Trust in Response to Fear: Explanatory Notes on Psalm 56

Reflecting on the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Three Days after Sunday (Year C)

Scripture

Psalm 56; Jeremiah 1:11-19; Luke 19:41-44

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Prayer

God of every land and nation, you have created all people and you dwell among us in Jesus Christ. Listen to the cries of those who pray to you, and grant that, as we proclaim the greatness of your name, all people will know the power of love at work in the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Revised Common Lectionary)

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Reflections

Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;

    all day long foes oppress me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

    for many fight against me.

O Most High, when I am afraid,

    I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

    in God I trust; I am not afraid;

    what can flesh do to me?

All day long they seek to injure my cause;

    all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They stir up strife; they lurk;

    they watch my steps,

as they hoped to take my life.

   Do not deliver them for any reason;

    in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;

    put my tears in your bottle.

    Are they not in your record?

Then my enemies will retreat

    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 trust; I am not afraid.

    What can a mere mortal do to me?

My vows to you I must perform, O God;

    I will render thank offerings to you.

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 (Psalm 56).

Psalm 56 is a heartfelt prayer of trust in God amid suffering and opposition. It is attributed to David and was written “when the Philistines seized him in Gath” (1 Samuel 21:10-15).