Daily Devotional • September 16
Psalm 56
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 take my life.
7 Do not deliver them for any reason;
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.
Meditation
Psalm 56 and 57 both begin with the address to God “have mercy upon me.” Unlike Psalm 51, which begins the same way, these are not exactly penitential Psalms. Rather, David is fleeing political enemies and decides to look up for help.
Liturgically, we say “Lord have mercy” as part of the ordinary of the mass. In the South, we use it as something of an interjection. For the uninitiated, it’s something like “good grief.” I would argue that David’s employment is more akin to the American South’s usage of the phrase.
An immediate, earthly, tangible evil assaults him and his instinct is to cry out: “Lord have mercy.” The pre-modern sentiment of this instinct is strong. We moderns know that problems are solved by foreign policy, imposing tariffs, sending in armed forces, and electing different politicians. Why, when something goes wrong, pray?
Perhaps I’m preaching to the choir, but the choir is full of sinners just like everyone else. It’s easy for us to believe the illusion that when something goes wrong, we fix it; when enemies attack, we exercise our sovereign right to defend ourselves; when we it gets hot we turn on the AC; when we get bored we turn to our phone. It’s easy to believe the illusions that — big or small — we fix our own problems.
David premodern (Godly) sentiment teaches us something about our power to help ourselves: that it’s nonexistent. Something’s wrong, an enemy is close and the Bible doesn’t tell us to act, it tells us to cry. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Chase Benefiel is a friend, Tennesseean, preacher, and student (in that order) currently finishing his M.Div. at Duke Divinity School.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Iowa – The Episcopal Church
Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando