Fathers

Psalms 56

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Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me. My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God. You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book? Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this: that God is for me. In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 56:8

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"O God, my life I have told out to You" [Psalm 56:8]. For that I live has been Your doing, and for this reason I tell out my life to You. But did not God know that which He had given? What is that which you tell out to Him? Will you teach God? Far be it. Therefore why says he, "I have told out to You"? Is it perchance because it profits You that I have told out my life? And what does it profit God? To the advantage of God it does profit. I have told out to God my life, because that life has been God's doing. …

Exposition on Psalm 56 ↗