Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

PSALMS 55:17KJV
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Psalms 55:17 (KJV)

What does Psalms 55:17 mean?

Psalms 55:17 describes a troubled speaker turning to God throughout the day and trusting God to hear him. His words are not a quiet aside: the KJV says he will pray and “cry aloud.”

Following his appeal to God in verse 16, the speaker names evening, morning, and noon. These times picture his appeal continuing across the day. The verse ends by moving from what the speaker will do to what he expects God to do: “he shall hear my voice.”

The Hebrew behind Psalms 55:17

  • “pray” — שִׂיחַ (siach): The word can carry the sense of speaking about a concern or pouring out a complaint. Here, the speaker’s prayer gives voice to his distress.
  • “cry aloud” — הָמָה (hamah): The word can suggest making a noise or being in turmoil. It gives the speaker’s cry a sense of agitation as well as sound.
  • “hear” — שָׁמַע (shamaʿ): The word can mean to hear or listen. The speaker expects God to attend to his words.

Why Psalms 55:17 matters

  • The speaker’s distress has a personal cause. Earlier in the psalm, he describes the pain of being turned against by someone who had been his companion (verses 12–14).
  • The surrounding passage connects being heard with the speaker’s safety. After saying that God will hear his voice, the speaker says that God has delivered him from the battle against him (verse 18).
  • The named times span the day rather than pointing to a single occasion. “Evening, and morning, and at noon” shows how often the speaker’s appeal comes to mind.

Where else these words appear

“pray” Hebrew H7878 · used in 20 verses

  • Judges 5:10 Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.
  • Psalms 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
  • Psalms 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

“noon” Hebrew H6672 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
  • 1 Kings 18:29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
  • Isaiah 16:3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

“aloud” Hebrew H1993 · used in 32 verses

  • 1 Kings 1:41 And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?
  • Psalms 83:2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
  • Isaiah 59:11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

“Evening” Hebrew H6153 · used in 130 verses

  • Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
  • Leviticus 15:18 The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.
  • 1 Kings 10:15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.