Psalm 55 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 55 Short Summary:

In Psalm 55, David was betrayed by a “familiar friend.” Men who had once been his allies had turned against him, and this was a cause of great distress for David. He wanted to flee the situation, like a dove flying away from danger, but instead he put his trust in the Lord and waited patiently for God to deliver him.  

Psalm 55 Summary

AUTHOR:

• David is the author of Psalm 55.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• The first part of Psalm 55:22 is similar to 1 Peter 5:7.

THEMES:

• The pain of betrayal by friends.

• Trust in God when troubles are dropping on your head.

DEFINITIONS:

• Maskil (53:1) – The exact meaning of this term remains unknown. It may have been a musical indicator, telling the musician or performer how the psalm was to be presented. Other people think the term indicates a psalm that was written to impart wisdom.

• Sheol (55:15) – The place of the dead, the grave.

OUTLINE:

• BETRAYAL OF A FAMILIAR FRIEND (55:1-23):

  • Psalm 55 opens with David crying out to God for his mercy.

  • His plea was prompted by enemies who were oppressing him and dropping troubles on him continuously (55:3).

  • His heart was in anguish and overwhelmed by horror (55:5).

  • He wished he had wings like a dove so he could flee the situation, he wanted to fly away to some place where his enemies wouldn’t bother him.

  • In verse 12, David reveals a detail that helps us understand why he was so bothered. The enemies who were troubling him weren’t from a foreign nation, they weren’t even from a different city, they were men he used to call friends.

  • These were men within the walls of his own city (55:9-11).

  • He was being betrayed. Perhaps this was some kind of political coup, or an attempt by the men in David’s court to seize power.

  • One enemy in particular David refers to as having been an advisor and a “familiar friend” (55:13-14).

  • David prayed for these men to be ruined, and in what appears to be a reference back to Numbers 16:33, he asked God to take them down to Sheol alive. In Numbers 16, during the rebellion of Korah, God caused the earth to open and swallow up those who rebelled against Him and Moses.

  • David prayed for deliverance every morning, noon, and night (55:17).

  • As David so often did, he concluded this Psalm with an expression of confidence that God would save him and overthrow his enemies.

  • He clearly stated that God was worthy of his trust and that God’s power was not lacking because He was the king “enthroned from of old” (55:19).
    

APPLICATION:

• For the most part, David was a very godly man. He made his share of mistakes, but he was someone who loved God deeply.

• But if one thing is obvious in the Psalms, its that David had his fair share of trials and people who hated him.

• Godliness doesn’t relieve us of trials and enemies, if it did Jesus would have had an enemy-free easy life.

• Being a follower of God doesn’t ensure that your life is going to be easy, what it does ensure is that you have a king who bring you through all those trials.

• Is it possible that God allows us to endure some trials so we learn to cry out to Him like David did?

• All of David’s burdens humbled him and brought him to prayer at the throne of God.

• Maybe ours are supposed to have the same effect! Maybe they are meant to teach us that we can’t get through this life on our own.

• If life was always easy, it would be hard to learn how to depend on God.

• We can respond to a trial in at least two ways, (1) We can curse God for making life hard, or (2) we can let the trial teach us how much we need God’s help.

• Satan wants us to curse God, but God wants the trial to draw us closer to Him.

• How do you respond to your trials?

• David had so many problems, but all of his problems brought him closer to God. He used all of them to express his confidence in God, and to learn to trust God to a greater degree than he had before.

• Let’s respond to our trials like David!