Psalm 56 commentary

PSALM 56 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove
on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When
the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "TITLE. To the Chief Musician. That mighty minstrel by degrees
acquired a noble repertoire of hallowed songs, and set them all to music. Upon
Jonathelemrechokim --this was probably the title of the tune, as we should say Old
Hundred, or Sicilian Mariners. Perhaps the title may however belong to the Psalm,
and if so it is instructive, for it has been translated "the silent dove in distant
places." We have here the songs of God's servant, who rejoices once more to return
from banishment, and to leave those dangerous places where he was compelled to
hold his peace even from good. There is such deep spiritual knowledge in this Psalm
that we might say of it, "Blessed art thou David Barjonas, for flesh and blood hath
not revealed this unto thee." When David plays the Jonah he is not like the prophet
of that name; in David the love of the dove predominates, but in Jonah its moaning
and complaining are most notable. Michtam of David. This is the second golden
Psalm, we had the first in Psalms 16:1-11, to which this Psalm has a great likeness,
especially in its close, for it ends in the joyful presence. A golden mystery, the
gracious secret of the life of faith is in both these Psalms most sweetly unveiled, and
a pillar is set up because of God's truth. When the Philistines took him in Gath. He
was like a dove in strangers' hands, and on his escape he records his gratitude.
DIVISIO S. In Psalms 56:1-2, he pours out his complaint; in Psalms 56:3-4 he
declares his confidence in God; in Psalms 56:5-6 he returns to his complaining, but
pleads in earnest hope in Psalms 56:7-9, and sings a grateful song from Psalms 56:10
to the close.
COKE, "Title. ‫על‬ ‫יונת‬ ‫אלם‬ ‫רחקים‬ al ionath eilem rechokiim. Upon Jonath-elem-
rechokim] Upon the silent dove afar off. Or, according to Bochart, "To the tune of
the dove in the remote woods." Thus David might call himself, when, after many
wanderings, he got into the forest of Hareth; where he had leisure to reflect upon
what was past, and to compose this psalm. Fenwick would render it, "Concerning
the oppression of the handful, or little flock afar off;" i.e. the little flock of true
believers dispersed among the Gentiles. The psalm is well suited to the occasion on

which the inscription says it was written, and which is related 1 Samuel 21. David
begins it by imploring the protection of God, on account of the many enemies
waiting for his destruction; Psalms 56:1-2 who wrested his words, and narrowly
watched all his actions, that they might find some pretence to cut him off: Psalms
56:5-6 but he encourages himself by trust in God, and rests assured that he will
deliver him, and give him renewed occasions of acknowledging his faithfulness, and
celebrating his praises.
ELLICOTT, "If the title referring to an imprisonment of David at Gath is to be
defended, it must be from 1 Samuel 21:10-15, on the supposition that the feigned
madness did not succeed in its object, although the narrative gives reason to suppose
that it did. The alternative of rejecting the inscription appears less objectionable.
We have no clue, however, either to the person of the author or his time (beyond the
general picture of danger and hostility), and the language rather gives the idea of
large combined forces than of individual foes, especially in the prayer of Psalms
56:7. Probably the speaker is here again only the mouthpiece of oppressed and
suffering Israel. The poetical form is irregular, but is plainly marked by the refrain
in Psalms 56:3; Psalms 56:11.
Title—See Psalms 4, 16, Title.
Upon Jonath-elem-rechokim—i.e., upon a silent dove of distant (places). Of the
conjectures on the meaning of this Title it is in accordance with the conclusions
accepted in other cases to take the one which makes it the first words of some well-
known song to the tune of which this psalm might be sung.
1 Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
BAR ES, "Be merciful unto me, O God - See the notes at Psa_51:1.
For man would swallow me up - The word used here means properly to breathe
hard; to pant; to blow hard; and then, to pant after, to yawn after with open mouth. The
idea is, that people came upon him everywhere with open mouth, as if they would
swallow him down whole. He found no friend in man - in any man. Everywhere his life

was sought. There was no “man,” wherever he might go, on whom he could rely, or
whom he could trust; and his only refuge, therefore, was in God.
He fighting daily - Constantly; without intermission. That is, all people seemed to
be at war with him, and to pursue him always.
Oppresseth me - Presses hard upon me; so presses on me as always to endanger my
life, and so that I feel no security anywhere.
CLARKE, "Be merciful unto me - I am assailed both at home and abroad. I can go
nowhere without meeting with enemies: unless thou who art the Fountain of mercy and
the Most High, stand up in my behalf, my enemies will most undoubtedly prevail against
me. They fight against me continually, and I am in the utmost danger of being swallowed
up by them.
GILL, "Be merciful unto me, O God,.... For David could expect no mercy at the
hands of men, among whom he was, whose tender mercies were cruel; he being at Gath,
the city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he had now with him; and
among his brethren and friends, who he might justly fear would revenge his death upon
him: wherefore he betakes himself to God, and pleads not any merit or righteousness of
his own, but implores the grace and mercy of God; and he might expect to find grace and
mercy in this his time of need, since there is mercy with the Lord; he is plenteous in it,
distributes it freely, delights in so doing, and does it constantly; his mercy endures for
ever, it is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him;
for man would swallow me up; the Targum renders it "isbi", a wicked man: it may
be understood of some one man, some great man, as Achish king of Gath; or rather Saul
king of Israel, who breathed and panted after his ruin and destruction, as the word (p),
signifies; who sought to eat up his flesh, to take away his life, and utterly ruin him: or
collectively of many, since it appears, by the following verse, that he had many enemies
who were desirous to swallow him up. This he mentions as an aggravation of his
distress, and as a reason why he hoped the Lord would be merciful to him; and that he,
being God, would not suffer than to prevail; see 2Ch_14:12;
he fighting daily oppresseth me; this shows that Saul is more especially intended,
who was continually with his army pursuing him, and sometimes surrounded him and
his men, and reduced him to great distress. This may be applied to the old man, the
corruptions of nature, and the lusts of the flesh, which are continually warring against
the soul, oppress it, bring it into captivity, and threaten to swallow it up.
HE RY 1-2, "
David, in this psalm, by his faith throws himself into the hands of God, even when he
had by his fear and folly thrown himself into the hands of the Philistines; it was when
they took him in Gath, whither he fled for fear of Saul, forgetting the quarrel they had
with him for killing Goliath; but they soon put him in mid of it, 1Sa_21:10, 1Sa_21:11.

Upon that occasion he changed his behaviour, but with so little ruffle to his temper that
then he penned both this psalm and the 34th. This is called Michtam - a golden psalm.
So some other psalms are entitled, but this has something peculiar in the title; it is upon
Jonath-elem-rechokim, which signifies the silent dove afar off. Some apply this to David
himself, who wished for the wings of a dove on which to fly away. He was innocent and
inoffensive, mild and patient, as a dove, was at this time driven from his nest, from the
sanctuary (Psa_84:3), was forced to wander afar off, to seek for shelter in distant
countries; there he was like the doves of the valleys, mourning and melancholy; but
silent, neither murmuring against God nor railing at the instruments of his trouble;
herein a type of Christ, who was as a sheep, dumb before the shearers, and a pattern to
Christians, who, wherever they are and whatever injuries are done them, ought to be as
silent doves. In this former part of the psalm,
I. He complains to God of the malice and wickedness of his enemies, to show what
reason he had to fear them, and what cause, what need, there was that God should
appear against them (Psa_56:1): Be merciful unto me, O God! That petition includes all
the good we come to the throne of grace for; if we obtain mercy there, we obtain all we
can desire, and need no more to make us happy. It implies likewise our best plea, not our
merit, but God's mercy, his free rich mercy. He prays that he might find mercy with God,
for with men he could find no mercy. When he fled from the cruel hands of Saul he fell
into the cruel hands of the Philistines. “Lord” (says he), “be thou merciful to me now, or
I am undone.” The mercy of God is what we may flee to and trust to, and in faith pray
for, when we are surrounded on all sides with difficulties and dangers. He complains, 1.
That his enemies were very numerous (Psa_56:2): “They are many that fight against
me, and think to overpower me with numbers; take notice of this, O thou Most High!
and make it to appear that wherein they deal proudly thou art above them.” It is a point
of honour to come in to the help of one against many. And, if God be on our side, how
many soever they are that fight against us, we may, upon good grounds, boast that there
are more with us; for (as that great general said) “How many do we reckon him for?” 2.
That they were very barbarous: they would swallow him up, Psa_56:1 and again Psa_
56:2. They sought to devour him; no less would serve; they came upon him with the
utmost fury, like beasts of prey, to eat up his flesh, Psa_27:2. Man would swallow him
up, those of his own kind, from whom he might have expected humanity. The ravenous
beasts prey not upon those of their own species; yet a bad man would devour a good man
if he could. “They are men, weak and frail; make them to know that they are so,” Psa_
9:20. 3. That they were very unanimous (Psa_56:6): They gather themselves together;
though they were many, and of different interests among themselves, yet they united and
combined against David, as Herod and Pilate against the Son of David. 4. That they were
very powerful, quite too hard for him if God did not help him: “They fight against me
(Psa_56:2); they oppress me, Psa_56:1. I am almost overcome and borne down by them,
and reduced to the last extremity.” 5. That they were very subtle and crafty (Psa_56:6):
“They hide themselves; they industriously cover their designs, that they may the more
effectually prosecute and pursue them. They hide themselves as a lion in his den, that
they may mark my steps;” that is, “they observe every thing I say and do with a critical
eye, that they may have something to accuse me of” (thus Christ's enemies watched him,
Luk_20:20), or “they have an eye upon all my motions, that they may gain an
opportunity to do me a mischief, and may lay their snares for me.” 6. That they were very
spiteful and malicious. They put invidious constructions upon every thing he said,
though ever so honestly meant and prudently expressed (Psa_56:5): “They wrest my
words, put them upon the rack, to extort that out of them which was never in them;” and
so they made him an offender for a word (Isa_29:21), misrepresenting it to Saul, and
aggravating it, to incense him yet more against him. They made it their whole business

to ruin David; all their thoughts were against him for evil, which put evil interpretations
upon all his words. 7. That they were very restless and unwearied. They continually
waited for his soul; it was the life, the precious life, they hunted for; it was his death they
longed for, Psa_56:6. They fought daily against him (Psa_56:1), and would daily swallow
him up (Psa_56:2), and every day they wrested his words, Psa_56:5. Their malice would
not admit the least cessation of arms, or the acts of hostility, but they were continually
pushing at him. Such as this is the enmity of Satan and his agents against the kingdom of
Christ and the interests of his holy religion, which if we cordially espouse, we must not
think it strange to meet with such treatment as this, as though some strange thing
happened to us. Our betters have been thus used. So persecuted they the prophets.
JAMISO , "Psa_56:1-13. Upon Jonath-elem-rechokim - literally, “upon the dove of
silence” of distant places; either denoting a melody (see on Psa_9:1) of that name, to
which this Psalm was to be performed; or it is an enigmatical form of denoting the
subject, as given in the history referred to (1Sa_21:11, etc.), David being regarded as an
uncomplaining, meek dove, driven from his native home to wander in exile. Beset by
domestic and foreign foes, David appeals confidently to God, recites his complaints, and
closes with joyful and assured anticipations of God’s continued help.
would swallow — literally, “pants as a raging beast” (Act_9:1).
K&D 1-4, "‫ים‬ ִ‫ּה‬‫ל‬ ֱ‫א‬ and ‫ּושׁ‬‫נ‬ ֱ‫,א‬ Psa_56:2 (Psa_9:20; Psa_10:18), are antitheses: over
against God, the majestic One, men are feeble beings. Their rebellion against the counsel
of God is ineffective madness. If the poet has God's favour on his side, then he will face
these pigmies that behave as though they were giants, who fight against him ‫ּום‬‫ר‬ ָ‫,מ‬
moving on high, i.e., proudly (cf. ‫ּום‬‫ר‬ ָ ִ‫,מ‬ Psa_73:8), in the invincible might of God. ‫ף‬ፍ ָ‫,שׁ‬
inhiare, as in Psa_57:4; ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ ָ‫,ל‬ as in Psa_35:1, with ְ‫ל‬ like ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,א‬ e.g., in Jer_1:19. Thus, then,
he does not fear; in the day when (Ges. §123, 3, b) he might well be afraid (conjunctive
future, as e.g., in Jos_9:27), he clings trustfully to (‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ as in Psa_4:6, and frequently,
Pro_3:5) his God, so that fear cannot come near him. He has the word of His promise on
his side (‫ּו‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ב‬ ְ as e.g., Psa_130:5); ‫ים‬ ִ‫ּה‬‫ל‬‫א‬ ֵ , through God will he praise this His word,
inasmuch as it is gloriously verified in him. Hupfeld thus correctly interprets it; whereas
others in part render it “in Elohim do I praise His word,” in part (and the form of this
favourite expression in Psa_56:11 is opposed to it): “Elohim do I celebrate, His word.”
Hitzig, however, renders it: “Of God do I boast in matter,” i.e., in the present affair;
which is most chillingly prosaic in connection with an awkward brevity of language. The
exposition is here confused by Psa_10:3 and Psa_44:9. ‫ל‬ ֵ ִ‫ה‬ does not by any means
signify gloriari in this passage, but celebrare; and ‫באלהים‬ is not intended in any other
sense than that in Ps 60:14. ְ ‫ח‬ ַ‫ט‬ ָ is equivalent to the New Testament phrase πιστεύειν ᅚν.
‫א‬ ָ‫יר‬ ִ‫א‬ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ is a circumstantial clause with a finite verb, as is customary in connection with ‫ּא‬‫ל‬
, Psa_35:8, Job_29:24, and ‫ב‬ ָ‫,ע‬ Pro_19:23.
CALVI , "1Be merciful unto me, O God! for man swallows me up (330) It would be
difficult to determine whether he speaks here of foreign or domestic enemies. When

brought to King Achish he was as a sheep between two bands of wolves, an object of
deadly hatred to the Philistines on the one hand, and exposed to equal persecutions
from his own fellow-countrymen. He uses the indefinite term man in this verse,
though in the next he speaks of having many enemies, the more forcibly to express
the truth that the whole world was combined against him, that he experienced no
humanity amongst men, and stood in the last necessity of divine help. The term daily
would suggest that he refers more immediately to Saul and his faction. But in
general, he deplores the wretchedness of his fate in being beset with adversaries so
numerous and so barbarous. Some translate ‫,שאף‬ shaaph, to regard, but it is more
properly rendered to swallow up, a strong expression, denoting the insatiable rage
with which they assailed him. I have adhered to the common translation of ‫לחם‬ ,
lacham, though it also signifies to eat up, which might consist better with the
metaphor already used in the preceding part of the verse. It is found, however, in
the sense to fight against, and I was unwilling to depart from the received rendering.
I shall only observe in passing, that those who read in the second member of the
verse, many fighting with me, as if he alluded to the assistance of angels, mistake the
meaning of the passage; for it is evident that he uses the language of complaint
throughout the verse.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God. In my deep distress my soul
turns to thee, my God. Man has no mercy on me, therefore double thy mercy to me.
If thy justice has let loose my enemies, let thy mercy shorten their chain. It is sweet
to see how the tender dove like spirit of the psalmist flies to the most tender
attribute for succour in the hour of peril.
For man would swallow me up. He is but thy creature, a mere man, yet like a
monster he is eager for blood, he pants, he gapes for me; he would not merely
wound me, or feed on my substance, but he would fain swallow me altogether, and
so make an end of me. The open mouths of sinners when they rage against us should
open our mouths in prayer. We may plead the cruelty of men as a reason for the
divine interposition--a father is soon aroused when his children are shamefully
entreated.
He fighting daily oppresseth me. He gives me no interval--he fights daily. He is
successful in his unrighteous war--he oppresses me, he crushes me, he presses me
sore. David has his eye on the leader of his foes, and lays his complaint against him
in the right place. If we may thus plead against man, much more against that great
enemy of souls, the devil. We ask the Lord to forgive us our trespasses, which is
another way of saying, "Be merciful to me, O God, "and then we may say, "Lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." The more violent the attack of
Satan the stronger our plea for deliverance.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Title. The words Jonathelemrechokim may be rendered, concerning the mute dove
among them that are afar off, or in far places. John Gill.
Title. Michtam. See also Explanatory otes on Psalms 16:1-11, in the "Treasury of
David, "Vol. 1, pp., 222-223.
Ver. 1. Be merciful. This is the second of the Psalms beginning with the miserere;
the fifty-first being the first of them. C. H. S.
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God. This is to me the one source of all my

expectations, the one fountain of all promises: Miserere mei, Deus, miserere mei.
Bernard, 1091-1157.
Ver. 1. Be merciful. His first wrestling in prayer is with the check of his conscience,
whether for his daily sins, or in particular for casting himself in such apparent
danger, as to have ventured without probable security, to seek shelter among the
enemies of the people of God, whose blood he himself had shed abundantly; for this
rashness or other sins he begs mercy. David Dickson.
Ver. 1. Man. He uses the indefinite term man in this verse, though in the next he
speaks of having many enemies, the more forcibly to express the truth, that the
whole world was combined against him, that he experienced no humanity amongst
men, and stood in the last necessity of divine help. John Calvin.
Ver. 1. Would swallow me up. Soop me up (as the Hebrew word soundeth); make
but one draught of me, or suck me in as a whirlpool, swallow me up as a ravenous
wild beast. John Trapp.
Ver. 1. He fighting daily. There is no morning on which we can arise and go forth
into the world, and say, " o enemy will come out against me today." There is no
night in which we can retire from that world, and think to find safety in the solitude
of our own chambers, and say, " o evil can enter here." Barton Bouchier, in
"Manna in the Heart, "1855.
Ver. 1-2. The same words are applicable to the situation and circumstances of
David, pursued by his enemies; of Christ, persecuted by the Jews; of the church,
afflicted in the world; and of the soul, encompassed by enemies, against whom she is
forced to wage perpetual war. George Horne.
COKE, "Psalms 56:1. For man would swallow me up— The word ‫שׁאפני‬ sheaaphani,
rendered swallow me up, properly signifies to breathe, to pant after, to draw, or
snuff the air; and from thence hunt, by drawing in and following the scent of the
air. And as hunting ends in the capture and destruction of the prey, it further
denotes to swallow up and devour: and it is rendered in our version by panting,
snuffing up, swallowing up, and devouring, and other words of the like nature. Dr.
Chandler renders it by eagerly hunting after; which perfectly agrees with the
character and conduct of Saul, who furiously pursued and hunted after David to
destroy him.
WHEDO , "1. othing can surpass the tenderness and earnestness of David’s call
for help. Man (Hebrew, frail man) would swallow me up—Literally, has panted for
me. The word denotes the hard breathing which is the effect of anger or eager
desire, or of exhaustive pursuit, as of a beast of prey on the scent of his victim—a
panting eagerness to devour. Such were David’s enemies So Psalms 57:3.
Fighting daily—Giving the idea not only of danger unintermitted, but of
continuance.
TRAPP, "Psalms 56:1 « To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam
of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. » Be merciful unto me, O God: for
man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

Upon Jonath-elem-rechokim] Meaning himself, who had wished before the wings of
a dove, Psalms 55:6, and was now the dove of dumbness among foreigners,
Philistines, those ravenous hawks that were ready to seize and tear him, Fatua
columba, Hosea 7:11. Dumb he was fain to feign himself, and worse, among them
(see Psalms 34:1, the title; 1 Samuel 22:17, &c.), and therein was more of the serpent
than of the dove.
Michtam of David] Davidi insigne aureolum, David’s jewels, or golden ingot. See
Psalms 16:1, title. This Michtam he made likely (as also Psalms 34:1) when, gotten
away from Gath, he came into the cave of Adullam, 1 Samuel 22:1.
Carmine secessum scribentis et otia quaerunt.
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up] Sup me up (as
the Hebrew word soundeth), make but one draught of me, or suck me in as a
whirlpool, swallow me up as a ravenous wild beast. The devil is said to seek whom
he may swallow down [1 Peter 5:8] at a gulp, as it were; and his imps are as greedy,
but that they are gagged by God. The man here mentioned is Ishbibenob, the
brother of Goliath, saith the Chaldee; but they do better who understand it to be
Saul and his accomplices.
He fighting daily oppresseth me] Pliny saith of the scorpion, that there is not one
minute wherein he doth not put forth the sting. The like do Satan and his
instruments.
BE SO , "Psalms 56:1-2. Be merciful unto me, O God — This petition includes all
the good we can come unto the throne of grace for: if we obtain mercy there, we
obtain all we can desire, and need no more to make us happy. It implies, likewise,
our best plea; not our merit, but God’s mercy, his free, rich mercy. He prays he
might find mercy with God, for with men he could find none. When he fled from the
cruel hands of Saul, he fell into the cruel hands of the Philistines. “Lord,” says he,
“be thou merciful to me, or I am undone.” Thus, when we are surrounded on all
sides with difficulties and dangers, we must flee and trust to, and pray in faith for,
the mercy of God. For man — Hebrew, ‫,אנושׁ‬ enosh, weak, mortal, and miserable
man, whom thou canst crush in an instant; would swallow me up — Like wild and
ravenous beasts, rather than men. Hebrew, ‫,שׁאפני‬ sheapani, hath swallowed me up.
The thing is begun, and in a manner done, if thou do not miraculously prevent it.
Mine enemies — ‫,שׁוררי‬ shoreri, my observers, who narrowly mark all my paths, and
watch for my halting, and for an opportunity to destroy me. They be many that
fight against me — They trust to their great numbers, wherein they know
themselves to be much superior to me; O thou Most High — Who from thy high
place beholdest all their plots, and canst with perfect ease confound and blast them.

COFFMA , "PRAYER FOR DELIVERA CE FROM E EMIES A D
GRATEFUL TRUST I GOD
Superscription: For the Chief Musician; set to [~Jonath] [~'elem] [~rehokim].
A Psalm of David.
Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Set to [~Jonath] [~'elem] [~rehokim]. Dummelow translated this as, "The dove of
the distant terebinths," which indicated the song or the melody to which the psalm
would be sung."[1] Adam Clarke gave another translation, "To the tune of the dove
in the remote woods."[2]
Michtam. "The meaning of this is uncertain; but it may mean "A Golden Psalm of
David."[3]
A Psalm of David. The authorship of the psalm is ascribed to David; and, until some
valid reason for rejecting this ancient opinion is produced, we shall consider it to be
valid. Delitzsch declared that this indication of Davidic authorship "is justified."[4]
When the Philistines took him in Gath. The Scriptures do indeed tell us of David's
going to Gath, but there is no definite record of the Philistines actually `capturing
him.' To us, this poses no problem whatever, as there are countless things in the life
of David which are not related in the Old Testament.
McCaw wrote that, "This refers to David's first sojourn in Gath when he was
evidently under some restraint (1 Samuel 21:13; 22:1). Psalms 34 was written after
his escape from the Philistines, but this psalm is expressive of his misgivings while
actually in the hands of Achish."[5] This psalm reveals the fact that David certainly
considered the situation to be very dangerous.
There are many repetitions in the Psalms; and the prayer for deliverance from
enemies is particularly a recurring feature, as is also the expression of grateful trust
in God.
A person asked this writer, not long ago, why did David have so many enemies? The
answer is that as a type of Christ, anything less than the constant enmity of the
world would have been incorrect.
Perhaps the greatest error of our generation is the false notion that, `the true reign
of Christ' will be a time of universal acceptance of His will among men. othing
could be further from the facts. The reign of Christ will occur in the midst of his
enemies, in spite of them; and their enmity will continue throughout the
Dispensation until "the last enemy," which is death, shall be destroyed (1
Corinthians 15:26).

The ew Testament characterizes the "kingdom of heaven," which is the reign of
Christ now going on (Matthew 28:18-20), as a time of "great tribulations," of
constant "persecutions," of violent and implacable hatred, not only of the apostles,
but also of "all who live godly in Christ Jesus."
Jesus Christ at this present time, "Has sat down on the right hand of God,
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet" (Hebrews
10:12-13). It should be noted that the reign of Christ is therefore concurrent with
the existence of many enemies.
True to the Great Antitype, David's life was constantly under the attack of bitter
and persistent enemies. The only thing needed to incur the wrath and the hatred of
the world is for Christians to reject the world's value judgments. Often, the
friendship of Christians with the world is simply due to the fact that the Christians
have failed to make that rejection properly visible to others.
Rawlinson tells us that:
"This psalm and the following (Psalms 57) are called "twin psalms." Each of them
begins with almost the same words; each has a refrain that divides it into two parts.
One difference is that this psalm has an epilogue (Psalms 56:12-13), whereas, Psalms
57 does not. Both are written in circumstances of very great distress; and the tone of
thought in each of them is similar. Each has a statement of the problem, then a
prayer for deliverance, and ends with praise and triumph."[6]
Baigent divided the psalm into two parts, Psalms 56:1-4, and 5-11, with Psalms
56:12-13 as a concluding thanksgiving.[7]
Psalms 56:1-4
"Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up:
All the day long he fighting oppresseth me.
Mine enemies would swallow me up all the day long;
For they are many that fight proudly against me.
What time I am afraid,
I will put my trust in thee.
In God (I will praise his word),
In God will I put my trust,
I will not be afraid;

What can flesh do unto me?"
"They are many that fight proudly against me" (Psalms 56:2). See chapter
introduction for discussion of the number of David's enemies.
"I am afraid ... I will put my trust in thee" (Psalms 56:3). All of the worldly
circumstances that surrounded David were calculated to project fear into his heart;
but he thrust all fear aside by trusting in God. The rebellion of his enemies against
the counsel of God was only madness. "The poet has God's favor on his side,
therefore he will face those pigmies that behave as though they were giants,
possessing the assurance of ultimate victory in the invincible might of God."[8] In
these clauses, "Faith is a deliberate act in defiance of one's emotional state."[9]
"In God I put my trust, I will not be afraid" (Psalms 56:4). This is a refrain,
repeated again and enlarged in Psalms 56:10-11. We find it again in Psalms 118:6,
and in the ew Testament also (Hebrews 13:6).
"What can flesh do to me?" (Psalms 56:4). This is very similar to the confident word
of Paul who wrote, "If God be for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31).
EBC 1-6, "Psalms 56:1-13
THE superscription dates this psalm from the time of David’s being in Gath.
Probably his first stay there is meant, during which he had recourse to feigned
insanity in order to secure his safety. What a contrast between the seeming idiot
scrabbling on the walls and the saintly singer of this lovely song of purest trust! But
striking as the contrast is, it is not too violent to be possible. Such heroic faith might
lie very near such employment of pardonable dissimulation, even if the two moods
of feeling can scarcely have been contemporaneous. Swift transitions characterise
the poetic temperament; and, alas! fluctuations of courage and faith characterise the
devout soul. othing in the psalm specially suggests the date assigned in the
superscription; but, as we have already had occasion to remark, that may be an
argument for, not against, the correctness of the superscription.
The psalm is simple in structure. Like others ascribed to David during the Sauline
period, it has a refrain, which divides it into two parts; but these are of substantially
the same purport, with the difference that the second part enlarges the description
of the enemies’ assaults, and rises to confident anticipation of their defeat. In that
confidence the singer adds a closing expression of thankfulness for the deliverance
already realised in faith.
The first part begins with that significant contrast which is the basis of all peaceful
fronting of a hostile world or any evil. On one side stands man, whose very name
here suggests feebleness, and on the other is God. "Man" in Psalms 56:1 is plainly a
collective. The psalmist masses the foes, whom he afterwards individualises and
knows only too well to be a multitude, under that generic appellation, which brings

out their inherent frailty. Be they ever so many, still they all belong to the same
class, and an infinite number of nothings only sums up into nothing. The Divine
Unit is more than all these. The enemy is said to "pant after" the psalmist, as a wild
beast openmouthed and ready to devour; or, according to others, the word means to
crush. The thing meant by the strong metaphor is given in Psalms 56:1 b, Psalms
56:2; namely, the continual hostile activity of the foe. The word rendered "proudly"
is literally "on high," and Baethgen suggests that the literal meaning should be
retained. He supposes that the antagonists "held an influential position in a princely
court." Even more literally the word may describe the enemies as occupying a post
of vantage, from which they shower down missiles.
One brief verse, the brevity of which gives it emphasis, tells of the singer’s fears, and
of how he silences them by the dead lift of effort by which he constrains himself to
trust. It is a strangely shallow view which finds a contradiction in this utterance,
which all hearts, that have ever won calmness in agitation and security amid
encompassing dangers by the same means, know to correspond to their own
experience. If there is no fear, there is little trust. The two do coexist. The eye that
takes in only visible facts on the earthly level supplies the heart with abundant
reasons for fear. But it rests with ourselves whether we shall yield to those, or
whether, by lifting our eyes higher and fixing the vision on the Unseen and on Him
who is invisible, we shall call such an ally to our side as shall make fear and doubt
impossible. We have little power of directly controlling fear or any other feeling, but
we can determine the objects on which we shall fix attention. If we choose to look at
"man," we shall be unreasonable if we do not fear; if we choose to look at God, we
shall be more unreasonable if we do not trust. The one antagonist of fear is faith.
Trust is a voluntary action for which we are responsible.
The frequent use of the phrase "In the day when" is noticeable. It occurs in each
verse of the first part, excepting the refrain. The antagonists are continually at
work, and the psalmist, on his part, strives to meet their machinations and to
subdue his own fears with as continuous a faith. The phrase recurs in the second
part in a similar connection. Thus, then, the situation as set forth in the first part
has three elements, -the busy malice of the foes; the effort of the psalmist, his only
weapon against them, to hold fast his confidence; and the power and majesty of
God, who will be gracious when besought. The refrain gathers up these three in a
significantly different order. The preceding verses arranged them thus-God, man,
the trusting singer. The refrain puts them thus-God, the trusting singer, man. When
the close union between a soul and God is clearly seen and inwardly felt, the
importance of the enemies dwindles. When faith is in the act of springing up, God,
the refuge, and man, the source of apprehension, stand over against each other, and
the suppliant, looking on both, draws near to God. But when faith has fruited, the
believing soul is coupled so closely to the Divine Object of its faith, that He and it
are contemplated as joined in blessed reciprocity of protection and trust, and
enemies are in an outer region, where they cannot disturb its intercourse with its
God. The order of thought in the refrain is also striking. First, the singer praises
God’s word. By God’s gracious help he knows that he will receive the fulfilment of
God’s promises (not necessarily any special "word," such as the promise of a throne

to David). And then, on the experience of God’s faithfulness thus won, is reared a
further structure of trust, which completely subdues fear. This is the reward of the
effort after faith which the psalmist made. He who begins with determining not to
fear will get such tokens of God’s troth that fear will melt away like a cloud, and he
will find his sky cleared, as the nightly heavens are swept free of cloud rack by the
meek moonlight.
The second part covers the same ground. Trust, like love, never finds it grievous to
write the same things. There is delight, and there is strengthening for the temper of
faith, in repeating the contemplation of the earthly facts which make it necessary,
and the super-sensuous facts which make it blessed. A certain expansion of the
various parts of the theme, as compared with the first portion of the psalm, is
obvious. Again the phrase "all the day" occurs in reference to the unwearying
hostility which dogs the singer. "They wrest my words" may be, as Cheyne prefers,
"They torture me with words." That rendering would supply a standing feature of
the class of psalms to which this belongs. The furtive assembling, the stealthy setting
of spies who watch his steps (lit. heels, as ready to spring on him from behind), are
no new things, but are in accordance with what has long been the enemies’ practice.
BI 1-13, "Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up.
The deprecable and the desirable
I. The deprecable in relation to man.
1. Craven-heartedness. A man whose heart is morally sound is bold as a lion,
invincible as the light of day.
2. Presumptuous revenge.
II. The desirable in relation to God.
1. A desire to trust Almighty God (Psa_56:3). All souls should centre in Him, cling to
Him as planets to the sun. This is the real antidote to cowardly fear.
2. A desire to praise Almighty God (Psa_56:4; Psa_56:10; Psa_56:12). Praise
consisteth in attuning our whole lives to His Spirit and law. The hymn of praise
acceptable to Him is not a composition of words, but a composition of soul virtues
and noble deeds.
3. A desire to be remembered by Almighty God (Psa_56:8). No words can affect a
true heart as tears can; God’s infinite heart feels our tears as they fall.
4. A desire to walk before Almighty God (Psa_56:13). To “walk before God “ implies
a constant consciousness of His presence and an enjoyment of His friendship.
“Walk” before Him with His light shining behind you and over you, lighting up all
the path and scenery ahead. (Homilist.)
PETT, "Verses 1-4
The Heading (Psalms 56:1 a).
‘For the Chief Musician; set to Yonath elem rehokim (‘the silent dove of far off places

(or ‘men’)’). A Psalm of David. Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.
This is another Psalm dedicated to the Choirmaster or Chief Musician (the head of
music). A Michtam may signify ‘a covering’ and thus a plea for protection (from the
Akkadian katamu (‘to cover’). It has also been interpreted as ‘a golden Psalm’ (from
chetem = ‘gold’). Michtam occurs also in reference to Psalms 16; Psalms 56-60. The
tune ‘silent doves of far off places (or ‘far off men’) may originally have been the
music composed for a Psalm celebrating the cultic releasing of birds to fly off to far
off places (Leviticus 14:5-7). Or alternately of a Psalm celebrating escape from the
turmoils of life (compare Psalms 55:6). The situation in life is described as being
when the Philistines seized David in Gath (1 Samuel 21:10 ff.). At this time he had
fled from Israel, possibly alone, and had taken refuge with Achish of Gath (that is in
territory ruled by Achish) hoping to be unrecognised. But there he was challenged as
to whether he was the successful Israelite commander who had had great successes
against the Philistines. Being brought before Achish he escaped whatever fate might
have been in store for him by feigning madness, subsequently fleeing back to
Adullam where he built up his own fighting force.
Accepting the provenance stated it would appear that, having arrived in Gath after
fleeing from the persecutions of Saul (Psalms 56:1-2), and hoping to be unnoticed,
David’s footsteps were dogged by suspicious Philistines (Psalms 56:6). They clearly
challenged him as to who he was (Psalms 56:5) refusing to accept his assurances, or
that he was there in peace, and thus determined evil against him. The Psalm may
well have been written while he was waiting for them to pounce, and praying in
anticipation, with the final verses of the Psalm indicating that he had prayed through
to a position of certainty concerning YHWH’s deliverance, even though it was yet
future.
The Psalm stresses the Psalmist’s trust in God (Psalms 56:3-4; Psalms 56:10-11) and
the powerful enemies whom he is facing (Psalms 56:1 a, 2, 5-7), and can be divided
up into four parts:
A plea for God’s protection (Psalms 56:1-4).
A description of his enemies tactics as they close in on him (Psalms 56:5-7).
— An expression of his trust in God in the face of his enemies (Psalms 56:8-11).
— An expression of his gratitude for his deliverance (Psalms 56:12-13).
A Plea For God’s Protection (Psalms 56:1-4).
Psalms 56:1-2
‘Show favour to me, O God, for a human (’enosh) would swallow me up,
All the day long his fighting oppresses me.’
My enemies would swallow me up all the day long,

For they are many who fight haughtily (on high) against me.’
These verses may refer to the circumstances which forced David to flee to Gath, and
thus be speaking of Saul’s attempts on his life. Alternately they may have in mind the
attempts by the Philistines to seek him out whilst he was in hiding in a Philistine city.
Taking the first, and more probable alternative in view of the language, he calls on
God for favour in view of the fact that a mere earthly man is seeking to swallow him
up. He emphasises the continual attempts by his enemy (Saul or his erstwhile friend
- Psalms 55), along with his men, to oppress him and ‘swallow him up’ (repeated
twice for emphasis). These attempts have been occurring continually ‘all the day
long’ (repeated twice for emphasis). He has never been able to relax. For his enemies
are numerous and are behaving arrogantly towards him. They have set themselves
up ‘on high’.
The repetitions stress how strongly he feels his situation, and how harassed he feels,
as well he might for he has moved from being a power in the land to being a lone
fugitive. But he is still confident in God, for whilst his enemies might think much of
themselves, he recognises that they are mere humans.
Note the twofold patterns. ‘A human’ (line 1) contrasts with the fact that they have
set themselves up ‘on high’ (line 4). All the day long (line 2) parallels ‘all the day long’
(line 3). There is a chiastic pattern. But ‘swallow me up’ occurs in lines 1 and 3, and
‘fighting’ occurs in lines 2 and 4. So there is also a consecutive pattern.
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.
BAR ES, "Mine enemies - Margin, “mine observers.” The Hebrew word here used
means properly to twist, to twist totogether; then, to be firm, hard, tough; then, “to press
together,” as a rope that is twisted - and hence, the idea of oppressing, or pressing hard
on one, as an enemy. See Psa_27:11; Psa_54:5. In the former verse the psalmist spoke of
an enemy, or of “one” that would swallow him up (in the singular number), or of “man”
as an enemy to him anywhere. Here he uses the plural number, implying that there were
“many” who were enlisted against him. He was surrounded by enemies. He met them

wherever he went. He had an enemy in Saul; he had enemies in the followers of Saul; he
had enemies among the Philistines, and now when he had fled to Achish, king of Gath,
and had hoped to find a refuge and a friend there, he found only bitter foes.
Would daily swallow me up - Constantly; their efforts to do it are unceasing. A
new day brings no relief to me, but every day I am called to meet some new form of
opposition.
For they be many that fight against me - His own followers and friends were
few; his foes were many. Saul had numerous followers, and David encountered foes
wherever he went. “O thou Most High.” The word used here - ‫מרום‬ mârôm - means
properly height, altitude, elevation; then, a high place, especially heaven, Psa_18:16;
Isa_24:18, Isa_24:21; then it is applied to anything high or inaccessible, as a fortress,
Isa_26:5. It is supposed by Gesenius (Lexicon), and some others, to mean here “elation
of mind, pride,” - implying that his enemies fought against him with elated minds, or
proudly. So the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and Luther render it; and so DeWette
understands it. Yet it seems most probable that our translators have given the correct
rendering, and that the passage is a solemn appeal to God as more exalted than his foes,
and as one, therefore, in whom he could put entire confidence. Compare Psa_92:8; Psa_
93:4,; Mic_6:6.
CLARKE, "O thou Most High - ‫מרום‬ marom. I do not think that this word
expresses any attribute of God, or indeed is at all addressed to him. It signifies, literally,
from on high, or froen a high or elevated place: “For the multitudes fight against me
from the high or elevated place;” the place of authority - the court and cabinet of Saul.
Most of the Versions begin the next verse with this word: “From the light of the day,
though I fear, yet will I trust in thee.” From the time that persecution waxes hot against
me, though I often am seized with fear, yet I am enabled to maintain my trust in thee.
Dr. Kennicott thinks there is a corruption here, and proposes to read: “I look upwards all
the day long.”
GILL, "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up,.... For not one man only, but
many, were his enemies; who observed and watched him, and were eagerly desirous of
his ruin. The believer has many enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, seeking to devour
and destroy him, though they cannot;
for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High; he appeals to God,
who dwells on high, and sees all things, for the truth of this, that he had many enemies
both at Gath and in Israel; as well as applies to him for help, he being higher than they.
Some render the words, "for they be many that fight against me from on high" (q), or
"highly" (r), proudly and haughtily. Aben Ezra gives a very different sense,
"I have many angels on high that fight for me.''
But ‫,מרום‬ "marom", is an epithet of God, as in Psa_92:8; and so it is interpreted by Jarchi

and Kimchi; and also by the Targum, which renders it, O God most High; and adds,
"whose throne is on high;''
which is approved by Gussetius (s).
JAMISO , "enemies — watchers (Psa_54:5).
most High — As it is not elsewhere used absolutely for God, some render the word
here, arrogantly, or proudly, as qualifying “those who fight,” etc.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up. Their appetite for
blood never fails them. With them there is no truce or armistice. They are many, but
one mind animates them. othing I can do can make them relent. Unless they can
quite devour me they will never be content. The ogres of nursery tales exist in reality
in the enemies of the church, who would crush the bones of the godly, and make a
mouthful of them if they could.
For they be many that fight against me. Sinners are gregarious creatures.
Persecutors hunt in packs. These wolves of the church seldom come down upon us
singly. The number of our foes is a powerful plea for the interposition of the one
Defender of the faithful, who is mightier than all their bands. These foes of the
gracious are also keen eyed, and ever on the watch, hence the margin calls them
"observers."
O thou most High. Thus he invokes against the lofty ones of the earth the aid of one
who is higher than the highest. Some translate the words differently, and think that
the writer means that his foes assailed him from the high places in which pride and
power had placed them. Saul, his great foe, attacked him from his throne with all
the force which his high position placed at his disposal: our comfort in such a case is
near to hand, for God will help us from a higher place than our proudest foes can
occupy. The greatness of God as the Most High is a fertile source of consolation to
weak saints oppressed by mighty enemies.
Ver. 1-2. See Psalms on "Psalms 56:2" for further information.
Ver. 2. O thou most High. The Hebrew is not that rendered Most High in Psalms
7:17; nor in our version is it ever rendered Most High in any other place, although
found in the Hebrew Bible more than fifty times. There are but two other places
where it is applied, as an epithet, to God; Psalms 92:8; Micah 6:6. It is commonly
rendered, from above, on high, high places, high; once loftily, Psalms 73:8... The
probable meaning is, they "fight against me from the high places of authority, both
in Jerusalem and in Gath, "q.d., mine enemies are in power. William S. Plumer's
"Studies in the Book of Psalms, "1867.
COKE, "Psalms 56:2. They be many that fight against me, &c.— The word ‫מרום‬
marom, rendered O thou most High, is not found any where singly applied to God.
It generally signifies a high place; and when applied to persons, it denotes their

superior elevation, as to dwelling and station. See Psalms 92:8; Psalms 93:4. Isaiah
24:21. Ecclesiastes 10:6. It should be rendered, In high places, or stations. David
might well complain, that those who fought against him were in high stations, since
his enemies were Saul and his officers; and when he fled from them, Achish, and the
princes of the Philistines, among whom he promised himself a safe retreat.
Chandler. Mudge renders it, With a high hand.
ELLICOTT, "(2) Swallow me up.—The root idea of the Hebrew word so rendered
is by no means clear. In many passages where it is used the meaning given here by
the LXX., “trample on,” will suit the context quite as well as, or even better than,
the meaning, “pant after,” given in the Lexicons. (See Job 5:5; Isaiah 42:14;
Ecclesiastes 1:5; Amos 2:7; Amos 8:4.) And this sense of bruising by trampling also
suits the cognate verb, shûph, used only three times (Genesis 3:15; Job 9:17; Psalms
139:11). Symmachus also here has “bruise,” or “grind.” On the other hand in
Psalms 119:131; Job 7:2, &c, we want the idea of “haste” or “desire.” Possibly the
original meaning of “trample” may have passed through the sense of physical haste
to that of passion. Or we may even get the sense of “greedily devouring” by the
exactly similar process by which we come to talk of devouring the road with speed.
The same verb is used in the next verse with an object.
Fighting.—Better, devouring. (Comp. Psalms 35:1.)
O thou most High.—Heb., marôm, which is here not a vocative, but an adverbial
accusative, “proudly,” in pride.
TRAPP, "Psalms 56:2 Mine enemies would daily swallow [me] up: for [they be]
many that fight against me, O thou most High.
Ver. 2. Mine enemies (or observers) would daily swallow me up] Anhelant
observatores mei. To set forth the indignity of the thing, he repeateth the same
sentence again in the plural number; noting that there were not a few of them
bitterly bent by might and main to mischief him, a poor forlorn, friendless man.
For they be many that fight against me, O thou most High] Or, though there be
many that fight for me from on high, that is, the angels, as Aben Ezra rendereth and
senseth the text.
WHEDO , "2. Mine enemies—Literally, my watchers, namely, the conspirators.
Swallow me up—Have panted for me, as a ravenous beast; same word as in Psalms
56:1.
They be many—It would seem from the sequel of the history, (1 Samuel 27, 29,) that
Achish, the king, favoured David, but was overpowered by the number and
influence of his enemies.

O thou Most High— ‫,מרום‬ (maroom,) is nowhere else in Scripture translated as a
title of Deity, and should not be here. The word means a high place, as Isaiah 22:16,
and figuratively a high office or dignity, and adverbially, in a bad sense, loftily,
proudly; my enemies fight against me from a high place, or, they fight loftily,
stately, as Psalms 73:8 . In the Hebrew territory David had Saul and the government
against him; here, in Philistia, the nobility and lords of the nation. Gath was the city
of the giants, David’s mortal enemies, of whom he, as already mentioned, had killed
Goliath, and of the four surviving, one was Goliath’s brother, 2 Samuel 21:19. They
all subsequently fell by the hands of David and his officers. 1 Chronicles 20. He
might well complain that those who sought his life were numerous and in high
places, or of a lofty spirit.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
BAR ES, "What time I am afraid - literally, “the day I am afraid.” David did not
hesitate to admit that there were times when he was afraid. He saw himself to be in
danger, and he had apprehensions as to the result. There is a natural fear of danger and
of death; a fear implanted in us:
(a) to make us cautious, and
(b) to induce us to put our trust in God as a Preserver and Friend.
Our very nature - our physical constitution - is full of arrangements most skillfully
adjusted, and most wisely planted there, to lead us to God as our Protector. Fear is one
of these things, designed to make us feel that we “need” a God, and to lead us to him
when we realize that we have no power to save ourselves from impending dangers.
I will trust in thee - As one that is able to save, and one that will order all things as
they should be ordered. It is only this that can make the mind calm in the midst of
danger:
(a) the feeling that God can protect us and save us from danger, and that he “will”
protect us if he sees fit;
(b) the feeling that whatever may be the result, whether life or death, it will be such as
God sees to be best - if “life,” that we may be useful, and glorify his name yet upon the
earth; if “death,” that it will occur not because he had not “power” to interpose and save,
but because there were good and sufficient reasons why he should “not” put forth his
power on that occasion and rescue us.
Of this we may be, however, assured, that God has “power” to deliver us always, and
that if not delivered from calamity it is not because he is inattentive, or has not power.
And of this higher truth also we may be assured always, that he has power to save us
from that which we have most occasion to fear - a dreadful hell. It is a good maxim with

which to go into a world of danger; a good maxim to go to sea with; a good maxim in a
storm; a good maxim when in danger on the land; a good maxim when we are sick; a
good maxim when we think of death and the judgment - “What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee.”
GILL, "What time I am afraid,.... It was a time of fear with him now; he was afraid
of Achish king of Gath, 1Sa_21:12; so believers have their times of fear; about their
interest in the love, and grace, and covenant of God; about their sins and corruptions,
and the prevalence of them, fearing they shall perish by them; and about their enemies,
who are many, lively, and strong;
I will trust in thee; trust and confidence in the Lord is the best antidote against fears;
who is unchangeable in his love, in whom is everlasting strength, and who is faithful and
true to every word of promise; and therefore there is great reason to trust in him, and
not be afraid.
HE RY 3-4, "He encourages himself in God, and in his promises, power, and
providence, Psa_56:3, Psa_56:4. In the midst of his complaints, and before he has said
what he has to say of his enemies, he triumphs in the divine protection. 1. He resolves to
make God his confidence, then when dangers were most threatening and all other
confidences failed: “What time I am afraid, in the day of my fear, when I am most
terrified from without and most timorous within, then I will trust in thee, and thereby
my fears shall be silenced.” Note, There are some times which are, in a special manner,
times of fear with God's people; in these times it is their duty and interest to trust in God
as their God, and to know whom they have trusted. This will fix the heart and keep it in
peace. 2. He resolves to make God's promises the matter of his praises, and so we have
reason to make them (Psa_56:4): “In God I will praise, not only his work which he has
done, but his word which he has spoken; I will give him thanks for a promise, though
not yet performed. In God (in his strength and by his assistance) I will both glory in his
word and give him the glory of it.” Some understand by his word his providences, every
event that he orders and appoints: “When I speak well of God I will with him speak well
of every thing that he does.” 3. Thus supported, he will bid defiance to all adverse
powers: “When in God I have put my trust, I am safe, I am easy, and I will not fear what
flesh can do unto me; it is but flesh, and cannot do much; nay, it can do nothing but by
divine permission.” As we must not trust to an arm of flesh when it is engaged for us, so
we must not be afraid of an arm of flesh when it is stretched out against us.
JAMISO , "
in — or literally, “unto.”
thee — to whom he turns in trouble.
SBC, "I. Notice how beautifully there comes out here the occasion of trust. "What time I
am afraid, I will trust in Thee." That goes deep down into the realities of life. It is when
we are afraid that we trust in God, not in easy times, when things are going smoothly
with us. This principle—first fear and only then faith—applies all round the circle of our

necessities, weaknesses, sorrows, and sins.
II. Notice how there is involved in this the other consideration that a man’s confidence is
not the product of outward circumstances, but of his own fixed resolves. "I will put my
trust in Thee."
III. These words, or rather one portion of them, give us a bright light and a beautiful
thought as to the essence and inmost centre of this faith or trust. Scholars tell us that the
word here translated "trust" has a graphic, pictorial meaning for its root idea. It signifies
literally to cling to or hold fast anything, expressing thus both the notion of a good tight
grip and of intimate union. That is faith, cleaving to Christ, turning round Him with all
the tendrils of our heart, as the vine does round its pole, holding to Him by His hand, as
a tottering man does by the strong hand that upholds.
IV. These two clauses give us very beautifully the victory of faith. "In God I have put my
trust; I will not fear." He has confidence, and in the strength of that he resolves that he
will not yield to fear. The one true antagonist and triumphant rival of all fear is faith, and
faith alone. The true way to become brave is to lean on God. That, and that alone,
delivers from otherwise reasonable fear. Faith bears in her one hand the gift of outward
safety and in her other that of inward peace.
A. Maclaren, Weekday Evening Addresses, p. 103.
CALVI , "3.In the day that I was afraid, etc. In the Hebrew, the words run in the
future tense, but they must be resolved into the praeterite. He acknowledges his
weakness, in so far as he was sensible of fear, but denies having yielded to it.
Dangers might distress him, but could not induce him to surrender his hope. He
makes no pretensions to that lofty heroism which contemns danger, and yet while he
allows that he felt fear, he declares his fixed resolution to persist in a confident
expectation of the divine favor. The true proof of faith consists in this, that when we
feel the solicitations of natural fear, we can resist them, and prevent them from
obtaining an undue ascendancy. Fear and hope may seem opposite and incompatible
affections, yet it is proved by observation, that the latter never comes into full sway
unless there exists some measure of the former. In a tranquil state of the mind, there
is no scope for the exercise of hope. At such times it lies dormant, and its power is
only displayed to advantage when we see it elevating the soul under dejection,
calming its agitations, or soothing its distractions. This was the manner in which it
manifested itself in David, who feared, and yet trusted, was sensible of the greatness
of his danger, and yet quieted his mind with the confident hope of the divine
deliverance.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. What time I am afraid. David was no braggart, he does not
claim never to be afraid, and he was no brutish Stoic free from fear because of the
lack of tenderness. David's intelligence deprived him of the stupid heedlessness of
ignorance, he saw the imminence of his peril, and was afraid. We are men, and
therefore liable to overthrow; we are feeble, and therefore unable to prevent it; we
are sinful men, and therefore deserving it, and for all these reasons we are afraid.
But the condition of the psalmist's mind was complex-- he feared, but that fear did
not fill the whole area of his mind, for he adds,

I will trust in thee. It is possible, then, for fear and faith to occupy the mind at the
same moment. We are strange beings, and our experience in the divine life is
stranger still. We are often in a twilight, where light and darkness are both present,
and it is hard to tell which predominates. It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust.
Unregenerate fear drives from God, gracious fear drives to him. If I fear man I have
only to trust God, and I have the best antidote. To trust when there is no cause for
fear, is but the name of faith, but to be reliant upon God when occasions for alarm
are abundant and pressing, is the conquering faith of God's elect. Though the verse
is in the form of a resolve, it became a fact in David's life, let us make it so in ours.
Whether the fear arise from without or within, from past, present, or future, from
temporals, or spirituals, from men or devils, let us maintain faith, and we shall soon
recover courage.
Ver. 3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. There is nothing like faith to help
at a pinch; faith dissolves doubts as the sun drives away the mists. And that you may
not be put out, know that your time for believing is always. There are times when
some graces may be out of use, but there is no time wherein faith can be said to be
so. Wherefore faith must be always in exercise. Faith is the eye, is the mouth, is the
hand, and one of these is of use all the day long. Faith is to see, to receive, to work,
or to eat; and a Christian should be seeing or receiving, or working, or feeding all
day long. Let it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it lighten, a Christian must still
believe. "At what time, "said the good man, "I am afraid, I will trust in thee." John
Bunyan.
Ver. 3. What time I am afraid, etc. A divine spark may live in a smoke of doubts
without a speedy rising into flame. When grace is at the bottom of doubting, there
will be reliance on Christ and lively petitions to him. Peter's faith staggers when he
began to sink, but he casts a look and sends forth a cry to his Saviour,
acknowledging his sufficiency; Matthew 14:30, "Lord, save me." Sometimes those
doubtings strengthen our trust and make us take hold faster on God. Psalms 56:3.
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. This was a fear of himself or others,
rather than a jealousy of God. Had he had unworthy suspicions of him, he would
not have trusted him; he would not have run for remedy to the object of his fear.
The waverings where faith is, are like the tossings of a ship fast at anchor (still there
is a relying upon God), not like a boat carried by the waves of the sea to be dashed
against a rock. If the heart stay on Christ in the midst of those doubtings, it is not an
evil heart of unbelief. Such doubtings consist with the indwelling of the Spirit, who
is in the heart, to perform the office of a Comforter against such fears and to expel
those thick fumes of nature. Stephen Charnock.
Ver. 3. What time I am afraid, etc. I know not what to do, but I will try my old way,
it is good for me to draw near still; I will do so still, as I used to do; I will cast myself
down upon the free grace of Christ in the promises; I will lay the weight of my
sinking spirit there, I will renew my hold, life, expectation there; this is my old path,
I will never be turned or beaten out here. This Christian in his strength may
challenge all the gates of hell. This was David's course (Psalms 71:5), "Thou art my
trust from my youth, "etc. Thence was it that he could say, What time I am afraid, I
will trust in thee: his shield and sword was always in his hand, therefore he could
make use of it when fear and inward trouble offered themselves. Afraid! alas, who is

not? but what course will you take then? Even what course you used to take, i.e.,
believe; use faith always; and have it now. Elias Pledger(-1676), in "Morning
Exercises."
Ver. 3. What time, etc. Literally, What day. As "Man daily oppresseth me" (Psalms
56:1), so "Every day, when I am afraid, I trust in thee." A. R. Fausset.
Ver. 3. It is a good maxim with which to go into a world of danger; a good maxim to
go to sea with; a good maxim in a storm; a good maxim when in danger on the land;
a good maxim when we are sick; a good maxim when we think of death and the
judgment--What time I am afraid, I WILL TRUST I THEE. Albert Barnes.
Ver. 3. I will trust in thee. Faith and fear stand together; and so fear and love. John
Richardson, -1654.
Ver. 3-4. Sometimes faith comes from prayer in triumph, and cries, Victoria. It gives
such a being and existence to the mercy prayed for in the Christian's soul, before
any likelihood of it appears to sense and reason, that the Christian can silence all his
troubled thoughts with the expectation of its coming. So Hannah prayed, "and was
no more sad." 1 Samuel 1:18. Yea, it will make the Christian disburse his praises for
the mercy long before it is received. Thus high faith wrought in David. At what time
I am afraid, I will trust in thee, and in the next words, In God I will praise his word;
that is, he would praise God for his promise before there was any performance of it
in him, when it had no existence but in God's faithfulness and David's faith. This
holy man had such a piercing eye of faith, that he could see the promise when he
was at the lowest ebb of misery, so certain and unquestionable in the power and
truth of God, that he could then praise God as if the promised mercy had been
actually fulfilled to him. William Gurnall.
HI TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Ver. 2-3.
I. Fears are common to all men, at one time or
another.
II. Improper and inefficacious means of removing
fear are often resorted to.
III. There is here suggested a true and effectual
method of removing fear.
Robert Morrison (1782-1834), in "A Parting Memorial."
Ver. 3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Whensoever we are afraid of any
evil, we are still to put our trust in God.
I. What is it to put our trust in God?
1. To keep our hearts from desponding or sinking down under any fears.
2. To comfort ourselves in God.
3. To expect deliverance from him. II. What is there in God we ought to put our
trust in?
1. In his promises.
2. In his properties. His power, wisdom, justice, mercy, all sufficiency. III. Why
should we in all our fears put our trust in God?
1. Because there is none else can secure us from our fears. Whereas,
2. There are no fears but God can secure us from them, either by removing the thing
feared, or by subduing the fear of the thing. Bishop Beveridge.
Ver. 3.

I. There is fear without trust.
II. There is trust without fear.
III. There is fear and trust united. G. R.
Psalms 56:4*
TRAPP, "Psalms 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Ver. 3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee] This was bravely resolved: Quid
timet hominem homo in sinu Dei positus? Faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fear;
but awful dread, it breedeth, feedeth, fostereth, and cherisheth.
WHEDO , "3. What time I am afraid—The history informs us, “David… was sore
afraid of Achish the king of Gath.” 1 Samuel 21:12.
I will trust in thee— ever was childlike confidence in the moment of danger more
beautifully illustrated. Here was his refuge, his tower of strength. There is no
absurdity in supposing fear and trust to coexist; for, as Calvin says, “Experience
shows that hope, there in fact, really reigns where some portion of the heart is
possessed by fear. When it has been smitten with fear, hope sustains and props it
up.”
BE SO , "Psalms 56:3-4. What time I am afraid, &c. — When I have the greatest
cause of fear I will rely on thy providence and promise for deliverance. In God will I
praise his word — I will praise, or boast, in the Lord’s word, or, in the Lord for his
word. Or with, or by, God’s favour or help, I will praise his word. The sense seems
to be this: there are many things to be praised and celebrated in God, his power and
wisdom, &c., but among them all, and above them all, I shall now praise him for his
Word, which he hath magnified above all his name, as is said Psalms 138:2, even for
his promises of protection and deliverance, made to his people in all their exigencies,
and particularly for that promise of the kingdom made to me; for which I will now
praise him, because, though it be not yet fulfilled, I am as sure of its accomplishment
as if it were done already. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me — Infirm and
mortal men, altogether unable to oppose thy infinite majesty; called flesh by way of
contempt.
BI 3-4, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.
Fear and faith
It is not given to many men to add new words to the vocabulary of religious emotion. But
so far as an examination of the Old Testament avails, I find that David was the first that
ever employed the word that is here translated, “I will trust,” with a religious meaning.
And it is a favourite word of his. I find it occurs constantly in his psalms; twice as often,
or nearly so, in the psalms attributed to David as in all the rest of the psalter put
together; and it is in itself a most significant and poetic word. But, first of all, I ask you to
notice how beautifully there comes out here the occasion of trust. “What time I am
afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.” This psalm is one of those belonging to the Sauline

persecution. If we adopt the allocation in the superscription, it was written at one of the
very lowest points of his fortunes. And there seem to be one or two of its phrases which
acquire new force, if we regard the psalm as drawn forth by the perils of his wandering,
hunted life. For instance—“Thou tellest my wanderings,” is no mere expression of the
feelings with which he regarded the changes of this earthly pilgrimage, but is the
confidence of the fugitive that in the doublings and windings of his flight God’s eye
marked him. “What time I am afraid,” I will trust. That is no trust which is only fair
weather trust, nor the product of outward circumstances, but of his own fixed resolves. I
will put my trust in Thee. True faith, by a mighty effort of the will, fixes its gaze on the
Divine helper, and there finds it possible and wise to lose its fears. Then, still further,
these words, or rather one portion of them, give us a bright light and a beautiful thought
as to the essence and inmost centre of this faith or trust. Scholars tell us that the word
here translated “trust “ signifies literally to cling to or hold fast anything, expressing thus
both the notion of a good tight grip and of intimate union. Now, is not that metaphor
vivid and full of teaching as well as of impulse? “I will trust in Thee.” “And he exhorted
them all that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord.” We may follow out
the metaphor of the word in varied illustrations. For instance, here is a strong prop, and
here is the trailing, lithe feebleness of the vine. Gather up the leaves that are creeping all
along the ground, and coil them around that support, and up they go straight towards
the heavens. Here is a limpet in some pond or other, left by the tide, and it has relaxed
its grasp a little. Touch it with your finger and it grips fast to the rock, and you will want
a hammer before you can dislodge it. Or, take that story in the Acts of the Apostles,
about the lame man healed by Peter and John. All his life long he had been lame, and
when at last healing comes, one can fancy with what a tight grasp “the lame man held
Peter and John.” That is faith, cleaving to Christ, twining round Him with all the tendrils
of our heart, as the vine does round its pole; holding to Him by His hand, as a tottering
man does by the strong hand that upholds. And then one word more. These two clauses
that I have put together give us not only the occasion of faith in fear, and the essence of
faith in this clinging, but they also give us very beautifully the victory of faith. You see
with what poetic art—if we may use such words about the breathings of such a soul—he
repeats the two main words of the former verse in the latter, only in inverted order—
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.” He is possessed by the lower emotion, and
resolves to escape from its sway into the light and liberty of faith. And then the next
words still keep up the contrast of faith and fear, only that now he is possessed by the
more blessed mood, and determines that he will not fall back into the bondage and
darkness of the baser. “In God I have put my trust; I will not fear.” He has confidence,
and in the strength of that he resolves that he will not yield to fear. There are plenty of
reasons for dread in the dark possibilities and not less dark certainties of life. Disasters,
losses, partings, disappointments, sicknesses, death, may any of them come at any
moment, and some of them will certainly come sooner or later. Temptations lurk around
us like serpents in the grass, they beset us in open ferocity like lions in our path. Is it not
wise to fear unless our faith has hold of that great promise, “Thou shall tread upon the
lion and adder; there shall no evil befall thee”? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
On public prayer in connection with natural national calamities
There are two classes of calamities in connection with which men have felt themselves in
all ages moved to public confession and supplication; those which come to them from
the hand of Providence through the order of the system of Nature around them, and
those which have their origin wholly or chiefly in the follies, vices and sins of mankind.

But the two stand by no means on the same ground with regard to the question of
national humiliation and prayer. In the case of calamities which a nation has brought
upon itself by its follies and crimes, there can be no question of the duty of humiliation
and prayer. But when we are asked to join in an act of national humiliation on account of
a scanty harvest, we seem to be standing on quite different ground. Chastisement which
seems to fail on us from the skies brings suffering, but with it much that modifies it, and
which may make us see, if we have but the open eye, that it is blessing in disguise. If we
were asked to recognize in a late and scanty harvest a signal part of the Divine
chastisement, I should feel little disposed to respond. And this not on the ground of
doubts about the power of prayer in its legitimate sphere; but rather from a deepening
sense of the reality and grandeur Of this power of prayer. We are only just emerging
from Jewish levels of thought and belief in the Christian Church. Through all the
Christian ages we have been prone to return on the tracks of Judaism, and to conceive of
God, in His ways in the providential government of the world, as the ruler, after all, of a
little realm, at the centre of which are the interests of our little lives.
1. The principle on which we are less ready than of old to rush to confession under
natural national calamities of an ordinary type, is a just and noble one, and is a sign
of vital progress in our theological conceptions, and our view of our relation to the
world and to God.
2. This progress in the Christian thought of our times runs parallel to the progress in
our conceptions of the true nature and the subject-matter of prayer, which is the
fruit of growing knowledge and experience in the individual believing soul. As
experience widens and deepens prayer becomes, or ought to become, less a cry of
pain, and more an act of communion; intercourse with the Father in heaven,
whereby His strength, His serenity, His hope flow into and abide in our hearts I
should think but little of a Christian experience in which there is not a constant
lifting up into the higher regions the subject-matter of prayer.
3. I by no means say, that even in an advanced state of Christian intelligence, there
may not be natural national calamities, under which it would be wise and right for a
nation to humble itself in confession and supplication before God. We must hot
regard our prayer as a sure means of securing the removal of such calamities.
Always, behind the prayer, if it is to be worth anything, is the thought, “It is the Lord,
let Him do what seemeth to Him good.” There is in man, deep down in his nature, a
sense, not only that the relation between his nature and the world around him, and
the God who rules it, have become jangled and out of tune, but also that the
responsibility for the discord lies at his door. Everywhere, in all countries, in all ages,
at the bottom of man’s deepest thoughts is the sense of sin. It is natural for men to
rush to humble confession and importunate supplication when they think that the
hand of God is upon them in judgment; and it is good and right for them at such
seasons to approach Him, if they will but remember that the message of the Gospel is
that God is reconciled in Christ to His children, that all His dealings with them, His
sharpest and sternest discipline, are moved and ruled by the hand of that love which
gave the well-beloved Son to Gethsemane and Calvary, that men might know its
measure. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)
Faith conquering fear
Our nature is strangely compounded. Trembling and trust often co-exist in us. It was so
in David, whose heart is laid bare to us in these psalms. Now, fearfulness, although it has

some ill effects which are sure to appear unless it is kept under the control of faith,
nevertheless it has its own appointed good results in the formation of Christian
character. Some have no fear, they are utterly unconcerned as to God and His claims.
They need that the alarm bell of fear should be rung in their hearts. And many Christians
need more of it: their flippant talk about sacred things; their indifference as to the
condition of the ungodly: their heedlessness of talk would cease and give place to a holy
fear. Fear, then, is not to be indiscriminately condemned. But it is when fear paralyzes
trust that it becomes a sin, and as such is condemned.
I. Occasions of undue fear are—
1. The Christian worker’s sense of responsibility.
2. Experiences of affliction.
3. Constitutional nervous disorder.
4. Anxiety as to the future.
II. Its disadvantages: it hinders all success and misrepresents God.
III. Its cure. Get more light and exercise more trust. (Alfred Rowland, B. A.)
Fear and trust
“What time I am afraid.” Alas! those times are many. Let me speak of three causes of fear
and unrest, and the trust which should remove them.
I. Fear for the morrow. There is the fear which arises from a contemplation of possible
exigencies and contingencies in the future of our life’s temporal economy. Where one
can sing—
“ . . . I do not ask to see
The distant scene: one step enough for me,”
a hundred are bowed down with anxiety, worry, care, and the restlessness of doubt. I am
perfectly sure that underneath the placid face and the serene smile that sits on many a
brow there is much fear and alarm as to the future. What is the remedy for this? What is
there that will give a man peace? My answer is—Trust! Trust in God, His wisdom, His
love, His Fatherly care, His plans and His purposes! If there is one phase of the
teachings of the Bible that has been more attested by human experience than another, it
is the assurance that trust in God is the secret of strength, serenity, and peace. He is
behind all events, and before all contingencies. He is above the cloud and below the
waters. Say, then, O ye timid ones, ye sorrowing ones, ye foreboding ones, ye anxious
ones, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”
II. Another great cause of fear is the fact of death. God has so constituted us that the
very elements of life stand in battle array against the elements that produce death. It is
natural, and in perfect harmony with God’s purpose in us, that we should cling to life;
and by so much as we cling to life, by that much do we fear death. And perhaps the two
feelings in regard to death that most contribute to this fear are the loneliness and
uncertainty that inevitably belongs to it. “I shall die alone,” said the great Pascal.
Nothing is so distressing to the human spirit as solitude, and when sell, rude is overhung
,with darkness it is then full of awfulness. And it is the awfulness that comes from the
solitude and darkness of death that makes us shrink from it. What is the panacea for this

fear? Trust in God—God’s presence, God’s sustaining hand. If there be a Providence
watching over us in life, is it not reasonable to suppose that some provision for our need
in the hour and conflict of death is made for us? that His providence will open the gate of
death for us and guide us through? that His care for us will be as manifest then as now?
Does a mother watch over her child all day—fondle it, nestle it in her bosom, teach it,
protect it, uphold it—and then leave it alone when the darkness conies?
III. Fear in regard of the destinies of the future life. They ask, Where will my destiny be?
Shall I be numbered with the blest, or rejected with the lost? Momentous questions!
Tremendous thoughts! I cannot wonder that they make men anxious. The wonder is
that, living as we do on the threshold of eternity, we are not more concerned. Whither, at
such times of foreboding, shall we flee for succour? To God, the Father of our spirits.
Every soul that turns to Him with the cry, “Father, I have sinned”; every heart that
yearns for His forgiveness, shall have refuge and peace on earth, shall have a welcome
home in heaven (W. J. Hocking, B. A.)
The saints’ great resource in times of fear
I. There are many times and circumstances calculated to awaken our fears.
1. Our state of sin should awaken great fear in our hearts.
2. Well may we fear when conscience convicts and condemns.
3. In times of temptation we ought to fear.
4. A backsliding state may well make us afraid.
5. To be in affliction and nigh to death in a state of impenitence, is a state which
should excite the greatest fears.
II. There is an adequate resource under every kind and degree of fear.
1. God has revealed the doctrine of His providence as an antidote to all those fears
which relate to this life.
2. He has revealed the doctrine of His grace as an antidote to all these fears which
result from sin and guilt.
3. He has revealed the doctrine of immortal glory and blessedness to remove the fear
of death and our anxiety concerning another world.
III. There is a great blessedness in knowing this resource before our fears come.
1. In some cases the knowledge of this Divine resource has delivered the mind from
all fear.
Fear concerning the body or the soul—life or death, the grave or eternity (Job_13:15;
Pro_28:1).
2. Where it does not do this, it may prevent the worse effects of fear. Two ships in a
storm, the one with a good anchor and anchorage, and the ether without either, meet
that storm under widely different circumstances (2Co_7:10).
3. Sometimes in the most fearful circumstances it enables us not only in patience to
possess our souls, but to glorify God.
IV. The greatest of all fears will seize upon those who know not this only true antidote to

fear.
1. The absence of that salutary fear, which leads to provision against danger, proves
the extremity of that danger in which we are involved.
2. That fear which is accompanied with utter despair must be the portion of those
who have not found the true refuge.
3. They will realize infinitely more than they ever feared in the very deepest seasons
of their despair in this life. For it is very certain no man ever formed a sufficiently
awful idea of the worm that dieth not, and of eternity. Let all these considerations
induce sinners to prize that refuge of mercy and grace which the Gospel presents,
and let us be allowed to turn them all into an occasion for urging upon them the
immediate and indispensable necessity of trust in God. (Evangelist.)
PETT, "Psalms 56:3-4
The time when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.’
In God, I will praise his word,
In God have I put my trust,
I will not be afraid, what can flesh do to me?’
He assures God of how much he trusts in Him (repeated twice). When he is afraid it is to
God that he will look, and as a consequence he will not be afraid. And this is because he
has full confidence in Him. He had cause to be afraid, for the hand of Saul, and every
man’s hand was against him. And even now as a fugitive in Gath he was in enemy
territory. The Philistines had no cause to love him either. So he was beset on every side.
But he was confident that God was greater than them all, and that He would help him.
Why then should he be afraid. After all his enemies were merely flesh. On the other hand
God was God, and he trusted Him and praised His promised word (possibly the word
spoken to him by Samuel). Compare for this Psalms 56:10.
Note again the chiastic pattern. ‘Afraid’ in lines 1 and 5. ‘Put my trust’ in lines 2 and 4.
‘In God’ in lines 3 and 4.
MACLARE , "FEAR A D FAITH
Psalms 56:3 - Psalms 56:4.
It is not given to many men to add new words to the vocabulary of religious
emotion. But so far as an examination of the Old Testament avails, I find that David
was the first that ever employed the word that is here translated, I will trust, with a
religious meaning. It is found occasionally in earlier books of the Bible in different
connections, never in regard to man’s relations to God, until the Poet-Psalmist laid

his hand upon it, and consecrated it for all generations to express one of the deepest
relations of man to his Father in heaven. And it is a favourite word of his. I find it
occurs constantly in his psalms; twice as often, or nearly so, in the psalms attributed
to David as in all the rest of the Psalter put together; and as I shall have occasion to
show you in a moment, it is in itself a most significant and poetic word.
But, first of all, I ask you to notice how beautifully there comes out here the occasion
of trust. ‘What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.’
This psalm is one of those belonging to the Sauline persecution. If we adopt the
allocation in the superscription, it was written at one of the very lowest points of
David’s fortunes. And there seem to be one or two of its phrases which acquire new
force, if we regard the psalm as drawn forth by the perils of his wandering, hunted
life. For instance-’Thou tellest my wanderings,’ is no mere expression of the feelings
with which he regarded the changes of this early pilgrimage, but is the confidence of
the fugitive that in the doublings and windings of his flight God’s eye marked him.
‘Put thou my tears into Thy bottle’-one of the few indispensable articles which he
had to carry with him, the water-skin which hung beside him, perhaps, as he
meditated. So read in the light of his probable circumstances, how pathetic and
eloquent does that saying become-’What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.’ That
goes deep down into the realities of life. It is when we are ‘afraid’ that we trust in
God; not in easy times, when things are going smoothly with us. ot when the sun
shines, but when the tempest blows and the wind howls about his ears, a man
gathers his cloak round him, and cleaves fast to his supporter. The midnight sea lies
all black; but when it is cut into by the oar, or divided and churned by the paddle, it
flashes up into phosphorescence, and so it is from the tumults and agitation of man’s
spirit that there is struck out the light of man’s faith. There is the bit of flint and the
steel that comes hammering against it; and it is the contact of these two that brings
out the spark. The man never knew confidence who does not know how the occasion
that evoked and preceded it was terror and need. ‘What time I am afraid, I will
trust.’ That is no trust which is only fair weather trust. This principle-first fear, and
only then, faith-applies all round the circle of our necessities, weaknesses, sorrows,
and sins.
There must, first of all, be the deep sense of need, of exposedness to danger, of
weakness, of sorrow, and only then will there come the calmness of confidence. A
victorious faith will
‘rise large and slow
From out the fluctuations of our souls,
As from the dim and tumbling sea
Starts the completed moon.’
And then, if so, notice how there is involved in that the other consideration, that a
man’s confidence is not the product of outward circumstances, but of his own fixed
resolves. ‘I will put my trust in Thee.’ ature says, ‘Be afraid!’ and the recoil from
that natural fear, which comes from a discernment of threatening evil, is only
possible by a strong effort of the will. Foolish confidence opposes to natural fear a
groundless resolve not to be afraid, as if heedlessness were security, or facts could be
altered by resolving not to think about them. True faith, by a mighty effort of the
will, fixes its gaze on the divine Helper, and there finds it possible and wise to lose its

fears. It is madness to say, ‘I will not to be afraid!’ it is wisdom and peace to say, ‘I
will trust, and not be afraid.’ But it is no easy matter to fix the eye on God when
threatening enemies within arm’s-length compel our gaze; and there must be a fixed
resolve, not indeed to coerce our emotions or to ignore our perils, but to set the Lord
before us, that we may not be moved. When war desolates a land, the peasants fly
from their undefended huts to the shelter of the castle on the hilltop, but they cannot
reach the safety of the strong walls without climbing the steep road. So when
calamity darkens round us, or our sense of sin and sorrow shakes our hearts, we
need effort to resolve and to carry into practice the resolution, ‘I flee unto Thee to
hide me.’ Fear, then, is the occasion of faith, and faith is fear transformed by the act
of our own will, calling to mind the strength of God, and betaking ourselves thereto.
Therefore, do not wonder if the two things lie in your hearts together, and do not
say, ‘I have no faith because I have some fear,’ but rather feel that if there be the
least spark of the former it will turn all the rest into its own bright substance. Here
is the stifling smoke, coming up from some newly-lighted fire of green wood, black
and choking, and solid in its coils; but as the fire burns up, all the smoke-wreaths
will be turned into one flaming spire, full of light and warmth. Do you turn your
smoke into fire, your fear into faith. Do not be down-hearted if it takes a while to
convert the whole of the lower and baser into the nobler and higher. Faith and fear
do blend, thank God! They are as oil and water in a man’s soul, and the oil will float
above, and quiet the waves. ‘What time I am afraid’-there speak nature and the
heart; ‘I will trust in Thee’-there speaks the better man within, lifting himself above
nature and circumstances, and casting himself into the extended arms of God, who
catches him and keeps him safe.
Then, still further, these words, or rather one portion of them, give us a bright light
and a beautiful thought as to the essence and inmost centre of this faith or trust.
Scholars tell us that the word here translated ‘trust’ has a graphic, pictorial
meaning for its root idea. It signifies literally to cling to or hold fast anything,
expressing thus both the notion of a good tight grip and of intimate union. ow, is
not that metaphor vivid and full of teaching as well as of impulse? ‘I will trust in
Thee.’ ‘And he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto
the Lord.’ We may follow out the metaphor of the word in many illustrations. For
instance, here is a strong prop, and here is the trailing, lithe feebleness of the vine.
Gather up the leaves that are creeping all along the ground, and coil them around
that support, and up they go straight towards the heavens. Here is a limpet in some
pond or other, left by the tide, and it has relaxed its grasp a little. Touch it with your
finger and it grips fast to the rock, and you will want a hammer before you can
dislodge it. There is a traveller groping along some narrow broken path, where the
chamois would tread cautiously, his guide in front of him. His head reels, and his
limbs tremble, and he is all but over, but he grasps the strong hand of the man in
front of him, or lashes himself to him by the rope, and he can walk steadily. Or, take
that story in the Acts of the Apostles, about the lame man healed by Peter and John.
All his life long he had been lame, and when at last healing comes, one can fancy
with what a tight grasp ‘the lame man held Peter and John.’ The timidity and
helplessness of a lifetime made him hold fast, even while, walking and leaping, he
tried how the unaccustomed ‘feet and ankle bones’ could do their work. How he
would clutch the arms of his two supporters, and feel himself firm and safe only as

long as he grasped them! That is faith, cleaving to Christ, twining round Him with
all the tendrils of our heart, as the vine does round its pole; holding to Him by His
hand, as a tottering man does by the strong hand that upholds.
And there is one more application of the metaphor, which perhaps may be best
brought out by referring to a passage of Scripture. We find this same expression
used in that wonderfully dramatic scene in the Book of Kings, where the
supercilious messengers from the king of Assyria came up and taunted the king and
his people on the wall. ‘What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? ow, on
whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? ow, behold, thou trustest
upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which, if a man lean, it will
go into his hand and pierce it: so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, unto all that trust on
him,’ The word of our text is employed there, and as the phrase shows, with a
distinct trace of its primary sense. Hezekiah was leaning upon that poor paper reed
on the ile banks, that has no substance, or strength, or pith in it. A man leans upon
it, and it runs into the palm of his hand, and makes an ugly festering wound. Such
rotten stays are all our earthly confidences. The act of trust, and the miserable
issues of placing it on man, are excellently described there. The act is the same when
directed to God, but how different the issues. Lean all your weight on God as on
some strong staff, and depend upon it that your support will never yield nor crack
and no splinters will run into your palms from it.
If I am to cling with my hand I must first empty my hand. Fancy a man saying, ‘I
cannot stand unless you hold me up; but I have to hold my bank book, and this
thing, and that thing, and the other thing; I cannot put them down, so I have not a
hand free to lay hold with, you must do the holding.’ That is what some of us are
saying in effect. ow the prayer, ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe,’ is a right
one; but not from a man who will not put his possessions out of his hands that he
may lay hold of the God who lays hold of him.
‘ othing in my hand I bring.’
Then, of course, and only then, when we are empty-handed, shall we be free to grip
and lay hold; and only then shall we be able to go on with the grand words-
‘Simply to Thy Cross I cling,’
as some half-drowned, shipwrecked sailor, flung up on the beach, clasps a point of
rock, and is safe from the power of the waves that beat around him.
And then one word more. These two clauses that I have put together give us not only
the occasion of faith in fear, and the essence of faith in this clinging, but they also
give us very beautifully the victory of faith. You see with what poetic art-if we may
use such words about the breathings of such a soul-he repeats the two main words
of the former verse in the latter, only in inverted order-’What time I am afraid, I
will trust in Thee.’ He is possessed by the lower emotion, and resolves to escape
from its sway into the light and liberty of faith. And then the next words still keep
up the contrast of faith and fear, only that now he is possessed by the more blessed
mood, and determines that he will not fall back into the bondage and darkness of
the baser. ‘In God I have put my trust; I will not fear.’ He has confidence, and in the
strength of that he resolves that he will not yield to fear. If we put that thought into
a more abstract form it comes to this: that the one true antagonist and triumphant
rival of all fear is faith, and faith alone. There is no reason why any man should be
emancipated from his fears either about this world or about the next, except in

Psalm 56 commentary

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Psalm 56 commentary