Psalm 56 Analysis

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Recommended: Psalm 56

Throughout the Psalm, the author consistently begs the Lord for help against his adversaries, seeking to battle fear with reassurance through his God. The poem is considered it to be a lament, for as Xenos Christian Fellowship states, “[it is] an address to God; a complaint; a request and usually an expression of trust” (Psalms). When examining the situation, a desperate emotion is displayed as the narrator pleads, speaking to the Lord. Nothing leads a reader to believe that the writer is an unreliable narrator; however, it is uncertain if these battles and people perusing him are real or figments of his imagination. The text says, “My enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack… All day long they twist my words; all …show more content…

When viewed in this manner versus one of a descriptive structure, the work becomes more of the writer’s address to his Lord versus describing the battle that may or may not be real. Along with dramatic, it seems to have a repetitive structure as well. The lines “all day long,” “in God whose word I praise,” “when I am afraid, I put my trust in you,” and “in God I trust and am not afraid” are repeated to emphasize the constant toil the author is under, and the fact that his joy and strength comes from his Lord. Unity is created with the unifying image pattern of relief from relentless enemies causes the reader to feel a sense of relief and …show more content…

It seems to be a direct address to God, pleading his case and requesting due punishment for those who have caused him pain. Despite the negative mood of the poem, the author manages to produce a sense of hope in the way that man has nothing to fear as long as God is on his side, pointing once again to the theme. Synonymous parallelism is also used throughout Psalm 56 as the author repeats imagery of suffering and hope through His Lord with different grammatical structures and word orders.
In conclusion, Psalm 56 uses strong imagery and metaphor to gain sympathy from both his God, who he is begging toward, and the reader who can relate to his plight and misery. Through similar stanzas of slightly varied yet repeated text, the author emphasizes his point and ties back to the main theme of anything and anyone being conquerable with His God on their

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