Psalm 56 Trust in God Under Persecution I

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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

  1. Psalm 56:7Cn: Heb deliver
  2. Psalm 56:9Or because
  3. 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]

  1. Authorship: David tenth century BC
  2. Superscription[2] [Meaning of Scriptures, layers literal first place]
  1. Initial plea and complaint

III. Affirmation of Confidence

  1. Complaint
  2. Imprecation and petition
  3. Affirmation of confidence

VII. Vow

  1. Promise of thanksgiving
  2. Affirmation of confidence
  3. Promise of sacrifice
  4. 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