Psalm 56

{1}Be merciful unto me, O God:
for man would swallow me up;
he fighting daily oppresseth me.
{2} Mine enemies would daily swallow me up:
for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

{3} What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
{4} In God I will praise his word,
in God I have put my trust;
I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

{5} Every day they wrest my words:
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
{6} They gather themselves together,
they hide themselves, they mark my steps,
when they wait for my soul.

What came to mind as I thought on this was the burden of all political leaders. To whatever extent there can be a political opposition, you can depend on them to twist what the leadership says. And they do indeed take note of every step a leader takes, and they never quote him correctly. There is nothing new under the sun.

{7} Shall they escape by iniquity?
in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

{8} Thou tellest my wanderings:
put thou my tears into thy bottle:
are they not in thy book?

{9} When I cry unto thee,
then shall mine enemies turn back:
this I know; for God is for me.
{10} In God will I praise his word:
in the LORD will I praise his word.
{11} In God have I put my trust:
I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

{12} Thy vows are upon me, O God:
I will render praises unto thee.
{13} For thou hast delivered my soul from death:
wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God in the light of the living?"

The traditional superscription of this psalm says it was written, “when the Philistines took him in Gath.” This was the occasion where David pretended insanity to save his neck, scrabbling at the gate of the city and letting his saliva run down his beard. But the superscriptions on the psalms are later scribal additions and can only be treated as tradition. I am reasonably sure that David faced a lot of this repeatedly, even when he was king.
 

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