Psalm 56

0 To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1  Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
  all day long foes oppress me;
2  my enemies trample on me all day long,
  for many fight against me.
 O Most High,
3 when I am afraid,
  I put my trust in you.
4  In God, whose word I praise,
  in God I trust; I am not afraid;
  what can flesh do to me?
5  All day long they seek to injure my cause;
  all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6  They stir up strife, they lurk,
  they watch my steps.
 As they hoped to have my life,
7   so repay them for their crime;
  in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8  You have kept count of my tossings;
  put my tears in your bottle.
  Are they not in your record?
9  Then my enemies will retreat
  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 trust; I am not afraid.
  What can a mere mortal do to me?
12  My vows to you I must perform, O God;
  I will render thank offerings to you.
13  For you have delivered my soul from death,
  and my feet from falling,
 so that I may walk before God
  in the light of life.

Daily Prayer (based on Psalm 56:4)

O Lord, I don't think of myself as a fearful person, and compared to some, I'm not. But as I reflect a bit more, I realize how easily I'm motivated by fear – fear that someone won't like me or will disapprove of me, fear that I will make someone angry with me. I can be afraid of going too far out on a limb of faith, when I can't guarantee my own success and have to trust You completely. I can be afraid of looking foolish, or of being a failure.

Postscript

I've been thinking recently of how much fear influences our lives. In my community, parents put lots of pressure on their kids to succeed, in school, in sports, in drama, etc. On the surface, this seems to reflect an obsessive need for family glory. Yet, on a deeper level, I know many parents are driven by fear. We can be afraid that if our child doesn't get a sports scholarship to college, we won't be able to send her. Or we might be afraid that if we don't push our kids, they'll live unhappy, mediocre lives. Or . . . . Today I'd like to live by faith, not fear, trusting God more completely.

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Except for the Scripture text, all material of The Daily Psalm Copyright © 2006 by Mark D. Roberts

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The Scripture text used in The Daily Psalm is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved