iniquity upon me. They could not justly charge David with any mal-administration in his government, could not prove any act of oppression or injustice upon him, but they loaded him with calumnies. Though they found no iniquity in him relating to his trust as a king, yet they cast all manner of iniquity upon him, and represented him to the people as a tyrant fit to be expelled. Innocency itself is no security against violent and lying tongues. They hated him themselves, nay, in wrath they hated him; there was in their enmity both the heat and violence of anger, or sudden passion, and the implacableness of hatred and rooted malice; and therefore they studied to make him odious, that others also might hate him. This made him mourn, and the more because he could remember the time when he was the darling of the people, and answered to his name, David - a beloved one. III. David trembling, and in great consternation. We may well suppose him to be so upon the breaking out of Absalom's conspiracy and the general defection of the people, even those that he had little reason to suspect. 1. See what fear seized him. David was a man of great boldness, and in some very eminent instances had signalized his courage, and yet, when the danger was surprising and imminent, his heart failed him. Let not the stout man therefore glory in his courage any more than the strong man in his strength. Now David's heart is sorely pained within him; the terrors of death have fallen upon him, Psa 55:4. Fearfulness of mind and trembling of body came upon him, and horror covered and overwhelmed him, Psa 55:5. When without are fightings no marvel that within are fears; and, if it was upon the occasion of Absalom's rebellion, we may suppose that the remembrance of his sin in the matter of Uriah, which God was now reckoning with him for, added as much more to the fright. Sometimes David's faith made him, in a manner, fearless, and he could boldly say, when surrounded with enemies, I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. But at other times his fears prevail and tyrannise; for the best men are not always alike strong in faith. 2. See how desirous he was, in this fright, to retire into a desert, any where to be far enough from hearing the voice of the enemy and seeing their oppressions. He said (Psa 55:6), said it to God in prayer, said it to himself in meditation, said it to his friends in complaint, O that I had wings like a dove! Much as he had been sometimes in love with Jerusalem, now that it had become a rebellious city he longed to get clear of it, and, like the prophet, wished he had in the wilderness a lodging place of way-faring men, that he might leave his people and go from them; for they were an assembly of treacherous men, Jer 9:2. This agrees very well with David's resolution upon the breaking out of that plot, Arise, let us flee, and make speed to depart, Sa2 15:14. Observe, (1.) How he would make his escape. He was so surrounded with enemies that he saw not how he could escape but upon the wing, and therefore he wishes, O that I had wings! not like a hawk that flies swiftly; he wishes for wings, not to fly upon the prey, but to fly from the birds of prey, for such his enemies were. The wings of a dove were most agreeable to him who was of a dove-like spirit, and therefore the wings of an eagle would not become him. The dove flies low, and takes shelter as soon as she can, and thus would David fly. (2.) What he would make his escape from - from the wind, storm, and tempest, the tumult and ferment that the city was now in, and the danger to which he was exposed. Herein he was like a dove, that cannot endure noise. (3.) What he aimed at in making this escape, not victory but rest: "I would fly away and be at rest, Psa 55:6. I would fly any where, if it were to a barren frightful wilderness, ever so far off, so I might be quiet," Psa 55:7. Note, Peace and quietness in silence and solitude are what the wisest and best of men have most earnestly coveted, and the more when they have been vexed and wearied with the noise and clamour of those about them. Gracious souls wish to retire from the hurry and bustle of this world, that they may sweetly enjoy God and themselves; and, if there be any true peace on this side heaven, it is they that enjoy it in those retirements. This makes death desirable to a child of God, that it is a final escape from all the storms and tempests of this world to perfect and everlasting rest.”

“Give ear to my prayer, O God,.... Which was for that which is just and right, and equitable to be given, as the word (n) used signifies; being promised in the covenant of grace, ratified and confirmed by the blood of Christ, Not only David was a man much given to prayer, as well as was the sweet psalmist of Israel; but the Messiah, as man, was much and often engaged in this work, in the days of his flesh, Luk 6:12; and hide not thyself from my supplication; made for mercies and blessings, which spring from the free grace and goodness of God, which is the sense of the word (o) here used; and such are all mercies, whether temporal or spiritual; for none are merited by men: and from his supplication for such things the psalmist desires, that as he would not be as one deaf to him, so that he would not hide his eyes, or refuse to look upon him, and deny his, requests; see Isa 1:15. (n) "orationem meam", i.e. "secundum judicium"; so Arana. (o) "my supplication for grace", Ainsworth.”

“In this first group sorrow prevails. David spreads forth his deep grief before God, and desires for himself some lonely spot in the wilderness far away from the home or lurking-place of the confederate band of those who are compassing his overthrow. "Veil not Thyself" here, where what is spoken of is something audible, not visible, is equivalent to "veil not Thine ear," Lam 3:56, which He designedly does, when the right state of heart leaves the praying one, and consequently that which makes it acceptable and capable of being answered is wanting to the prayer (cf. Isa 1:15). שׂיח signifies a shrub (Syriac shucho, Arabic šı̂ḥ), and also reflection and care (Arabic, carefulness, attention; Aramaic, סח, to babble, talk, discourse). The Hiph. חריד, which in Gen 27:40 signifies to lead a roving life, has in this instance the signification to move one's self backwards and forwards, to be inwardly uneasy; root רד, Arab. rd, to totter, whence râda, jarûda, to run up and down (IV to desire, will); raida, to shake (said of a soft bloated body); radda, to turn (whence taraddud, a moving to and fro, doubting); therefore: I wander hither and thither in my reflecting or meditating, turning restlessly from one thought to another. It is not necessary to read ואחמיה after Psa 77:4 instead of ועהימה, since the verb הוּם = המה, Psa 42:6, 12, is secured by the derivatives. Since these only exhibit הוּם, and not הים (in Arabic used more particularly of the raving of love), ואהימה, as also אריד, is Hiph., and in fact like this latter used with an inward object: I am obliged to raise a tumult or groan, break out into the dull murmuring sounds of pain. The cohortative not unfrequently signifies "I have to" or "I must" of incitements within one's self which are under the control of outward circumstances. In this restless state of mind he finds himself, and he is obliged to break forth into this cry of pain on account of the voice of the foe which he cannot but hear; by reason of the pressure or constraint (עקת) of the evil-doer which he is compelled to feel. The conjecture צעקת (Olshausen and Hupfeld) is superfluous. עקה is a more elegant Aramaizing word instead of צרה. The second strophe begins with a more precise statement of that which justifies his pain. The Hiph. חמיט signifies here, as in Psa 140:11 (Chethb), declinare: they cast or roll down evil (calamity) upon him and maliciously lay snares for him בּאף, breathing anger against him who is conscious of having manifested only love towards them. His heart turns about in his body, it writhes (יהיל); cf. on this, Psa 38:11. Fear and trembling take possession of his inward parts; יבא in the expression יבא בי, as is always the case when followed by a tone syllable, is a so-called נסוג אחור, i.e., it has the tone that has retreated to the penult. (Deu 1:38; Isa 7:24; Isa 60:20), although this is only with difficulty discernible in our printed copies, and is therefore (vid., Accentsystem, vi. 2) noted with Mercha. The fut. consec. which follows introduces the heightened state of terror which proceeds from this crowding on of fear and trembling. Moreover, the wish that is thereby urged from him, which David uttered to himself, is introduced in the third strophe by a fut. consec. (Note: That beautiful old song of the church concerning Jesus has grown out of this strophe: - Ecquis binas columbinas Alas dabit animae? Et in almam crucis palmam Evolat citissime, etc.) "Who will give me?" is equivalent to "Oh that I had!" Ges. 136, 1. In ואשׁכּנה is involved the self-satisfying signification of settling down (Eze 31:13), of coming to rest and remaining in a place (Sa2 7:10). Without going out of our way, a sense perfectly in accordance with the matter in hand may be obtained for אחישׁה מפלט לי, if אחישׁה is taken not as Kal (Psa 71:12), but after Isa 5:19; Isa 60:12, as Hiph.: I would hasten, i.e., quickly find for myself a place which might serve me as a shelter from the raging wind, from the storm. רוּח סעה is equivalent to the Arabic rihin sâijat-in, inasmuch as Arab. s‛â, "to move one's self quickly, to go or run swiftly," can be said both of light (Koran, 66:8) and of water-brooks (vid., Jones, Comm. Poes. Asiat., ed. Lipsiae, p. 358), and also of strong currents of air, of winds, and such like. The correction סערה, proposed by Hupfeld, produces a disfiguring tautology. Among those about David there is a wild movement going on which is specially aimed at his overthrow. From this he would gladly flee and hide himself, like a dove taking refuge in a cleft of the rock from the approaching storm, or from the talons of the bird of prey, fleeing with its noiseless but persevering flight. (Note: Kimchi observes that the dove, when she becomes tired, draws in one wing and flies with the other, and thus the more surely escapes. Aben-Ezra finds an allusion here to the carrier-pigeon.)”