Psalm 56
I have put my trust in God.
I HAVE PUT MY TRUST IN GOD
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
VERSE 1. Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
Be merciful to me. David was in peril.
VERSE 2. My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me.
My enemies want to swallow me up. Proud slanderers were hotly pursuing David.
all day long. They pursued David nonstop.
VERSE 3. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.
VERSE 4. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
VERSE 5. All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.
they twist my words. They are like politicians. They twist David’s words so as to ruin his reputation.
VERSE 6. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.
VERSE 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.
VERSE 8. You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?
You put my tears into your container. The notion of God collecting David’s tears in a wineskin coveys that God did not forget David’s suffering.
VERSE 9. Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me.
God is for me. That is, “God is on my side.”
This is a very bold assertion. Can we ever say, with absolute certainty, that God is on our side?
Many believers assume the LORD God thinks and acts like them. But he is infinitely beyond us. Read more »
VERSE 10. In God, I will praise his word. In the LORD, I will praise his word.
VERSE 11. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Psalms and from the entire Bible.
What can man do to me? Compared with what God can do, what can people do to us?
The martyrs would say that the worst that people can do is kill us. After that, we live with the LORD God eternally.
VERSE 12. Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.
VERSE 13. For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
you have delivered. David is so confident of the LORD’s deliverance that he writes in the past tense. “You HAVE delivered.”
PSALMS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150
Deuterocanonical chapter: 151
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, David’s Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.