Sometimes in life we find ourselves in a situation where everyone has turned against us, and we are left all alone to fight the battle ourselves. We find many who oppose us, whether at work, in a family situation, legal situation, or any other problem. What makes it even worse is when all of the people we thought were our friends have disappeared or turned their backs on us. How painful it is to realize that everyone is against us. This is where we find David in our study today. Our psalm for this week was written when David found himself in a dangerous situation where everyone around him had turned against him, and there was no one he could turn to for help.
The background of Psalm 56 is a time when David had to flee from the attacks of King Saul against him, and he sought refuge with King Achish of Gath, a Philistine city (I Samuel 21:10-15). If you remember, several years earlier David had fought against the Philistines, including the battle when he killed their prized, champion warrior, Goliath. King Achish welcomed David, allowing him to stay with him when he needed a safe place away from Saul to stay. It is puzzling to think that Achish would let David live with him, but perhaps he thought that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. However, the men in King Achish’s court remembered all that David had done to the Philistines, and they spoke ill of him. He soon found himself surrounded by those who sought to harm or kill him. Yet if he returned to Israel, he was in danger at the hands of King Saul. He couldn’t even turn to his own blood family, as they had never been very supportive of him. It was in these circumstances that David wrote this psalm. David had to use his own ingenuity by pretending to be mentally ill and insane to safely escape. As we see in this psalm, David learned he could replace deep fear with the peace of trusting in God.
As the Bible records, David was a skilled soldier and warrior, a tough young man, but he was honest with himself, and knew there were times when he was afraid. How many times are we afraid? Like David, we need to make a conscious decision to trust in God when fear comes (vs. 3). We need to say, as he did, “I will trust in You.” When problems arise we can either be fearful and wonder why this is happening, or we can trust that in the midst of this trouble God is doing something that, in the end, is for our best, even if it hurts. With each worry, pray about them, and then ask God to replace each one with His confident peace (Isaiah 26:3-4). We need to cling to Jesus, as He is our hope.
David came to realize that he really didn’t need to fear other people who were his enemies (vs. 3-4, 10-11). They were only people, what could they ultimately do? People can inflict pain, suffering, and even death, but no one can rob us of our souls and our eternal life. We need to fear and trust in God, our Savior, who controls both this life and the next (Matthew 10:28). If I trust God to take care of my eternal life, how can I possibly not trust Him to take care of all the smaller things in my life, too? I can trust God today and always.
David was a tough and strong man, but he readily admitted there were times, either out of fear or sorrow, when he cried. We all have. In the middle of this psalm in Scripture we find a verse that I find very comforting and precious, and that is that God keeps a record of every tear that we have every shed (vs. 8). When we feel alone and cry, God is with us, and He catches each tear, putting them in His bottle. Sometimes I have felt that it would take an Olympic sized swimming pool to hold all of my tears. Our tears are the diamonds of heaven. God catches them as they flow. When our fears prevent words, our tears are well-understood by God.
As we close this psalm we need to realize, just as David did, that God is for us, for those who have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus Christ (vs. 9). Through all of our struggles He is with us, by our side each step of the way. The fact that we have made it safely to this day is only because God is for us. When all seems dark, one truth still shines bright - when God is for us, those against us will never succeed (Romans 8:31-39).
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