PSALMS LESSON 54
We will begin this lesson by giving the 56th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 56
Verse 1 "Be Merciful to me O God, For man would me devour; He lights
against me every day, oppressing by his power."
Verse 2 "My watchful foes to swallow me are seeking day and night;
For they are many, O Most High, That do against me flight."
Verse 3 "When I'm afraid I'll trust in thee: In God I'll praise his
word; I will not fear what flesh can do, my trust is in the
Lord."
Verse 4 "Each day they wrest my words; their thoughts Are all
conceived in hate. They meet, they lurk, they mark my steps,
While for my soul they wait."
Verse 5 "But shall they by iniquity Escape thy judgments just? O God,
in indignation down Do thou the people thrust."
Verse 6 "Thou countest all my wanderings, Not one dost overlook:
Within thy bottle put my tears; Are they not in thy book?"
Verse 7 "My foes shall, when I cry, turn back; I know God is for me.
In God his word I'll praise; his word praised in the Lord
shall be."
Verse 8 "I will not fear what man can do; For I on God rely. Thy vows
upon me are, O God: To thee give praise will I."
Verse 9 "From death thou hast me saved; my feet Do thou from falls
keep free: So in the light of those who live I'll walk, O
Lord, with thee.
We will now begin the verse by verse study of chapter 56 of
Psalms. Psalms 56:1 "{To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-
rechokim, 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."
This is yet another instance where David is in peril of his life.
It appears that his enemy will never let up. He pursues him every day.
If we were to look at this and seek a lesson to be learned, we would
find that we must constantly be on guard. Our enemy the devil, is in
constant pursuit of those he might deceive and get into his trap. It
seems he never lets up. I Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour:"
Psalms 56:2 "Mine enemies would daily swallow [me] up: for [they
be] many that fight against me, O thou most High."
This never-ending battle, that David is fighting is the very same
enemy that we fight. The characters may be a little different, but
they are all sent on an evil mission by our adversary, the devil. Evil
men of all ages are controlled by the devil. They cannot do good,
because they are sold out to him. David mentions the only one that can
help any of us in this same predicament; O thou Most High.
Psalms 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."
How can I fear? God is on my side. David saw the magnitude of the
opposition, and it was enough to make the bravest of them all afraid.
He did not panic, because he had put his trust in the Lord. It is
reasonable to be cautious in the face of danger. We would not walk out
in front of an oncoming truck to see if God would protect us. This
would be testing God. We must use our own knowledge and ability to the
best of our ability, and God will do the rest.
Psalms 56:4 "In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my
trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me."
David should know better than any of us that the statement he has
made above is true. To look at the giant Goliath, was a very
frightening thing. David did not let the size and power of Goliath
stop him. He came against Goliath in the power and might of Almighty
God. Flesh did not cause him great fear then, even though that flesh
was several times as big as he was. The very worst this enemy of
David's can do is destroy David's body. We see in the next Scripture
that we are not to fear him who can destroy the body. Matthew 10:28
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell."
Psalms 56:5 "Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts
[are] against me for evil."
Wrest, in the verse above, means to carve. This, then, would mean
that they carve up the words of David. They destroy the things he has
said by twisting them around and making things out of them that David
had not said. They have evil thoughts about David constantly. This is
not only a problem of David's, but it is a problem of all those who
try to do the will of God.
Psalms 56:6 "They gather themselves together, they hide
themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul."
If one demon can not destroy you, the devil just keeps on
dispatching more, until it seems there is an army of them trying to
make you foul up. They are everywhere we step trying to trip us up.
This is the very thing the serpent did to Eve. He waited and caught
her away from Adam, and at a weak moment and he deceived her. As I
said, the devil never changes his tactics. He just colors them up a
little and passes them by us, again, to see if he can catch us at a
weak moment. This is the very thing happening to David here. David is
the beloved of God. If the devil could trip him up, wouldn't that be a
feather in his cap? If you are under constant attack of the devil, it
probably means you are one of God's anointed.
Psalms 56:7 "Shall they escape by iniquity? in [thine] anger cast
down the people, O God."
Sometimes it seems like those who are living sinful lives are the
ones who are prospering in this life. David asks, are they going to
get out of this with their evil ways? They may get away with it for a
while, but the day of reckoning is coming when they will have to face
the righteous Judge. David's request will come true at that day. God
will cast them down into the pit.
Psalms 56:8 "Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into
thy bottle: [are they] not in thy book?"
It was the custom in those days to catch the tears of the
mourners in a bottle. God is so observant of us that every step we
take, every word that we utter, every prayer that we pray, and
everything that we do is recorded. God knows everything about you and
me. We may deceive those around us, but we can not deceive God, He
knows everything. Some day the book of our life will be opened. Will
we be ashamed when He reads to us out of the book?
Psalms 56:9 "When I cry [unto thee], then shall mine enemies turn
back: this I know; for God [is] for me."
David knows, as we should know, that when God hears his cry, the
enemy better run. If God be for me, who can be against me? The answer
would be only the very foolish.
Psalms 56:10 "In God will I praise [his] word: in the LORD will I
praise [his] word."
God inhabits the praises of His people. I am not really sure
about what this Scripture is saying. The best I can do with it, is to
say that even our praise, has to be in Him. The Word of God {Christ}
in us
is actually what causes us to praise. The Word, Jesus Christ, Lord,
God, are all involved in my praises, if I truly have Christ in me.
Psalms 56:11 "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid
what man can do unto me."
As I said before, about all man can do is to kill our body. Our
spirit will live on. If our trust is truly in God, we should have no
fear of death. Death is just a release for our spirit, which has been
encumbered by flesh. Paul goes into the fact that life after death is
better than life in the flesh, in Philippians chapter 1 beginning with
the 20th verse. I will give just one Scripture here, but read it all
for yourself. Philippians 1:21 "For to me to live [is] Christ, and to
die [is] gain."
Psalms 56:12 "Thy vows [are] upon me, O God: I will render
praises unto thee."
It is a dangerous thing to make a vow to God, and then not keep
it. David is saying, here, that the vows he made to God, he would
keep. He, also, says that he will never stop praising God. That is my
desire, as well. As long as there is breath in my body, I want to use
that breath praising God in some way.
Psalms 56:13 "For thou hast delivered my soul from death: [wilt]
not [thou deliver] my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in
the light of the living?"
This is a very good request David is making. He wants God's Light
to guide his steps, so that he will not stumble and fall. He is
saying, Lord you saved me, help me stay saved. The only path that any
of us should walk is the straight and narrow path that God has chosen
for us. We can not see the way without the Light of Jesus to guide our
every step. I John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
Questions 54
1. What lesson can the modern Christian receive from verse 1?
2. Quote 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8.
3. Evil men of all ages are controlled by the ______.
4. Who is the only One who can help David, or us?
5. Why did David not panic with such great odds?
6. In David's youth, what was the name of the giant he fought?
7. David came against the giant in the name of the _______.
8. What was the very worst the enemy could do to David?
9. Quote Matthew chapter 10 verse 28.
10. What does wrest, in verse 5, mean?
11. If one demon can not destroy you, what does the devil do?
12. What does the statement {they mark my steps} mean?
13. What does it probably mean, if you are under constant attack of
the devil?
14. Who will cast the evil ones in the pit?
15. What is meant by, catching tears in a bottle?
16. Who can we not deceive?
17. Will we be ashamed when He reads to us out of the book?
18. If God be for me, _____ __ __ ________ __?
19. In ___ have I put my trust.
20. Quote Philippians chapter 1 verse 21.
21. It is a dangerous thing to make a vow to God, and not _____ __.
22. Quote 1 John chapter 1 verse 7.
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