Why read Psalm 55?
Read Psalm 55 for courage when you feel threatened or misunderstood. The psalmist acknowledges fear and tears while renewing his determination to trust God.
You can read this psalm when its themes speak to your circumstances, or as part of your regular reading of the Psalter. This explanation draws on the text itself; the psalm is not reserved for one particular need.
Psalm 55 — “Save me, Lord, for man has afflicted me;...” — is the prayer in which the Psalmist brings before God the experience of a whole hour of his life. It belongs to Kathisma 8 and has 13 verses, whose full text you will find below. The Orthodox Septuagint numbering is retained: this Psalm 55 corresponds to Psalm 56 in the Hebrew numbering.
The text of Psalm 55
1. Save me, Lord, for man has afflicted me; all day, waging war against me, he has afflicted me.
2. My enemies have trampled me all day, for many fight against me from on high.
3. On the day when I am afraid, I will hope in You.
4. In God I will praise all my words all day; in God I have hoped, I will not fear: what will man do to me?
5. All day they have hated my words; all their thoughts against me are directed towards evil.
6. They will dwell near me and hide themselves; they will watch my heel, as though seeking my soul.
7. For nothing will You save them; in anger You will shatter the peoples, O God.
8. I have told You my life; set my tears before You, according to Your promise.
9. My enemies will turn back on any day when I call upon You. Behold, I have known that You are my God.
10. In God I will praise speech, in God I will praise the word;
11. In God I have hoped, I will not fear: what will man do to me?
12. Within me, O God, are the vows that I will fulfil for Your praise,
13. For You have delivered my soul from death, my feet from slipping, so that I may be pleasing before God in the light of the living.
When Psalm 55 is read
- It belongs to Kathisma 8 and may be read daily alongside the prayer rule (see the morning and evening prayers).
- At the end of each psalm, tradition adds: «Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.».
Adjacent psalms
The numbering follows the Orthodox Psalter (Septuagint). The same psalm may have a different number in other Bible editions.
