ao:eng_webu
Psalms 56
1Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
2My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me.
3When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.
4In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
5All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life.
7Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.
8You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?
9Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this: that God is for me.
10In God, I will praise his word. In the LORD, I will praise his word.
11I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
12Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank to you.
13For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
Slow reading
Read Psalms 56 three times
Guided passes through short verse groups: read it whole, watch the words, then pray it back. Phrases to stop on along the way, with deeper explanation held back until you have read the verses yourself.
Ask about this chapter
Have a question about Psalms 56?
Ask anything about this chapter. Every answer names the verses it rests on and links straight to them, highlighted in the reader.
Study together
Questions on Psalms 56
Every comment is tied to a place in the text: a verse, a span of verses, or one section of the study. Ask what you do not understand, and answer others from Scripture.
Sign in to ask a question or answer one. Reading always stays open to everyone.
Questions this passage answers
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.
How do I trust God when life is difficult?
Biblical trust is not a feeling you generate. It is leaning your weight on what God has revealed about himself, especially when your circumstances suggest otherwise. Scripture builds trust the same way every time: by remembering what God has already done, telling him the truth about what you feel now, and obeying the next small thing while the outcome is still hidden.