I. CHARACTER AND EXPERIENCE OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
1. His life is a continued exercise of prayer and faith. Calls upon God, evening, morning, and at noon. Carries all his anxieties and fears to God; casts upon him his burden (ver. 22). And he does all this with an assured faith (vers. 16, 17). "And he shall hear my voice." "The Lord shall save me."
2. He has been already delivered from great dangers. (Ver. 18.) "Many were against him." Every good man has a past full of such experiences.
3. He has confident assurance of future protection and guidance. "He shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." God is good and righteous. and this is the foundation of his assurance.
II. CHARACTER AND EXPERIENCE OF THE WICKED.
1. Generally, they have no fear of God. Without God in the world; living, therefore, without restraint.
2. They are traitors to former vows of friendship. They violate without compunction former oaths and covenants.
3. They are guilty of the most cruel deceit. (Ver. 21.) Bloody and deceitful men.
4. God shall afflict and humble them. (Ver. 19.)
5. They shall die a premature death. (Ver. 23.) - S.
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.
Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.
I. THE NATURE OF OUR PRAYER. Prayer is the humble expression of our wants and of our desires to Almighty God; and it comprehends, at least, the following particulars.
1. Prayer is an acknowledgment of the being and of the providence of God; "He that cometh to God must believe that He is;" — an expression of our dependence upon God; and a profession of our belief in His omnipotence, goodness, grace, and bounty — "that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
2. Prayer re-establishes communion between God and man. It opens and maintains intercourse with the skies.
3. Prayer is the grand means by which we obtain our spiritual blessings from the hands of God.
4. But nothing is real prayer except it arise sincerely from the heart, and is presented through Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man, accompanied at all times by a measure of faith (John 14:6; James 1:6, 7).
II. IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE AUTHOR OF OUR TEXT PERFORMED THIS DUTY. This was distinguished by fervour, regularity, and frequency.
1. Fervour in prayer is the earnest manner in which we breathe out our desires to God; not so much the strength of the voice, as the ardour of the soul (Romans 8:26).
2. Regularity was associated with the psalmist's performance of this duty. He had stated times for prayer. And do not creatures, circumstanced as we are, need every help?
3. Frequency is another thing signified.
()
People
David,
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Aloud, Complain, Complaint, Cry, Distress, Ears, Evening, Grief, Heareth, Hears, Meditate, Middle, Moan, Morning, Murmur, Noise, Noon, Noonday, Prayer, Sounds, Utter, VoiceOutline
1. David in his prayer complains of his fearful case9. He prays against his enemies, of whose wickedness and treachery he complains16. He comforts himself in God's preservation oh him, and confusion of his enemiesDictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 55:17 4933 evening
4954 morning
5196 voice
8438 giving, of time
8618 prayerfulness
8620 prayer, practicalities
8653 importunity, to God
Psalm 55:16-17
4960 noon
Psalm 55:16-18
8486 spiritual warfare, armour
Library
July 9. "Cast Thy Burden on the Lord" (Ps. Lv. 22).
"Cast thy burden on the Lord" (Ps. lv. 22). Dear friends, sometimes we bring a burden to God, and we have such a groaning over it, and we seem to think God has a dreadful time, too, but in reality it does not burden Him at all. God says: It is a light thing for Me to do this for you. Your load, though heavy for you, is not heavy for Him. Christ carries the whole on one shoulder, not two shoulders. The government of the world is upon His shoulder. He is not struggling and groaning with it. His mighty …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Out of the Deep of Fear and Anxiety.
My heart is disquieted within me. Tearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.--Ps. lv. 4. Thou hast proved and visited my heart in the night season--Ps. xvii. 3. Nevertheless though I am sometimes afraid, yet put I my trust in Thee.--Ps. lv. 3. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?--Ps. xxvii. 1. I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fear.--Ps. …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep
The Arrest
Our study of the closing scenes of the life of our Lord begins at the point where He fell into the hands of the representatives of justice; and this took place at the gate of Gethsemane and at the midnight hour. On the eastern side of Jerusalem, the ground slopes downwards to the bed of the Brook Kedron; and on the further side of the stream rises the Mount of Olives. The side of the hill was laid out in gardens or orchards belonging to the inhabitants of the city; and Gethsemane was one of these. …
James Stalker—The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ
If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin...
21. If then to sin, that others may not commit a worse sin, either against us or against any, without doubt we ought not; it is to be considered in that which Lot did, whether it be an example which we ought to imitate, or rather one which we ought to avoid. For it seems meet to be more looked into and noted, that, when so horrible an evil from the most flagitious impiety of the Sodomites was impending over his guests, which he wished to ward off and was not able, to such a degree may even that just …
St. Augustine—Against Lying
Patrick, the Apostle of the Irish.
THIS remarkable man was prepared by very peculiar circumstances for his important work; and in his instance also it may be seen, how that infinite wisdom which guides the development of the kingdom of God amongst men, is able to bring great things out of what seems insignificant to the eyes of men. Patrick, called in his native tongue Succath, was born A. D. 372, in a village between the Scottish towns of Dumbarton and Glasgow, (then appended to England,) in the village of Bonaven, since named in …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places
Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12
The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New.
1. Introduction, showing the necessity of proving the similarity of both dispensations in opposition to Servetus and the Anabaptists. 2. This similarity in general. Both covenants truly one, though differently administered. Three things in which they entirely agree. 3. First general similarity, or agreement--viz. that the Old Testament, equally with the New, extended its promises beyond the present life, and held out a sure hope of immortality. Reason for this resemblance. Objection answered. 4. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion
Covenant Duties.
It is here proposed to show, that every incumbent duty ought, in suitable circumstances, to be engaged to in the exercise of Covenanting. The law and covenant of God are co-extensive; and what is enjoined in the one is confirmed in the other. The proposals of that Covenant include its promises and its duties. The former are made and fulfilled by its glorious Originator; the latter are enjoined and obligatory on man. The duties of that Covenant are God's law; and the demands of the law are all made …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting
Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Letter xix (A. D. 1127) to Suger, Abbot of S. Denis
To Suger, Abbot of S. Denis He praises Suger, who had unexpectedly renounced the pride and luxury of the world to give himself to the modest habits of the religious life. He blames severely the clerk who devotes himself rather to the service of princes than that of God. 1. A piece of good news has reached our district; it cannot fail to do great good to whomsoever it shall have come. For who that fear God, hearing what great things He has done for your soul, do not rejoice and wonder at the great …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
Links
Psalm 55:17 NIVPsalm 55:17 NLTPsalm 55:17 ESVPsalm 55:17 NASBPsalm 55:17 KJV
Psalm 55:17 Bible AppsPsalm 55:17 ParallelPsalm 55:17 Biblia ParalelaPsalm 55:17 Chinese BiblePsalm 55:17 French BiblePsalm 55:17 German Bible
Psalm 55:17 Commentaries
Bible Hub