Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 55:23
But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
23. shalt bring them down ] Namely, the foes, who are still in the Psalmist’s mind: their end is the pit of the grave: a premature death awaits bloodthirsty and deceitful men, whom God abhors (Psa 5:6). Cp. Psa 37:35 f; Psa 109:8, and many passages which speak of the penal death of the wicked.
But I &c.] But as for me, I will trust in thee. The same God who destroys the wicked is the object of the Psalmist’s trust: and in truth the extermination of the wicked is but the converse of the reward and exaltation of the righteous: the one is the necessary preliminary to the other: and the earth, be it remembered, is the stage upon which the Psalmist expects to see the dnouement of the drama of life, the vindication of God’s moral government of the world. See Introd. p. xci ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction – The word them, here evidently refers to the enemies of the psalmist; the wicked people who were arrayed against him, and who sought his life. The pit of destruction refers here to the grave, or to death, considered with reference to the fact that they would be destroyed or cut off, or would not die in the usual course of nature. The meaning is, that God would come forth in his displeasure, and cut them down for their crimes. The word pit usually denotes a well, or cavern Gen 14:10; Gen 37:20; Exo 21:34, but is often used to denote the grave (Job 17:16; Job 33:18, Job 33:24; Psa 9:15; Psa 28:1; Psa 30:3, Psa 30:9, et al.); and the idea here is that they would be cut off for their sins. The word destruction is added to denote that this would be by some direct act, or by punishment inflicted by the hand of God.
Bloody and deceitful men – Margin, as in Hebrew, Men of bloods and deceit. The allusion is to people of violence; people who live by plunder and rapine; and especially to such people considered as false, unfaithful, and treacherous – as they commonly are. The special allusion here is to the enemies of David, and particularly to such as Ahithophel – men who not only sought his life, but who had proved themselves to be treacherous and false to him.
Shall not live out half their days – Margin, as in Hebrew, shall not halve their days. So the Septuagint, and the Latin Vulgate. The statement is general, not universal. The meaning is, that they do not live half as long as they might do, and would do, if they were not bloody and deceitful. Beyond all question this is true. Such people are either cut off in strife and conflict, in personal affrays in duels, or in battle; or they are arrested for their crimes, and punished by an ignominious death. Thousands and tens of thousands thus die every year, who, but for their evil deeds, might have doubled the actual length of their lives; who might have passed onward to old age respected, beloved, happy, useful. There is to all, indeed, an outer limit of life. There is a bound which we cannot pass. That natural limit, however, is one that in numerous cases is much beyond what people actually reach, though one to which they might have come by a course of temperance, prudence, virtue, and piety.
God has fixed a limit beyond which we cannot pass; but, wherever that may be, as arranged in his providence, it is our duty not to cut off our lives before that natural limit is reached; or, in other words, it is our duty to live on the earth just as long as we can. Whatever makes us come short of this is self-murder, for there is no difference in principle between a mans cutting off his life by the pistol, by poison, or by the halter, and cutting it off by vice, by crime, by dissipation, by the neglect of health, or by those habits of indolence and self-indulgence which undermine the constitution, and bring the body down to the grave. Thousands die each year whose proper record on their graves would be self-murderers. Thousands of young people are indulging in habits which, unless arrested, must have such a result, and who are destined to an early grave – who will not live out half their days – unless their mode of life is changed, and they become temperate, chaste, and virtuous. One of the ablest lawyers that I have ever known – an example of what often occurs – was cut down in middle life by the use of tobacco. How many thousands perish each year, in a similar manner, by indulgence in intoxicating drinks!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 23. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction] The Chaldee is emphatic: “And thou, O Lord, by thy WORD ( bemeymerach) shalt thrust them into the deep gehenna, the bottomless pit, whence they shall never come out; the pit of destruction, where all is amazement, horror, anguish, dismay, ruin, endless loss, and endless suffering.”
Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days] So we find, if there be an appointed time to man upon earth, beyond which he cannot pass; yet he may so live as to provoke the justice of God to cut him off before he arrives at that period; yea, before he has reached half way to that limit. According to the decree of God, he might have lived the other half; but he has not done it.
But I will trust in thee.] Therefore I shall not be moved, and shall live out all the days of my appointed time.
The fathers in general apply the principal passages of this Psalm to our Lord’s sufferings, the treason of Judas, and the wickedness of the Jews; but these things do not appear to me fairly deducible from the text. It seems to refer plainly enough to the rebellion of Absalom. “The consternation and distress expressed in Ps 55:4-8, describe the king’s state of mind when he fled from Jerusalem, and marched up the mount of Olives, weeping. The iniquity cast upon the psalmist answers to the complaints artfully laid against the king by his son of a negligent administration of justice: and to the reproach of cruelty cast upon him by Shimei, 2Sa 15:2; 2Sa 15:4; 2Sa 16:7-8. The equal, the guide, and the familiar friend, we find in Ahithophel, the confidential counsellor, first of David, afterwards of his son Absalom. The buttery mouth and oily words describe the insidious character of Absalom, as it is delineated, 2Sa 15:5-9. Still the believer, accustomed to the double edge of the prophetic style, in reading this Psalm, notwithstanding its agreement with the occurrences of David’s life, will be led to think of David’s great descendant, who endured a bitter agony, and was the victim of a baser treachery, in the same spot where David is supposed to have uttered these complaints.” – Bishop Horsley.
ANALYSIS OF THE FIFTY-FIFTH PSALM
There are five general parts in this Psalm: –
I. The psalmist entreats God to hear his prayer, Ps 55:1-2.
II. He complains of his trouble, Ps 55:3-8.
II. He prays against his enemies, and shows the causes, Ps 55:8-15.
IV. He takes courage upon assurance of God’s help, and his enemies’ overthrow, Ps 55:15-21.
V. An epilogue, in which he exhorts all men to rely upon God, Ps 55:22-23.
I. He begs audience.
1. “Give ear – hide not thyself – attend – hear me.”
2. “My prayer – supplication – that I mourn – complain – make a noise.” Affected he was with the sense of what he prayed for, and he was therefore earnest in it.
II. This in general; but next, in particular, he mentions the causes of his complaint, and earnestness to God, that he might be heard both in regard of his enemies, and the condition he was now in. The danger he was in was very great; escape he could not without God’s help, for his enemies persecuted him very sore.
1. They slandered and calumniated him, and threatened him: “Because of the voice,” c.
2. They vexed, pressed upon him, and oppressed him: “Because of the oppression of the wicked.”
3. They plotted his ruin, devolved, and cast iniquity upon him – charged him home.
4. They were implacable, angry, and hated him: “In wrath they hate me.”
Then, as to his own person, he was in a sad, heavy, doleful condition.
1. “My heart is sore pained within me.” His grief was inward.
2. “The terrors of death are fallen upon me.” He saw nothing but death before him.
3. “Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me.” Which are the outward effects of fear.
4. “And a horrible dread within hath overwhelmed me.” Amazement followed his fear.
And he illustrates this his condition by the counsel he took with his own heart. Upon the deliberation the result was, that he would speedily fly away, fly into the wilderness, as if he might be safer among beasts than such men.
1. “And I said.” That was the result upon his debate with himself.
2. “O that I had wings like a dove!” It is a fearful creature of a swift wing. In fear he was, and he would fly as fast and as far as the dove from the eagle.
3. As far, even to some remote land, where I should have rest from these wicked men.
And he amplifies and explains himself again: –
1. That he would fly far away, even to some desolate place out of their reach: “Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.”
2. That he would do it with speed: “I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” Such turbulent and impetuous creatures his enemies were that threw down all before them, as a wind, storm, and tempest.
III. To his prayer he adds an imprecation: –
1. “Destroy them, O Lord destroy them in their own counsels.”
2. Or else, “divide their tongue.” Let them not agree in their counsels.
Of this he gives the reason in the following words: viz., that they were a band of violent, contentious, ungodly, troublesome, crafty, and fraudulent people.
1. Violent they were, and litigious: “I have seen violence and strife in the city.”
2. Ungodly, and workers of iniquity they were; and incessant in it: “Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.”
3. Crafty and fraudulent also: “Deceit and guile depart not from her streets.” It was then a city, a corporation, a society of evil doers.
And of this he produces an instance, which whether it were some bosom friend of David who stole out of the city of Keilah, and betrayed his counsels to Saul; or else Ahithophel, who, being formerly his great favourite and counsellor, fell to Absalom, it is uncertain. Whoever it was, such a treacherous person there was, and of him he complains: and well he might; for , “there is not a greater sore than a treacherous friend.” This treachery he exaggerates most eloquently by an incrementum and apostrophe, drawing his aggravation from the laws of friendship, which he had broken. Had it been an enemy, he could have borne it; but that it was a friend was intolerable, and also inexcusable. Thus the climax stands: –
1. “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it.”
2. “Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself,” that is, arise and insult me; “then I would have hid myself from him,” never admitted him to my bosom.
But mark this emphatic adversative, for now he turns his speech to the man: –
1. “It was thou,” emphatically thou, principally and beyond all others. None but thou.
2. “A man,” according to my own rank, mine equal; my guide or counsellor; my acquaintance, my own familiar friend.
3. “We took sweet counsel together.” One to whom I communicated my secrets.
4. “And walked unto the house of God in company.” Professors we were of the same religion.
Now all these circumstances much heighten and aggravate the treachery: that thou, my equal, my director, my familiar friend, one whom I made the master of all my secrets, one who was a great professor of the same religion with me, that thou shouldst betray me, even break my heart. ; Judas – betrayest thou?
Being thus much wronged and moved, as he had just reason, he begins again with an imprecation, not only on him, but on all who believed him, even upon the whole faction: “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell,” have Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s wages. And he adds the reason. They are signally and incorrigibly wicked: “For wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.”
IV. Hitherto hath David prayed, complained, imprecated; but now he shows how he recovered courage again, being certain of God’s help, and a revenge to be taken on his enemies.
1. “As for me, I will call upon God fervently, and the Lord shall save me.”
2. “Evening, and morning, and at noon-day,” incessantly, “will I pray and cry aloud; and he shall hear me.”
3. And I pray in faith; experience I have of his deliverance; he hath done it, and he will do it again. “He hath redeemed my soul in peace from the battle which was against me.” Even in the midst of the battle, I was as safe as in a time of peace; miraculously delivered, as if there had been no danger.
4. “For there were many with me.” Many enemies, say some; others, many angels. Those refer it to the danger; these, to the protection. Many enemies round about me, and then it is a wonder I should be delivered. Many angels press to help me, and then it was no wonder that my life was saved. But as for the ungodly, it was not so with them; for this verse is opposed to the former.
1. “God shall hear,” viz., me and my prayers, and the wrongs they do me.
2. “And shall afflict them,” i.e., my enemies.
3. “Even he that abideth of old. Selah.” Mark that, for He is immutable. His power and strength is the same, and his care and love to his people; therefore, he will afflict them.
And, besides, there are those who will provoke him to it, –
1. Because “they have no changes.” Obstinate they are, impertinent, and change not their ways. Or else they prosper, they have perpetual success, and meet with no alteration; this makes them secure and proud.
2. “They fear not God.” They ask, “Who is the Lord, that we should let Israel go?”
3. They are truce-breakers, violators of oaths, leagues, covenants, articles of war. “He (that is, some chief commander among them) hath put forth his hands, made war, imbrued his hands in blood, against such as are at peace with him.” He hath broken and profaned his covenant – his oath.
4. He is a gross hypocrite; his deeds answer not to his words: “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.”
V. In the epilogue of the Psalm he exhorts good men to rely upon God: “Cast thy burden (the cares, troubles, c., with which thou art loaded) on the Lord” and he fits it to his present purpose, both as it concerns the godly and the ungodly.
1. To the godly he gives this comfort: 1. “He (that is, God) shall sustain thee.” He will uphold thee, and give thee strength under the heaviest burdens. “Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden.” 2. “He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” With the temptation he will also give the issue; pressed they may be, but not oppressed so as finally to be overthrown.
2. To the ungodly. 1. Overthrown they shall be, and utterly destroyed: “Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction;” the grave – hell. 2. “Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.” They come commonly to some untimely death, as Absalom and Ahithophel, concerning whom the Psalm was composed.
He concludes with the use he would make of it; as if he had said: Let these bloody and deceitful men repose their confidence in their armies, in their violence, in their crafty and subtle ways; I will take another course: “But I will trust in thee.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shalt bring them down; my wicked enemies, of whom I have hitherto spoken.
Bloody and
deceitful men; that colour their cruel intentions with specious and deceitful pretences; which are most hateful to God and all men.
Shall not live out half their days; not half of what others live, and they by the course of nature might live; but shall be cut off by Gods just judgment, by an untimely and violent death.
But I will trust in thee; and in this confidence I will quietly and patiently wait upon thee, for their downfall, and for my deliverance.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. bloody . . . days(comparePsa 5:6; Psa 51:14),deceit and murderous dispositions often united. The threat isdirected specially (not as a general truth) against the wicked, thenin the writer’s view.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But thou, O God, shall bring them down,…. Ahithophel and his accomplices in the conspiracy against David, Judas and the wicked Jews concerned in Christ’s death; and did not believe in him;
into the pit of destruction, or “corruption” i; either the grave, where bodies being put corrupt and putrefy; or hell, where the wicked are punished with everlasting destruction; see Ps 55:15;
bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; such as Ahithophel and Absalom, Judas, and the murderers of our Lord: or, “do not halve their days” k; do not come up to the half of the ordinary term of man’s life, which is threescore years and ten. The Jews say l, that all the years of Doeg were but thirty four, and of Ahithophel thirty three; and probably Judas might be about the same age. Or the sense is, that, generally speaking, such sort of men die in the prime of their days, and do not live half the time that, according to the course of nature, they might live; and which they promise themselves they should, and their friends hoped and expected they would:
but I will trust in thee; the Lord, that he would hear and save him, support him under his burden, supply him with his grace, and every thing needful, and not suffer him to be moved; and that he should live to fill up the measure of his days, do the will and work of God, and then be received to glory.
i “corruptionis”, Vatablus, Musculus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Ainsworth; approved by Gussetius, p. 850. k “dividiabunt”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. l T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 69. 2. & 106. 2. & Gloss. in Pirke Abot, c. 5. s. 19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23 Thou, O God! shalt cast them into the pit of corruption. He returns to speak of his enemies, designing to show the very different end which awaits them, from that which may be expected by the righteous. The only reflection which comforts the latter, when cast down at the feet of their oppressors, is, that they can confidently look for a peaceful issue to the dangers which encompass them; while, on the other hand, they can discern by faith the certain destruction which impends the wicked. The Hebrew word שחת, shachath, signifies the grave, and as there seems an impropriety in saying that they are cast into the pit of the grave, some read in preference the pit of corruption, (322) the word being derived from שחת , shachath, to corrupt, or destroy. It is a matter of little consequence which signification be adopted; one thing is obvious, that David means to assert that they would be overtaken not only by a temporary, but everlasting destruction. And here he points at a distinction between them and the righteous. These may sink into many a deep pit of worldly calamity, but they arise again. The ruin which awaits their enemies is here declared to be deadly, as God will cast them into the grave, that they may rot there. In calling them bloody men, (323) he adverts to a reason which confirmed the assertion he had made. The vengeance of God is certain to overtake the cruel and the deceitful; and this being the character of his adversaries, he infers that their punishment would be inevitable. “But does it consist,” may some ask, “with what passes under our observation, that bloody men live not half their days? If the character apply to any, it must with peculiar force to tyrants, who consign their fellow-creatures to slaughter, for the mere gratification of their licentious passions. To such very evidently, and not to common murderers, does the Psalmist refer in this place; and yet will not tyrants, who have butchered their hundreds of thousands, reach frequently an advanced period of life?” They may; but notwithstanding instances of this description, where God has postponed the execution of judgment, the assertion of the Psalmist is borne out by many considerations. With regard to temporal judgments, it is enough that we see them executed upon the wicked, in the generality of cases, for a strict or perfect distribution in this matter is not to be expected, as I have shown at large upon the thirty-seventh psalm. Then the life of the wicked, however long it may be protracted, is agitated by so many fears and disquietudes, that it scarcely merits the name, and may be said to be death rather than life. Nay, that life is worse than death which is spent under the curse of God, and under the accusations of a conscience which torments its victim more than the most barbarous executioner. Indeed, if we take a right estimate of what the course of this life is, none can be said to have reached its goal, but such as have lived and died in the Lord, for to them, and them alone, death as well as life is gain. When assailed, therefore, by the violence or fraud of the wicked, it may comfort us to know that their career shall be short, — that they shall be driven away, as by a whirlwind, and their schemes, which seemed to meditate the destruction of the whole world, dissipated in a moment. The short clause which is subjoined, and which closes the psalm, suggests that this judgment of the wicked must be waked for in the exercise of faith and patience, for the Psalmist rests in hope for his deliverance. From this it appears that the wicked are not cut off so suddenly from the earth, as not to afford us hope for the exhibition of patience under the severity of long-continued injuries.
(322) The Chaldee explains it, “the deep Gehenna.”
(323) Heb. “men of blood and deceit.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
23. Thou shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction This verse must be taken as a repetition of the sense and intention of Psa 55:15, “pit of destruction,” here, being equal to sheol there. The Hebrew words admit it, and the unity of the psalm requires it. The verbs should be translated in both cases declaratively, not optatively, as in our English version in Psa 55:15. “Pit,” here, has allusion to the snare pit in which animals were entrapped and taken. The destruction of a conspiracy would follow from any cause which broke their harmony of counsel or unity of action as surely as a beast is taken when fallen into a snare pit. This conspiracy was virtually destroyed when Ahithophel withdrew. See 2Sa 17:14. The word translated “shall bring them down,” denotes an set of violence, as in Psa 56:7, (where see note,) and this accords with what follows of “bloody and deceitful men.” But in Psa 59:11 (where see note) it stands directly opposed to the death penalty. It is always right, while we trust alone in God for vindication and defence, to pray that wicked men may be brought to justice, but never from a feeling of revenge. See more on imprecations in Psalms 109.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
MY soul! leave every other subject, and every other consideration, in the perusal of this Psalm, to ponder over the several parts of it, and to contemplate thy God and Saviour as here typically set forth, and prophetically represented. David, king of Israel, was indeed betrayed by false friends, and persecuted by his unnatural son: and good men in all ages have been exercised with similar trials in their pilgrimage state. But what were David’s trials, or the afflictions of others, compared to thee, thou patient Lamb of God, when bulls of Bashan compassed thee about, and all thy disciples forsook thee, and fled; when one denied thee, and another betrayed thee?
But chiefly, while I behold David going over the brook Kidron, and walking up barefoot, with his head covered, the ascent of Mount Olivet, let my soul call to mind how thou, my adored Redeemer, didst pass over the same memorable spot in the dolorous night of thy conflict in the garden. Oh! for my soul to take the wing of faith, and fly thither to behold thy sufferings! Was there ever sorrow like unto thy sorrow, wherewith the Lord afflicted thee in the day of his fierce anger? And chiefly, precious Jesus, let me connect with this view the interest I have in it. Let me recollect that in all this, thou wast the surety, the sponsor, the representative of thy people: thou didst bear the whole for thy redeemed. And did Judas betray thee? did Peter deny thee? did all forsake thee? And so have I. – Didst thou drink of the brook in the way? And shall not I? And as into this brook the filth of the temple sacrifices emptied itself; so, Lord, all my guilt and defilement emptied upon thee; and through all thou madest a way for the salvation of thy redeemed. Precious Jesus! let me have grace to behold thee in all this as my surety, and may my soul pass on through all the trifling persecutions I meet with in this pilgrimage state, with a wise indifference, losing sight of all in the contemplation of thy unequalled sorrows, and reading in everyone of them the Holy Ghost’s declaration, by his servant the apostle, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 55:23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
Ver. 23. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction ] Into the deep Gehenna, saith the Chaldee; thou shalt hurl them into hell, from their lofty tops here.
Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days
But I will trust in thee
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Bloody and deceitful men = men of bloods and deceit. Genitive of Character. Hebrew bloods = great bloodshed.
half their days. Referring to Absalom’s untimely death.
trust = confide. Hebrew. batah. App-69.
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
upon = relating to.
Jonath-elem-rechokim = The dove of the distant Terebinths. App-65. A pictorial description of David in the wilderness, fleeing from Absalom. Compare verses: Psa 55:6-8; and the word hamah = to coo (as a dove). See note on “cry aloud” in Psa 55:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
O God: Psa 7:15, Psa 7:16, Psa 58:9, Psa 59:12, Psa 59:13
pit: Pro 15:11, Pro 27:20, Isa 38:17
bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days: Heb. men of bloods and deceit shall not halve their days. Psa 5:6, 2Sa 3:27, 2Sa 20:9, 2Sa 20:10, 1Ki 2:5, 1Ki 2:6, 2Sa 3:27, 2Sa 20:9, 2Sa 20:10, 1Ki 2:5, 1Ki 2:6, Job 15:32, Pro 10:27, Ecc 7:17, Mat 27:4, Mat 27:5
Reciprocal: Gen 38:7 – and the Exo 23:26 – the number Num 16:33 – into the 2Sa 4:12 – slew them 2Sa 17:23 – and hanged 2Sa 20:12 – General 2Ki 15:13 – a full month 2Ch 23:15 – they slew her there 2Ch 33:24 – General Job 21:21 – the number Job 22:16 – cut down Job 31:3 – destruction Job 33:28 – will deliver Job 36:6 – preserveth Job 36:14 – They die Psa 26:9 – bloody men Psa 36:12 – There Psa 37:9 – evildoers Psa 51:14 – Deliver Psa 52:5 – God Psa 56:7 – in thine Psa 59:2 – save Psa 63:9 – go Psa 68:21 – the hairy Psa 73:18 – thou castedst Psa 88:11 – in destruction Psa 94:13 – until the pit Psa 94:23 – And he Psa 109:8 – his days Psa 139:19 – Surely Psa 140:10 – into deep Psa 143:12 – of thy mercy Psa 147:6 – he casteth Pro 1:18 – General Ecc 8:13 – neither Jer 17:11 – shall leave Jer 41:7 – slew Eze 17:15 – or shall Dan 11:7 – and shall prevail Jon 2:6 – corruption Hab 2:17 – because Mat 26:24 – but Mat 26:52 – they Act 1:18 – and falling
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 55:23. Thou shalt bring them My wicked enemies, of whom I have hitherto spoken; down into the pit of destruction Not only to the dust, but to hell, called destruction, Job 26:6. God afflicted them, Psa 55:19, to humble and reform them, but as that effect was not produced by their afflictions, he will at last bring them to ruin. Those that are not reclaimed by the rod of correction will certainly be brought into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men That colour their cruel intentions with specious and deceitful pretences; which are most hateful to God and all men; shall not live out half their days Not half so long as men ordinarily live, and as they, by the course of nature, might have lived, and as they themselves expected to live, but shall be cut off by Gods just judgment, by an untimely and violent death. But I will trust in thee In thy providence, power, and mercy; and not in my own prudence, strength, or merit. When the wicked are cut off in the midst of their days, I shall still live by faith in thee. And in this confidence I will quietly and patiently wait on thee for their downfall, and for my deliverance.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
55:23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out {r} half their days; but I will trust in thee.
(r) Though they sometimes live longer, yet their life is cursed by God, unquiet, and worse than any death.