Hear, O God, my prayer, and do not despise my supplication.

Previously, the psalmist showed the insults of his enemies against him. Here he describes his liberation from them.

First, he asks in general for help against all enemies. Second, he asks specifically against certain ones, at deliver me from my enemies ([Reference Psalms 59:1]; [Reference Psalms 143:9]).

Regarding the general request, he makes two points. First, he begs for God’s help against the evils he suffers from his enemies. Second, he gives thanks because he has been heard, at have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me ([Reference Psalms 57:1]).

Regarding the first of these, he again makes two points. First, he magnifies the evils he suffers with regard to their sadness. Second, he discusses the continuity of the tribulation, at Have mercy on me, O God, for man has trodden me under foot ([Reference Psalms 56:1]).

In this psalm, according to the gloss, the psalmist speaks in his own person, expressing the very tribulations he was suffering. One could also say that he speaks in the person of the Church, or of the just man, or of Christ, insofar as he bears the form of our infirmity.

The superscription is unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. The sense of understanding for David is as if he said, “This is David’s understanding, in verses.” It is titled from the intellect, so that the one in tribulation may know how to perceive the evils he endures and the good things to which he looks forward: the heart that knows the bitterness of his own soul ([Reference Proverbs 14:10]).

Thus, this psalm is divided into three parts:
- First, he lays out the tribulation which he suffered.
- Second, the malice of his enemies, at cast down.
- Third, he recalls the help God has given him, at but I have cried to God.
Regarding the first part, he makes two points. First, he asks that his prayer be heard. Second, he lays out the tribulation, at I am grieved.

Thus he says, hear, O God, my prayer. This happens when the person who repeats his prayer is asserting what he seeks. This repetition is not superfluous, because the repetition of prayer excites the affections. For the continual prayer of a just man avails much ([Reference James 5:16]).

Sometimes, however, what is asked for is obtained even though the prayer is not accepted by God, as when a sinner asks for something, but in the very thing he asks for, he merits God’s displeasure. And he gave them their request: and sent fullness into their souls ([Reference Psalms 105:15]). But as yet their meat was in their mouth and the wrath of God came upon them ([Reference Psalms 77:30–31]). Often, one who is angry permits what he would deny when well-disposed.

Therefore, he says, and do not despise my supplication.

A person’s prayer is despised for two reasons:
- Either because he asks for something that should not be requested,
- or because he asks without devotion, but with pride. He has had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he has not despised their prayer ([Reference Psalms 101:18]). The Pharisee’s prayer was despised because he asked with pride ([Reference Luke 18]). Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight ([Reference Psalms 140:2]).
Be attentive to me and hear me.

Here the author describes the order by which God accepts a prayer. He finds a prayer or petition acceptable, even though the one seeking is not made acceptable through his prayer. Instead, the prayer of those who are already acceptable is received because of their petition. Hence Genesis first says, the Lord had respect to Abel, and then, and to his offerings ([Reference Genesis 4:4]).

Be attentive to me, that is, accept me. Or, be attentive to my affliction. I have seen the affliction of my people ([Reference Exodus 3:7]).

And hear me. As Psalm 63:2 says, hear, O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to you ([Reference Psalms 63:2]).
I am grieved.

Here he lays out the tribulations. First, he sets forth the cause of the tribulation; second, its gravity; third, its remedy.

The cause of his being troubled was the tribulation he was suffering. This is similar to Christ: My soul is sorrowful even unto death ([Reference Matthew 26:38]; [Reference Mark 14:34]).

But this tribulation of Christ can be considered in three ways:
- with regard to its fruit,
- with regard to its manner,
- and with regard to its motive.
The fruit of the tribulation of the holy ones is exercise leading to justice, as it is for beginners. Therefore, he says, in my exercise, that is, in the tribulation which you allow for the sake of exercise.

I am grieved. But whatsoever shall befall the just man, it shall not make him sad ([Reference Proverbs 12:21]). It must be said that the just man is not grieved with the grief of the world, which tends toward death, but with the grief of repentance, which leads to God.Cf. ST III, q. 85, a. 1.

One could add that there is one kind of grief that is an emotion and follows bodily feeling; this kind does not happen to a wise man. There is another kind of grief that is called a “propassion,” which is a movement kept subordinate to reason, and this grief was in Christ. Cf. ST III, q. 15, a. 4, resp.

And there is a twofold exercise toward justice. One is undertaken: exercise yourself unto godliness ([Reference 1 Timothy 4:7]). The other is endured, like this one.

The manner of tribulation is twofold. One is through words, namely, by threatening. The other is when tribulation is brought about by deeds of persecution.

Regarding the first, he says, I am troubled at the voice of the enemy. A person is troubled when the tranquility of his heart is taken away completely: at the voice of the enemy threatening and blaspheming. My inheritance has become to me as a lion in the wood ([Reference Jeremiah 12:8]).

Regarding the second, he says, at the tribulation of the sinner, that is, at the deeds done to me. Many are those who persecute me ([Reference Psalms 118:157]).

The cause of this tribulation is twofold: partly their definite malice, and partly the suffering itself. Regarding the first, he says, for they have cast iniquities upon me, that is, they have carried out against me the iniquity they planned to commit. Regarding the second, he says, and in wrath they were troublesome to me. Cursed be their fury ([Reference Genesis 49:7]).
My heart is troubled.

Here the magnitude of the tribulation is described according to three aspects: for it is intimate, great, and powerful.

When someone wants to show the greatness of his pain, he says that he is “cut to the heart.” Therefore, he says, my heart is troubled within me, as if to say that he is wounded not externally but to his very heart. My bowels are in pain ([Reference Jeremiah 4:19]).

The tribulation is also great because no evil is greater, among things of this world, than death. Therefore, he says, the fear of death has fallen upon me, because Saul wanted to kill him.

The tribulation is also powerful, because fear, when it is strong, has two effects: one in the body, namely, trembling; and another in the soul, namely, trepidation. Therefore, he says, fear and trembling have come upon me—that is, upon his strength in relation to his soul—and darkness has covered me, that is, stupefaction has enveloped me.

Or, darkness means evils. They surrounded me like bees ([Reference Psalms 117:12]).
And I said, “Who will give me wings?”

Above, the psalmist laid out the affliction of heart that he suffered; now he sets out the remedy that he employed. This remedy is especially care for contemplation, particularly because he is engaged in the works of the active life.Cf. ST II-II, q. 182. As Gregory says, the evils that oppress us here in this life move us to go to God.Gregory the Great, Moralia, sive expositio in Iob 23.13 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 143:308).

Regarding this he makes three points. First, he sets out the desire for the contemplative life. Second, he shows what he has done to dispose himself for those things. Third is what he wishes to be accomplished by God. The second is at lo, God.The Bible verse should be: ecce elongavi. This is either a textual error or Thomas is answering the questions, “Who will give me wings and to where shall I fly?” “God.” He does the third at I waited for him who has saved me.

Three things are required in contemplation: facility for contemplating, the act of contemplation, and its effect.

Facility is denoted by wings. So he says when he is afflicted in the active life, I said, “Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?” He says this because he perceives that the only remedy to avoid that affliction is through contemplation, and that he lacks the facility for it because he does not have wings with which to fly away.

There are three kinds of wings according to the three things that are required for contemplation. First, the regulation of vicious inclinations is required, which is a kind of ordering toward contemplation; this is possessed through the moral virtues.Cf. ST II-II, q. 180. Therefore, the wings are moral virtues like patience, humility, and so on. Health is in his wings ([Reference Malachi 4:2]). Another wing is charity, which with particular power makes us fly to contemplation. And the wings of one were joined to the wings of another ([Reference Ezekiel 1:9]). Another wing is wisdom; truth is contemplated with the wings of wisdom, because without those wings, one contemplating divine things easily falls into error. About these wings Isaiah says, they shall take wings as eagles ([Reference Isaiah 40:31]), which signify wisdom by their lofty flight. They are called wings because wings are not possessed from within; they are given so that they may be possessed perfectly.

All these things are given by God. Sometimes they are given to certain people who, although they have wings, find them impeded, like authorities whose retirement is approaching.

And he says, wings like a dove, not like a raven. For the raven did not return to the ark, but the dove returned bearing a branch of a living olive tree. Those who do not return to the ark through an inclination to holiness fly like ravens, because they think of nothing but themselves—namely, how they can investigate some truth, like the philosophers. But those who contemplate and then return to their neighbors to teach what they have contemplated fly like doves. They carry the branch of a living olive tree in their mouths, spreading the oil of mercy to their neighbors. For the dove is a clean, lovable, and mournful animal; similarly, the holy ones have affection for their neighbors and have compassion for them. It is also a guileless animal; similarly, the holy ones are guileless. Be therefore guileless as doves ([Reference Matthew 10:16]).

The acts of contemplation are signified by flight: I will fly.

In Sacred Scripture, the progress of good works is designated by the three motions of an animal: walking, running, and flight. This is shown by walk while you have the light ([Reference John 12:35]); I have run the way of your commandments ([Reference Psalms 118:32]); and they shall fly and not faint ([Reference Isaiah 40:31]). Walking is designated by the moral virtues, by which a person lives humanely; running, by charity; and flight, by contemplation.

According to Richard of St. Victor, contemplation is differentiated like the flight of birds.Richard of St. Victor, On the Grace of Contemplation 1.4 (Patrologia Graeca [Migne], 196:68–69). Sometimes birds fly high, sometimes low, to the right, to the left, forwards and backwards; sometimes they circle. Sometimes they wheel, in a sense suspended, and go forward and backward. Thus, in contemplation, ascending means considering sublime causes, and descending means considering worldly effects. Going forward means considering contrary things that apply to many, while going backward is when one considers private things. Going to the right and to the left occurs when one considers certain circumstances. Circling is when one considers the accidents of things. But when the individual is signified, then one is at rest.

The effect is described when he says, and be at rest, that is, in his consideration. This rest is possessed in this life—when I go into my house, I shall repose ()—and in the fatherland, in peace in the selfsame I will sleep, and I will rest ([Reference Psalms 4:9]).
Lo, I have gone far off, flying away.

Here the disposition for contemplation is set out. First, he shows what he has avoided; second, what he has preserved. He has avoided the impediments to contemplation, which are two in particular: busyness with earthly things and with sin.

And these two things are to be avoided in two ways: quickly and effectively. Quickly, in that one does not delay; therefore, it should be done immediately. So he says, flying. Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent (). O flee out of the land of the north ([Reference Zechariah 2:6]). Effectively, in that not only the acts of sin but also the occasions for sin are avoided. Therefore, he says, I have gone far off, as if to say, “I have forsaken all occasions for sin.” And do not stay in all the country round about ([Reference Genesis 19:17]).
And I remained in the wilderness.

Sometimes a person remains in a wilderness physically, and sometimes in spirit, when he thinks about the things of God even when he is among crowds. I will lead her into the wilderness ([Reference Hosea 2:14]). He shall sit solitary ([Reference Lamentations 3:28]).

According to the gloss, this can also be interpreted as referring to Christ, who has wings of charity, flew from the Jews, and took rest among the nations.Peter Lombard, Magna glossatura (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 191:509). He went far off from the Jews and remained in the faith of the nations, which was a kind of wilderness.
I waited for him.

Here he shows what he awaits from God: God’s help, which is the completion of his desire. I waited for him who saved me. And this is the reason he says, who saved me. And why? Because he alone is the savior.

And from what does he save? From the two things that seemed to move him to take on wings, namely, from the possibility that he would be afflicted among people. One is sadness of heart, because he believes he will find rest there. Therefore, he says, from pusillanimity of spirit. The one who seeks to find rest in the midst of tumult must be exceedingly brave. Say to the fainthearted: take courage ([Reference Isaiah 35:4]).

And from a storm, that is, “Save me from the tribulation of men, both temporally and spiritually.”
Cast down, O Lord.

In the preceding part, the psalmist set out what he experienced from evil people; here he treats of their wickedness. First, describing the wickedness of their sins, he seeks to stop it. Second, he asks that it be punished with a penalty, at let death come.

Regarding the first, he makes two points. First, he asks that their wickedness be hindered. Second, he describes it, at for I have seen iniquity.

Evils have a twofold power to harm, stemming from a person’s high status and from the consensus of many on one thing. This is dangerous, and therefore a double remedy must be applied against it. First, they must be brought down from their status. Second, division must be introduced among them.

Regarding the first, he asks, cast down, O Lord, by removing them from their status, as if to say, “Throw them down by humiliating them.”

Regarding the second, he says, and divide their tongues, because their wickedness is primarily in the tongue with which they speak arrogantly—do not multiply your speaking lofty things ([Reference 1 Samuel 2:3])—and because through the tongue, by speaking, they consent to evil. A prefiguration of this division occurred in the Old Testament when the languages of the peoples were divided ([Reference Genesis 11]).
For I have seen iniquity.

Here he describes their wickedness. First, he describes the wickedness of the world in general. Second, the wickedness of any particular person among them. The common wickedness of the world he first describes in general, and then in particular, at day and night.

In the world there is a twofold ordering: first, on the part of the leaders, and second, on the part of the people. A city is ordered when the leaders rule justly and the people obey; otherwise, it is not well-ordered. And the world is such a city: neither do princes rule justly nor do the people obey. But the city of God is well ordered.

In the city, therefore, of the world, I have seen iniquity and contradiction. I have seen iniquity on the part of leaders and judges: your assemblies are wicked ([Reference Isaiah 1:13]). And I have seen contradiction directed against prelates: your people are like dirt that is trodden underfoot ([Reference Isaiah 41:25]).
Day and night.

Here he shows the particulars of the wickedness of the world. In any city there are three things: the walls that encircle it, the dwellings within, and the streets. And the philosopher distinguishes three types of men.Cf. Aristotle, Politics 2.8, 1267b.

By the walls can be understood the great men and civil leaders who protect the people, just as walls protect a city. As a city that lies open and is not encompassed with walls, so is a man who cannot refrain his own spirit in speaking ([Reference Proverbs 25:28]). Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen, that is, leaders and rulers ([Reference Isaiah 62:6]). Your princes are faithless ([Reference Isaiah 1:23]).

And by day indicates their pursuit of wickedness; by night, their pondering of it. Or by day means that they seek iniquity in prosperity, and by night means that they seek it in adversity.

So he says, iniquity shall surround it upon its walls; that is, the injustice of the leaders shall surround the city of the world, as the walls surround a city.

In the midst of this city are the people, in whose midst are labor and injustice. Or this is a reference to the fact that they do evil: they are so eager to do evil that he says it is like a labor imposed upon them. They have labored to commit iniquity ([Reference Jeremiah 9:5]). We have wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity (). This is a kind of evil, and it is injustice. This can also be understood passively, concerning the injustice they suffer and the labor imposed on them by the prelates.

Streets are public places, and they represent those who exercise public functions, like merchants, who commit injustice openly, for example, through usury: he who has not put out his money for usury ([Reference Psalms 14:5]). And so he says, usury has not departed from its streets. And merchants sometimes commit injustice secretly, so he also says, and deceit.
If my enemy had reviled me.

Here he describes the malice of a particular person who is the leader of the multitude. This can perhaps be referred to Saul or to Doeg the Edomite. First, he describes an evil that can be tolerated in some way. Second, an evil which is not tolerable.

Now, it is somewhat tolerable for a person to suffer persecution from enemies. And so he first describes persecution by enemies. He treats first the aspect of an enemy who is persecuting; second, the aspect of a persecutor; and third, the aspect of persecution itself.

Now, someone persecuting is called an enemy either when he exercises enmity externally—never trust your enemy ()—or when he exercises it internally by holding his enemy with hatred in his heart: you shall not hate your brother in your heart ([Reference Leviticus 19:17]).

A persecutor is different, since he says evil things openly about the one he is persecuting, either by detraction or false oaths. This sort of persecution is called “reviling.” So he says, if my enemy had reviled me, I would truly have borne it. Their mouth is full of cursing ([Reference Psalms 13:3]). Alternatively, a persecutor sometimes does not say evil things openly but rather speaks in an evil way, since he speaks deceptively.

On the part of the one enduring this, there is also a twofold aspect. Sometimes he hears the reproaches and endures them patiently—you have heard of the patience of Job ([Reference James 5:11]) and I would truly have borne it. And sometimes he flees from the face of his enemy—I would perhaps have hidden myself from him. Stand not against the face of an injurious person (). Jesus hid himself ([Reference John 8:59]).

Therefore, because of the diversity of kinds of persecutors he says, divide their tongues, because I suffer not only from an enemy but also from a friend. It is in regard to this that he says, and if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him.

But you, a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar friend. Here he describes the evil which is not tolerable: namely, an injury suffered from a friend, since there is nothing more effective at hurting than an intimate friend turned enemy. He describes this enmity first in regard to internal things, and second, in regard to external familiarity, at who took sweetmeats together with me.

Regarding internal things, he describes the evil in three ways. First, as it relates to harmony of will. That you stand fast in one spirit ([Reference Philippians 1:27]). And so he says, but you, a man of one mind, as if to say, “You have spoken evil of me,” which is an intellectual matter. In this respect he could be speaking of Saul, whose friend he was.

But in the gloss, it is explained mystically in three ways.Peter Lombard, Magna glossatura (Patrologia Latina [Migne], 191:512). In one way, it applies to the faithful. In another way, it applies to Christ in regard to the Jews. In a third way, it applies to Christ in regard to Judas. Therefore, in the first way it can be said by any member of the faithful when he suffers persecution from another member of the faithful. In the second way, Christ can say it about the Jews who, because they bound themselves to his commands, were of one mind. All things that the Lord has commanded we will do ([Reference Exodus 24:7]). In the third way, it is said about Judas, who had bound himself to his counsels.

The phrase my guide can similarly be expounded in three ways. In one way, with respect to the fact that anyone can be called a guide who at first gives good counsel and help and afterwards threatens persecution. Trust not in a guide ([Reference Micah 7:5]). In another way, it can be understood to be said by Christ in regard to the Jews of Judah, who are “my guide” not because they are guiding me but because they are constituted by me as a guide for the nations. You are confident that you are a guide ([Reference Romans 2:19]). Or it can be understood to be about the priests, who are the people’s guides. Finally, Christ could be saying to Judas the apostle, “You were constituted a guide by me,” either because he was a guide of the Christian people with the other guides—the princes of Judah are their leaders ([Reference Psalms 67:28])—or because he was constituted a leader by Christ along with those who preceded Christ wherever he was about to go ([Reference Luke 10:1]).

And my familiar can also be said by one of the faithful about another of the faithful who took sweetmeats together with me, since they abided together in the Church. Likewise, any Jew who conversed with Christ with the words of God ([Reference Romans 3:2]) was known to him. Likewise, Judas was a familiar, since Christ knew his malice beforehand: one of you is a devil ([Reference John 6:71]).

Second, friendship consists in external familiarity. He first lays this out in bodily and human things, and second, in divine things. Regarding the first, those who associate with one another at table have friendship together. If this verse is understood to be Christ speaking to Judas, then according to the gloss, he shared corporeal bread with Christ at table.Glossa marginale. He who ate my bread... has supplanted me ([Reference Psalms 40:10]). He says sweetmeats, since the food of those living together generally sweetens hearts. There is a friend who is a companion at table (). Thus this verse can be said about anyone who is a familiar friend physically.

Now there is also spiritual food which Judas ate with Christ, namely the Word of God. With the bread of life and understanding, she shall feed him (). God calls this food because the words of God are sweeter than any bodily food. How sweet are your words to my palate ([Reference Psalms 118:103]).

Second, he says, in the house of God we walked with consent. Jerome says, commenting on Matthew, that there is nothing that estranges people as much as a difference of faith and divine worship.Aquinas, Super Matt 10:21. This was especially true in the time of persecution, when fathers preceded their sons and vice versa. So unity of faith and religion is the greatest bond of love, and so it is the greatest evil to persecute those who are of the same religion.

Persons can be of different religions in two ways: either one person is of a completely different religion than another, as when one is Christian and the other Jewish or pagan—and these do not dwell together in the house of God. Or, the two are of the same religion but do not agree, for example, a Catholic and a heretic. He excludes both of these when he says, in the house of God—namely, in the Church, which is the house of God ([Reference 1 Timothy 3:5])—we walked with consent: I beseech you... that you all speak the same thing ([Reference 1 Corinthians 1:10]).

But if we understand it with regard to the Jews, in the house of God means “in Jerusalem.” And it means the same thing if we take the verse in reference to Judas, because Christ did not repudiate the bond of the Old Law: I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill ([Reference Matthew 5:17]).
Let death come upon them.

Here he asks that the just penalty be administered to them. First he asks that the penalty be inflicted; second, he shows their guilt, at for there is wickedness.

Regarding the first, one should know that the story of Numbers 16 is alluded to here, where Dathan and Abiram revolted. Moses made the others step away from them, and he said that, although the Lord can make things new, the earth should open up, and so on. Immediately the earth opened up and swallowed them.

He says, therefore, alluding to that story, let death come upon them, as if to say, “Let punishment come upon them, because they committed a new kind of sin in persecuting a friend,” that is, Christ. This can be understood in two ways. In one way, the first punishment would be determinative of the other, as if he said, “Let death come,” and as a result they would descend to hell. Or, there would be two punishments: one of death and the other of the descent into hell. For in Numbers, Dathan and Abiram—who were leaders and were swallowed up—were punished differently than the others, who were killed with fire, because they were in the camp.

Therefore, regarding the lesser ones, he says, let death come upon them. Regarding the greater ones: let them go down into hell.

By this he designates a twofold punishment, which the psalmist does not wish for but rather pronounces: one which they will bear in hell after this life, and the other which they suffer here in this life. After life, they suffer the death of eternal damnation. The wages of sin is death ([Reference Romans 6:23]). The death of the wicked is very evil ([Reference Psalms 33:22]). But even in this life they descend into hell, that is, into the chasm of vices. The wicked man, when he has come into the depth of sins ([Reference Proverbs 28:3]).

Or, let them go down alive after this life; that is, let them descend to hell with the inclination they have, which is their life.

Or, if it is said as a wish, then one explains it thus: death is the death of righteousness by which one dies internally to sin. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God ([Reference Colossians 3:3]). Let them go down alive with the life of righteousness into hell—that is, the hell of self-reflection: in the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell ([Reference Isaiah 38:10]). Whoever thus descends alive through reflection on punishments, in order to avoid them, will not descend in death. Remember your last end ().
For there is wickedness.

Here he sets out the reason for the penalty. First, he sets out their hidden fault; second, their manifest fault. He alludes to that story from Numbers: depart, depart from the tents of these wicked men ([Reference Numbers 14:26]).

Wickedness means secret sins. Let us walk not in... impurities ([Reference Romans 13:13]). Hence he says, in their dwellings, that is, in secret. In the midst, that is, in public. They have proclaimed their sin like Sodom ([Reference Isaiah 3:9]). If you will put away from you the iniquity that is in your hand ([Reference Job 11:14]). Regarding the manifest fault, let not injustice be found in you ([Reference 1 Kings 25:28]).

Alternatively, there are two kinds of faults: one occurring by a kind of sudden impulse, the other from premeditated malice. The first sin, by sudden impulse, is in a sense external to the person; in Nathan’s parable, the traveler is the sinful desire that suddenly entered David. This is why other textual variants read not in their dwellings, but in their guest-chambers, as if they were sojourners, according to the gloss.Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms 54.16 (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 39:669). The sense is, “sin in a natural way,” because he says in the midst of them, that is, in the midst of their heart.Here Thomas breaks off without completing the Psalm.

Thanks be to God.

Commentaries

Albert Barnes

On Psalms 55:8

Charles Spurgeon

On Psalm 55:8

John Gill

On Psalms 55:8

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Matthew Henry

On Psalms 55:1–8

Thomas Aquinas

On Psalm 55:1–23