--- title: "Psalm 56:3-4 | Bible Nudge" description: "Read Psalm 56:3-4 in the World English Bible, with what surrounds the passage and a question to sit with." url: "https://biblenudge.com/context/psalm-56-3-4" lang: "en" image: "https://biblenudge.com/og/default.jpg" alternates: es: "https://biblenudge.com/es/contexto/salmo-56-3-4.md" --- [Your nudge](https://biblenudge.com/nudge) Read the passage # Psalm 56:3-4 World English Bible When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? ## What surrounds this passage Psalm 56 is David’s prayer while in danger from enemies. It moves between fear and trust rather than treating the fear as something to get past first. The verses on either side Psalm 56:1-7, World English Bible 1. Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me. 2. My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. 3. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? 5. All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. 6. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God. A question to sit with What are you afraid of right now, if you say it plainly? Why this one, and not these 3 passages were considered for this and turned down, each for a reason written at the time. Isaiah 41:10 It opens by commanding the reader not to be afraid. To somebody who already is, that is an instruction they cannot obey, and failing it adds a second problem to the first. 2 Timothy 1:7 It can be heard as saying that fear does not come from God, and therefore that the reader’s fear is a spiritual failure rather than a response to something real. Joshua 1:9 An exhortation to courage addressed to a leader before a military campaign. Its situation is too far from the reader’s for the words to arrive as intended. Written about this passage - [Afraid of Falling Behind at Work as AI Changes Your Job: What Workers Report This Year, One Free First Step, and Psalm 56:3-4 to Pray](https://biblenudge.com/blog/afraid-of-falling-behind-at-work-as-ai-changes-your-job) Watching colleagues use AI and wondering about your own job? What PwC's September 2026 survey reports, one free first step for tonight, and Psalm 56:3-4 to pray. - [After You Stopped to Help at a Crash: Why It Keeps Replaying, What Helps in the First Weeks, and Psalm 56:3-4](https://biblenudge.com/blog/after-you-stopped-to-help-at-a-crash) You stopped and went toward a crash, and now it replays at night. What helps in the first weeks, who to call, and Psalm 56:3-4 for the hours after. - [Bible Verses Before Surgery: For the Night Before and the Waiting Room](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-before-surgery) An operation tomorrow, for you or someone you love? Psalm 56:3-4 and Psalm 121 to read tonight, what each offers, and how to ask for prayer. - [Bible Verses for Cancer Patients: For Scan Week, the Chemo Chair and 3am](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-cancer-patients) Psalm 56:3-4 for the waiting room before a scan, psalms from a sick bed, Job at 3am, and the healing verses. - [Bible Verses for Courage: Be Strong and Courageous, and Who First Heard It](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-courage) Psalm 56:3-4 for the moment before a hard thing, Joshua 1 and who first heard it, Gideon, Esther and Daniel, and where to turn if home is unsafe. - [Bible Verses for Fear of Death: Starting With the Fear](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-fear-of-death) Afraid of dying, of pain, of leaving people, or of simply ending? Psalm 56 begins with the fear itself, and the Bible records others afraid of death too. - [Bible Verses for Fear of Failure: What to Do While Still Afraid](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-fear-of-failure) Psalm 56 begins with the fear: “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” A passage for the exam, interview or job that has not happened yet. - [Bible Verses for Fear of the Future: Before Anything Happens](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-fear-of-the-future) Afraid of a result, a job, money or a parent's decline that has not happened yet? Psalm 56 puts the fear first and gives you words to say while still afraid. - [Bible Verses for Health Anxiety: Checking, Waiting, and the Woman Who Spent All She Had](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-health-anxiety) Psalm 56:3-4 for when the urge to check comes, the woman in Mark 5 who spent all she had on doctors, and where to get help. - [Bible Verses for Storms: Thunder Overhead, the Sailors of Psalm 107, and Paul's Shipwreck](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-storms) Words for while the thunder is overhead, the storms Scripture tells from Psalm 107 to Paul's shipwreck, and the rainbow after. - [Bible Verses for Times of War: For Fear After the News, Families Apart, Veterans, and Prayers for Peace](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-times-of-war) Psalm 56:3-4 for fear after the news, and passages and prayers for military families, veterans, parents and pastors. - [Going to Church for the First Time: What to Expect, What to Wear, and Psalm 56:3 for the Nerves](https://biblenudge.com/blog/going-to-church-for-the-first-time) Nervous about your first time in a church? What to expect, what to wear, what a visitor can do at Mass or an Orthodox liturgy, and Psalm 56:3-4 for the front door. - [Is It a Sin to Be Afraid? David in Gath, the Boat, and the Fear of God](https://biblenudge.com/blog/is-it-a-sin-to-be-afraid) Afraid, and worried the fear itself is wrong? Psalm 56:3-4, and what Catholic, Orthodox and Reformed writers say about fear. - [Isaias Name Meaning: Isaiah in the Bible, How to Say It, Who the Prophet Was, and Where to Find Storm Information](https://biblenudge.com/blog/isaias-name-meaning) Isaias is the Latin form of Isaiah's Hebrew name, Yesha'yahu, read as Yah saves. How to say it, who Isaiah was, and where to follow the storm. - [Psalms for Anxiety: Psalms 56, 63 and 143 Read Whole, and How People Have Prayed Them](https://biblenudge.com/blog/psalms-for-anxiety) Three whole psalms to read aloud when anxious: Psalm 56 for fear, Psalm 63 for the hours awake, Psalm 143 for being worn down. - [What to Say to Someone With Cancer: Words to Send at Each Stage, in a Card, and When You Want to Offer Prayer](https://biblenudge.com/blog/what-to-say-to-someone-with-cancer) Short messages to send today, Psalm 56:3-4 for a card, words for scan week and the last weeks, and how to offer prayer as a question. - [When You Are Told to Evacuate for a Wildfire: What to Do in the First Hour, What the Levels Mean, and Psalm 56 for the Fear](https://biblenudge.com/blog/when-you-are-told-to-evacuate-for-a-wildfire) Told to leave because of a wildfire? What to do first, what Level 1, 2 and 3 mean, where to get alerts, and Psalm 56:3-4 for the drive out and the night after. - [When Your Child's School Goes Into Lockdown: What to Do While You Wait, How to Talk That Night, and Psalm 56 for the Fear](https://biblenudge.com/blog/when-your-childs-school-goes-into-lockdown) What schools ask of parents during a lockdown, what the alert words mean, Psalm 56:3-4 for the fear, and how to talk that night. [Return to nudge](https://biblenudge.com/nudge)