I was in Sunday school the other week and we were talking about freedom from sin and how we are free from sin only in Christ. We looked at Psalm 56 and talked about David and his trust in God, and how that is ultimately true freedom. Psalm 56 is a mikhtam, which means a silent prayer.
David is in pursuit here by his enemies (the Philistines), and they are being sneaky and trying to trap him and ruin his life, verse 1 says, "Be merciful to me, my God, my enemies are in hot pursuit; all say long they press their attack." David, however, responds by trusting God and showing us that it is a decision we consciously make, and fear is just a feeling that we can choose to stop.
The Hebrew word for trust is balach, which means "to have confidence in, to run towards," and I love that because when we trust someone or something, it is us truly having confidence that our situation will work out when we put all our eggs in this basket. Verses 10-11 say, "In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?" I love those verses because it outlines the backbone of the Christian faith. If I have my faith in God, then of what am I afraid? Nothing can bring me down.
This Psalm also shows God's trustworthiness and his ability to have our faith put in Him. It shows us that He is always with us and knows our situations and what we're going through. God is aware of our sufferings and always sees us, and in the end, it will work out however He wants it to for His glory.
That is God's whole plan. He rescues us and snatches us from sin and death to show his power and authority, and to be Lord of our lives. If he did not do this, we would be caught up in eternal stumbling and failures instead of the eternal relationship and life that we have with Him once we truly believe.
Colossians 1:13-14, says, "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." That verse really shows God's power and ability, but also His love and care for us. He wants to rescue us and wants us to get rid of the sin and darkness in our lives, all in His name.
