What can flesh do to me?

 "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me."

Psalm 56:3-4

History and Context:

In the pretext we can see that this Psalm was written by David when he was captured by the Philistines in Gath. The record of David in first and second Samuel does not record David actually being taken captive by the Philistines but there could be a situation that was simply left out of these books or it could be referring to the time that David decided to hid with the Philistines in Gath when he was on the run from Saul (1 Samuel 27). Hiding with the Philistines eventually led to one of the most distressing moments in David's life in which his family and the families of all his men were captured and the town that they were living in was ransacked and burned (1 Samuel 30). At this point his entire army turned against him and even spoke of stoning him. The Bible says that "David strengthened himself in the Lord his God." (1 Samuel 30:6)

The Text:

David is in a place of distress that he knew all too well. Men were against him and in human eyes there seemed to be no hope. But David, writer of most of the psalms, had learned how to encourage and strengthen himself in God regardless of whether people were for him or against him. He also was driven by a humility, a knowledge that he didn't deserve God to intervene. We can see this in verse one where David begins with "Be merciful to me..." David calling on God's mercy, His undeserved favor, showed that David understood that he was not entitled to God rescuing him, but he knew God would do it anyway in response to hi call. In this verse he shows an understanding of God's power and sovereignty and he also shows an understanding of the big picture. He knew that man couldn't really do anything to him when looking at the picture of eternity.

The Challenge:

Seek an eternal mindset. Recognize that what happens to our physical lives here on earth is miniscule in comparison to the eternal life that we have received through Jesus Christ. In the midst of your fear access this knowledge as a reminder and cry out with David "In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me"!

The Prayer:

Lord, give me an eternal mindset today. Help me to see life as you see it. Help me to put my full trust in you, Amen!