In Psalm 55, an individual lament, David comes to God in anguish because of the opposition he has been facing (vv 1-4). He confesses that we wishes he could escape to a peaceful place, away from the strife that surrounds him (vv 6-8).
He prays that God would thwart the enemy and "divide their tongues," as he had done with the rebels at Babel; or that he would cause the earth to open up and swallow them, as he had done with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (vv 9-15).
He is confident that the faithful God who had carried out these mighty works would come to his aid and deal with the current rebels (vv 16-17, 22-23). "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you," David counsels in verse 22. Peter repeats this advice in 1 Peter 5:7.
David's trial is especially bitter because his chief opponent is an old friend, someone with whom he had worshiped and been in close fellowship. Tradition identifies this former friend as Ahithophel, formerly a trusted counselor (1 Chron 27:33), who defected to David's son Absalom during Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam 15-17).
Why did Ahithophel betray David? Here is one proposal that is often suggested: Ahithophel had a son named Eliam (2 Sam 23:34) who was one of David's mighty men, along with others that included Uriah the Hittite (v 39). Eliam was also the name of Bathsheba's father (2 Sam 11:3). If they were the same Eliam, then Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather and might have wanted to avenge David's seizing of Bathsheba and murder of Uriah.
The midrash on Psalm 55 applies Proverbs 10:9 to David and Athithophel: "Whoever walks in his integrity walks securely, but he who makes his way crooked will be found out." In the reading of the sages, David is the one who walks uprightly, Ahithophel the one who makes his way crooked. In the end, Ahithophel's bid for revenge was thwarted, and he hung himself (2 Sam 17:23).
In Christian tradition Psalm 55 is seen as foreshadowing Judas' betrayal of Jesus.
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