What Does Psalm 55:2 Mean in the King James?
Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word for complaint holds both inward musing and spoken distress, so the thought turning inside and the sound coming out are one act of address.
THE MEANING
You address God while grief is still turning through your thoughts and coming out in sound. Your request is for attentive hearing and an answer, and inward complaint and audible groaning enter the same prayer.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that grief must be composed before it can be brought into prayer; the speaker addresses God while complaint and groaning are still unfolding.
THE ROOT
בְּשִׂיחִי
be-siachi
GROWS FROM
שיח
siach
To muse, meditate, or speak; the root also carries complaint.
The root שיח (siach, musing or speech) ranges from inward meditation to spoken complaint. It links the thought turning inside to the distress voiced aloud: both belong to the same troubled address.
ALSO GROWS
siach: Musing, meditation, or speech.
שִׂיחַ
Its range shows that the complaint can be inwardly carried as well as spoken.
asichah: I speak or complain.
אָשִׂיחָה
This form appears in Psalm 77:3, where complaint is voiced from within distress.
וְאָהִימָה
ve-ahimah
GROWS FROM
המה
hamah
To murmur, groan, roar, or be in tumult.
“make a noise” in this verse is ve-ahimah. The root המה (hamah, murmuring or roaring) holds quiet groaning and swelling tumult in one sound-field. The verse lets inward musing break out as audible distress without requiring it to become orderly speech first.
ALSO GROWS
hamon: Tumult, noise, or a multitude.
הָמוֹן
This noun carries the root’s sense of sound swelling into a crowd or uproar.
yehemu: They roar or surge noisily.
יֶהֱמוּ
The same root describes roaring waters in Psalm 46:3, giving the distress here the force of an uncontained sound.
THE PATTERN
Distress reaches toward divine response through the cry itself, before it is resolved.
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.THE THREAD
I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.Psalm 77:3 uses שיח (siach, musing or complaint) for “I complained,” while המה (hamah, tumult or groaning) appears in “was troubled.” The two roots that hold this verse’s thought and sound together return together there, making inward and outward distress part of one language.
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