What can mere man do to me?

Psalm 56 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me. ² My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me. ³When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. ⁴ In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? ⁵ All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. ⁶ They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life. ⁷ Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book? ⁹ Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. ¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise, In the Lord, whose word I praise, ¹¹ In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? ¹² Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. ¹³ For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.

I am sure many of us have, at times, felt like the psalmist who says:  Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me. My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life.    It feels at times like everyone and everything is against us; that people oppress and fight us because we stand with God. It is in those times that we must heed and hold to what it says in 2 Corinthians 5:7:  We walk by faith, not by sight.   We need to remember that we live not only in this world, but also in the kingdom of God. We need to know that what is unseen is greater than what is seen. Like the psalmist we can say: What can mere man do to me?    Indeed the psalmist lists the things they can do: All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life.   But, if like the psalmist we put our trust and in His word, then we need not be afraid. In Psalm 23:4 the psalmist says:  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me.   Even death is merely a shadow. It has no lasting, eternal power. Jesus Christ has overcome death through the resurrection, and so we have overcome through Christ. Romans 8:31-39 says:  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?  Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The psalmist says:  Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God!   Then he turns from crying out in desperation, to making a declaration of his faith and confidence. With many of the same words, he says:  You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, In the Lord, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.   We need, like the psalmist, to remember that the Lord God is the God of all. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18) We are victorious both in the heavenly realm and also in the natural realm. We not only walk before God in the light of the living, but we are to walk as His light in the land of the living. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

May these words of the psalmist, from Psalm 27, be our declaration and prayer:    The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?  When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LordAnd to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.  And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.  Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”  Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.   Amen. Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.