Psalm 56 - A Prayer of Trust

 

Psalm 56 A Psalm of David “when he was driven from his own country and took refuge among the Philistines, who were strangers, and ill-affected towards him,” William de Burgh. Read 1 Samuel 27. Comments by Dennis Edwards.

I remember in my own life being plagued by the fear of being drafted and sent off to war. When I refused to take the obligatory Army medical, and later refused to be inducted, I had to fight those fears that would sometimes overwhelm me. Finally, when my dear mother called me at the end of October, 1971, and informed me that the FBI were seeking to arrest me; it was at that moment, I fell on my knees in desperate prayer to a God whom I did not believe in. Nevertheless, He answered my cry.

Two weeks later, after picking up a young hitch-hiking couple, I prayed the sinner’s prayer and received Jesus into my heart. I entered a three-month missionary training camp under the direction of the Jesus Revolution and my life changed completely. That was almost 54 years ago. Like David, I have committed my own sins, and had my own set of problems and difficulties.

Through it all, God has taught me, and forgiven me, and helped me follow Him, in spite of all my seeming failures, mistakes, and shortcomings. He is truly a just and loving God and in goodness and faithfulness has kept me. He’s taught me to give Him thanks in every situation, knowing that He will work things out for good, if I continue to trust in Him, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 & Romans 8:28.

Psalm 56:1-2 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresses me. My enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O You most High.

We have both physical and spiritual enemies that fight against us. Jesus said, “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household,” Matthew 10:36. Apostle Paul admonishes us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might by putting on the whole armour of God, that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” Ephesians 6:10-12.

Augustine commented on the words “oppresses me,” with the following thought found in William de Burgh’s Commemtary on the Book of Psalms, 1801-1866.

“A grape on the vine sustains no pressing; whole it seems, but nothing flows from it. It is thrown into a winepress, is trodden, is pressed: harm seems to be done to it, but the harm is not barren: no, if no harm had been applied, barren it would have remained….So, it is with Christ. He was the first cluster pressed in the wine-fat, and then flowed out the choicest wine – ‘the blood that cleanses us from all sin.’”

As with Christ, who was oppressed and afflicted, David, as his protype, was oppressed and afflicted. Through his trials and affliction came forth the sweet honey of his psalms to God. The heart of stone had to be broken before the love and truth of God could flow forth from it. In like manner, we, too, suffer through life’s trials. We can let that suffering embitter us. Or, we can let the suffering break our harden heart, so that the love of God can flow forth from it, as a balm onto a lost and dying world.

Psalm 56:3-4 What time I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Whenever we are tempted to fear, we should remember God’s words and promises. He has told us not to fear or be dismayed. He has told us that He will be with us, that His presence will go with us. Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who would guide us and be in us. He said, “Fear not those that can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather fear Him which is able to cast both body and soul into hell,” Matthew 10:28.

“The fear of man brings a snare, but whosoever puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe,” Proverbs 29:25.

When we fear something, it is a form of worship. God has told us we should not have any other gods before Him. Solomon concluded, “This is the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man,” Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Psalm 56:5-7 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.  Shall they escape by iniquity? in Your anger cast down the peoples, O God.

As Jesus’ enemies tried to capture Him in His words, so the enemies of God today use their words to throw down the truth of the Gospel to the ground. A lie goes around the world, before the truth can get around the block. God’s word says that in the last days, the Antichrist forces “shall cast the truth to the ground,” Daniel 8:12.

The Antichrist shall speak marvellous things against God, and shall magnify himself above every god, Daniel 11:36. “And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and holy people,” Daniel 8:24.

“He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes, (Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon); but he shall be broken without hand,” Daniel 8:25b. Jesus will supernaturally defeat the Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, that proceeds out of His mouth, Revelation 19:15.

Isaiah 11:4b “And with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.”

Isaiah 66:15-16 “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.”

The wicked shall not escape in that day, for His anger shall cast down the nations.

Psalm 56:8-9 You take note of all my wanderings: You put my tears into Your bottle: are they not in Your book? When I cry unto You, then shall my enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

God has a video recording of our life which He shall play before us when we appear before His judgment seat. We believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ when we die or before the Millennium period, and be rewarded according to our works. The unrighteous will stand at the Great White Throne Judgment of God. Each will be judged by his works whether they were good, or whether they were evil. Those not found written in the Book of Life shall be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death, Revelation 20:11-15.

Psalm 56:10-11 In God will I praise His word: in the Lord will I praise His word.  In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

David is encouraging himself by repeating or reciting God’s word. We, also, should put God’s word to memory and bring it to mind and remind ourselves, and God of His promises to us in times of distress, trouble, and mental anguish. Fear and faith do not walk together. Fear is the opposite of faith.

Faith comes by hearing God’s word. When fear attacks, fight back by reciting and repeating God’s word to yourself and the Devil. Almost the Devil’s whole power is in fear. Resist the Devil with faith, by quoting and standing on God’s word, like Jesus did. Resist the enemy and He will flee from you, James 4:7b.  

When fear from the Devil knocks on your heart’s door, let faith from God’s word answer it. Rebuke the fear in Jesus’ name and it will be gone. “And the peace of God which passes all understanding will fill your heart and mind through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Philippines 4:7.

Psalm 56:12-13 Your vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto You. For You have delivered my soul from death: will You not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

David is mindful of his need to give thanks to God for his deliverance. He offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. He looks forward to the hope of eternal life that God had promised from the Garden of Eden. David knows or longs for the day when he will walk with God in the land of the living.

Jesus is the Messiah, the God with us, who has opened the door to eternal life. He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die,” John11:25-26.

Apostle John would later write,

1 John 5:11-13 “And this is the record, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “If we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” Romans 10:13&9-10.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved,” Acts 16:31a.

Revelation 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be…Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”