Devotion: Trust and Fear (Psalm 56)

Trust and fear never go together. When we have so much trust in a person we don’t fear that person. When we have so much trust that a person will help us in a troublesome situation we will not fear that situation. That’s what David is also saying through this Psalm. Fear nothing when God is on your side.

This is the phrase that David is repeating twice in the Psalm.  – v3,4 and v9,10,11.

We can see the fearful situation that David is going through. As said in the heading – A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.

V1 – Men would swallow me up, v2 – Enemies would hound me all day, there are many who fight against me, v6 – They gather together and mark my steps, they lie in wait for my life. That’s the situation he is in when David is writing this psalm. He is surrounded by people who wait to take his life. In the midst of these situations, David is saying that – “In God, I have put my trust, I will not fear. What can flesh do to me” (v4).

Whom to trust

It is very important that on whom we trust. It could be possible that we trust the wrong person. Our trust may be sincere but if we trust in the wrong person it’s all meaningless. David’s trust and confidence is in God and in no one else.

V3 – Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. , v4 – In God, I have put my trust.

I think David had more things to trust rather than God. – His army, the chariots, the number of horses, his 300 mighty men. Often he had trusted in wrong things also but from his experience he has said in other psalms – It is better to trust in God rather than man, princes or chariots and horses.

God is trustworthy

But is God trustworthy? A God who is living far-away, we have not seen through our physical eyes. Is he really trustworthy? But David had the confidence that He can be trusted. He never felt God is so far away. Our God is a God who takes note of everything that happens in our life. That we can see in the following verses.

V8,9,10 – So beautiful! Our God is one who sees our situation, cares for us. He is aware of our wanderings. – Psalm 121:8 – The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in.

V8:b - He sees our tears. Out tears are not in vain. It has a value before God and it is recorded. That’s the confidence of David. Malachi 3:16 – The book of remembrance where are our cries, our pains are recorded. And a day will come where the righteous and unrighteous are clearly discerned.

V9 - The greatest confidence of David was that God is for Him. No matter how cruel or how strong his enemies were, he was sure that God is for Him.

That’s the reason why David is writing about the deliverance in the past tense as something which has already happened. V13.

Conclusion

Let us trust in God. Our God is really trustworthy. Let us not be fearful of the situations because trust and fear do not go together. David as a conclusion of the Psalm understood the reason why he has God delivers him from all the troubles – v13 – That I may walk before God in the light of the living. So let us not be fearful in this world. Let us trust in Him who keeps a record of our wanderings and our tears. And let us walk before God in the light of the living.