In God I Trust
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
2My foes have trampled upon me 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, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid
What can mere man do to me?
5All day long they distort my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They attack, they lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life.
7Because of wickedness, cast them forth,
In anger put down the peoples, O God!
8You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle
Are they not in Your book?
9Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.
10In God, whose word I praise,
In the LORD, whose word I praise,
11In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12Your vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
13For You have delivered my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living..
Read the entire psalm through 2 times.
To set up the psalm, verse 1 says, “according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths”. This is a note that this psalm is set to the same tune as ‘The Dove on Far-off Terebinths’. Look at the blog posted 1/26 for an explanation on ‘miktam’. The time when David was in Gath can be found in 1 Samuel 21:10 and Psalm 34.
Read verses 1-4 together. Have you ever felt like David does in verses 1-2? Even though it is not the norm for us to be physically pursed, our thoughts often pursue us. In these times of feeling pursed, do you come to the same conclusion as David does in verses 3-4? In the original language, “mere man” is literally “flesh”. David realizes that God is so much more powerful than just flesh and is consoled by this idea. How does this apply to our thoughts?
Read verses 5-10. How does it relate to verses 1-4? Does David reach the same conclusion as verses 3-4? Read verse 8 again. God knows where David has been and all of his tears. How does that make you feel toward God? What does it mean to you when verse 9 says, “This I know, God is for me”? In verse 11, “man” in the original language does translate “man” this time. Not only is God more powerful than flesh, but an actual man cannot put a stop to God’s plans!
Read verses 12-13. Do you think the vows that David writes about are a burden to him? Why? Verse 13 says that God “has delivered” David. Does this strike you as odd since David is in the midst of being pursued? He concludes the psalm by stating that he will continue to walk with God “in the light of the living”. What does this say about David’s confidence in God? How has studying this psalm affected your confidence in God?