Psalm 56

There is a heading on this Psalm telling us it was written when David was captured by the Philistines.  The heading was added after the song was written but may in fact be true.  It certainly reflects a time of danger for David.  As he thinks back on the situation he felt he was almost swallowed up (v1).  The enemy was oppressive and relentless (v2).  And yet God delivered him (v13).

One marvelous truth in this Psalm is the two-sided emphasis on faithfulness.  In v8 David relies on God’s faithfulness.  He was never out of God’s sight because God numbers his wanderings.  He knew his tears were kept in a bottle, a wonderful way of saying that God would remember his sufferings.  

Because God is faithful, David vows faithfulness in return (v12).  He will not forget to praise God for deliverance.  Apparently in the heat of the trial David has been brought face to face with spiritual weaknesses and has committed himself more deeply to God’s will.

This is also a “Psalm of the Word”.  Perhaps you noticed the nearly identical words in v4 and vs10-11.  David is afraid in this situation, but he has remembered God’s word.  

What he says in v3 is that whenever he is afraid he will trust in God.  But what does it mean to “trust God”?  He does not simply say he trusts in God.  He says, In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust (v4).  And again, In God (I will praise His word), In the Lord (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust (v10-11).

To say that you trust God is to take Him at His word.  Of Abraham, the man of faith, it was said,  He did not waver at the promise of God … being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform (Rom 4:20-21).  Trusting God meant trusting God’s word. 

When a person trusts in Christ for salvation he is believing the gospel.  He is believing what God has said about His Son and His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead (1 Cor. 15:1-5).

If David says “I trust God” and yet doesn’t honor God’s revealed will he is a contradiction.  Often people say, “I prayed to God.  I trusted Him.  But He didn’t answer.”  Yet it turns out that God does answer, in Scripture, and they have not trusted so as to obey.  The old hymn is right to put it together: “Trust and obey, for there is no other way…”