Psalms 55:9 (GNV)

Passage

Destroy, O Lord, and deuide their tongues: for I haue seene crueltie and strife in the citie.

Nearby Context

Psalms 55:7 Beholde, I woulde take my flight farre off, and lodge in the wildernes. Selah.

Psalms 55:8 Hee would make haste for my deliuerance from the stormie winde and tempest.

Psalms 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, and deuide their tongues: for I haue seene crueltie and strife in the citie.

Psalms 55:10 Day and night they goe about it vpon the walles thereof: both iniquitie and mischiefe are in the middes of it.

Psalms 55:11 Wickednes is in the middes thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streetes.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "destroy", "lord", "deuide", "tongues", "haue", "seene", "crueltie", and "strife". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "destroy" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "Hee would make haste for my deliuerance..." into verse 10's "Day and night they goe about it...", so "destroy" and "lord" 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 "destroy" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.