John Calvin Commentary Psalms 55:15

"Let death come suddenly upon them, Let them go down alive into Sheol; For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them." — Psalms 55:15 (ASV)

Let death seize upon them. He now denounces the whole faction, not the nation generally, but those who had taken a prominent part in persecuting him. In imprecating this curse, he was not influenced by any bad feeling towards them and must be understood as speaking not in his own cause but in that of God, and under the immediate guidance of His Spirit.

This was no wish uttered in a moment of resentment or reckless and ill-considered zeal, which would justify us in launching maledictions against our enemies upon every trivial provocation. The spirit of revenge differs widely from the holy and regulated fervor with which David prays for the judgment of God against wicked men, who had already been doomed to everlasting destruction.

The translation, Let death condemn them, is forced, and so also is another that has been suggested, Let him appoint death a creditor over them. The translation we have given is the most obvious and simple. In praying that his enemies may descend alive into the grave, it has been well observed that he seems to allude to the punishment of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. However, I understand that in imprecating sudden and unexpected ruin upon them, he refers to the proud conviction they cherished in their prosperity: that they would escape the stroke of death.

“Lord,” as if he had said, “in the infatuation of their pride they consider themselves exempt from the ordinary lot of mortality, but let the earth swallow them up alive—let nothing prevent their being dragged down with all their pomp to the destruction they deserve.” The reason he assigns for his prayer in the latter part of the verse is another proof that he was not influenced by any personal resentment against his enemies, but simply denounced the just judgments of God upon those who persecuted the Church.

Wickedness, he adds, is in their dwelling. By this he meant that it inevitably dwelt where they lived, and he expresses this still more fully when he adds, in the midst of them; intimating that they inwardly cherished their wickedness, so that it was their inseparable companion and dwelt with them under the same roof.