Relief from Tormentors

Psalms 56:1-13
To the Chief Musician. Set to "The Silent Dove in Distant Lands." A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.

1 Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.

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

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

5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

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

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

10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the LORD (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?

This prayer song of king David when he was held prisoner by his tormentors demonstrates his eternal focus on God over the situation.  This is such a timeless example for all God’s people, especially now known in Christ.  He cried for God’s mercy as he faced his tormentors, his numerous enemies in constant pursuit.  The key is in verse 3 - whenever fear overwhelmed the psalmist king, he would stand firm in trust of God to protect and ultimately deliver him from all evil (Matthew 6:13, 2 Timothy 4:18).  Twice he uses a stanza to praise the God in whom he trusts, an unshakable faith driving away fear from the tormenting acts of the enemy, asking out loud, ‘what can mere mortal man do to me?’  He knew of course that his sovereign God had all in complete control, that the goodness of the LORD was his strength and deliverance from fear of the enemy.  Circumstances of adversity did not shake his faith.  He sang of this truth as a reminder to himself and as a testimony for others to hear or to read, that they and we might join in trusting our God no matter what comes our way.  David mentioned how his adversaries twisted what he said to use against him, looking for opportunities to exercise their malice against him.  We also have those opposed to Christ in us, and when we say and do the things Jesus gave us examples to do, our detractors also slander us and seek to work against us.  Some things never change, for we know the schemes of the enemy (Ephesians 6:11, 2 Corinthians 2:11) and how he uses others against us as we seek to do God’s will.  They have a judgment to face divine justice in the end.  As we wander through these times, we can relate to David who wrote of his tears along the way, knowing that our names are written in His book of eternal remembrance (Daniel 12:1-2, Malachi 3:16, Philippians 4:3, Revelation 3:5, 20:15).  When we cry out in prayer to the God of our lives, He hears and drives our enemies back.  Why fear then?  He knows the covenant He made with us which is unbreakable, and so we praise our Lord for eternal deliverance and daily sustaining so we can walk with Him all the days of our lives as a loving testimony to the world, both those of God and our adversaries.