In God I Trust
Psalms 56:1-4
David puts his trust in God when he is in danger and we should also.
#trust
#fear
#David
Published February 16th, 2021; Updated February 17th, 2021
Main point summary
Arc
Phrase
Background
Meditations
notes
Main point summary
God, show me grace because people are attacking me! I am confidently crying out to you, the God that I trust when I am afraid.
Arc
editing
OT
Psalms 56:1-4
esv
mine
r Be gracious to me, O God,
O God, please graciously help me,
for man s tramples on me;
because mankind treats me like dirt;
all day long
the entire day
an attacker oppresses me;
an assailant deals harshly with me;
temporal
series
my enemies trample on me
my adversary stomps on me like dirt
all day long,
the entire day,
for many attack me proudly.
because many people try to harm me and do so confidently without fear of consequences.
progression
ground
When I am afraid,
As I pray to you I remind myself that when I feel afraid,
I t put my trust in you.
I entrust myself to you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust;
That is I entrust myself to God, the very God whose word is precious to me, in this God I entrust myself to.
u I shall not be afraid.
I have decided that even in this situation I won’t fear.
What can flesh do to me?
Because mere man cannot cause me lasting harm.
inference
ideaexplanation
God, show me grace because people are attacking me!
I trust in to you when I am afraid.
I trust in God, the God whose word is great. Therefore I won’t fear because mere man cannot cause me lasting harm.
I am not offering up a prayer of desperation, unsure of whether you can help. Rather, I intentionally cry out to you God. For it is you that I entrust myself to when I am in fearful situations. Therefore, I will not fear because man cannot cause lasting harm to me.
discourse
Phrase
Psalms 56:1-4
The desperate prayer
He is being persecuted
to me,
Advantage
Be gracious ... O God,
for man tramples
Ground
on me;
Disadvantage
all day long
Temporal
an attacker oppresses me;
Explanation
It is getting worse
my enemies trample
on me
all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
The confidence underlying the prayer
I entrust myself to you
When I am afraid,
I put my trust
in you.
Locative
I trust God so I won’t fear
whose word I praise,
In God, ... in God
I trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do
to me?
phrasing
Background
Explaining the introduction To the choirmaster: for the choirmaster there was compiled a collection of psalms drawn from the separate sources or choirs, possibly for special occasions, possibly as a stage towards making the complete Psalter (Kidner) According to the dove on far-off terebinths: Psalm 55 mentions Dove Miktam: a silent prayer Of David: David wrote it When the Philistines seized him in Gath: 1 Samuel 21:10-15; 1 Samuel 22:1; also see Psalm 34
Meditations
What does it mean for someone to attack proudly? I think it means that they are sure that they will prevail in their attack and that they will not be punished. How does “in whose word I praise” relate to trusting God? The only way that we know that God is trustworthy is because of his word, which gives us examples of his faithfulness. Also, David loves Gods commands and statutes. He loves God’s word because God’s word is an expression of God. And David isn’t just calling out to a generic God. He is calling out to the God of the Bible. The God who revealed himself to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses. He reveled his will through the law. It is the same God whose word David worships in Psalm 119 that David calls out to here. David’s God not only has praiseworthy commands but he himself can be trusted.
Comments
Hugh
MattWint
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.