Message Notes

SSS 4 13 November 2022
Book 2
Psalms 42-72

Text: Psalm 56

To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
1Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.

2 My enemies would hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.

3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.

4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?

5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.

6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.

7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

8You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?

9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.

10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the LORD (I will praise His word),

11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,

13 For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?

Psalm 56:1-13

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

1. David fled to Gath because of the manhunt mounted by King Saul

2. This would be in the time of King Saul

3. Psalm 56 is best studied in conjunction with:

a) 1 Samuel 21:12-14 (David in Gath which was ruled by Achish)

b) Psalm 34 (written after David was delivered)

A DESCRIPTION OF HIS PLIGHT

1. Evil plans

“Man would swallow me up”

Psalm 56:1b

2. Oppression

“Fighting all day he oppresses me”

Psalm 56:1c

3. Hounding

“My enemies would hound me all day”

Psalm 56:2a

4. Fighting

“For there are many who fight against me, O Most High”

Psalm 56:2b

5. Twisting words

“All day they twist my words;”

Psalm 56:5a

6. Evil thoughts

“All their thoughts are against me for evil”

Psalm 56:5b

7. Secretive movements

“They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life”

Psalm 56:6

8. Iniquity

“Shall they escape by iniquity?”

Psalm 565:7a

THE PLEAS OF DAVID

1. For mercy

“1Be merciful to me, O God”

Psalm 56:1a

2. Casting enemies down

“In anger cast down the peoples, O God”

Psalm 56:7b

DEALING WITH FEAR

1. Exercising trust in God

3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.

4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?

Psalm 56:3-4

a) Fear is confessed

b) Trust is exercised

c) Fear will not overcome

2. God was with David

8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?

9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.

Psalm 56:8-9

a) God notes our wanderings

b) He keeps our tears into a bottle

c) He writes down our sorrows in a book

d) He gives assurance of His presence

3. Pausing to praise God

10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the LORD (I will praise His word),

11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,

Psalm 56:10-12

a) Praise for God’s word

b) Praise that trust in God is not in vain

4. Walking before the LORD

For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?

Psalm 56:13

a) Delivered from death

b) Kept from falling

c) To walk before God in the light of the living