Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
David pours out complaint and prayer together, his mind caught between distress and confidence in God's mercy. Whether he wrote this during his desperate flight to Gath or after deliverance, the psalm shows him clinging to faith even when fear drove him to feign madness, a weakness of the flesh that did not extinguish the exercise of prayer.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 56:1-13
Shall they escape by iniquity? Will such wickedness as this stand them in good stead? Can it be that this conduct shall enable them to avoid the sentence of earthly punishment? They slander the good man to screen themselves—will this avail them? They have cunningly managed hitherto, but will there not be an end to their games? In thine anger cast down the people, O God.
David threw himself into God's hands even though fear and folly had thrown him into the Philistines'. He was like a silent dove, driven from his nest, mourning and melancholy yet patient, murmuring neither against God nor against those who troubled him, a pattern for all the afflicted.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 56:1-7