Catholic Commentary on Psalm 55

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken." (Psalm 55:22)

The Wound of Betrayal

Psalm 55 is a psalm of profound personal anguish, and one of its most distinctive features is that the deepest wound comes not from an enemy but from a friend. David would have been able to bear if an adversary had insulted him. But it is a friend, his companion, his close friend, with whom he once enjoyed sweet fellowship, who walked with him to the house of God. This person has turned against him, and the treachery of someone trusted is uniquely devastating in a way that the opposition of an enemy never is.

The psalm opens with the wish for escape: Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm. The longing to escape the situation is honest and completely human. The violent person in the city, the treachery of the friend: it is too much, and the desire to flee is the natural response. David does not act on it. He prays instead.

Cast Your Cares

The theological heart of the psalm is in verse 22, and it is one of the most quoted verses from the Psalter in the New Testament, echoed in 1 Peter 5:7: Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Cast, throw, hurl: the word is vigorous. It is not the gentle placing of a burden but the energetic tossing of something you can no longer carry. The cares, the anxieties, the weight of betrayal and threat: throw them at God. He will catch them. He will sustain you. The righteous person who throws their cares onto God will not be permanently shaken.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, if you have been betrayed by someone you trusted, you are in Psalm 55. The wound is real and the desire to flee is understandable. But the path through is not escape. It is the throwing of the weight onto the Lord. He can carry it. You cannot. Cast it on him today, specifically and deliberately: this is the care I am throwing to you, Lord. Now sustain me.

Prayer

Lord God, hear my prayer and do not ignore my cry. In the midst of betrayal and threat, let me cast my cares on you. You will sustain me. You will never let the righteous be shaken. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and you hear my voice. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

55
Cast Your Burden upon the LORD
(2 Samuel 17:15–29)
For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Maskil * 55:0 Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142. of David.
 
1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
and do not ignore my plea.
2 Attend to me and answer me.
I am restless in my complaint,
and distraught 3 at the voice of the enemy,
at the pressure of the wicked.
For they release disaster upon me
and revile me in their anger.
 
4 My heart murmurs within me,
and the terrors of death assail me.
5 Fear and trembling grip me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.
7 How far away I would flee!
In the wilderness I would remain.
Selah
8 I would hurry to my shelter,
far from this raging tempest.”
 
9 O Lord, confuse and confound their speech,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they encircle the walls,
while malice and trouble lie within.
11 Destruction is within;
oppression and deceit never leave the streets.
 
12 For it is not an enemy who insults me;
that I could endure.
It is not a foe who rises against me;
from him I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion and close friend.
14 We shared sweet fellowship together;
we walked with the crowd into the house of God.
 
15 Let death seize them by surprise;
let them go down to Sheol alive,
for evil is with them in their homes.
16 But I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
17 Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress,
and He hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in peace
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
19 God will hear and humiliate them—
the One enthroned for the ages—
Selah
because they do not change
and they have no fear of God.
 
20 My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
21 His speech is smooth as butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are softer than oil,
yet they are swords unsheathed.
 
22 Cast your burden upon the LORD
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous be shaken.
23 But You, O God, will bring them down
to the Pit of destruction;
men of bloodshed and deceit
will not live out half their days.
 
But I will trust in You.

*^ 55:0 Maskil is probably a musical or liturgical term; used for Psalms 32, 42, 44–45, 52–55, 74, 78, 88–89, and 142.

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