Psalms 54:2

Study note

Setting — David addresses God at the moment the Ziphites reveal his hiding place to Saul, immediately following his initial plea for vindication.

The words — The imperative שְׁמַע (shema) commands "hear," paired with תְּפִלָּתִי (tefillati) for "my prayer," while הַאֲזִינָה (ha'azina) intensifies the appeal to "give ear" to the אִמְרֵי פִי (imrei pi) or "words of my mouth."

The thread — This direct appeal for divine attention recurs in Psalms 130:2 and Psalms 143:7, where the psalmist similarly requests the Lord to hear his voice and attend to his plea.

Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to approach prayer as an urgent, unmediated request for God to actively listen to human speech rather than perform ritual.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.