Christianity

Psalms 56Tears in God's Bottle

Summary

Psalm 56 is a prayer of trust from a time of danger, headed with the occasion when the Philistines seized David in Gath. Enemies twist his words and lurk to take his life, yet he answers fear with trust: What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. A refrain declares that in God he praises his word and will not fear what flesh can do. He trusts God to keep his tears in a bottle and record his wanderings.

Key verse

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”

Psalms 56:3

Themes

Fear and Trust
God Remembers Tears
Praise of God's Word
Deliverance

Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.

Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.

What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.

Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.

In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.

Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.

For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
1 Samuel 21: David in Gath
1 Samuel 21:10 to 15 tells how David fled to Achish king of Gath and feigned madness when recognized, the setting the heading assigns to Psalms 56 and 34.
Islam
Surah Yusuf (12): I Expose My Grief Only to Allah
In Quran 12:86 Jacob says he brings his distress and anguish to God alone. Like Psalm 56, it turns to God alone with sorrow and fear.

Questions about Psalms 56

What does put thou my tears into thy bottle mean?

Psalm 56:8 pictures God collecting every tear in a container and noting each in his book, meaning no sorrow goes unseen or forgotten.

What does Jonath-elem-rechokim mean?

The heading's phrase is usually translated The dove on distant oaks or The silent dove far away. It likely names a tune for the psalm.