Psalm 55:1-3

The composer of Psalm 55 faces the same problem as the poet who uttered Psalm 54: he has enemies who seek to destroy him or her. But the problem is even deeper for the author of Psalm 55, because one of his enemies, probably the leader of his enemies, is one who formerly was "my familiar friend" (verses 12-14). Our psalmist begins with a plea to Yahweh in verses 1-3 very similar to that in 54:1-3:
"Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught by the noise of the enemy,
because of the clamor of the wicked.
For they bring trouble upon me,
and in anger they cherish enmity against me."

1. The idea of God or a person "hiding" or "hiding his (or her) face" has various meanings in the Bible. Psalm 55 provides one good example: in verse 1, the poet beseeches God not to hide himself from his or her supplication; then in verse 12, the poet speaks of "hiding" from his or her enemies. The prayer in verse 1 that God not "hide himself" from the speaker's supplication is parallel to "give ear" to his prayer in line 1, so this means: answer my prayer by intervening and defeating my enemies--see Psalm 89:46. The thought is similar to that of God "hiding his face" in passages like Psalms 22:24; 27:9; 30:7; 88:14; 102:2; Isaiah 59:2.
2. When serious troubles afflict human beings, God has given them a spiritual mechanism called "complaint" to help them release the feelings caused by their pains and losses and reverses, and to deepen their dependence on God. Our psalmist declares his or her complain in verses 2 and 17, and feels that when God realizes how severe that complaint is, he will answer the psalmist's pleas. Psalms 64:1 and 142:2 express similar feelings. Job often declared that he could not but complain because of the severity of his sufferings (see for example, Job 7:11-14; 9:27-28; 10:1; 21:4; 23:2). It is true that often complaining is not justified, as one can see in some examples of the complaining of the Israelites in the wilderness. On the other hand, Jesus complained as he faced arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane as he cried: "I am deeply grieved, even to death," and begged his Father to take away this ordeal from him if at all possible (Matthew 26:36-46); and Paul complained because of his "thorn in the flesh," and pleaded with God three times to remove it from him because it was so painful (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). So some complaining is wholesome as servants of God honestly express the depth of their (physical, emotional, spiritual) pains to God and seek his healing intervention.
May God deepen our trust in him when hard times come.

John Willis