Grace alone can do what nothing else can do; good advice, moral living, and the law are not sufficient. Dead men need not lectures but life. They need the kind of power that was present when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43).

Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory, Loc. 1480.

Fear and faith struggle together in this psalm [Psalm 55]. But faith seems dominant, and the psalm’s message is one of confidence in God. The crucial points for the message of the psalm are in vv 4–5 and 11–12: “By God’s help I will be able.” Trust in God, when activated and confirmed by a word from God, is more powerful than the evil actions of human beings.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 71.

The realism of [Psalm 55] is a reminder of the anguish of life for so many in the cities of the world. We look for a city “built as a city should be” (Ps 122:3), one with good foundations “whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10), but in the meantime we live by faith in vile cities where the watchmen Evil and Trouble make the rounds of their walls and Oppression and Deceit do business in the public square.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 59.

Two reactions in the psalm [Psalm 55] are worthy of special note. The first is the impulse to flee away from the city, which seems so fearful and painful (vv 7–9). This is the escapist impulse, known to all who read the words of the psalm. The wilderness lures the city dweller. It seems to offer shelter, peace, and contentment denied in urban surroundings. The seeming simplicity of the wilderness offers a refuge from the tangled complexities of urban life. Flight seems to offer so much that at times it becomes almost irresistible (on the psychology of flight, see P. Tournier, The Healing of Persons [New York: Harper & Row, 1965], 95–109). The wilderness, of course, is quite deceptive, as it may be the place of dire human needs and of death. Perhaps it is well to remember that the wilderness is never in itself a goal in biblical traditions but is a transition place for the passage of the people of God to some other place. The Land of Promise lies beyond the wilderness.

The second reaction is found in the message of encouragement in v 23. The suppliant is urged to cast upon Yahweh his or her lot-in-life—that which is given. Yahweh will provide for such a person, though not necessarily deliver, and not necessarily provide a way out or remove all the enemies and change all the bad situations, but he will provide the strength and resources to deal with life as it comes. The promise is that he will sustain. The verb “cast on” (v 23) suggests that God will take us as we are, in the context in which we live, wherever it is and whatever the circumstances. The final words of the psalm (v 24) indicate that the suppliant is willing to accept the word of encouragement.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 58-59.

The major stress in the psalm [Psalm 54] is clearly on the powerful and effective Name of Yahweh. Yahweh may seem absent from the world, but those who invoke his Name with faith and courage will discover the reality of his awesome presence. Those who forget his Name and seek to disregard his will may experience the terrible recoil of their own wickedness, a recoil which is sustained by divine power. The message of the psalm is clear enough: the Name of Yahweh will not fail the suppliant in a time of crisis. The enemies will not prevail. Yahweh will make a necessary connection between act and consequence, and the power of ruthless foes will be turned back against themselves.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 48.

Prayer for help (54:3–4). The prayer uses the vocative form in addressing God, which is characteristic of the laments. The distinctive element here is the prayer for deliverance by the name of Yahweh. The prayer presupposes a theology of the Name, which is an expression of the presence of God (for discussion see G. von Rad, Old Testament Theology, tr. D. M. G. Stalker [New York: Harper, 1962], I, 179–87 T. N. D. Mettinger, The Dethronement of Sabaoth: Studies in the Shem and Kabod Theologies, trans. F. H. Cryer, ConB, Old Testament Series 18 [Lund: Gleerup, 1982], 38–79). The Name carried something of the essential nature and power of God. To invoke his name was to invoke his presence. The Name theology is especially evident in the Deuteronomic writings. The Israelites were to worship at the place chosen by Yahweh where he would “put his name” (see Deut 12:5, 11, 21, passim; also Exod 20:24). The use of the Name to protect both the transcendence and presence of Yahweh is especially present in the Solomonic address to the people and prayer at the dedication of the temple (1 Kgs 8:1–66). Yahweh is repeatedly affirmed to be in heaven, but his powerful presence is invoked because his name is in the temple (see R. E. Clements, God and Temple [Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1965], 90–99; for an overview of “name” in the Psalter, see H.-J. Kraus, Theology of the Psalms, trans. K. Crim [Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1979/86], 17–31).

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 46-47.

Ps 53 is a different version of the same psalm found in Ps 14. . . . Both psalms belong to the general genre of prophetic speech. . . . The course of religious history is replete with fools who have said “There is no God” and with even greater fools who have said “Lord, Lord,” but who have refused to do the will of God (cf. Matt 7:21–23). The divine judgment for them is “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” This psalm (with its mate, Ps 14) affirms God’s lordship over human destiny and seeks to encourage faithfulness by the genuine people of God.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 40-43.

The words of v 6 bring to mind a major feature of Yahweh-war in the OT in that the decisive action is that of Yahweh and is not dependent on the strength and power of the Israelites. The panic and fear which Yahweh could spread among the enemy forces were far more deadly than the weapons of the Israelites.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 42.

The contextual meaning of any word is most important.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 33-34.

5.a. Selah is a scribal notation appearing in many psalms (71 times, plus 3 times in Habakkuk). The exact meaning is unsure, but it almost certainly indicated a pause in the reading of the text, despite ancient Jewish traditions that it meant “forever” or “everlasting.” The question of what the pause was for is much more difficult and has generated a plethora of answers (for convenient summaries and references, see Craigie, 76–77; A. A. Anderson, I, 48–49; M. D. Goulder, The Psalms of the Sons of Korah, JSOT SS 20 [Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1982], 102–4). The suggestions include bowing in prayer or prostration, probably with the recitation of liturgical sayings such as “forever,” “Yahweh is good,” or “for his loyal-love endures forever,” or a shout of “Hallelujah,” or some other appropriate expression. A refrain may have been sung or chanted, or the previous verse repeated, perhaps with a choir or the congregation joining the cantor. Goulder has argued for the meaning of a “cantillation” or “recitative,” in which the relevant section of a major tradition in Israel’s history would be recalled in prayer or in story (e.g., the cantillation of Josh 24 would be appropriate after Ps 44:8). We should remain open to the likelihood that the selah-pause was flexible, used in different ways in different psalms and on different occasions. In some psalms, the selah seems to mark off sections of the psalms into acceptable outlines; in others this does not seem to work well. The function of the selah as a poetic intensifier, at least in some cases, should be allowed. For the role of intensification in Hebrew poetry, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry (New York: Basic Books, 1985), 62–84. Fairly frequently, the selah-pause seems to come just before a climactic statement or between such statements.

MARVIN TATE, PSALMS 51-100, VOLUME 20 (WORD BIBLICAL COMMENTARY), 33-34.