Psalms 55:1 «To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, [A Psalm] of David. » Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
A Psalm of David] Whether made upon occasion of his flight from Keilah, 1 Samuel 23:2, or from Absalom, 2 Samuel 15:16. Idem est argumentum, et idem usus huius Psalmi atque, superioris, saith Beza; this and the former psalm are of the same argument and for the same use. It is most probable that this psalm was written when Absalom was up, and Hushai related unto Zadock the troubled state of the city, 2 Samuel 17:15, with which compare Psa 55:9-11 of this psalm. For thereupon David, put into a great perturbation, as Psalms 55:4,5, wished for the wings of a dove, not the pinions of a dragon, that he might fly far away.
Ver. 1. Give ear to my prayer, O God] David's danger was present, his prayer therefore is pressing, being not the labour of his lips, but the travail of his heart. The breath that cometh from the lips is cold, not that which cometh from the lungs.
Hide not thyself] As men when they are not willing to be sued unto will not be seen.