John Gill Commentary Psalms 55

Give ear to my prayer, O God
Which was for that which is just and right, and equitable to be given, as the word ^F14 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, (Luke 6:12) (Hebrews 5:7) ;

and hide not yourself 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 ^F15 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 he would not be as one deaf to him, and that he would not hide his eyes, or refuse to look upon him, and deny his requests; see (Isaiah 1:15) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: (ytlpt) "orationem meam", i.e. "secundum judicium"; so Arana.
• F15: (ytnxt) "my supplication for grace", Ainsworth.

Attend unto me, and hear me
So as to answer, and that immediately and directly, his case requiring present help;

I mourn in my complaint ;
or "in my meditation" ^F16 ; solitary thoughts, and melancholy views of things. Saints have their complaints, on account of their sins and corruptions, their barrenness and unfruitfulness, and the decay of vital religion in them; and because of the low estate of Zion, the declining state of the interest of Christ, and the little success of his Gospel; and they mourn, in these complaints, over their own sins, and the sins of others, professors and profane, and under afflictions temporal and spiritual, both their own and the church's.

Christ also, in the days of his flesh, had his complaints of the perverseness and faithlessness of the generation of men among whom he lived; of the frowardness, pride and contentions of his disciples; of the reproaches, insult, and injuries of his enemies; and of the dereliction of his God and Father; and he often mourned on account of one or other of these things, being a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs;

and make a noise ;
not only with sighs and groans, but in so loud a manner as to be called roaring; see (Psalms 22:1) (38:8) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: (yxyvb) "in meditatione mea", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Because of the voice of the enemy
Of Absalom, as Arama; or of Ahithophel, who gave out he would smite the king only, (2 Samuel 17:2) ; and so of any spiritual enemy, as sin, Satan, and the world, when they threaten dominion and tyranny; and of the Scribes and Pharisees reproaching Christ, as being a Samaritan, and having a devil, and doing his miracles by his assistance; menacing, insulting, and triumphing over him, when on the cross;

because of the oppression of the wicked ;
of Absalom or Ahithophel, as Arama; who conspired against David, and obliged him to quit his palace, and the city of Jerusalem; and is applicable to the troubles which surround the people of God, from every quarter, by wicked men, and to our Lord's being enclosed by them at the time of his Crucifixion, (Psalms 22:12Psalms 22:13Psalms 22:16) ;

for they cast iniquity upon me ;
laid things to his charge he knew not: so wicked men falsely accuse the good conversation of the saints; and so the Jews imputed crimes to Christ he was innocent of; as immorality, sedition, blasphemy

and in wrath they hate me ;
as they do all the people of God, because chosen and called, and separated from them: and so they did Christ, and with a mortal hatred, though without a cause.

My heart is sore pained within me
At the civil war in his kingdom; at the battle likely to ensue between his forces and Absalom's, and at theissue of it; see (Jeremiah 4:19) ; this was true of Christ in the garden, when his soul was exceedingsorrowful unto death, and he was in pain, as a woman in travail, as the word ^F17 here usedsignifies; and on the cross, when his heart, like wax, melted in the midst of his bowels;

and the terrors of death are fallen upon me ;
see (2 Samuel 15:14) ; thus it was with the human nature of Christ, when he desired, if possible, the cupmight pass from him.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: (ynokt) "operuit me", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis; "operit", Cocceius; "obtegit", Junius & Tremellius; "obtexit", Piscator; so Ainsworth.

Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me
Fear and dread of mind, and trembling of body;

and horror has overwhelmed me ;
or "covered me"; he was in the utmost consternation and surprise at what he apprehended would be the issue of things; so Christ in the garden is said to be "sore amazed", (Mark 14:33) ; all which terror, fearfulness, trembling, and horror, arose from a sense of sin imputed to him, even of all the sins of his people, the faith of which must be nauseous to him, and the guilt thereof pressing upon him; and from a feeling of the wrath of God, and the curse of the law, which he endured in the room and stead of his people.

and this shows the truth of his human nature, and the weakness and insufficiency of that, without his divine nature, to have performed the great work of redemption; also the evil of sin, the exceeding sinfulness of it, and the strictness of divine justice;

and likewise the wonderful love of Christ in becoming a surety for his people, and what ease and pleasure they may take; all the pain, the trembling, and horror, were his, and all the joy is theirs.