9 Swallow [them] up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. 10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; and iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it. 11 Perversities are in the midst thereof; and oppression and deceit depart not from its streets. 12 For it is not an enemy that hath reproached me—then could I have borne it; neither is it he that hateth me that hath magnified [himself] against me—then would I have hidden myself from him; 13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar friend. ... 14 We who held sweet intercourse together. To the house of God we walked amid the throng. 15 Let death seize upon them, let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is in their dwellings, in their midst.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 55:9-15
Commentary on Psalm 55:9-15
(Read Psalm 55:9-15)
No wickedness so distresses the believer, as that which he witnesses in those who profess to be of the church of God. Let us not be surprised at the corruptions and disorders of the church on earth, but long to see the New Jerusalem. He complains of one that had been very industrious against him. God often destroys the enemies of the church by dividing them. And an interest divided against itself cannot long stand. The true Christian must expect trials from professed friends, from those with whom he has been united; this will be very painful; but by looking unto Jesus we shall be enabled to bear it. Christ was betrayed by a companion, a disciple, an apostle, who resembled Ahithophel in his crimes and doom. Both were speedily overtaken by Divine vengeance. And this prayer is a prophecy of the utter, the everlasting ruin, of all who oppose and rebel against the Messiah.