Psalms 55:13 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Psalms 55:9–15
• Psalms 55:1–23

Read Psalms 55:13 with 55:9–15 and 55:1–23. Read alone, “But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine…” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 55:9–15, the individual voice carries the movement “Violence in the city and betrayal by a companion” as part of “Betrayal inside the city and a burden cast on God.” Its lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Psalms 55:9–15 intensifies “Anguish and the wish to escape” within Psalm 55 by carrying “Violence in the city and betrayal by a companion.” The turn from “I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest” to “Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city” explains why this movement occurs here. Within that relationship, Psalm 55:13 turns the movement by contrasting what precedes it with “But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.”