“What can a mere mortal do to us?”
“What can a mere mortal do to us?”
Sept. 17 – Psalm 56
To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many fight against me.
O Most High, 3 when I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they seek to injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They stir up strife, they lurk, they watch my steps.
As they hoped to have my life,
7 so repay them for their crime; 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 record?
9 Then my enemies will retreat 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 am not afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me?
12 My vows to you I must perform, O God; I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God in the light of life.
Again, the backstory is important. David was on the run from Saul and there was nowhere in Israel that was safe, Saul was able to convince people to reveal where David and his band were hiding (See Psalm 54) So David fled to Philistine country, because there was no way the Philistines would turn an enemy of Saul over to Saul. The Philistines and the Israelites were enemies and the Philistines protecting David would have been a major irritant to Saul.
But there was more, David had killed the Philistine military champion Goliath, and Gath was Goliath’s hometown. So maybe Saul would not kill David, maybe it would be the Philistines who would kill David in revenge for Goliath’s death.
David was between a rock and a hard place, in the hands of the Philistines he was safe from Saul, but the people of Gath wanted revenge. There was no safety and peace to be found, with two militaries after him. (For the Biblical account see 1 Samuel 21:10-12.)
In the midst of these threats on his life, David in faith declares in both vs. 4 and vs. 11 – “In God I trust; I am not afraid; what can flesh do to me?”…”What can a mere mortal do to me?” Jesus said, “Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” (Matt 10:28)
The forces seeking to destroy David, the forces arrayed to destroy us, can not touch the promise of the resurrection. Death, evil’s ultimate weapon and therefore the thing that causes us fear, can only kill once – it cannot touch the resurrected Jesus, nor will it touch all those who are given new life in Jesus Christ. In this profound hope David can say that he will walk before God in the light of life. A life given to those who follow Jesus in this life into the life on the other side of the grave. In that hope we live.
PRAYER:
Almighty God, we confess that frequently we are afraid, worried about what people might say or do. We confess that we are impacted by those threats far more than we want to be. Give us the faith and courage of David, that we might say – “In God I trust; I am not afraid.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.