Psalm 56
Psalm 56
Milt Reynolds | Last updated: August 10, 2022
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 56:1–13, ESV
Trampled?
"Men trample on me."
This psalm, at first reading, does not seem to apply to me. The daily news and coffee shop chatter and pub prophets and political entertainers attempt to describe themselves, and us, as being trampled on.
But I don't buy it.
I'm not being chased down a street by vigilantees who are suspicious of my appearance. I'm not threatened with injury by an enemy. I'm not being stalked by someone waiting for my life...although a decently-skilled stalker could be stalking me without my knowing it!
However, if I understand "man" and "attacker" and "enemy" as referring to the devil, this psalm suddenly has seriously substantial impact on me...on all of us.
The devil proudly attacks me...trampling on me all day long. The thoughts and intentions of the devil are against all of God's creation...thoughts of oppression, trampling on our faith and trust in God, attacking us with doubts, diversions, and the drugs of wealth and fear and fun and work.
The devil stirs up strife, inwardly and outwardly. The devil lurks, watching our steps, waiting to wreck our hope of a supremely satisfying life forever with God.
Our only protection is trust in God's promise of life with him, regardless of whether our time on earth is short or long, comfortable or costly.
O God, be gracious to me. Cast down the devil that tramples my faith daily. Keep count of my every setback and loss. Put my tears in your bottle. Write them in your book. Deliver me from this fear of death, this forgetfulness and fear of clinging to the dust of earth.
Keep my feet from falling, that I may walk with you in the light and life of heaven above!
In Whom Do I Trust?
I do not live in Ukraine or Russia. I am not a soldier or marine or sailor or airman. I have never been in the military. How can I know the full meaning of this psalm?
I can think of situations and stressful circumstances which feel to me like "trampling" and "oppression". I have felt afraid...afraid of what people think and say of me. Is that an "injury"? Am I to think of other people as enemies, attackers, or criminals? They are not flesh, in that they are not confronting me physically. It is their unspoken criticism and secret confrontation that I fear.
I fear what I imagine.
My thoughts feel like injuries, like lurkers stirring up strife, watching my steps, waiting to take my life.
In what am I to trust regarding you, God?
This psalm promises judgement in the end for those who wrongfully injure me. How does that apply to my imagined fears? If the worst happens, and my imagined fears become real, physical injury...real physical humilation and abandonment...what then?
I trust that even then you will deliver me, that I may walk befor you my God, in the light of life.
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