From Dread to Glory

This psalm is the fourth in a series where the king pleads with God for safety and deliverance from the attacks of the wicked. In Ps 56 we heard the king say "When I am afraid I will trust in you." Now, he enacts that same trust. When he is afraid — and he is afraid — he prays for God's protection. God answers that prayer and gives that protection by shooting down the wicked with His arrow of destruction. And when God delivers the king, all men fear, and the righteous rejoice. Indeed, once again our king shows us how to live the Christian life. Through prayer, he replaces fear with faith, and thereby he is enabled to endure the slanderous wounds of the wicked and even to glory in the perfect refuge he has in his LORD.