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Psalm 55:20
He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
18He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me.
19God, who is enthroned forever, will hear and answer them. Selah. They never change and don’t fear God.
20He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
21His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
22Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
Notice
Hands raised against friends make the broken covenant concrete: someone bound by trust has turned that closeness into a place of danger.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your reading when those threatened are called “friends”?
Write on thisWhat does the word “covenant” add to the harm described here?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, does this description touch a friendship you have known?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 7:4if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me (yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),Both passages address harm against someone in a peaceful relationship, though Psalm 7 examines the speaker’s own conduct.
Psalm 89:34I will not break my covenant, nor alter what my lips have uttered.The broken covenant in Psalm 55 contrasts with God’s declaration in Psalm 89 that he will keep his covenant.
Acts 12:1Now about that time, King Herod stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly.Both describe hands extended to harm others: a covenant-breaker attacks friends, while Herod oppresses members of the assembly.
Numbers 30:2When a man vows a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out …Psalm 55 names a violated covenant; Numbers commands a person bound by a vow or oath to keep his word.
Psalm 120:6–7My soul has had her dwelling too long with him who hates peace.Both describe hostility close at hand: friends face attack in Psalm 55, and the speaker lives with someone who hates peace in Psalm 120.
Psalm 109:5They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.Both describe hostility within relationships marked by goodwill: friends are attacked, and love is repaid with hatred.
1 Samuel 22:17The king said to the guard who stood about him, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew that he …Hands raised against friends contrast with the king’s servants refusing to raise a hand against the LORD’s priests.
Ecclesiastes 8:2I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God.Both concern binding commitments: Psalm 55 reports a covenant violated, while Ecclesiastes grounds obedience to the king in an oath to God.
1 Samuel 24:10Behold, today your eyes have seen how the LORD had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will …The attacker raises his hands against friends, while David refuses to stretch out his hand against the LORD’s anointed.
Ezekiel 17:16–19“‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with …Both name a broken covenant; Ezekiel also names a despised oath and announces death in Babylon for the covenant-breaker.
Genesis 17:14The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”Both describe covenant-breaking, though Genesis concerns God’s covenant and circumcision, while Psalm 55 concerns an attack on friends.
Job 19:19All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.Both describe friends turning hostile: Psalm 55 names an attack, and Job speaks of loved friends turning against him.
Where this verse fits
Broken friendship. church hurt. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Betrayal by a friend belongs in prayer without softened language. The psalm names the broken covenant, and the surrounding verses entrust that burden to the God who sustains.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 55:20. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).