Trust in God under Persecution
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths.
A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God,
for men trample upon me;
all day long foemen oppress me;
2 my enemies trample upon me all day long,
for many fight against me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I put my trust in thee.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust without a fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they seek to injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They band themselves together, they lurk,
they watch my steps.As they have waited for my life,
7 so recompense[a] them for their crime;
in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 Thou hast kept count of my tossings;
put thou my tears in thy bottle!
Are they not in thy book?9 Then my enemies will be turned back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that[b] God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust without a fear.
What can man do to me?
12 My vows to thee I must perform, O God;
I will render thank offerings to thee.
13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
yea, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Footnotes
- Psalm 56:7Cn: Heb deliver
- Psalm 56:9Or because
- Structure of Psalm 56
5 Books of Psalms 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107- 150
We are in Book II of Psalms
Book II: The Triumphs of David
Book II vs Book I has greater optimism and emphasis on praise[1]
- Authorship: David tenth century BC
- Superscription[2] [Meaning of Scriptures, layers literal first place]
- Initial plea and complaint
III. Affirmation of Confidence
- Complaint
- Imprecation and petition
- Affirmation of confidence
VII. Vow
- Promise of thanksgiving
- Affirmation of confidence
- Promise of sacrifice
- Motif of thanksgiving
Faith/trust/confidence synonyms
David can be locked into David & Goliath, forget adultery Bathsheba, still a man
Terrified and confident at the same time
Best way to combat terror is confidence in the Lord
Subject meaning of faith vs objective faith
Mk 9:24 help my unbelief boy’s father not centurion
[1] John Bergsma & Brant Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, Old Testament Volume I (Ignatius: San Francisco 2018) 569
[2] Erhard S. Gerstenberger Psalms Part 1, With and introduction to Cultic Poetry, Forms of the Old Testament Literature vol XIV (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, MI 1988) 226
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