Psalm 55:4-8

After beginning Psalm 55 with a fervent prayer that Yahweh would intervene and deliver him or her from enemies in verses 1-3, the poet describes his or her innermost feelings in light of the present circumstances in verses 4-8:

"My heart is in anguish within me,
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, 'O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness;
I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest."

1. A person's feelings in any given situation are very important. God is very interested in our feelings, and very sympathetic and understanding to our emotions. We should never hesitate to express our feelings to God, or to others whom we trust and who can help us.
2. Our psalmist expresses two feelings in verses 4-8. First, he or she is extremely afraid: verses 4-5. The poet's enemies are obviously many and powerful, and the composer is afraid of what they might do to her or him. One specific fear is that these enemies might kill the psalmist: verse 4b. Another psalmist, in a different circumstance, with different enemies, declares that since Yahweh is her or his light, salvation, and stronghold, she or he will not be afraid (Psalm 27:1-2). But God's servants respond differently in different situations.
3. Second, the author of Psalm 55 wants to flee far away to a place of safety: verses 6-8. He or she imagines a dove who is able to fly to a distant shelter and find refuge from "raging wind and tempest." Psalm 84:3; Ezekiel 17:23; 31:13; Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19 picture birds finding shelter from the elements and predators. The psalmist's feelings expressed in verses 6-8 are strikingly similar to those of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 9:2-3:
"O that I had in the desert
a traveler's lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a band of traitors.
They bend their tongues like bows;
they have grown strong in the land for falsehood, and not for truth;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, says the Lord."
Most of us have days when we would like to "get away from it all." Our plans have failed; a loved one has done something terribly wrong; a child has died; a friend has betrayed us; a business venture has turned sour; the authorities have exposed unethical activities of a political or religious leader; a church has divided; a grandparent's health has suddenly taken a turn for the worse; dreams have been shattered; a long-time respected married couple is divorcing; a plane crash has killed 150 people; and the list goes on and on.
The psalmist gives us words to express our innermost feelings. Maybe we should use these words in our times of trouble, because they probably come very close to the way we are really feeling. A part of the healing process is an honest articulation of our feelings.

John Willis