Psalms — Chapter 54

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1For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. When the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “Is David not hiding among us?” Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!

2Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life—men with no regard for God. Selah

4Surely God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.

5He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.

6Freely I will sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good.

7For He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

1Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

2Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

4Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

5He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

6I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

7For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.

1Save me, O God, by thy name, And judge me in thy might.

2Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers are risen up against me, And violent men have sought after my soul: They have not set God before them. Selah

4Behold, God is my helper: The Lord is of them that uphold my soul.

5He will requite the evil unto mine enemies: Destroy thou them in thy truth.

6With a freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto thee: I will give thanks unto thy name, O Jehovah, for it is good.

7For he hath delivered me out of all trouble; And mine eye hath seen [my desire] upon mine enemies. Psalm 55 For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David.

1For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.” O God, deliver me by your name. Vindicate me by your power.

2O God, listen to my prayer. Pay attention to what I say.

3For foreigners attack me; ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life. (Selah)

4Look, God is my deliverer. The Lord is among those who support me.

5May those who wait to ambush me be repaid for their evil. As a demonstration of your faithfulness, destroy them.

6With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

7Surely he rescues me from all trouble, and I triumph over my enemies.

1Save me, God, by your name. Vindicate me in your might.

2Hear my prayer, God. Listen to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers have risen up against me. Violent men have sought after my soul. They haven’t set God before them. Selah.

4Behold, God is my helper. The Lord is the one who sustains my soul.

5He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth.

6With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good.

7For he has delivered me out of all trouble. My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

A brief lament from when the Ziphites betrayed David's hiding place to Saul (superscription; 1 Samuel 23). David asks God to save and vindicate him by his name and might, since ruthless men who do not regard God are seeking his life (vv. 1-3). He affirms that God is his helper and sustainer, trusting that God will repay his enemies' evil, and vows to offer a freewill sacrifice and give thanks to God's good name (vv. 4-6). The psalm ends confident that God has delivered him from trouble, letting him look in triumph on his enemies (v. 7).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Individual Lament Psalm
Attributed Author: David
Key Themes: Crying out for deliverance, God's name as salvation, betrayal by allies, confidence in God's help, vow of thanksgiving
Historical Context: The superscription connects this psalm to when the Ziphites betrayed David's hiding place to Saul (1 Samuel 23:19-24; 26:1). David was hiding in the wilderness of Ziph, and the local inhabitants — his own countrymen from the tribe of Judah — informed Saul of his location. The psalm is brief (7 verses) but follows the classic lament pattern: urgent cry, description of enemies, confession of trust, and vow of praise. It is a Maskil (instructive poem) with stringed accompaniment (Neginoth). The "strangers" (zarim) in v.3 refers to these treacherous Ziphites who acted as foreigners toward their own kinsman David.
Save Me, O God, by Thy Name (vv.1-2): Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. The superscription places the psalm when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us, which is 1 Samuel 23, so the betrayal is by people of his own tribe's territory. And the petition is for hearing before anything else, hear my prayer, O God, give ear to the words of my mouth.
Strangers Are Risen Up Against Me (v.3): For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul, they have not set God before them. One verse, and the word strangers is the difficulty in it: the Ziphites were Judeans, so either the term is being used of conduct rather than nationality or the psalm has a different occasion than the superscription supposes. The last clause is the same diagnosis as Psalm 10:4.
God Is Mine Helper (vv.4-5): Behold, God is mine helper, the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. The turn comes early in this psalm, at the halfway point of seven verses, and it is stated as an observation rather than a hope. Then the request against the enemies is brief and rests on God's character rather than on their deserts, cut them off in thy truth.
I Will Praise Thy Name (vv.6-7): I will freely sacrifice unto thee, I will praise thy name, O LORD, for it is good. The word freely is the technical term for a freewill offering, one nobody was required to bring. And the psalm ends in the perfect tense although the danger of verse 3 has not been described as lifting, for he hath delivered me out of all trouble, which is the psalter's habitual way of speaking about an answer before it arrives.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalm 54 | Save Me by Your Name | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Psalm 54 - Help When Abandoned and Betrayed
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • God's Name as Refuge (v.1) — David calls on God's own name and character to save him after being betrayed by his own countrymen. When people let you down, do you turn to God's unchanging character as your security?
  • Forgetting God Enables Cruelty (v.3) — David identifies the root problem in his enemies as not setting God before themselves. What choices might you make differently if you kept a sharper awareness that God is watching?
  • Confidence in the Middle of the Crisis (v.4) — David declares that God is his helper while he's still in active danger, not after it's over. Can you voice trust in God before your circumstances actually improve, or do you wait until the outcome is settled?
  • Planning Gratitude Before the Rescue (v.6) — David commits to a thank offering while he's still waiting on deliverance, essentially planning his praise in advance. What would it look like to prepare gratitude now for something you're still waiting on God to do?