Trusting God In Trying Times Series

Trusting God in Trying Times

Psalm 56

Rev. Brian Bill

August 16-17, 2025

I’ve shared this true story on Facebook before. I may have also shared it in a sermon, but it bears repeating. Over 15 years ago, on a Saturday night as I was preparing to get my much-needed beauty rest, I heard a clarion call to come to the kitchen immediately.

When I arrived, I saw Beth scrubbing something off the floor as she kept looking up towards the ceiling. She told me to look up, but I didn’t see anything. Then, she pointed to the ceiling fan and I saw something that made me scream, in a manly sort of way. There, perched on one of the blades was a mourning dove! And then it hit me why Beth was cleaning up the floor.

I was just about to ask her why she hadn’t captured the bird when all five women in my family declared in unison, “Get it out of here. You’re the man of the house!” I carefully studied the situation while the ladies kept telling me to do something. I finally grabbed a chair to stand on, and with an old tablecloth in my hand, I dove at the dove. I missed and he started flying around the kitchen, sending all six of us running for cover.

The resulting chaos and confusion could have won us something on America’s Funniest Videos. Actually, one of our daughters did take a video but I deleted it so it could not be used against me.

This dodgy dove made it into our laundry room and we quickly shut the door so he couldn’t escape. As I tiptoed toward him, I saw that he had perched on my Packers hat! This was now war – I wanted to give this mourning dove something to mourn about. As I tried to strangle him, he flew around some more and finally ended up behind our dryer.

When Beth realized that I couldn’t capture this winged rat on my own, she helped me move the dryer so we could put a large bowl over him. With the help of our oldest daughter, we were able to secure the foul fowl, and took him outside where we set him free. I smiled as he flew into our neighbor’s yard to torment them. I’m surprised we didn’t catch the bird flu from this despicable dove.

The mourning dove gets its name from its distinctive call, a soft, sorrowful cooing. Early settlers and naturalists thought the dove’s low, plaintive sounds resembled someone weeping or expressing grief. This led them to associate the bird with mourning, hence the name.

? Play audio sounds.

There’s something soulful and somber about these doves, isn’t there? As we come to Psalm 56 in our Summer in the Psalms series, we will see that David did a lot of mourning as he expressed his fears and tears for many years. Like most of the Psalms, this one comes with a heading: “TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE DOVE ON FAR-OFF TEREBINTHS. A MIKTAM OF DAVID, WHEN THE PHILISTINES SEIZED HIM IN GATH.”

This Psalm was written to be sung according to the “dove on far-off terebinths.” A terebinth was a large tree, under which people would gather. Some believe this Psalm reflects a dove who is in distress, maybe not perched on a ceiling fan, but mourning for some reason. David can relate to this dove in trouble.

The word “miktam” means, “golden” or “hidden,” meaning it’s worth digging in to uncover its treasure. Like Psalm 34, the setting is when David was being chased by Saul and by the Philistines. Feeling like an ensnared dove, David expressed his thoughts and feelings in Psalm 56.

Let’s read it together.

“Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.”