What can man do to me?

As we at Bayside participate in the 21 days of prayer and fasting (awake21.org) , I had the pleasure of leading prayer for day 11 of the fast.  The devotional reading for the day was Psalm 56 and 57.

As I read through the psalms, I had a new picture of David, that of a songwriter.  I have always referred to David as somewhat schizophrenic in jest, because he starts so many psalms seeming to complain about God not being there, for abandoning him, etc... but he would always end it with something like "but I will praise Him anyway".  I believe that is why Bible refers to him as a "man after God's own heart" because David was honest with God about his emotions - he didn't hold anything back

Growing up, I watched and listened to my mother write song after song over the years.  She is a talented singer/songwriter in her spare time, and has been writing songs as a creative outlet for as long as I can remember.  I can still hear her going line by line, editing, picking words and phrases that are just right, to communicate her thoughts and emotions.  For someone who was not given that gift, I can honestly say I am both envious and extremely proud of my mom at the same time.

In these two psalms, David has written both to popular tunes of the day, an indication he wanted people to remember and sing.  I picture a talented songwriter, going over the words line by line, so that you and I could remember what he wrote:

Psalm 56

10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me? 

My prayer for you today, is that regardless of what people may say of you, think of you, act toward you ... that you would praise God, trust God, and let Him take of the rest.  Because if God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31