"To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life."
Psalm 56
What was said at the end of the previous note is one of the valuable things about prayer - it sets our enemies, and the pressures we experience, in their proper perspective and in their proper setting. This is what enables the Psalmist to come to the position expressed in 3, 'What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee'. The rival claims have laid hold upon his heart - the fear and distress because of the enemy, and the reality of God; and God has won the first battle. That is a speedy reply to the cry for mercy in 1. Sometimes, indeed, this is the biggest battle of all, to adjust our minds consciously in an act of will and turn them away from the enemy and the fighting to God, and in so doing find rest and peace. We should note also that in several verses there is reference to the continuous activity of the enemy. They are continually at work against him, it is a daily occurrence and a daily pressure. Is not this the wearing part of the battle that it goes on so relentlessly without intermission! But the Psalmist meets this with a continuing attitude of faith. This is the only way. It is a mistake, and misleading, to suppose that the exercise of faith necessarily gives the victory. It is not so. Often we have to hold on for a very long time - as long as the pressure goes on. Often it seems no more than a holding action, but that action must be maintained at all costs. We should note also a significant change between 1, 2 and 4. In the earlier verses the order is: God - the enemies - the Psalmist, as if to suggest that the enemies stood between the Psalmist and God, making it difficult for him to get through. But in 4 the order is changed. Now it is: God - the Psalmist - the enemies. Now there is nothing between, now prayer has drawn the beleaguered Psalmist close to God. Is not this what prayer tends to do?