Psalm 56--In God I Trust

Psalm 56
English Standard Version

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
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56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
    all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
    for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
    they watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

8 You have kept count of my tossings;
    put my tears in your bottle.
    Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the LORD, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

​12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

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The superscript here gives us the context that David had been captured by the Philistines--the enemies of Israel.  Both Saul and David would fight against the Philisties for much of their reigns.  'I'm also sure the people of Gath were not too happy with David since David slew their champion, Goliath, who was from Gath.

David has many reasons to be afraid, but he simply says, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You." (listen to the children's song embedded below that is based on these verses from this psalm).  Davud cines to the conclusion that the flesh can do nothing to him unless the LORD allows it.  We have the same assurance today.  Even the "bad" things that happen to us come with His permission and are for His glory and our good.

David then reads the charges against them and asks the LORD how long it will be until He pours out His wrath on them.  David says that the LORD has kept track of all his tossings and turnings (the sleep he has lost because of these wicked men) and has stored all of David's tears in a bottle so that none of it escaped His notice.  All of this could be used as evidence at the trial of these wicked men to show how much pain and suffering they had caused to the LORD's anointed.

One day, David is sure that the tides will turn and that it will be his enemies (the Philistines) that will flee from him.  How does he know this?  Because the LORD is on David's side and has promised Israel victory over the Philistines.  David knows that in that day he will sing the LORD's praises, and he comes back to the "refrain" of this psalm, "In God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can man do to me?"  This was probably not meant as a taunt against his enemies, but just as a reality that the LORD will keep us safe until He has delivered to us everything He has promised (even if those promises are delivered to us in death and the coming kingdom--no enemies will be able to touch us or hurt us there).

Therefore, we will remain faithful to God and serve Him forever.  We respond to His salvation by singing, "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."  Therefore, we walk before Him (I think the implication is that we walk circumspectly with integrity, being led by the one who is both Light and Life.