Psalms 55:15 (ASV)

Passage

Let death come suddenly upon them, Let them go down alive into Sheol; For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

Nearby Context

Psalms 55:13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, My companion, and my familiar friend.

Psalms 55:14 We took sweet counsel together; We walked in the house of God with the throng.

Psalms 55:15 Let death come suddenly upon them, Let them go down alive into Sheol; For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

Psalms 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; And Jehovah will save me.

Psalms 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan; And he will hear my voice.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "death", "come", "suddenly", "upon", "down", "alive", "sheol", and "wickedness". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "death" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "We took sweet counsel together We walked..." into verse 16's "As for me I will call upon...", so "death" and "come" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "death" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.