PSALM 55:20

 Q:  “My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant...” Who is "he" in this verse?

Here is another complicated answer to a simple question:

First, we need to recognize that this is a difficult psalm on several levels – some words are almost impossible to translate so that the sentences make sense, and the author jumps around in mood, style and subject matter. This last phenomenon has been explained as reflecting the emotional strain of his dealing with treachery from enemies and supposed friends alike. (A. A. Anderson, Psalms 73-150, p. 412)

Next, let's look at the particular verse in question. The NIV, as well as some other translations, identifies this man as David's “companion.” However, the Hebrew only identifies him as “He.” NIV therefore clearly feels, as do most commentators, that the description of this man in verses 20-21 applies to the same companion mentioned earlier in verses 12-14. This is probably the most likely identification; however, other possibilities are (1) each one of the plural enemies mentioned elsewhere in the psalm (Anderson, p. 418) or (2) an entirely different individual than the companion of verses 12-14.

Assuming that a close companion of David's is the “he” of verse 20, we have several viable candidates who have been proposed over the years. These include King Saul and David's sons Amnon and Absalom. More likely candidates are Joab, the trusted confidant of David who turned against David's wish to install Solomon as his successor, and Ahithophel, David's counselor, who supported Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15:12). John Beigent (The International Bible Commentary, p. 545) concludes that attempts to specifically identify this individual with one of the above people “though attractive, are incapable of proof. It is better to admit that we have no idea of either the historical setting, or the personal circumstances of the writer.”

More important than the exact identity of this person in its original setting is what the psalm had to say to subsequent generations and how it can be applied to us today.

Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (p. 488) alludes to this psalm as being parallel to Jesus being “stirred up inside” in regard to “extreme anguish over the betrayal of a close friend.” (see John 13:21) In that sense, Psalm 55 can be viewed as a prophetic psalm, much the same as Psalm 41.

John Calvin found comfort in this psalm because he “always had to sustain some conflict either from enemies without or within the Church.” (William L. Holladay, The Psalms through Three Thousand Years, p. 196)

This psalm is usually classified as an “individual lament” although others call it a “national lament.” This latter designation recognizes that it is appropriate to use any time a nation is beset with problems caused externally or internally. In other words, the “he” of the psalm may in fact be “us” at times (as Pogo shrewdly noted years ago).

Finally, there is the individual application of this psalm to use when we have been betrayed by someone close to us. Occasions of sexual or spousal abuse might specifically come to mind. Beth Tanner (The Book of Psalms, p. 479) summarizes, “Even in the midst of suffering and betrayal by human enemies and friends, the one praying knows that he can depend on God. Thousands of years later, we can still relate to the roller-coaster emotions of betrayal and fear and know, as this prayer claims, that we too can call upon God, the one enthroned from old, to come to our aid.”