This prayer psalm of the individual faces threat from each dimension: from social enemies engaged in oppression (vv. 9–11, 23) and from a personal enemy who was once “my companion” (vv. 12–14, 20–21). Betrayal is what makes this distress particularly wounding. The psalm also contains a singular expression of inner conflict (vv. 4–8) with which many could identify at one time or another. But the speaker does not appear to be alone. The exhortation of verse 22 (cf. 27:14; 31:23–24) and the testimony of verses 16–19 (where God is referred to) may reflect the presence of other people during the psalm’s performance.

55:1–8 Psalm 55 contains the motifs typical of prayer psalms, but it is longer than most and intersperses these motifs, rather than leaving them in discrete sections. It opens with…