Psalm 56

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.

When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.

For their crime will they escape?
    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?

Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.

For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,

    that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

Psalm 56

David wrote Psalm 56 while he was on the run from Saul; the problem is that he was in Philistine territory, and they did not forget what he did to their champion Goliath.  Read about this in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, David gets scared in front of the Philistine King.  So, he acts crazy and the king lets him go.  I can’t help but to think about God’s sovereignty in this situation.  We all benefitted from this narrative.  How, you may ask.  Well, Jesus was a descendant from royalty, David.  Had David died, the prophecy would have not been fulfilled.  When God has a plan, He sticks to it.  He is in control of all things, which I find comforting because nothing is too much for Him.

God sees us where we are at.  David should have not been in enemy territory, but God (by His love and grace) delivered him.  God understands our situation better than we do.  Remember, He sees all, hears all, knows all.  Nothing surprises Him, nothing is beyond Him.  Our own wisdom gets us into trouble (Proverbs 3:5-6).  But if we daily give our lives and wills over to God, we have a much better chance of honoring him.

God knows how we feel.  We are made in the image and likeness of God, He has emotions just like we do, He felt them first.  Jesus, when He was on Earth was even tempted.  Hebrews 4;15 states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  When we face any situation, we can go before God with it.

God hears us when we call.  God is not some genie waiting around to get us out of a bind.  If He delivers us; it is for a purpose and His glory, if He doesn’t, He is still good.  Read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.  While faced with certain death, they still had faith and comfort in God’s sovereignty.  Verses 16-18 state,

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

In response, please reflect on God’s sovereignty and how much of a blessing it is to us.

I love you all,

Justin