2610 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Save me, O God, by thy name,.... That is, by himself, by his power, and of his grace and goodness; the Lord's name is often used for himself. David in his distress applies to his God for salvation and deliverance, who only could give it; which was right; and his prayer was remarkably heard and answered: for when Saul came down upon the first...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Hear my prayer, O God,.... The psalmist first puts up his petitions, and then desires to be heard; his distress, and the fervency of his spirit, not suffering him to observe order; give ear to the words of my mouth; for the prayer which was conceived in his mind, and inwrought there by the Spirit of God, was expressed vocally.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For strangers are risen up against me,.... Meaning such as Doeg the Edomite, or Heathen soldiers, that Saul had hired and took into his army, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; and such as these rose up against David's antitype, the Messiah, Psalms 2:1 Acts 4:27. Or rather the Ziphims, who were of his own nation, yea, of his own...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Behold, God [is] mine helper,.... This being a matter of wonder to be helped in so extraordinary a manner, and a sure and certain case, and what was deserving the attention of others; for the encouragement of their faith and hope in like cases, a "behold" is prefixed unto it: and what is here said is true of David's son, the Messiah, and is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies,.... That eyed him as Saul did; that observed his haunts, where he resorted, and who were with him, as the Ziphites did under Saul's direction; as the Word (m) here used for "enemies" signifies: the mischief they had devised for him, he believed, would be returned upon their own heads; the pit they digged...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I will freely sacrifice unto thee,.... Not legal sacrifices; no, nor freewill offerings the law gives directions about, though the allusion is to them; but the freewill offerings of his mouth, Psalms 119:108; the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, on account of help, salvation, and deliverance, as appears from the following clause; which he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For he hath delivered me out of all trouble,.... As he desired, 1 Samuel 26:24; that is, out of all his present trouble; not that he had no more afterwards; for as soon as one trouble is gone, generally speaking, another comes; but as God delivered him out of his present distress, so he believed he would deliver him out of all his afflictions in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Psalms 55 To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil [A Psalm] of David. The occasion of this psalm was either the persecution of Saul, or the conspiracy of Absalom. Some think it was written when David understood that the inhabitants of Keilah would deliver him into the hands of Saul, 1 Samuel 23:12; and others when the Ziphites...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Give ear to my prayer, O God,.... Which was for that which is just and right, and equitable to be given, as the word (n) 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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" (p); 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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 the issue of it; see Jeremiah 4:19; this was true of Christ in the garden, when his soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death, and he was in pain, as a woman in travail, as the word (q) here used signifies;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,.... Fear and dread of mind, and trembling of body; and horror hath 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", Mr 14:33; all which terror, fearfulness, trembling,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I said, oh that I had wings like a dove,.... The psalmist pitches upon this creature, partly to suggest that his enemies pursuing him were like the ravenous hawk, and he like the harmless, innocent, and trembling dove; and partly because of its swiftness in flying. Aben Ezra thinks the dove is mentioned, because it is sociable with men, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Lo, [then] would I wander far off, [and] remain in the wilderness,.... So David did when he fled from Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:23; so gracious souls desire to be; not in the wilderness of the people; but to be solitary as in a wilderness, clear of the company of wicked men, as Jeremiah wished for, Jeremiah 9:2; and that they might be more at leisure...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I would hasten my escape from the windy storm [and] tempest. Of an army of rebellious subjects, bearing down all before them, and threatening with utter ruin and destruction; so a powerful army of enemies invading a country is signified by a storm and tempest, Isaiah 28:2; and may be expressive of the storm and tempest of divine wrath and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Destroy, O Lord,.... Or "swallow up" (s), as Pharaoh and his host were swallowed up in the Red sea; or as Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, were swallowed up in the earth; so all the enemies of Christ and his church will be destroyed; and death, the last of them, will be swallowed up in victory, Isaiah 25:8. The Targum interprets it, "destroy", or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof,.... That is, "violence" and "strife" go about the walls of it continually; men of violence and contention are the only watchmen of it: a city must be sadly guarded that has no better watch than this; mischief also and sorrow [are] in the midst of it; it was full of wickedness within and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wickedness [is] in the midst thereof,.... All manner of wickedness; abominable wickedness; wickedness as arrived to its highest pitch, and as having filled up its measure; see Ezekiel 9:4; deceit and guile depart not from her streets; where truth was fallen, and equity could not enter, Isaiah 59:14; for these are contrary the one to the other, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For [it was] not an enemy [that] reproached me,.... An open and avowed one; a Moabite or a Philistine; such an one as Goliath, who cursed him by his gods; but one of his own country, city, court, and family, who pretended to be a friend; his son Absalom, according to Arama: so it was not one of the Scribes and Pharisees, the sworn enemies of...