Psalm, Chapter 55
Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
- The title of this message is prayer for the destruction of the treacherous
- it's interesting that this is a prayer for the destruction of certain people
- The key to understanding this is the meaning of treacherous
o guilty of or involving betrayal or deception
o Those engaged in treachery are intentionally misleading someone to trick them so that they receive the opposite of what they think they will
o that would obviously be a very evil thing to do: therefore, the people that do this would be evil (Intentionally deceiving others to cause harm)
o Apparently David has reached a place in his heart where he wants these treacherous people destroyed (he is sick of the damage they are causing)
§ this may sound familiar to some of you listening today
- for the choir director; on stringed instruments
o this means for the person in charge of directing the choir (that means leading them to sing for a specific purpose in unison)
o on stringed instruments means that they were playing instruments like harps or guitars or the Lyre
o It seems odd to put such words to song and yet when God does destroy those that are treacherous it can bring great joy to those of us who are sick and tired of watching it happen
- it is a Maskil of David
o a masculine is something that was previous wisdom or knowledge gained
o it is a saying (often from the Bible)
o he had experienced in real life by men or women who know it to be true
2 Give heed to me and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and [b]am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down [c]trouble upon me
And in anger they bear a grudge against me.
- Give heed to me and answer me (notice that David wants God's attention)
o he is asking the guard would give heed to him which means to listen to him
o and then he's asking God to answer him
o there seems to be a confident certainty in the way that David asks these two things of God
o do you have a certain degree of certainty when you ask God for anything?
§ do you expect that he will hear you?
§ do you expect that he will answer you?
- I am restless in my complaint and I'm surely distracted
o David says he is restless and distracted
o so too, sometimes we often become restless about something that's really bothering us
o if we think about it too often it can distract us from things that God actually wants us to do
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