What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
What does Psalms 56:3 mean?
Be merciful to me, O God. This petition includes all the good for which we come to throne of grace.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside its immediate passage and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Psalms 56:3
" David did not hesitate to admit that there were times when he was afraid. He saw himself to be in danger, and he had apprehensions as to the result. There is a natural fear of danger and of death; a fear implanted in us: (a) to make us cautious, and (b) to induce us to put our trust in God as a Preserver and Friend. Our very nature - our physical constitution - is full of arrangements most skillfully adjusted, and most wisely planted there, to lead us to God as our Protector.
Context in Psalms 56
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Psalms 56 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as Book II. Psalms is the Bible’s great book of sung prayer, teaching the full range of faithful speech from anguish and repentance to jubilation and doxology. Read this chapter with the wider themes of prayer, praise, and lament in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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