Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake. (Martin Luther).
Psalm 56 has a wonderful theme. It is a song of trust, of a deliberate composure and a delighted confidence in God. It has only two stanzas (vv. 1-7, 8-13), with a blessed “refrain” of trust embedded in the midst of each of them (vv. 3-4, 10-11).
Feeling the Fire.
In the first stanza David is feeling the heat and hostility of his foes. The first stanza is bracketed by earnest petitions for divine help: “Be gracious to me, O God . . . cast them forth, in anger put down the peoples, O God!” Help is sought because the Psalmist finds himself in real distress and danger.
In verses 1-2 we find him being “trampled upon” and “oppress[ed],” constantly attacked as he says three times, “all day long.” There is no let-up in their assaults. His “hounders” are “many” and “[proud].” He is hemmed in.
Verses 5-7 enlarges our view of his distress. He is being subjected to constant harassments and hostility. Like the sons of men in the days before the Flood, their every intent toward him is “only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Like hungry lions they lurk and watch and wait for the right time to pounce on their prey. They are relentlessly snapping at his heels and breathing down his neck. It is an intimidating, a frightening situation.
Faith in the Fire.
What is a man (or woman, boy or girl) to do?!? Well, do what David did here. Take up his blessed refrain:
“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid. What can mere man [lit. flesh] do to me?”
Renew your faith in the one true God. See that this is no mere “whistling in the dark”:
It contains a blessed resolve.
Literally our text says, “In the day I fear, I will trust in You.” Here is a wonderful determination in the face of fear to respond in faith. Faith is seen “as a deliberate act, in defiance of [his] emotional state” (Kidner). There are many situations in which we can become fearful. There is much that can intimidate us, and many times it is not much! We are weak and vulnerable. But David knows that faith is the antidote to fear.
It contains a joyful reliance.
“In God, whose word I praise.” The God in whom he is determined to find rest and refuge is the God who has revealed Himself in His inspired Word. David praises God’s Word for in it His faithful Person, His gracious promises, and His mighty deeds are revealed. He rejoices that he has this inspired and true resource to inform and strengthen his faith against the fear he feels. He commits himself to his revealed Helper. To fight your fears, feed your faith! Give it the rich diet of the Scriptures. Study your God!
It contains an assured reasoning.
“I shall not be afraid.” He goes from fear to “no fear” having gained, by faith, the better perspective. What is man, yea, mere man–man who is of frail flesh–compared to the eternal God? What can he really do to frustrate or thwart God’s wise and good purposes for my life for His glory? Well, one might say he can do a lot of things. “He can slander me, slap me, sue me, steal from me, incarcerate me, fire me, ostracize me, or even slay me!”
This is apparent from even this psalm. But it is not immunity from trouble and suffering or even death itself that the psalmist is ultimately confident of. The reckoning made here is not that man cannot do anything at all to us, but that he cannot do anything to us that will ever separate us from God’s love or from God’s loving purposes for us, or from our real joy with God (see Rom. 8:35-39). Man, for all he can do, can do nothing to defeat or destroy the good we have in God nor the good that God provides, nor the glory that God promises.
Whatever man does to me, comes only through the good will and the great wisdom of God my helper. There are no deprivations apart from His determination, no afflictions apart from His aim to prepare and perfect us. Whatever man designs against me, is directed by God for my good, that I may share His holiness. Whatever man takes from me (even life itself) does not touch what God has promised to me. He cannot touch the eternal life and heavenly wealth that are mine in Christ.
The Puritan William Gurnall remarked that all our enemies come too late! He wrote that the life the enemy seeks to take has already been given over to Christ and it cannot be taken away without God’s permission!
In the day I find myself in trouble, fearful, what shall I do? Well, here is the good old way, the good old way of faith that extinguishes fear. “I’ll cast myself upon my God. I’ll lay the weight of my shaking soul upon the rich free grace of God in Christ Jesus. I’ll trust in Him who laid down His life for me and took it up again that I may have a life with God that men can never take away.”
This is a good refrain to take up in every season of our earthly sojourn. It is all for our comfort and joy to learn it and embrace it.
Hold fast!
