Psalm 55:9-11

The author of Psalm 55 begins his or her poem by pleading with God to hear his or her prayer because fierce enemies are threatening harm (verses 1-3). Then the composer describes the deep feelings the threats of enemies have aroused in her or his inner being (verses 4-8). Now, in verses 9-11, the poet describes the wicked works these enemies are doing:

"Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace."

1. Wicked people work together to carry out their evil plans. Micah 2:1-2 gives a vivid description of the type of thing envisioned in our text:
"Woe to those who devise wickedness
and evil deeds on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in their power.
They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
people and their inheritance."
Wicked people first conceive of the evil they will do in their hearts; then they talk together to plan how they will carry out their scheme; then they actually do what they conceived and planned. So the psalmist begs Yahweh to "confuse" or "confound their speech"--by means of which they are agreeing on plans to hurt others. As one hears verse 9, one cannot help but think of Yahweh "confusing the speech" of the people who were building the city and tower of Babel so that they could not realize the self-centered plans they had conceived. Genesis 11:7, 9 say:
"[The Lord is speaking]: 'Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech.' . . . Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused [Hebrew balal] the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth."
2. "Violence" is the exertion of power or strength designed to obtain what the perpetrator desires without concern for the adverse harm his or her actions might cause the victim. "Violence" is a way of life for many self-centered people: see for example, Genesis 6:11-13; Psalms 7:16; 11:5; 18:48; 27:12; 73:6; 74:20; Jonah 3:8. "Violence" inevitably breeds "strife" between oppressor and oppressed, and thus evildoer spread chaos and confusion in a previously peaceful city.
3. The wicked use "oppression" and "fraud" to get what they want in the "marketplace." Their business practices are inhumane and destructive. They "rig scales," "lie about the value of a product," force debtors to pay them excessive interest, do all kinds of evil to their competitors, and the like. See Amos 8:4-6; Micah 6:9-13.
The activities of self-centered wicked people keep society in an uproar, make life miserable, and tear down the fabric of society. God's people need to act and speak out against all types of injustice.

John Willis