When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.

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.
³ When 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.

The psalmist says:  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?   It is one thing to be afraid. There are things that happen in all of our lives that cause fear. We need though not to live in fear, because fear, when it controls our life is sin.  Revelation 21:8 says: The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.  Fear is the opposite of faith. It is actually believing more in the thing we don’t want than in what we do want. Living in fear, believing that the worst will happen means that we don’t trust God; that we don’t believe He will or He can do what He promised. The psalmist has the simple answer to fear. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust.   Romans 8:31 says:  What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  If we trust in God and His word, then nothing or no one can successfully be against us.

Look at the rational argument that the psalmist makes:  What can mere man do to me?  He lists the things they 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.  They can distort our words, but they cannot change God’s word. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says:  For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.   God says yes to all that He has promised. We need only to agree with Him in faith, amen. People who are against us may indeed even try to take our lives.  In Matthew 16:25 Jesus says:  “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”   No one can take our life, if we have already lost it for Christ. The psalmist says:  You have delivered my soul from death. In Psalm 23:4, he says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.  For those who trust in God; those who have given their life to Christ, death is merely a shadow. It has no lasting substance or power. Our souls have been delivered from death. We have eternal life in Christ. What can mere man do to me?

 The psalmist says:   Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God!  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.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, 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. I know that You are for me. You say yes to all of Your promises and I say amen. I trust in You and gladly give my life so that no one can take it from me. May I, like the psalmist, walk before God In the light of the living. Even more, may I, as Jesus said, be a light to the living. As I walk in faith, may others see Your good works and glorify You.  Amen.