Psalm 56 is a Psalm of trust in the midst of fear. It was composed during the time that David was fleeing from Saul who was trying to kill him. It links to the stories of David in Gath in chapters 21 and 22 of 1 Samuel. Here David has fled alone, and once he arrives in Gath, he realises that the people there have heard about him and so he is afraid. He pretends to be mad and thus manages to escape and hide out in a cave. It is here that he writes this Psalm, trusting in God even though there are enemies on every side, and trusted friends had even turned against him.
Fear is a very real emotion that we all encounter. We experience it in exam rooms, in doctor's offices, in hospital waiting rooms, and before performance appraisals. It creeps into our souls when the phone rings at three in the morning or a loved one begins a conversation with, "we need to talk…" We live in a country where there is a shortage of work, where we are uncertain of the trustworthiness of our police and justice departments, where crime covers our newspapers and fills our twitter feeds.
And fear is a dangerous thing – it can cause us to make rash decisions, to lash out at someone we love or to hoard possessions. When I look back at some of my worst failures, so much of the cause was a fear – a fear that people would think less of me if I told the truth, fear that if I was generous here that I wouldn't have enough to make it through the month, fear that if I showed people my vulnerability that they would reject me.
David in this Psalm uses opposing words to make his point. He contrasts fear and trust, God and man. "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." He shows us that faith is not based on feelings – in fact without fear, without doubt, without worry there would be very little reason for trust. Calvin talks about this when he says, "Fear and hope may seem opposite and incompatible affections and yet hope never comes into full sway unless there exists some measure of fear." Trust belongs in situations where fear or anxiety or terror is possible.
Our trust is not baseless- it is placed in a God who has proved himself time and again. The Bible is full of times where it confirms that He is trustworthy and never changes.
"Fear not, I am with you." (Isaiah 41:10)
"This I know; God is on my side" (Psalm 56:9)
"If God is for us; who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
May you find courage in the situations you find yourself in this week. May you pray together with the Psalmist, "When I am afraid, I will trust in God."
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