John Calvin Commentary Psalms 55:6

"And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest." — Psalms 55:6 (ASV)

And I said, Who will give me wings like a dove? These words mean more than merely that he could find no way to escape. They are meant to express the deplorable state of his situation, which made exile a blessing to be coveted. This was not the common exile of humankind, but an exile like that of the dove when it flies far off to some deserted hiding place.

They imply that he could only escape by a miracle. They indicate that even the privilege of retreat through ordinary banishment was denied him, so that he was worse off than the poor bird of heaven, which can at least fly from its pursuer. Some think that the dove is singled out because of its swiftness.

The Jews held the ridiculous idea that the Hebrew reads wing in the singular number, because doves use only one wing in flying; whereas nothing is more common in Scripture than such a change of number. It seems most probable that David meant by this comparison that he longed to escape from his cruel enemies, just as the timid and defenseless dove flies from the hawk.

Great, indeed, must have been the desperate situation to which he was reduced, when, in the turmoil of his spirit, he could so far forget the promise of the kingdom made to him as to contemplate a disgraceful flight and speak of being content to hide himself far from his native country and the company of other people, in some solitude of the wilderness.

Furthermore, he adds—as if by way of concession to the fury of his adversaries—that he was willing (if they would grant it) to wander far off, and that he was not proposing terms of a truce to them which he never intended to fulfill merely to gain time, as those do who entertain some secret and distant hope of deliverance.

We can surely say that these are the words of a man driven to the brink of desperation. His situation was so extreme that, though prepared to abandon all, he could not obtain life even on that condition. In such circumstances, in the anguish of this anxiety, we should not be surprised that his heart was overwhelmed with the sorrows of death.

The Hebrew word סועה, soah, which I have translated as raised, is translated by some as tempestuous; and there can be no doubt that the Psalmist means a stormy wind stirred up by a whirlwind. When he says that this wind is raised by the whirlwind, by this circumlocution he means a violent wind, such as compels the traveler to flee and seek shelter in the nearest dwelling or refuge.