Psalm 56
“I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?
What can mere mortals do to me?”
Psalm 56:4b & 11
Jesus echoes the words of David spoken here twice in Psalm 56 verse 4 and verse 11 when He is warning people about the Pharisees in Luke 12:4-5.
4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.”
Luke 12:4-5
The context is also similar. David according to the Psalm notes is writing in response to a time his enemies had captured him, and Jesus is responding to a great conflict He has had with the Pharisees.
53 As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.
Luke 11:53-54
MAIN POINT: When facing great conflict with enemies, we can be confident in God’s promised protection just as Jesus taught us.
Enemies are a normal part of the plan of God: If I have seen one thing, it is that the Psalmist (usually David so far) has enemies. To be honest it makes me uncomfortable to always be talking about conflict in these terms and to be condemning enemies left, right and centre. Aren’t we supposed to be loving our enemies? And is it normal to always be in conflict and crying out and stressed by enemies? YES Get used to it. We are in a war. There is a spiritual conflict all around us and in us. Read the Bible with me and you will notice from cover to cover, conflict, enemies and agro. Yes indeed we have the peace of God and yes we are to live a life of love. But on this side of the grave and the resurrection, there will be conflict. It is not the absence of enemies that will be your blessing, it will be the presence of God. Enemies are to be expected, David had enemies, Jesus had enemies, Abraham had enemies, Moses had enemies. Who didn’t? Paul says to his trainee in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Get used to it. It is all part of the plan. I mean, come on, if Jesus has this reality, who do I think I am to escape it (John 15:20, John 13:16)? Am I a FOLLOWER of Jesus or not? Am I going to walk where my Master walked?
Enemies can’t touch me* *Jesus was crucified, David was captured by Philistines, David’s own son, Absolom, ran him out of town, Paul has a list of beatings, near death experiences and conflicts within the Christian world and from the religious Jews as long as his arm, as far as I can remember all the Apostles had a terrible time in life (read Acts for some of the details) and Jesus reminds the Pharisees, His enemies, that all of God’s prophets were murdered by the Jews themselves. So what’s this MC Hammer quote, “You can’t touch this?” Well, this life is not the end. And God causes His people to rise up again and again.
Proverbs 24:16, “For a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-12, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;...” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27)
Romans 8:28, 31-39, “34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”
See if we are the possession of God, then who is going to take us away from God? No one can steal from God. (John 10:28-30)
Have you ever played as a kid the game of snatch the coin? Someone, usually your dad, has a coin and he says if you can get it out of his hand you can have it. So you try to be fast enough, and then you try to force his hand open and then you outright attack him in all ways to get him to give up the coin. Do you imagine that your enemy can beat God in the hand snatch game? Everyone is always too slow, too short, too weak to snatch from the hand of God what He protects. You are the safe coin.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
John 10:28-30
Focus on the relationship with God
The key outcome of all conflict with enemies is to bring your focus on God. Do not end your reflection and prayer giving glory to the enemy. I am impressed throughout the bible how little attention the enemies receive and how infrequently they are named. Oh they are named to be sure and they do get a lot of attention but actually surprisingly the focus should always end on God.
“O God, have mercy on me” v.1
“But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you (God).” v.3
“I praise God for what he has promised.” v.4
“I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?” v.4
“O God, bring them down.” v.7
“You (God) keep track of all my sorrows. You (God) have collected all my tears in your bottle. You (God) have recorded each one in your book.” v.8
“...I call to you (God) for help. This I know: God is on my side!” v.9
“I praise God for what he has promised; yes, I praise the Lord for what he has promised. v.10
“I trust in God,” v.11
“I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.”v.12
“For you (God) have rescued me from death; you (God) have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light.” v.13
Conclusion:
Don’t think you will escape this life without any conflict with enemies, you won’t. You will have enemies. But those enemies are servants to the higher purpose of fixing your eyes on God. You will gain a greater focus and understanding of the great treasure that God is for you when you turn to Him even (especially) in the presence of your enemies. God will protect you.
Extra: John 5:16-47 While there is a conflict with the Pharisees, Jesus focuses on His relationship with God, His Father.
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| Handwritten Psalm 56 |
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