Both these Psalms are written when David was on the run from King Saul, SO they’re about a time of great distress. Psalm 56 is a mixture of David recounting what he has been enduring (v1-2, v5-8) along with great Statements of praise and hope (v3-4; 9-13).

In our battle between faith and feelings in the difficult circumstances of life, we learn from this Psalm that three key aspects of our praying have to be: – a. being honest about our suffering and feelings, b. deliberately focusing on God’s greatness and care and c. remembering past blessings from the Lord.

Psalm 57 was written when David was hiding in a cave and King Saul was so close. But what we see from this Psalm is that for David the high and merciful God under whose wing he sheltered was as real if not more real to him; as close if not closer to him.

This is what we need to pray for in life generally and particularly in the trials of life, that God will be more real and closer to us than any other person.