Psalms 56
Big idea: Written after David was seized in Gath — the Philistine city whose champion he had killed — and the psalm's method is repetition. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. Not if. The refrain comes back twice: in God I put my trust; I will not be afraid; what can flesh do to me? He is not claiming to be unafraid; he is stating what he does with the fear. And in the middle sits one of the tenderest images in Scripture: you count my wanderings; you put my tears into your container.
Psalm 56 is written in a Philistine city. Psalm 57 is written in a cave, hiding from his own king.
56:1–7 — When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you
Written, its title says, when the Philistines seized him in Gath — the episode where David escaped by feigning madness. The psalm's key sentence handles fear the way nothing else in the Psalter does. Not 'I will not be afraid', but 'WHEN I am afraid, I will put my trust in you'. The fear is granted a place in the sentence, and trust is what happens inside it rather than instead of it.
1 For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me. 2 My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. 3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4 In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? 5 All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life. 7 Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.
56:8–13 — You put my tears into your container
The image that has outlived the psalm: tears collected in a container and entered in a book. It is administrative rather than sentimental — wanderings COUNTED, tears stored, the whole thing written down — and that is what makes it a comfort. What the psalm claims is not that the suffering will be undone but that it is on the record. Then the refrain returns with one word changed.
8 You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book? 9 Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this: that God is for me. 10 In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. 11 I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 12 Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you. 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.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).