He hath put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath profaned his covenant.
The speaker of this psalm has been describing the evil at work in Jerusalem; here he points to one man. The blow came from a companion, not a declared enemy — a man who gave his word, then attacked people who had done him no harm.
The men he attacked were his friends. They had shown him nothing but goodwill. One writer names the attacker and sets the broken pledge beside the attack:
The antichrist has put out his hands against those who showed him no hostility (v. 20). He had broken his covenant — his pledge of fellowship with the godly remnant — for his words were smoother than butter, and only covered the war in his heart.
The psalmist first steadies himself on God. Then he names the betrayal, and then he tells other godly people what to do:
In Psalm 55 the righteous one is outside the city, but aware of what is going on within (9-15)... He is sure of deliverance, because he counts on God (16-19). He tells of the treachery of the man who has broken the covenant (20, 21). Then he advises other godly ones what to do in such a situation (22, 23)... Friends, counsellors and companions of many years may fail. But Jehovah will sustain His servant, and He is ready to take his burden from him.
One writer hears David's own voice here. Ahithophel was David's adviser, and he sided with Absalom, David's son, in his revolt:
This psalm is also the utterance, in his measure, of David himself, under the craft and treason of Ahithophel in company with Absalom. (See 2 Samuel 15, 16.)
One writer traces the steps. The man joins the godly, uses them to rise, and then turns on the very people who helped him:
He will use the godly remnant of Israel to help him gain a place of authority... He keeps company with them as one of them. He takes counsel with them and goes to the house of God with them. Like Judas, he will deceive the godly into thinking he is one of them. Then, once he has risen to a high place among them, he will turn on them without mercy. He will persecute the people who had befriended him (Psalm 55:20).
The broken covenant is more than a personal grudge. One writer takes it as a prophetic sign, and explains what the agreement covers and what breaking it will look like:
Again he picks out one particular man among them. He marks him by another sign that is very clear in prophecy: the breaking of the covenant. So the angel says to Daniel of the "prince that shall come," that "he shall confirm a covenant"— make a binding agreement — "with many for one week"— of years; "and in the middle of the week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease."... Israel is back in the land, and this covenant shelters them while they set up their old ritual worship again. The "prince," or his representative in the land, takes his place with the rest and seems to join in heartfelt homage to the King of kings. Then comes a change: the ordered legal offerings stop, and idolatry is set up in their place. For the first half of the week he is the smooth-tongued hypocrite described in the psalm.
The writer there quotes Daniel 9:27 in an older English translation. Another writer links the same broken covenant to an earlier traitor:
But, like an earlier traitor and son of destruction, he will put out his hands against those who are at peace with him. He will break his covenant (Psalm 55:20).
Commentators differ on who the traitor is. One writer sees both Judas and a figure still to come in this psalm, and puts verse 20 with the second:
Psalm 55 is the horror of the Spirit of Christ at seeing the whole evil at Jerusalem — Judas and Antichrist... Verse 20, Antichrist.
- Nearest hurts most. The hand raised here belonged to a companion, not a declared enemy.
- Peace repaid with attack. The people he struck had shown him no hostility. He answered their goodwill with violence.
- Covenant profaned. He broke his own pledge of fellowship. Prophecy uses that broken covenant to mark the man out.
- A repeating pattern. Ahithophel turned on David. Judas turned on the Lord. The coming covenant-breaker will turn on Israel. Closeness first, then betrayal.
- The counsel that follows. The psalm does not stop at the wound. It moves straight on to the answer: cast your burden on the Lord. Friends and counsellors may fail, but He sustains.
Smooth were the milky [words] of his mouth, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.
Psalm 55 describes a city full of violence. But the sharpest pain comes from a friend: his voice stays warm while his heart plans war. Commentators trace that same pattern through David's court, through the betrayal of Jesus, and on to a deceiver still to come.
In verse 20 this man attacks people who never harmed him. So the soft words are not politeness; they are cover. Commentators see these enemies pointing to a figure still to come.
They are represented by the antichrist, who has put out his hands against those who showed no hostility to him (v. 20). He had broken his covenant — his commitment to fellowship with the godly remnant — for his words were smoother than butter, but they only covered the war that was in his heart, and those words were actually drawn swords ready to destroy his friends (v. 21).
One writer reads the psalm on three levels at once: David betrayed by Ahithophel, Jesus betrayed by Judas, and a faithful group in Israel betrayed by a lawless king.
This Psalm, like the ones before it, has in view the lawless or wilful king and his faction. Some of it is spoken by the Lord Jesus as He looks at the treachery of Judas and the group that followed him. In the end it is the lawless one, or someone allied with him, whom the godly remnant in the last days feel and plead against, deceived by him as Jesus was deceived by Judas. But this Psalm is also the utterance, in his own measure, of David himself, under the craft and treason of Ahithophel in company with Absalom.
Why does this hurt more than open hostility? Because closeness is what makes the blow land.
A friend or religious associate was the worst because he was the nearest enemy. Everyone knows how truly this happened to the blessed Saviour Himself. But it reaches on to that whole solemn scene of the last day, when the faithful must follow that faithful One and Guide, who leads them outside the camp.
Commentators differ on how directly the verse touches Judas. Elsewhere Darby writes that he does not think the passage applies to Judas but to the apostate nation in league with the coming deceiver, though it "has its vent in Judas in its first lines of character."
The verse describes a method: win trust through shared religion, then use it.
He will be a master of hypocrisy, pretending to be a devoted Jew concerned for the welfare of his people (Ps. 55:12-14), yet all the time defrauding them… He will use the godly remnant of Israel to help him gain a place of authority, keeping company with them as one of them, taking sweet counsel together with them and going to the house of God together. Like Judas, he will deceive the godly into thinking he is one of them. Then, once he has risen to prominence among them, he will cruelly turn against them and persecute those who had befriended him.
Smooth speech works on crowds. It does not work on those who know God's voice. Gideon's son had already won power the same way.
It was by fair speeches that the son of Gideon won his way… "His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords" (Ps. 55:21). There will be a lamb-like air about him; but in the ears of the elect — who do not know the voice of strangers — his voice is that of the dragon (Rev. 13). By all this the mass are deceived and led away, as the Shechemites were; the remnant, "the people that do know their God," are preserved.
This picture is not only about one future figure. It measures the harm an ordinary tongue can do.
Some think there is no persecution except fire and sword; but there is persecution of the tongue… "His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords" (Ps. 55:21). You may kill a man in his name as well as in his person; a good name is as precious ointment.
The same danger sits closer to home. Christ never hid an evil motive behind kind words. We can.
Sometimes malice and envy may lurk behind words that are "smooth as butter" and "softer than oil." With Him no evil motive was ever hidden under fair speech… With the flesh in us it is all too possible to try to trap one another with smooth speech and innocent-looking questions. We can even covertly attack one another in the very words we address to God in public prayer.
Having exposed the traitor, the psalm does not tell the wounded man to retaliate. It tells him to hand the weight over.
Burdens of circumstance lose their weight whenever the name of Christ can be connected with them in the heart of faith; and there is no burden a contrite spirit feels that He is not ready to receive from our hands… Yet too often those who rest the burden of their soul's salvation on Jesus find it hard to trust Him with some small care.
- Words — the smoothness is the disguise; the covenant is already broken and the swords already drawn.
- Wound — the closer the friend, the worse the betrayal; the nearest enemy does the deepest harm.
- Pattern — Ahithophel betrayed David, Judas betrayed Christ, and a coming deceiver will betray the faithful. Commentators differ on where the main weight falls.
- Warning — fair speech sways the crowd, but not those who know God's voice. They are kept safe.
- Watch — no evil motive ever hid behind Christ's kind words. Ours can. Soft words still kill a good name.