Exaudi, Deus.
A prayer of a just man under persecution from the wicked. It agrees to
Christ persecuted by the Jews, and betrayed by Judas.
54:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.
54:2. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:
54:3. Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and
am troubled,
54:4. At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner.
For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were
troublesome to me.
54:5. My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen
upon me.
54:6. Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered
me.
54:7. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly
and be at rest?
54:8. Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the
wilderness.
54:9. I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit,
and a storm.
54:10. Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen
iniquity and contradiction in the city.
54:11. Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in
the midst thereof are labour,
54:12. And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its
streets.
54:13. For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with
it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would
perhaps have hidden my self from him.
54:14. But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar,
54:15. Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God
we walked with consent.
54:16. Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell.
For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them.
Let death, etc. . .This, and such like imprecations which occur in the
psalms, are delivered prophetically; that is, by way of foretelling the
punishments which shall fall upon the wicked from divine justice, and
approving the righteous ways of God: but not by way of ill will, or
uncharitable curses, which the law of God disallows.
54:17. But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.
54:18. Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and
he shall hear my voice.
54:19. He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me:
for among many they were with me.
Among many, etc. . .That is, they that drew near to attack me were many
in company all combined to fight against me.
54:20. God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is
no change with them, and they have not feared God:
54:21. He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his
covenant,
54:22. They are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart
hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are
darts.
They are divided, etc. . .Dispersed, scattered, and brought to nothing,
by the wrath of God; who looks with indignation on their wicked and
deceitful ways.
54:23. Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall
not suffer the just to waver for ever.
54:24. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of
destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their
days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord.