NOTES for Psa 56

David was a brave warrior who went courageously into battle many times. But he possessed another kind of courage too: not to boast of his exploits, but to admit that he too was afraid. David understood that all his military valor was a gift received from the One whom he acknowledged as the chief giver of his victories. He is therefore not ashamed to speak of the difficult stage of his wanderings when enemies surrounded him on every side and danger could be expected from every direction. Yet he never ceased to trust in the Lord, and so David has every reason to ask: what can flesh do to me?

“Flesh” may refer to the enemies who surround him, for their strength means nothing beside the strength of the Lord. But flesh means not only external enemies; it also means our own flesh, sinful and untransformed. Thus we can become our own enemies when we indulge sin. By trusting in the Lord, however, we can be delivered both from the enemies outside us and from those that assail us from within. Then, together with the psalmist, we can hope that the Lord will deliver our soul from death and our feet from stumbling.