Passage Research
Psalm 56 — Sermon Preparation
Captured by the Philistines in Gath, David declares that when he is afraid he will trust in God, whose word he praises and whose promises he holds. Below is a research summary for Psalm 56, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 14
- verses
- 120 / 77
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 10
- classic sermon excerpts
- 5
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 56 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּטַח | bâṭach | H982 | 3 | hie, precipitately |
| הָלַל | hâlal | H1984 | 3 | be clear, shine |
| דָּבָר | dâbâr | H1697 | 4 | word, matter |
| שָׁאַף | shâʼaph | H7602 | 2 | inhale eagerly, cover |
| יָרֵא | yârêʼ | H3372 | 3 | fear, revere |
| לָחַם | lâcham | H3898 | 2 | feed on, consume |
| נֶפֶשׁ | nephesh | H5315 | 2 | breathing creature, animal |
How preachers through history handled this text
10 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 56, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“It seems by this, and many other psalms, that even in times of the greatest trouble and distress David never hung his harp upon the willow-trees, never unstrung it or laid it by; but that when his dangers and fears were greatest he was still in tune for singing God's praises. He was in imminent peril when he penned this psalm, at least when he meditated it; yet even then his meditation of God was sweet. I. He complains of the malice of his enemies, and begs mercy for himself and justice against them, ver. 1, 2, 5-7. II. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 3 (Job to Song of Solomon), on Psalm 56:1–30 (Public Domain)
Places in the text
Based on ancient-geography data
- Gath 1— Ps 56:1
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