Today's Featured Psalm
Psalm 56

Read this Psalm

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
   all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
   for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
   I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
   in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
   What can flesh do to me?

5 All day long they injure my cause;
   all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
   they watch my steps,
   as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
   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 book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
   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 shall not be afraid.
   What can man do to me?

12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
   I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death,
   yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
   in the light of life.

Scripture taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm Devotional
The Problem of Evil

The “problem of evil” has occupied philosophers and theologians for centuries. How, it is asked, can evil exist in a world that is supposedly created and ruled by a good God? The question itself has led many who ponder it to despair and atheism. Various answers have been offered, none of which have laid the question to rest; but perhaps we have been asking the wrong question all along.

Psalm 56 does not view evil as an abstraction that must have its presence explained. David, ever practical in his theology, does not view evil as some mysterious force or inexplicable abstraction that coexists with a good God. The problem he sees is evil men. “Man would swallow me up; fighting all day, he oppresses me” (v. 1). Similar language runs throughout the psalm, giving evil a very human face. Evil is a human problem, not a philosophical abstraction. The “problem of evil” may be debated in the ivory tower, but on the ground it is the problem of evil people. It is the problem of sin.

When understood this way, we realize that philosophy cannot offer a satisfying answer. Instead of looking for an explanation of an abstraction, we should be looking for a solution to the human condition. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ offers such a solution.

Listen to this Psalm

Trust album art Be Merciful to Me, O God (Psalm 56A)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Trust
Trust album art You Have Recorded All My Ways (Psalm 56B)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Trust