RETURN TO SYLLABUS
PSALMS 56
LESSON #13/P2
A PERMANENT WALKING STICK: FAITH FOR FREEDOM FROM FEAR

• MEMORY VERSE: PSA 56:3
• THE SUB-TITLE: "To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath."
• "MICHTAM" MEANS = ENGRAVEN OR PERMANENT.
• THEREFORE, THE PSALM TELLS US SOMETHING THAT IS SUBSTANTIAL, ENDURING OR FIXED AND USUALLY HAS TO DO WITH DELIVERANCE OR DENUNCIATION.
• THERE IS A SERIES OF PSALMS CALLED "THE MICHTAM PSALMS", PSALM 56 TO PSALM 60.
• "JONATH-ELEM-RECHOKIM" = A MUSICAL TUNE CALLED, "A DOVE ON DISTANT OAKS".
• BACKGROUND FOR THIS PSALM:
• READ 1SAM 21:10-15
• DAVID WAS WEARY FROM FLEEING FROM KING SAUL. DESPERATE, HE SOUGHT REFUGE IN THE PHILISTINE CITY OF GATH HOPING HE WOULD NOT BE RECOGNIZED.
• REMEMBER THAT THE PHILISTINES WERE ISRAEL’S ENEMIES.
• DAVID HAD EVEN KILLED GOLIATH, A PHILISTINE.
• WHEN PEOPLE RECOGNIZED DAVID, HE BECAME AFRAID. THEREFORE, HE PRETENDED TO BE INSANE. THEN THEY LET HIM GO.

• THE PRIMARY INTERPRETATION:
• READ PSA 56:1-13
• DAVID’S CIRCUMSTANCE: (1-2)
• "…SWALLOW ME UP…"
• DAVID MENTIONS THIS PHRASE TWICE IN VERSES 1 AND 2.
• EVERYWHERE HE TURNS THERE ARE ENEMIES READY TO DESTROY HIM. KING SAUL’S ARMY IS BEHIND HIM TO THE EAST AND THE PHILISTINES ARE BEFORE HIM TO THE WEST.
• WHAT TO DO IN TIMES OF FEAR: (3-4)
• "WHAT TIME I AM AFRAID I WILL TRUST IN THEE" (3)
• DAVID KNEW IMMEDIATELY WHERE TO GO WHEN FEAR SET IN. HE TURNED TO GOD.
• NOTICE THAT DAVID IS TALKING TO HIMSELF. HE PUTS HIS FAITH IN WORDS SO THAT HE CAN HEAR HIMSELF SAY THESE THINGS.
• THAT IS A GOOD THING TO DO, BECAUSE SOMETHING HAPPENS WHEN THE EARS HEAR SOMETHING SAID. IT REINFORCES FAITH IN THE HEART.
• THE REFRAIN:
• THIS SONG (PSALM) HAS A REFRAIN OR CHORUS THAT IS REPEATED. VERSE 4 IS THE REFRAIN. IT IS REPEATED IN VERSES 10 AND 11 WITH SLIGHT VARIATIONS.
• DAVID PRAISES GOD’S WORD. (4) WHY?
• FEAR IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH. FEAR MEANS WE ARE LOOKING AROUND AT OUR IMMEDIATE CIRCUMSTANCES AND NOT LOOKING AT CHRIST.
• LIKE DAVID, USE FEAR AS A WARNING BELL TO PROMPT YOU TO FAITH.
• IT IS FROM GOD’S WORD THAT FAITH COMES. (ROM 10:17)
• IT IS IN GOD’S WORD THAT WE SEE GOD, HIS PROMISES, HIS POWER, AND HIS POSSIBILITIES.
• SOMETHING UNIQUE HAPPENS IN THE HUMAN HEART WHEN GOD’S WORD IS READ ALOUD.
• WHEN FAITH COMES, DAVID SAYS, "I WILL NOT FEAR WHAT FLESH CAN DO UNTO ME." (4) DAVID MAKES A SIMILAR STATEMENT IN VERSE 11, "I WILL NOT BE AFRAID WHAT MAN CAN DO UNTO ME."
• NOTICE THE FAITH DETERMINATION IN THESE STATEMENTS. HE HAS FIXED HIS EYES, HIS FAITH, AND HIS DETERMINATION ON GOD.
• THIS FIXED ASPECT IS FROM WHERE THE SUB-TITLE, "MICHTAM" COMES.
• THE ENEMIES’ MEANS OF OPERATION: (5-6)
• HIS ENEMIES WAIT FOR HIM TO SAY SOMETHING WRONG.
• HIS ENEMIES PLAN EVIL AGAINST HIM.
• HIS ENEMIES CONSPIRE TOGETHER AGAINST HIM.
• HIS ENEMIES ARE NOT ALWAYS VISIBLE BUT PLOT IN SECRET.
• HIS ENEMIES FOLLOW HIM WHEREVER HE GOES.
• HIS ENEMIES WAIT TO TRAP HIM.
• VINDICATION: (7-9)
• DAVID ASKS GOD IF HIS ENEMIES WILL ESCAPE GOD’S JUSTICE BECAUSE OF THEIR EVIL DEEDS. (7)
• OF COURSE, THE ANSWER IS NO, THEY WILL NOT ESCAPE GOD’S JUSTICE.
• "THOU TELLEST MY WANDERINGS…" (8)
• GOD KNOWS EVERY STEP YOU TAKE AND EVERYWHERE YOU GO.
• "…PUT THOU MY TEARS INTO THY BOTTLE…" (8)
• GOD KNOWS AND HAS KEPT TRACK OF EVERY TEAR YOU HAVE EVER SHED. THEY ARE HIDDEN AMONG GOD’S VALUABLE TREASURES.
• IN THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST, THE TEARS OF MOURNERS WERE COLLECTED IN WINESKINS (BOTTLES) AND SET AT THE TOMB OF A DEAD FAMILY MEMBER TO INDICATE THE AMOUNT OF MOURNING FOR A DEAD LOVED ONE.
• BY FAITH DAVID SAYS, "GOD IS FOR ME". (9)
• HE COMES TO THAT CONCLUSION AFTER CONSIDERING THAT GOD HAS PAID ATTENTION TO HIS EVERY STEP AND HIS EVERY TEAR. IF GOD WERE NOT FOR HIM, HE WOULD NOT BOTHER WITH SUCH MINUTE DETAILS OF DAVID’S LIFE.
• IT IS THIS LOVE OF GOD THAT CASTS OUT FEAR.
• READ 1JOH 4:18-19
• THE REFRAIN: (10-11)
• THE SAME REFRAIN FROM VERSE 4 IS REPEATED BUT WITH SLIGHT VARIATIONS:
• IN VERSE 4 DAVID SAYS THAT IN GOD HE WILL PRAISE GOD’S WORD. THIS IS REPEATED IN VERSE 10.
• DAVID USES THE NAME, "ELOHIM", FOR GOD. THIS NAME REFERS TO GOD, THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.
• IN VERSE 10 DAVID ADDS THE PHRASE, "…IN THE LORD WILL I PRAISE HIS WORD."
• DAVID USES THE NAME, "JEHOVAH". THIS NAME REFERS TO A PERSONAL GOD WHO MAKES COVENANTS WITH HIS PEOPLE.
• THEREFORE, THE SECOND REFRAIN IS MORE PERSONAL WITH A CLOSER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
• THE WALK OF PERSONAL FAITH (12-13)
• DAVID’S VOWS OF COMMITMENT TO GOD ARE ALWAYS BEFORE HIM.(12)
• BY FAITH DAVID ANTICIPATES GOD’S VICTORY SO THAT HE MIGHT WALK IN THE LIGHT OF LIFE AND NOT FALL AWAY FROM GOD.
• SUMMARY:
• WE ALL GO THROUGH TIMES OF FEAR IN LIFE. WE WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER DAVID’S LESSONS ON HOW TO HANDLE FEAR. WE ALL NEED THAT STRONG AND PERMANENT WALKING STICK OF FAITH TO HELP US WALK THE CHRISTIAN LIFE THROUGH TIMES OF FEAR.

• THE PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION:
• THIS PSALM REFERS TO THE JEWS WHO, LIKE DAVID, WILL FLEE THE ANTICHRIST AT THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD. THEY WILL FLEE IN FEAR A TERRIBLE PERSECUTION, WORSE THAN ANY PERSECUTION YET IN HISTORY.
• READ JER 30:7-9
• LIKE DAVID’S PERSONAL LIFE, THERE WILL BE VICTORY FOR THE JEWS WHO COME TO TRUST BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.

• APPLICATION OF PSA 56:
• FIND SOME ENCOURAGING VERSES THAT WILL HELP YOU IN TIMES OF FEAR.
• WRITE THEM IN A FLY LEAF OF YOUR BIBLE AND SAVE THEM FOR THE DAY WHEN YOU WILL NEED THEM.

• PREPARATION FOR PSA 57:
• READ PSA 57:1-11
• FIND THE ONE THING DAVID SAYS IS FIXED, PERMANENT, AND ENDURING (MICHTAM).

• THERE ARE TWO "SELAH’S" IN THIS PSALM. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT WE SHOULD STOP AND THINK ABOUT?

• WHAT IS THE REPEATED REFRAIN OR CHORUS IN THIS SONG (PSALM)? 

• MEMORY VERSE: PSA 57:1