Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 56:1
To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
1. Be merciful ] Be gracious: see note on Psa 51:1, and cp. Psa 57:1.
for man would swallow me up ] Like a wild beast rushing upon its prey. But all the Ancient Versions render trample upon or crush, which may be right. Cp. Psa 57:3. The word for man denotes mortal man as contrasted with God. Cp. Psa 9:19; Psa 10:18. Will the Almighty allow weak men to triumph against His Will?
he fighting daily &c.] R.V., all the day long lie fighting oppresseth me. See note on Psa 42:9. ‘All the day long’ is a phrase characteristic of this Psalms , vv2, 5.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 4. However fiercely his enemies may assault him, he will trust in God, Who will surely be true to His promise.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be merciful unto me, O God – See the notes at Psa 51:1.
For man would swallow me up – The word used here means properly to breathe hard; to pant; to blow hard; and then, to pant after, to yawn after with open mouth. The idea is, that people came upon him everywhere with open mouth, as if they would swallow him down whole. He found no friend in man – in any man. Everywhere his life was sought. There was no man, wherever he might go, on whom he could rely, or whom he could trust; and his only refuge, therefore, was in God.
He fighting daily – Constantly; without intermission. That is, all people seemed to be at war with him, and to pursue him always.
Oppresseth me – Presses hard upon me; so presses on me as always to endanger my life, and so that I feel no security anywhere.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 56:1-13
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up.
The deprecable and the desirable
I. The deprecable in relation to man.
1. Craven-heartedness. A man whose heart is morally sound is bold as a lion, invincible as the light of day.
2. Presumptuous revenge.
II. The desirable in relation to God.
1. A desire to trust Almighty God (Psa 56:3). All souls should centre in Him, cling to Him as planets to the sun. This is the real antidote to cowardly fear.
2. A desire to praise Almighty God (Psa 56:4; Psa 56:10; Psa 56:12). Praise consisteth in attuning our whole lives to His Spirit and law. The hymn of praise acceptable to Him is not a composition of words, but a composition of soul virtues and noble deeds.
3. A desire to be remembered by Almighty God (Psa 56:8). No words can affect a true heart as tears can; Gods infinite heart feels our tears as they fall.
4. A desire to walk before Almighty God (Psa 56:13). To walk before God implies a constant consciousness of His presence and an enjoyment of His friendship. Walk before Him with His light shining behind you and over you, lighting up all the path and scenery ahead. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM LVI
David prays for support against his enemies, whose wickedness
he describes, 1-6;
and foretells their destruction, 7;
expresses his confidence in God’s mercy, expects deliverance,
and promises thanksgiving and obedience, 8-13.
NOTES ON PSALM LVI
The title of this Psalm is very long: “To the conqueror, concerning the dumb dove in foreign places: golden Psalm of David.” The Vulgate translates the original thus: “to the end. For the people who were afar off from holy things.” “This inscription David placed here for a title when the Philistines-took him in Gath;” so the Septuagint and AEthiopic. The Chaldee is profuse: “To praise, for the congregation of Israel, which are compared to the silence of a dove, when they were afar off from their cities; but being returned, they praise the Lord of the world; like David, contrite and upright, when the Philistines kept him in Gath.” The Syriac: “A thanksgiving of the righteous man, because he was delivered from his enemy, and from the hand of Saul. Also concerning the Jews and Christ.” Bochart translates, “To the tune of the dove in the remote woods.”
If the title be at all authentic, David may mean himself and his companions by it, when he escaped from the hands of the Philistines; particularly from the hands of Achish, king of Gath. elem signifies to compress or bind together; also, a small band or body of men: and yonath, from yanah, to oppress or afflict, is properly applied to the dove, because of its being so defenseless, and often becoming the prey of ravenous birds. It is possible, therefore, that the title may imply no more than – “A prayer to God in behalf of himself and the oppressed band that followed him, and shared his misfortunes in distant places.”
Others will have it to mean a simple direction “To the master of the band, to be sung to the time of a well-known ode, called ‘The dumb dove, in distant places.’ “There is no end to conjectures, and all the titles in the whole book are not worth one hour’s labour. Perhaps there is not one of them authentic. They may have been notices that such a Psalm was to be sung to such and such a tune; giving the catch-words of some well-known song or ode: a custom that prevails much among us in songs and hymns, and is to be found even among the Asiatics.
Verse 1. Be merciful unto me] I am assailed both at home and abroad. I can go nowhere without meeting with enemies: unless thou who art the Fountain of mercy and the Most High, stand up in my behalf, my enemies will most undoubtedly prevail against me. They fight against me continually, and I am in the utmost danger of being swallowed up by them.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Man, i.e. men, weak and miserable men, as the word signifies, whom thou canst crush in an instant; Saul and his courtiers, who have driven me hither; and now Achish and the Philistines, who have oft sought my ruin, which now they have opportunity to effect.
Would swallow me up; like wild and ravenous beasts, rather than men. Heb. hath swallowed me up. The thing is begun, and in a manner done, if thou dost not miraculously prevent it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1, 2. would swallowliterally,”pants as a raging beast” (Ac9:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be merciful unto me, O God,…. For David could expect no mercy at the hands of men, among whom he was, whose tender mercies were cruel; he being at Gath, the city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he had now with him; and among his brethren and friends, who he might justly fear would revenge his death upon him: wherefore he betakes himself to God, and pleads not any merit or righteousness of his own, but implores the grace and mercy of God; and he might expect to find grace and mercy in this his time of need, since there is mercy with the Lord; he is plenteous in it, distributes it freely, delights in so doing, and does it constantly; his mercy endures for ever, it is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him;
for man would swallow me up; the Targum renders it “isbi”, a wicked man: it may be understood of some one man, some great man, as Achish king of Gath; or rather Saul king of Israel, who breathed and panted after his ruin and destruction, as the word p, signifies; who sought to eat up his flesh, to take away his life, and utterly ruin him: or collectively of many, since it appears, by the following verse, that he had many enemies who were desirous to swallow him up. This he mentions as an aggravation of his distress, and as a reason why he hoped the Lord would be merciful to him; and that he, being God, would not suffer than to prevail; see 2Ch 14:12;
he fighting daily oppresseth me; this shows that Saul is more especially intended, who was continually with his army pursuing him, and sometimes surrounded him and his men, and reduced him to great distress. This may be applied to the old man, the corruptions of nature, and the lusts of the flesh, which are continually warring against the soul, oppress it, bring it into captivity, and threaten to swallow it up.
p “anhelus persequitur me”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “anhelat in me”, Cocceius; “contra me”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
and , Psa 56:2 (Psa 9:20; Psa 10:18), are antitheses: over against God, the majestic One, men are feeble beings. Their rebellion against the counsel of God is ineffective madness. If the poet has God’s favour on his side, then he will face these pigmies that behave as though they were giants, who fight against him , moving on high, i.e., proudly (cf. , Psa 73:8), in the invincible might of God. , inhiare, as in Psa 57:4; , as in Psa 35:1, with like , e.g., in Jer 1:19. Thus, then, he does not fear; in the day when (Ges. 123, 3, b) he might well be afraid (conjunctive future, as e.g., in Jos 9:27), he clings trustfully to ( as in Psa 4:6, and frequently, Pro 3:5) his God, so that fear cannot come near him. He has the word of His promise on his side ( as e.g., Psa 130:5); , through God will he praise this His word, inasmuch as it is gloriously verified in him. Hupfeld thus correctly interprets it; whereas others in part render it “in Elohim do I praise His word,” in part (and the form of this favourite expression in Psa 56:11 is opposed to it): “Elohim do I celebrate, His word.” Hitzig, however, renders it: “Of God do I boast in matter,” i.e., in the present affair; which is most chillingly prosaic in connection with an awkward brevity of language. The exposition is here confused by Psa 10:3 and Psa 44:9. does not by any means signify gloriari in this passage, but celebrare ; and is not intended in any other sense than that in Ps 60:14. is equivalent to the New Testament phrase . is a circumstantial clause with a finite verb, as is customary in connection with , Psa 35:8, Job 29:24, and , Pro 19:23.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Prayer for Help under Oppression; Confidence in God. | |
To the chief musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim,
Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
1 Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. 2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. 3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. 5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. 7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
David, in this psalm, by his faith throws himself into the hands of God, even when he had by his fear and folly thrown himself into the hands of the Philistines; it was when they took him in Gath, whither he fled for fear of Saul, forgetting the quarrel they had with him for killing Goliath; but they soon put him in mid of it, 1Sa 21:10; 1Sa 21:11. Upon that occasion he changed his behaviour, but with so little ruffle to his temper that then he penned both this psalm and the 34th. This is called Michtam–a golden psalm. So some other psalms are entitled, but this has something peculiar in the title; it is upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, which signifies the silent dove afar off. Some apply this to David himself, who wished for the wings of a dove on which to fly away. He was innocent and inoffensive, mild and patient, as a dove, was at this time driven from his nest, from the sanctuary (Ps. lxxxiv. 3), was forced to wander afar off, to seek for shelter in distant countries; there he was like the doves of the valleys, mourning and melancholy; but silent, neither murmuring against God nor railing at the instruments of his trouble; herein a type of Christ, who was as a sheep, dumb before the shearers, and a pattern to Christians, who, wherever they are and whatever injuries are done them, ought to be as silent doves. In this former part of the psalm,
I. He complains to God of the malice and wickedness of his enemies, to show what reason he had to fear them, and what cause, what need, there was that God should appear against them (v. 1): Be merciful unto me, O God! That petition includes all the good we come to the throne of grace for; if we obtain mercy there, we obtain all we can desire, and need no more to make us happy. It implies likewise our best plea, not our merit, but God’s mercy, his free rich mercy. He prays that he might find mercy with God, for with men he could find no mercy. When he fled from the cruel hands of Saul he fell into the cruel hands of the Philistines. “Lord” (says he), “be thou merciful to me now, or I am undone.” The mercy of God is what we may flee to and trust to, and in faith pray for, when we are surrounded on all sides with difficulties and dangers. He complains, 1. That his enemies were very numerous (v. 2): “They are many that fight against me, and think to overpower me with numbers; take notice of this, O thou Most High! and make it to appear that wherein they deal proudly thou art above them.” It is a point of honour to come in to the help of one against many. And, if God be on our side, how many soever they are that fight against us, we may, upon good grounds, boast that there are more with us; for (as that great general said) “How many do we reckon him for?” 2. That they were very barbarous: they would swallow him up, v. 1 and again v. 2. They sought to devour him; no less would serve; they came upon him with the utmost fury, like beasts of prey, to eat up his flesh, Ps. xxvii. 2. Man would swallow him up, those of his own kind, from whom he might have expected humanity. The ravenous beasts prey not upon those of their own species; yet a bad man would devour a good man if he could. “They are men, weak and frail; make them to know that they are so,” Ps. ix. 20. 3. That they were very unanimous (v. 6): They gather themselves together; though they were many, and of different interests among themselves, yet they united and combined against David, as Herod and Pilate against the Son of David. 4. That they were very powerful, quite too hard for him if God did not help him: “They fight against me (v. 2); they oppress me, v. 1. I am almost overcome and borne down by them, and reduced to the last extremity.” 5. That they were very subtle and crafty (v. 6): “They hide themselves; they industriously cover their designs, that they may the more effectually prosecute and pursue them. They hide themselves as a lion in his den, that they may mark my steps;” that is, “they observe every thing I say and do with a critical eye, that they may have something to accuse me of” (thus Christ’s enemies watched him, Luke xx. 20), or “they have an eye upon all my motions, that they may gain an opportunity to do me a mischief, and may lay their snares for me.” 6. That they were very spiteful and malicious. They put invidious constructions upon every thing he said, though ever so honestly meant and prudently expressed (v. 5): “They wrest my words, put them upon the rack, to extort that out of them which was never in them;” and so they made him an offender for a word (Isa. xxix. 21), misrepresenting it to Saul, and aggravating it, to incense him yet more against him. They made it their whole business to ruin David; all their thoughts were against him for evil, which put evil interpretations upon all his words. 7. That they were very restless and unwearied. They continually waited for his soul; it was the life, the precious life, they hunted for; it was his death they longed for, v. 6. They fought daily against him (v. 1), and would daily swallow him up (v. 2), and every day they wrested his words, v. 5. Their malice would not admit the least cessation of arms, or the acts of hostility, but they were continually pushing at him. Such as this is the enmity of Satan and his agents against the kingdom of Christ and the interests of his holy religion, which if we cordially espouse, we must not think it strange to meet with such treatment as this, as though some strange thing happened to us. Our betters have been thus used. So persecuted they the prophets.
II. He encourages himself in God, and in his promises, power, and providence, Psa 56:3; Psa 56:4 In the midst of his complaints, and before he has said what he has to say of his enemies, he triumphs in the divine protection. 1. He resolves to make God his confidence, then when dangers were most threatening and all other confidences failed: “What time I am afraid, in the day of my fear, when I am most terrified from without and most timorous within, then I will trust in thee, and thereby my fears shall be silenced.” Note, There are some times which are, in a special manner, times of fear with God’s people; in these times it is their duty and interest to trust in God as their God, and to know whom they have trusted. This will fix the heart and keep it in peace. 2. He resolves to make God’s promises the matter of his praises, and so we have reason to make them (v. 4): “In God I will praise, not only his work which he has done, but his word which he has spoken; I will give him thanks for a promise, though not yet performed. In God (in his strength and by his assistance) I will both glory in his word and give him the glory of it.” Some understand by his word his providences, every event that he orders and appoints: “When I speak well of God I will with him speak well of every thing that he does.” 3. Thus supported, he will bid defiance to all adverse powers: “When in God I have put my trust, I am safe, I am easy, and I will not fear what flesh can do unto me; it is but flesh, and cannot do much; nay, it can do nothing but by divine permission.” As we must not trust to an arm of flesh when it is engaged for us, so we must not be afraid of an arm of flesh when it is stretched out against us.
III. He foresees and foretels the fall of those that fought against him, and of all others that think to establish themselves in and by any wicked practices (v. 7): Shall they escape by iniquity? They hope to escape God’s judgments, as they escape men’s, by violence and fraud, and the arts of injustice and treachery; but shall they escape? No, certainly they shall not. The sin of sinners will never be their security, nor will either their impudence or their hypocrisy bring them off at God’s bar; God will in his anger cast down and cast out such people, Rom. ii. 3. None are raised so high, or settled so firmly, but that the justice of God can bring them down, both from their dignities and from their confidences. Who knows the power of God’s anger, how high it can reach, and how forcibly it can strike?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 56
A Deliverance Psalm
This Psalm was written upon David’s return from exile in Gath, where he had been among the Philistines, 1Sa 21:13-14.
Scripture v. 1-13:
Verses 1, 2 are a Davidic cry for the Lord to be merciful or gracious toward him, for man would swallow him up, gobble him down, like a vicious beast, thirsting for his blood, as they fought daily against him, v. 2; Psa 57:3. He added that those oppressing enemies who stalked him as their prey, oppressing him daily, were many, who would eat him up; He concluded “O thou most High,” overseeing and observing all, Psa 57:1.
Verses 3, 4 confide that every day, when he was made afraid he would trust in the most High God, or place his confidence in Him; He added that he would praise His word, or praise Him for His word of promised care, Psa 33:4; Psa 119:25. Because he had put his trust in God he asserted that he would not fear what flesh, the arm of man, could do to him, as the Lord by covenant promise shielded or protected him, Psa 118:6.
Verses 5, 6 charge that day by day Saul and his enemy helper against David wrested or distorted his words, charged him falsely with treason, that he was plotting to dethrone Saul from his kingship in Israel. He asserted that they gathered themselves, as a pack of wolves, waited in hiding, watching his movements, hoping and planning in colleague, to pounce upon him, to take his life, Job 14:16; Psa 37:32; Psa 57:6; Psa 89:51: Luk 10:20.
Verse 7 inquires “shall they escape by iniquity by their plotting against David?” Would this enable them to escape Saul’s loss of his throne, to which God had sentenced him, 1Sa 15:23. David prayed, with imprecatory emotions, “In thine anger, cast down the people, O God,” those who stalk my life, seek to besmirch my reputation, Joh 8:47; Joh 10:26; Joh 12:48; Joh 15:22.
Verse 8 declares “thou tellest (dost take note of) my wanderings,” dodging from place to place, from his enemies, away from his family and home country. He asks God to bottle up, preserve his tears, in the preservatory of his book, or library of remembrance, as described, Mal 3:16. He longed for joy hereafter, tho he momentarily had tears, Psa 126:5-6; Isa 61:7. See also Mat 10:20; Rev 20:12.
Verse 9 adds that David’s enemies cried to the Lord, he knew that the covenant God would turn his enemies back, for His name’s sake, before both His and David’s enemies. He rejoiced, “God is with me,” assuring protection, deliverance, and ultimate victory, Rom 8:3; Rom 8:31; 1Co 15:56-58; Psa 73:25; Psa 124:1-2.
Verses 10, 11 vow that David will put, place, set, or fix his trust and praise in and upon the Jehovah and Elohim God. And with his trust and praise thus fixed, he vowed that he would not be fearful of what man (flesh, weak man) could do to him. For true faith in and love for God does liberate one from the fear of man, Rom 8:15; 1Jn 4:18.
Verses 12, 13 conclude that David’s vows, which he resolved to keep, were continually upon God, to whom he would render repeated praises, because He had delivered his soul-life from death. He then rhetorically added, “you will deliver my feet from falling that I may walk before God in the light (clear vision) of the living, will you not?” This implies an affirmative “you surely will!” Job 33:30; Joh 8:12; Eph 5:8; Psa 27:13; Psa 116:8; Joh 12:35.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 Be merciful unto me, O God! for man swallows me up (330) It would be difficult to determine whether he speaks here of foreign or domestic enemies. When brought to King Achish he was as a sheep between two bands of wolves, an object of deadly hatred to the Philistines on the one hand, and exposed to equal persecutions from his own fellow-countrymen. He uses the indefinite term man in this verse, though in the next he speaks of having many enemies, the more forcibly to express the truth that the whole world was combined against him, that he experienced no humanity amongst men, and stood in the last necessity of divine help. The term daily would suggest that he refers more immediately to Saul and his faction. But in general, he deplores the wretchedness of his fate in being beset with adversaries so numerous and so barbarous. Some translate שאף, shaaph, to regard, but it is more properly rendered to swallow up, a strong expression, denoting the insatiable rage with which they assailed him. I have adhered to the common translation of לחם , lacham, though it also signifies to eat up, which might consist better with the metaphor already used in the preceding part of the verse. It is found, however, in the sense to fight against, and I was unwilling to depart from the received rendering. I shall only observe in passing, that those who read in the second member of the verse, many fighting with me, as if he alluded to the assistance of angels, mistake the meaning of the passage; for it is evident that he uses the language of complaint throughout the verse.
(330) The verb here translated swallows me up, is rendered by French and Skinner, panteth after me. It is literally draweth in the air. It thus implies the intense desire of David’s enemies to get him into their hands, and to destroy him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CONFESSION AND RECOVERY FROM SIN
Psalms 51-60
IN continuing the study of this second Book in the Psalter Pentateuch we come now to the question of the centuries, the sin question. This is not the first time that we have had to face it. From Gen 3:6, it has been the ever-present and never-solved problem.
This study is marvelously near the middle of our Book Divine; and the same question that has rung through the pages, already turned, will present itself in some form on practically every page of the Book till we come to Rev 22:21.
There are certain manifest suggestions in these ten chapters; but in a large way they are directly associated with the confession of sin, contrition for sin, and recovery from sin.
THE CONFESSION OF SIN Chapter 51
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive five.
Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.
Here we have the acknowledgment of a personal transgression. We believe absolutely with those who hold that David was thinking upon his own past and reflecting with grief upon the Bathsheba incident, involving as it did, a practical combination of murder and lust.
As is usual with sin, the horror of it is only felt after the deed is effected; and for every prayer, such as our Lord taught us to say, Lead us not into temptation, a prayer that looks to avoiding the iniquitous, there are a hundred petitions of the sort here recorded
Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.
Too few of our prayers anticipate danger; too many of them confess damnable acts already done.
There are those who see in this acknowledgment a corporate, rather than an individual confession. They think that this is the prophetic language of Israel when at last she realizes the iniquity of her rejection of Jesus. But such an interpretation, if it be at all possible, can only be accepted as an inference from David the type. The simple truth is that every word in this fifty-first Psalm fits exactly the spiritual experience of the speaker. The whole history of David shows him a man of tender conscience, unusually affectionate, and with a keen discernment of right and wrong. We are not in the least surprised, therefore, to hear from his lips this pathetic plea. It is a proof of conscious wrong on the part of a conscientious believer. It is the saints abhorrence of his own sin; and incidently, it introduces some of the most natural features of soul-experience. Take, for instance, the sentence, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest (Psa 51:4).
Grant, in The Numerical Bible argues that such a confession, in Davids lips, would not have been true, even, since he had sinned against Uriah, against himself, and against Bathsheba; and so Grant sees in this, an application to repentant Israel.
But the argument is poorly based and far-fetched. The simple fact is, and millions of saved men would bear testimony to it, when the soul is convicted of sin that conviction seldom takes the form of conscious wrong to individual victims, or even that of willful transgression of the Law. The truth is as Delitzsch argues, Every relation in which man stands to his fellow-men, and to created things in general, is but the manifest form of his fundamental relationship to God; and as even Grant himself admits, At every point at which we touch His creatures, we touch God Himself; every blow struck at them is struck at Him.* * The guilt of every sin is fundamentally the same, revolt against God. This is, in a true sense, the only sin.
We knew a man well; in fact, we preached to him the truths that effected his salvation, and with our hands we laid him beneath the baptismal wave, who before his confession was a highway man, a gambler, a drunkard, an adulterer, and at the last, a would-be murderer. But his confession, following his salvation, was to this effect, When on that morning, the very day I had fixed upon for the destruction of my wife and children, and suicide, the Spirit of God came upon me with overwhelming conviction; and, as I walked out from my home, to fall on the grass of the back yard, face down, to cry for mercy, I had no sense of wrong concerning my past indolence, my past gambling, my past drunkenness, my past lusts; not even was I painfully sensible of the intention of murder and suicide. One great, overwhelming thought surged through my brain as loud as the sirens whistle, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight.
It is interesting also to study the psychology of the sentence that follows, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me This was not intended by the Psalmist in self-defense. He had passed that point and had admitted that God would be justified when He spake, and clearly defensible when He judged. It was said, rather, in explanation; it was an admission, I have always been wrong! I came from my mothers womb with a frightful twist in my moral nature and from the days when my steps toddled in uncertain paths I have been nothing but a sinner!
The phrases that follow indicate further Your eyes have searched my inward parts in vain. No truth is in them. You have looked for wisdom but it was not mine by nature; and if I am ever cleansed you must accomplish it; and if my soul is ever white, the cleansing must come from above! And then, as if to appeal if possible to the tenderness of God, he cries, Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. And that he may escape just judgment, he adds,
Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
And he pleads,
Create in me a. clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Rather,
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Alas, as if such a thought was too good to be true, he breathes and begins again, Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvationremember against me no more Uriahs death; free my conscience from that whole subject by speaking my absolution. And then, My tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.
It looks now as if he had reached a higher table land; as if his heart would not sink again nor his feet mire; and he concludes the Psalm with these words,
Oh Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.
Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.
Sweeping aside that whole school of interpreters who see in this Israels confession, we stand absolutely with those who believe it to be the utterance of a believers heart, broken with the sense of sin, conscious of just condemnation, and yet daring to hope in a merciful God. The verses 18 and 19 do not militate against that view. Few saints ever deplore their own sins, and forget the sanctuary. They grieve personal sin, lest it hinder the general cause, and so David prays for Zion, for Jerusalem, and for cleansing and consecration as symbolized in the temple ceremonies.
We now go to the study of another chapter, chapter fifty-two, and here we are tracing the history that led David into disappointment and difficulty.
Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man! The lovingkindness of God endureth continually;
Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully;
Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness.
Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
God will likewise destroy thee for ever: He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living.
The righteous also shall see it, and fear, and shall laugh at him,
Saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever.
I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; and I will hope in Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints. (Psa 52:1-9).
Here again, there are those who see in this Psalm a prophetic picture of the man of sin, the Anti-Christ to come. This view they rest in the phraseology of the Psalm. The boastful one if spoken of as mighty man, and the circumstance that he is a lying, deceitful man, is supposed to point to the great deceiver of prophetic Scriptures.
In our judgment such an interpretation is farfetched, and Psalms 52 is a natural sequence of Psalms 51. The whole setting of the Psalm is accounted for and explained in the incident of David meeting Doeg, the Edomite, the servant of Saul, when he visited Ahimelech, the priest, as recorded in 1 Samuel 21:l-9. It will be remembered that this information led to a fearful massacre, in which Doeg was a leader, and in which boastfulness and lying deceit played conspicuous part. Doeg was a mighty man, the chief of the herdmen. His arrogance is as great as his eventual ruin was eternal. When contemplating upon the former, David clearly prophesied the latter. God will likewise destroy thee for ever, He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living (Psa 52:5, A. S. V.).
Then he moralizes: The righteous also shall see it, and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness (Psa 52:6-7, A. S. V.). The record of that destruction is written into 1Sa 22:17-19. There are those who profess astonishment at Davids language. They are shocked by what they call gloating over the evil end of an enemy. But let it not be forgotten that true righteousness always rejoices in the overthrow, of the sinful, and the truly humble are, of necessity, glad to see the boastfully proud brought low.
What men call the imprecatory Psalms are not, as they imagine, merely curses of the self-confident, the malignant prayers of the man who imagines himself above and beyond his fellows; they are, instead, a legitimate expression of a heart that delights in good and hates evil. It is doubtful if there is ever a case in history in which the iniquitous are overthrown, but the righteous justly rejoice. As some one has said, The cross as the hope and refuge of repentant sinners, is Gods chief witness against sin.
The conclusion of this chapter I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever. I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; and I will hope in Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints (Psa 52:8-9, A. S. V.) is not a mere expression of Phariseeism. On the contrary, it is the voice of gratitude that one has been kept, and of decision, concerning continued trust, together with that natural burst of praise that breaks from the lips of him, who rightly pleads and rightly interprets Gods acts in dealing with men.
From this review of the end of the evil man and this personal appreciation of Divine favor it is easy for the Psalmist to pass to the
FRUITFULNESS OF FOLLY
Psalms 5354 deal with that subject.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.
God looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up My people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of His people Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Save me, O God, by Thy Name, and judge me by Thy strength.
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth;
For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah.
Behold, God is mine helper; the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
He shall reward evil unto mine enemies; cut them off in Thy truth.
I will freely sacrifice unto Thee. I will praise Thy Name, O Lord, for it is good.
For He hath delivered me out of all trouble; and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies (Psalms 53-54).
There are those who would imagine that the Psalmist forgot himself, and on occasions did what the average preacher does, palmed off an old sermon. If you make a comparison between this fifty-third Psalm and Psalm fourteen, you will discover more than resemblance. There is practical identity, clear repetition; but the fifty-fourth Psalm presents entirely new material; and its pathetic plea for salvation, follows logically from the evident effects of infidelity. The man who sees others swelled with skepticism, begs to be saved from a kindred experience. The man who sees others plunging into corruption, and consuming even saints in their mad course of immorality, longs for deliverance from all such danger. God and God alone is his help, and God and God alone is his adequate defense. The grace of the past is his ground of hope for the future; and as he reflects upon the multitude of times that he himself has been delivered out of trouble, he can but praise the Name of the Lord.
Beyond all question, this chapter voices a memory of dark days for David. It is supposed to have been written about the time of Absaloms rebellion, when a conspiracy was formed against him, and to have involved the participation in that rebellion of his most familiar and trusted friend, Ahithophel. Those unhappy incidents of life explain many of the pathetic expressionsthe voice of the enemy, the oppression of the wicked, the betrayal of a friend, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance, one with whom he had taken sweet counsel and with whom he had walked to the house of God. The whole setting fits the circumstance of Absaloms rebellion and Ahithophels betrayal.
Few men ever occupy positions of importance without suffering after a kindred manner. The oppression of natural enemies is comparatively easy to be borne; but the betrayal of friends, that, indeed, is a grief that takes the heart out of one and tends to shake his confidence in humanity itself; tempts one to say, No man can be trusted, and to doubt the reality of unselfish and untarnished affection.
Such an experience, however, leads the truly intelligent to fall back on God and God alone. Thats what the Psalmist does. Listen to his language and learn well the lesson. The words fall hard, upon disappointment, deception, betrayal.
As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me (Psa 55:16).
Evening and morning and at noon will I pray, and cry aloud; and He shall hear my voice.
He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.
God shall hear and afflict them. * *
Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
But Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in Thee (Psa 55:17-23).
After all, its a good conclusion! The man who can take his eyes off the perfidy of his fellows and turn them to the faithfulness of his Heavenly Father, will never be fully discouraged.
From the old Baptist Hymnal, we used to sing,
Zion stands with hills surrounded,
Zion, kept by power Divine;
All her foes shall be confounded,
Though the world in arms combine;
Happy Zion,
What a favored lot is thine!
Every human tie may perish;
Friend to friend unfaithful prove;
Mothers cease their own to cherish;
Heaven and earth at last remove;
But no changes
Can attend Jehovahs love.
In the furnace God may prove thee,
Thence to bring thee forth more bright,
But can never cease to love thee;
Thou art precious in His sight;
God is with thee,
God, thine everlasting light.
This leads to a pledge of further praise (Psalms 56-57). Each of these opens with a prayer for mercy, but each of them moves to a burst of praise.
Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up (Psa 56:1).
About a moment later
In God I have put my trust; I will not fear; what flesh can do unto me (Psa 56:4).
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in Thee; yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge.
Until these; calamities be overpast (Psa 57:1).
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise.
Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early.
I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people; I will sing unto Thee among the nations (Psa 57:7-9).
H. M. Lischer was thinking along kindred lines with the Psalmist, when he wrote:
Upward I lift mine eyes;
From God is all my aid;
The God who built the skies,
And earth and nature made;
God is the tower to which I fly;
His grace is nigh in every hour.
My feet shall never slide
And fall in fatal snares,
Since God, my guard and guide,
Defends me from my fears;
Those wakeful eyes that never sleep
Shall Israel keep when dangers rise.
Hast Thou not given Thy Word
To save my soul from death?
And I can trust Thee, Lord,
To keep my mortal breath;
Ill go and come, nor fear to die,
Till from on high Thou call me home.
RECOVERY FROM SIN
Psalms 56, 59, 60 of this Book present the solemn phases of sin, but the grace and justice of God in saving His own not alone from sin but from the sinful.
In Psalms 58 Gods judgment rejoices the righteous. From Psa 58:2 to Psa 58:9 there is a picture of the wicked and of their wickedness; and a prayer that God will bring them to judgment. In Psa 58:10 and Psa 58:11 the Psalmist anticipates the question and declares the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily He is a God that judgest in the earth.
This figure may seem revolting to a people who are living at peace with their fellows, but it comes to have its meaning in the day when the violent seem about to capture the earth, and the wicked smite with the poison of the serpent.
Under all ordinary circumstances we grieve when a man is slain and his blood stains the earth but when such conditions arise as exist in Chicago now, when gangsters will line up men against the wall, seven in number, and shoot them dead as they stand huddled in fear and obedient to the command of a bandit, who will grieve if those men are overtaken and sent to the gallows; or even if the righteousness of the law obtain and they fall before the officers bullets? Gentleness, compassion and tears, these are for times of peace; but justice is essential when the violent threaten society and the wicked work their will against the same.
Gods judgment avenges the righteous. Hear Psalms 59:
Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.
They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.
Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth heart
But Thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.
Because of his strength will I wait upon Thee: for God is my defense.
The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by Thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.
And at evening let them return, and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.
Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.
But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
Unto Thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.
Here again the exercise of Divine power in judgment in behalf of the righteous is not only defensible, but is essential to the justification of Deity itself. The God who permits wickedness to stalk the land without speaking its rebuke, or smiting its head, would be a questionable God. There are instances in history that tend to show that God is the same yesterday, and to day and for ever. Narcissus was Bishop of Jerusalem, a man of faultless life, so John Foster tells us, faithful in rebuking vice of every kind, but was falsely accused. His first accuser, in closing his testimony on one occasion said, If these things are not so, may I be consumed by fire. A second accuser said, If these things are not so, may I be overtaken by some horrible disease. A third said, If these things are not so, may God smite me blind. And Foster continues, The day came when the house of the first was consumed by fire and he and his family perished in flames, and yet another day when the second was smitten and suffered long under a loathsome disease; and the third seeing the terrible end of his companions confessed his iniquity and wept over his crimes until his sight was utterly gone.
Finally, Gods power shall bring victory to the righteous.
O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast been displeased; O turn Thyself to us again.
Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
Thou hast shewed Thy people hard things: Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
That Thy beloved may be delivered; save with Thy right hand, and hear me.
God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Suecoth.
Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the strength of Mine head; Judah is My lawgiver.
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; Philistia, triumph thou because of Me.
Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
Wilt not Thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and Thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?
Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man.
Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies (Psa 60:1-12).
It is a glorious conclusion! Through God we shall be victorious; for it is He that shall tread down our enemies. In all the conflicts of life, the one thing that men need beyond all things else is the favor of God. If conquest is to be ours, if we are to come through victorious against them that would persecute and hurt us, if we are to triumph against trouble, vain is the help of man, he will fail us, but our God, never! If we are to have a victory against that impersonal enemy, and yet that most terrible of all, sin, He alone can give it to us.
God of our strength, enthroned above,The source of life, the fount of love;O let devotions sacred flame,Our souls awake to praise Thy Name
To Thee we lift our joyful eyes,To Thee on wings of faith we rise;Come Thou, and let Thy courts on earth Ring out Thy praise in holy mirth.
God of our strength from day to day,Direct our thoughts and guide our way;O may our hearts united be,In sweet communion, Lord, with Thee.
God of our strength, on Thee we call;God of our hope, our light, our all, Thy Name we praise, Thy love adore,Our Rock, our Shield for evermore.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
INTRODUCTION
Superscription.To the Chief Musician upon Jonath-Elem-Rechokim. The phrase Jonath-Elem-Rechokim occurs nowhere else in the Bible; and Biblical critics are by no means agreed as to its meaning. Gesenius renders it, The silent dove among strangers. W. A. Wright, in Smiths Dict of the Bale: A dumb dove of (in) distant places. De Wette, Dove of the distant terebinths. Aben Ezra regards it as merely indicating the modulation or the rhythm of the Psalm,after the melody of the air which begins Jonath-Elem-Rechokim. Fuerst regards it as referring to an old poem, after which the 56th Psalm was sung. In the Biour to Mendelsshons version of the Psalms, Jonath-Elem-Rechokim is mentioned as a musical instrument which produced dull, mournful sounds. Hengstenberg, Alexander, et al., interpret the phrase as describing the unhappy condition of David during his exile from the land of Israel, as an innocent and uncomplaining sufferer among strangers. Michtam of David. Margin: A golden Psalm of David, which is interpreted as signifying that the Psalm was to David precious as fine gold. Luther: A golden jewel. Gesenius, De Wette, et al.: Writing. Hengstenberg: A secret of David. He explains it as a song with a deep import. W. A. Wright in Smiths Dict. of the Bible, says,Beyond the general probability that it is a musical term, the origin of which is uncertain and the application lost, nothing is known.
The superscription also gives us the occasion of the composition of the Psalm. When the Philistines took him in Gath. The history is contained in 1Sa. 21:10, seq. Psalms 34. refers to the same occasion.
The leading idea of the Psalm is that of confidence in God in time of danger, which finds expression in the refrain, Psa. 56:4; Psa. 56:10-11.
THE GODLY MAN AND HIS ENEMIES
(Psa. 56:1-7.)
These verses may suitably be regarded as illustrating the life of a good man in this world in relation to his enemies. Consider
I. The enemies of the godly man. They are here represented as
1. Eager. This seems to be the idea of the clause which is incorrectly rendered, man would swallow me up. Moll renders it: Mortal man snorts against me. Hengstenberg: Man snuffs after me. The meaning is either that his enemies panted after him as animals greedy of their prey, or snorted against him as animals enraged. The foes of the Psalmist were hot and eager in their hostility against him. The enemies of the godly now are active and zealous. Satan and his numerous allies amongst men display an earnestness and enthusiasm worthy of a good cause.
2. Numerous. They be many that fight against me. David had many enemiesSaul and his followers, and Achish, the king of Gath, and his servants. The godly soul has many foes,the world, the flesh, and the devilenemies within his own breast, and enemies without, in society, &c.
3. Constant. Mine enemies would daily, &c. Every day they wrest, &c. The enemies of the Poet were incessant in their efforts to effect his overthrow. Every day their hostility was renewed. The enemies of the godly manifest great unweariedness of effort. Evil never rests. Its dread activities are untiring.
4. Dishonest. They wrest my words. They twisted, perverted, tortured his words, so as to get from them a meaning which he never intended, and by which they might injure him. Good men are exposed to the misrepresentations and slanders of their foes.
5. Confederate. They gather themselves together. The enemies of David combined against him. It seems sometimes in the history of the godly soul as though the forces of evil were united against it. All evil is one in this, that it is directed against God and the interests of His kingdom and people.
6. Secret. They hide themselves, &c. They were like foes lying in ambush. The designs of evil are crafty and cunning. The people of God have to guard against the wiles of the devil. Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Hence the peril, and the necessity for watchfulness.
7. Cruel. They wait for my soul. The enemies of David sought to take his life. Our spiritual enemies seek not to deprive us of physical life, but to ensnare and ruin our soul. Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
(.) How foolish it is to make light of our spiritual enemies! and it may be ruinous! (Eph. 6:12).
(.) How great is the importance of guardedness of spirit! (Eph. 6:13-18).
(.) How needful is the Divine protection! (Psa. 125:2).
II. The prayer of the godly man in the midst of his enemies. This contains
1. A comprehensive petition. Be merciful unto me, O God If the Psalmist secured the exercise of the Divine mercy on his behalf, he would need nothing more. The active exercise of the mercy of God toward us is a guarantee of all needful good,protection, guidance, support, ultimate victory.
2. A powerful plea is implied in this petition. In asking for mercy the Psalmist renounces all idea of merit in himself, and looks to the riches of Divine grace as the source and the reason of blessing. We do well to plead the unspeakable generosity of the Divine disposition. He delighteth in mercy.
3. An earnest appeal to the Divine justice. Shall they escape by iniquity? &c. We have here
(1) An expectation involving extreme wickedness. The enemies of the Psalmist were so depraved that they cherished the hope that they should escape the just consequences of their transgressions by their own cunning and violence, lawlessness, and treachery.
(2) An assurance of the rectitude of the Divine government. The inquiry of the Psalmist implies his firm belief that his foes would not escape the Divine judgment by their wickedness. The sin of sinners will never be their security. Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.
(3) A desire for the exercise of the Divine judgment. In anger cast down the people, O God. David prays that God in judgment would defeat the plans and destroy the power of his enemies, who wickedly sought his life. We do well to pray for the overthrow of evil and the exercise of the righteous judgment of God.
III. The confidence of the godly man in the midst of his enemies.
1. It was reposed in the grandest object. In God I have put my trust. Psa. 32:10; Psa. 37:39-40; Psa. 125:1; Isa. 26:3-4; Jer. 17:7-8.
2. It was exercised in the most trying season. What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. Calvin: It seems, indeed, as if fear and hope were feelings too contrary the one to the other to dwell in the same heart; but experience shows that hope there in fact really reigns where some portion of the heart is possessed by fear. For when the mind is calm and tranquil, hope is not exercised, yea rather is, as it were, hushed to sleep; but then, and not till then does she put forth all her strength, when the mind has been cast down by cares and she lifts it up, when it has been saddened and disturbed and she calms it, when it has been smitten with fear and she sustains and props it.
3. It produced the sublimest results.
(1) It raised him above the fear of man. I will not fear; what can flesh do unto me? Arnd: He sets against each other the mighty God, and impotent flesh, which is as grass and as the flower of the field.
(2) It inspired him with the praise of God. In God I will praise His word. The Psalmist extols God because of His gracious word and its precious promises. Thus by faith the godly man may triumph in the midst of his enemies, and is sure of complete victory over them ultimately.
TIMES OF FEAR, AND TRUST IN GOD
(Psa. 56:3.)
Consider,
I. What is implied and included in trusting in God.
1. A knowledge of God as accessible through a Mediator. We have sinned, and there is only one way in which the guilty can approach the Most High, and their prayer can be accepted by Him. The blood of the great sacrifice is the medium, and faith in Christ is the only method (Joh. 14:6).
2. A full surrender of the soul to God to be governed by His holy laws. God claims the first place in our heart. His requirements are binding, and His authority must be regarded. It is vain to say we are trusting in God if we refuse subjection to His rightful dominion.
3. Acquiescence in the arrangements of providence, and submission to His will. Habitual discontent and murmuring is incompatible with a life of confidence in God. Losses, afflictions, and bereavements are painful, but confidence in God will lead us to bear them with submission, and to say, It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good.
II. The circumstances in which this confidence is most needful and important. What time I am afraid, &c. There are seasons in which fear will be awakened; in such seasons we should trust in God. Fear may be excited
1. By a sense of guilt. When the sinner is convinced of the evil and danger of sin he feels himself under the curse of a broken law, and in danger of everlasting misery. A sense of guilt may be experienced after conversion. When the conscience is wounded by remorse nothing can give it rest but the application of the blood of Christ, and the enjoyment of the mercy of God. What time I am afraid, &c.
2. In seasons of temptation. The believer may be walking in darkness, and may have no light, he may be lamenting the hardness and carnality of his own heart, he may be fearing apostacy, &c. In such seasons our best refuge is God.
3. In seasons of domestic trials. Troubles to parents through the perverseness of children, as Jacob and David had. Or trials by reason of affliction.
4. Under bereaving providences. These are some of the heaviest trials which are experienced. Unless we go to the right refuge we shall be in danger of sinking into darkness.
5. Under personal afflictions. To the people of God these are not judgments, but fatherly chastisements. The hand that wounds can heal, &c.
6. In the prospect of death. Death is an event the most serious and important, and the prospect of it has a tendency to awaken fear. But What time, &c.
III. The advantages which attend a life of confidence in God.
1. It will be an evidence of religion.
2. It will bring with it peace and satisfaction.
3. It will lead to support under the trials of life. My grace is sufficient for thee, &c.
4. It will lead to deliverance from troubles. Through all his troubles the believer shall be brought in safety, and he shall stand and look back upon life and view them all left behind him for ever.
5. It will lead us to account all our troubles as blessings.
Een crosses from His sovereign hand
Are blessings in disguise.
All things work together for good, &c.
6. It will lead to an eternity of happiness. There remaineth a rest for the people of God.
CONCLUSION.Learn the importance of trusting in God. It is essential to our salvation.Abridged from an unpublished MS.
THE REJOICING EXILE
(Psa. 56:8-13.)
In these verses David, an exile and wanderer, bitterly persecuted, appears as glad and triumphant by faith in God. He rejoices
I. In the minuteness of the Divine knowledge and the tenderness of the Divine regard.
1. The perfection of the Divine knowledge. Thou tellest (or numberest) my wanderings. David was at this time an exile and wanderer, fleeing from place to place because of the ceaseless and malicious persecutions of Saul. Barnes (in loco) cites eight of these wanderings; Rudinger counts fourteen. All of them were counted by God. Not one was omitted. Nor would any one of them be forgotten; for like his tears, they were recorded in His book, Mal. 3:16.
2. The tenderness of the Divine regard. Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle. The persecutions which drove David into exile and wandering caused him to weep, but he was comforted by the thought that God cared for him as a friend who would gather and preserve his tears. It seems probable that there is an allusion here to the custom of collecting tears shed in a time of calamity and sorrow, and preserving them in a small bottle or lachrymatory, as a memorial of the grief. The Romans had a custom, that in a time of mourningon a funeral occasiona friend went to one in sorrow, and wiped away the tears from the eyes with a piece of cloth, and squeezed the tears into a small bottle, which was carefully preserved as a memorial of friendship and sorrow. Perowne: He knows that each day of his wandering, each nook in which he found shelter, each step that he had taken, every artifice by which he had baffled his foes,all have been numbered by his Heavenly Keeper, tea, no tear that he has shed, when his eye has been raised to heaven in prayer, has fallen to the ground. God he prays to gather them all in His bottle, and trusts that He will note them in His book. This confidence strengthened, cheered, rejoiced the Poet. So also Job: But He knoweth the way that I take, &c. To the sincere believer in God there is a rich fund of consolation and encouragement in the Divine knowledge of us and regard for us.
II. In his assurance of deliverance from his enemies. When I cry, then shall mine enemies turn back, &c.
1. The condition of deliverance. When I cry. Believing prayer is a condition of the Divine interposition for us. I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them.
2. The promptitude of deliverance. When I cry, then shall, &c. It shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. (Comp. Dan. 9:20-23.) Spurgeon: What irresistible artillery is this which wins the battle as soon as its report is heard!
3. The assurance of deliverance. This I know. Mark
(1) the strength of this assurance. He does not speak with a perhaps or a peradventure, but confidently says, I know.
(2) The ground of this assurance, For God is for me. If God be for us, who can be against us? The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do unto me?
III. In his triumphant confidence in God. In God will I praise His word, &c. (Psa. 56:10-11). See our notes on Psa. 56:4.
IV. In his delightful obligations to God. Thy vows are upon me, O God, &c. (Psa. 56:12-13). It is worthy of distinct and careful observation that to the Psalmist obligation to God was a privilege and pleasurea thing to be celebrated in glad song.
1. The nature of this obligation. Thy vows are upon me, O God; I will render praises unto Thee. Hengstenberg: The vows consist of offerings. To the kind, the vows, the Psalmist, however, adds the species, thank-offerings. David had vowed thank-offerings to God, and he looks forward with pleasure to the fulfilment of his vows. Tholuck: David thinks of songs of praise whilst he still sings lamentations, of vows of thanksgiving whilst yet praying.
2. The reason of this obligation.
(1) What God had done for him. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death. The Lord had delivered the Psalmist from imminent danger and from death again and again. The shield of the Almighty Protector had covered him, and the deadly darts of his enemies were unable to injure him.
(2) What God would yet do for him. Wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling! The Psalmist was confident that God would continue to defend and sustain him. What He has done may be safely taken as an assurance of what He will do.
(3) The design of Gods doings for him. That I may walk before God in the light of the living. The light of life is in contrast with the darkness of the realm of death. To walk before the face of God is to live in the enjoyment of His favour and protection. For these reasons David felt under binding and blessed obligations to praise God. And by all these things his heart was gladdened though his outward circumstances were so depressing and painful.
APPLICATION.If our trust is reposed in God we may and ought to apply this exposition to ourselves. Let us be strengthened and encouraged, however many and sore our trials, because
1. Gods knowledge of us is minute and perfect.
2. His regard for us is tender and unceasing.
3. He has assured us of final and full salvation.
4. His past deliverances also warrant our present confidence.
5. Faith in Him should enable us to triumph even in the most trying circumstances (Rom. 5:3-5; Rom. 8:31-39).
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD A COMFORT TO HIS PEOPLE
(Psa. 56:8.)
The Psalmist refers to his removals from place to place for safetyThou tellest my wanderings. He desired that God would pity him under his sorrowsPut Thou my tears into Thy bottle. An allusion here to a custom of the ancients.
I. That the pilgrimage of the righteous and the changes of life are numbered and written in the book of Gods remembrance. Thou tellest my wanderings, &c.
1. The life of the righteous is a spiritual pilgrimage. It begins at conversion; it has its wanderings; some of them sinful; all of them known to God.
2. The changes in the life of the righteous are numbered by the Lord, and are in the book of His remembrance.
(1) Many pass through changes in the place of their residence. They are led in a way that they know not and in paths that they have not known. The Lord telleth all these wanderings.
(2) Many are the changes of circumstances; e.g., Job; David from his wanderings to the throne.
II. The sorrows of the righteous are known to God, and David desired Him to keep them in His mind. Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle, &c.
1. The tears of penitents are put into His bottle. God looks with compassion upon the wanderer returning home, &c.
2. The tears of the righteous shed over the remains of sin.
3. The tears of the righteous in their spiritual conflicts, occasioned by sinful dispositions, hardness of heart, &c.
4. The tears caused by the trials of life. Like as a father pitieth his children, &c. All the afflictions and sorrows of life are known unto God. The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.
III. Gods knowledge of His people is a source of comfort to them.
1. That He knows the course they take in their sorrows is a comfort to them (Job. 23:10). This comfort may be taken
(1) By the penitent at the foot of the cross. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; &c.
(2) By the Christian whose daily prayer is that he may be found in Christ.
(3) By the believer seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit in the conflicts of life.
(4) And by the godly in all the changes and trials of their pilgrimage.
2. Their views of God afford them consolation in their sorrows.
(1) The Lord is their God, their Father, and their friend.
(2) The conduct of God is governed by infinite wisdom and goodness.
(3) Many trials come from the hand of God. The Lord trieth the righteous.
(4) The purposes of God afford his people comfort. The discipline may be painful, but its design is their perfection.
(5) They have access to the throne of grace in all their sorrows. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.
(6) The promises of God inspire them with confidence and hope (2Pe. 1:4; 2Co. 1:20; Isa. 35:10).
LEARN IN CONCLUSION.
1. That sorrows are a part of our present portion. In the world ye have tribulation.
2. All our sorrows are known unto God.
3. In all our sorrows we should trust in God (Nah. 1:7).
4. We should keep on such terms with God as will enable us to derive comfort from His infinite knowledge.
5. If God manifests such regard to His people in the changing scenes of life, how important is it to enjoy the privilege! and to enjoy it we must be the subjects of true religion.Abridged from an unpublished MS.
THE STATE OF THE GODLY IN THIS WORLD
(Psa. 56:13.)
We shall regard these words of the Psalmists as setting forth the present state of Christian believers. It is
I. A Divinely delivered state. Thou hast delivered my soul from death. The unrenewed soul is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-5; Eph. 4:18). Man is delivered from death
1. Through the mediation of Jesus.
2. By the instrumentality of redemptive truth.
3. By the agency of the Holy Spirit.
4. On condition of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Joh. 3:36; Joh. 5:24).
II. A Divinely sustained state. Wilt not Thou deliver my feet from falling? Notice:
1. The danger implied. The renewed soul is in danger of falling. Three things show this
(1) The fact of temptation.
(2) Our susceptibility to temptation.
(3) Some of the best men have fallen.
2. The confidence involved. That God is able to keep us from falling (Jud. 1:24).
3. The encouragement afforded. Thou hast delivered. Wilt Thou not, &c. What He has done is an earnest of what He will yet do (Php. 1:6).
III. A Divinely approved state. That I may walk before God in the light of the living. This includes
1. Life governed by God. Living as in His sight. His will our rule of action.
2. Life well-pleasing to God. To walk before the face of God is to live in the enjoyment of His favour (Psa. 4:6; Psa. 21:6; Psa. 89:15). Such a life naturally tends to fulness of joy in His immediate presence (Psa. 16:11).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 56
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
A Song by David in Captivity.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psa. 56:1-3, In a few words, David Describes his Captive Condition, and Composes a Refrain of Praise, Stanza II., Psa. 56:5-11, After a Fuller Description of his Captors, the Prisoner prays for their Subjugation because of their Iniquities, Asks that His Own Sufferings may be recorded, Anticipates Future Victory over his Enemies, and Repeats and Enlarges his Refrain, Stanza III., Psa. 56:12-13, The Captive, Remembering his Vows, Promises to Fulfil them; and Anticipates Freedom for his Spared Life.
(Lm.) By DavidA Tablet
When the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1.
Be gracious unto me O God, for mere man hath crushed me: all the day a warrior keeps on oppressing me.
2.
They who are watching me have crushed me all the day. for multitudes are warring on me loftily.
3.
What day I am afraid I unto thee will direct my trust.
4.
In God will I boast as my theme,[619] In God do I trust without fear,What can flesh do unto me?
[619] The M.T. and versions have his word or theme; but as the difference in Heb. is merely the length of a single fine stroke, my is preferred here, as better preparing for the omission of the pronoun in Psa. 56:10.
5
All the day my words[620] do they wrest,
[620] Or: affairs.
against me are all their plots:
6
For mischief they gather, lie hid,
they themselves mark my footprints,[621]
[621] Ml. my heelsperh. to trip me up.
as they have waited for my life.
7
Because of iniquity there is no[622] deliverance for them:
[622] So Ge., and so Baethgen, in O.G. 812b.
in anger bring down peoples O God!
8
My wandering thou thyself hast recorded:
put thou my tears in thy wine-skin,
are they not in thy scroll?
9
Then shall my foes turn backon the day I proclaim.[623]
[623] That is: Either proclaim myself King, or proclaim war against them.
this I know for God is for me!
10
In God will I boast as a theme,
In Jehovah will I boast, as a theme;
11
In God do I trust without fear:
What can a son of earth do unto me?
12
Upon me O God are thy vows,
I will pay back thankofferings to thee;
13
For thou hast rescued my soul from death,
wilt thou not (rescue) my feet from thrusts[624]?
[624] Ml.: from thrusting: i.e., by an enemy to trip me up. See Psa. 116:8.
that I may walk to and fro before God in the light of the living?[625]
[625] In the light of the land of the living. Cp, Psa. 116:9Br.
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.
(CMm.) Do not destroy.
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 56
Lord, have mercy on me; all day long the enemy troops press in. So many are proud to fight against me; how they long to conquer me.
3, 4 But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in You. Yes, I will trust the promises of God. And since I am trusting Him, what can mere man do to me?
5 They are always twisting what I say. All their thoughts are how to harm me.
6 They meet together to perfect their plans; they hide beside the trail, listening for my steps, waiting to kill me.
7 They expect to get away with it. Dont let them, Lord. In anger cast them to the ground.
8 You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in Your bottle! You have recorded every one in Your book.
*
*
*
*
*
9 The very day I call for help, the tide of battle turns! My enemies flee! This one think I know: God is for me!
10, 11 I am trusting Godoh, praise His promises! I am not afraid of anything mere man can do to me! Yes, praise His promises.
12 I will surely do what I have promised, Lord, and thank You for Your help.
13 For You have saved me from death and my feet from slipping, so that I can walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
EXPOSITION
Nothing is lost, but much is gained, by letting this bright little psalm into the niche provided for it by its superscription. It can still be regarded as subsequently employed in national worship, with the obvious gain of bringing up afresh into the memories of the people the story of their beloved hero-king. Any analogies between the chequered experiences of the nation and those of David, would leave intact those snatches of Davidic autobiography thus preserved, which become increasingly precious when dovetailed into each other so as to furnish an inner history, illuminative of the outer facts with which we are already familiar in the study of Davids life.
It has been assumed by critics, with good reason, that Davids first sojourn with the King of Gath, as narrated in 1 Samuel 21, 22, though half voluntary in the impulse to risk it as a method of escaping from Saul, was nevertheless in the experience of it a species of durance vile, which sufficiently answers to the circumstances assumed by the psalm to be existent. But, in truth, there need be no feverish anxiety on our part to reach absolute certainty in our attempts to fix on the particular seizure of David by the men of Gath, presupposed by this psalm. After the slaying of Goliath by the young Bethlehemite, it must always have been a tempting thing to the Gittites to get that famous but yet perhaps personally unknown stripling into their hands, and to wreak on him some of the vengeance, the chief volume of which nevertheless was pent up for bursting on the more formidable head of King Saul. We cannot therefore be sure that David individually did not find himself more than once a captive in Gath.
It is more to the point to open our eyes to perceive the realistic fitness of the language of this psalm to apply to such a captivity. We no sooner do this, than we see the whole thing set vividly before our eyes. With his living faith in Jehovah, these stalwart Gittites are, in Davids sight, no more than mere men. Nevertheless, for the time, they have crushed him. All the day long a warrior-guard annoys and vexes him, needlessly making him feel how irksome are his chains. Outside are watchers, taking good care he shall not escape. Multitudes of warlike men, carrying, loftily their heads, are ready to slay him. Is he afraid? He takes up his harp, and directing his trust to Jehovah, improvises thus: In God will I boast, as my theme. How much of his language his warders understand at its full value, we know not, but he holds on: All the day my words do they wrest; and so on, gathering strength, he proceeds. If they do attend, and can decipher his words; one while, they may well tremble as he alludes to their iniquity, or laugh him to scorn as he foretells their turning back before his face in the yet coming days when he shall proclaim war against them; another while, they may almost relent, as they catch him confessing his tears. Again, he rings out his Refrain, made more strong and more bold; nor forgets to promise how in happier times he will make good his vows.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
Twice David was in Gathbut neither time seems to fit this psalm. How shall we explain the circumstances here described?
2.
But when I am afraid, I will put my confidence in you. If we had our confidence in the Lord, would we be afraid? Discuss.
3.
There are three natural divisions to this psalmreview the Analysis and show how these divisions are progressive and accumulative.
4.
. . . . You have collected all my tears and preserved them in Your bottle! You have recorded everyone in Your book (Psa. 56:8). This verse offers tremendous insight into the nature of God. Discuss.
5.
Supposing God does not deliver us from our enemies? Does this mean our enemies are in the right? That we are wrong? That there is no God? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) Man . . .Heb., ensh, either as in Psa. 9:19, mortal man, or, contemptuously, a rabble, a multitude.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Nothing can surpass the tenderness and earnestness of David’s call for help. Man (Hebrew, frail man) would swallow me up Literally, has panted for me. The word denotes the hard breathing which is the effect of anger or eager desire, or of exhaustive pursuit, as of a beast of prey on the scent of his victim a panting eagerness to devour. Such were David’s enemies So Psa 57:3.
Fighting daily Giving the idea not only of danger unintermitted, but of continuance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Heading ( Psa 56:1 a).
‘For the Chief Musician; set to Yonath elem rehokim (‘the silent dove of far off places (or ‘men’)’). A Psalm of David. Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.
This is another Psalm dedicated to the Choirmaster or Chief Musician (the head of music). A Michtam may signify ‘a covering’ and thus a plea for protection (from the Akkadian katamu (‘to cover’). It has also been interpreted as ‘a golden Psalm’ (from chetem = ‘gold’). Michtam occurs also in reference to Psalms 16; Psalms 56-60. The tune ‘silent doves of far off places (or ‘far off men’) may originally have been the music composed for a Psalm celebrating the cultic releasing of birds to fly off to far off places (Lev 14:5-7). Or alternately of a Psalm celebrating escape from the turmoils of life (compare Psa 55:6). The situation in life is described as being when the Philistines seized David in Gath (1Sa 21:10 ff.). At this time he had fled from Israel, possibly alone, and had taken refuge with Achish of Gath (that is in territory ruled by Achish) hoping to be unrecognised. But there he was challenged as to whether he was the successful Israelite commander who had had great successes against the Philistines. Being brought before Achish he escaped whatever fate might have been in store for him by feigning madness, subsequently fleeing back to Adullam where he built up his own fighting force.
Accepting the provenance stated it would appear that, having arrived in Gath after fleeing from the persecutions of Saul (Psa 56:1-2), and hoping to be unnoticed, David’s footsteps were dogged by suspicious Philistines (Psa 56:6). They clearly challenged him as to who he was (Psa 56:5) refusing to accept his assurances, or that he was there in peace, and thus determined evil against him. The Psalm may well have been written while he was waiting for them to pounce, and praying in anticipation, with the final verses of the Psalm indicating that he had prayed through to a position of certainty concerning YHWH’s deliverance, even though it was yet future.
The Psalm stresses the Psalmist’s trust in God (Psa 56:3-4; Psa 56:10-11) and the powerful enemies whom he is facing (Psa 56:1 a, 2, 5-7), and can be divided up into four parts:
A plea for God’s protection (Psa 56:1-4).
A description of his enemies tactics as they close in on him (Psa 56:5-7).
An expression of his trust in God in the face of his enemies (Psa 56:8-11).
An expression of his gratitude for his deliverance (Psa 56:12-13).
A Plea For God’s Protection ( Psa 56:1-4 ).
Psa 56:1-2
‘Show favour to me, O God, for a human (’enosh) would swallow me up,
All the day long his fighting oppresses me.’
My enemies would swallow me up all the day long,
For they are many who fight haughtily (on high) against me.’
These verses may refer to the circumstances which forced David to flee to Gath, and thus be speaking of Saul’s attempts on his life. Alternately they may have in mind the attempts by the Philistines to seek him out whilst he was in hiding in a Philistine city.
Taking the first, and more probable alternative in view of the language, he calls on God for favour in view of the fact that a mere earthly man is seeking to swallow him up. He emphasises the continual attempts by his enemy (Saul or his erstwhile friend – Psalms 55), along with his men, to oppress him and ‘swallow him up’ (repeated twice for emphasis). These attempts have been occurring continually ‘all the day long’ (repeated twice for emphasis). He has never been able to relax. For his enemies are numerous and are behaving arrogantly towards him. They have set themselves up ‘on high’.
The repetitions stress how strongly he feels his situation, and how harassed he feels, as well he might for he has moved from being a power in the land to being a lone fugitive. But he is still confident in God, for whilst his enemies might think much of themselves, he recognises that they are mere humans.
Note the twofold patterns. ‘A human’ (line 1) contrasts with the fact that they have set themselves up ‘on high’ (line 4). All the day long (line 2) parallels ‘all the day long’ (line 3). There is a chiastic pattern. But ‘swallow me up’ occurs in lines 1 and 3, and ‘fighting’ occurs in lines 2 and 4. So there is also a consecutive pattern.
Psa 56:3-4
The time when I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.’
In God, I will praise his word,
In God have I put my trust,
I will not be afraid, what can flesh do to me?’
He assures God of how much he trusts in Him (repeated twice). When he is afraid it is to God that he will look, and as a consequence he will not be afraid. And this is because he has full confidence in Him. He had cause to be afraid, for the hand of Saul, and every man’s hand was against him. And even now as a fugitive in Gath he was in enemy territory. The Philistines had no cause to love him either. So he was beset on every side. But he was confident that God was greater than them all, and that He would help him. Why then should he be afraid. After all his enemies were merely flesh. On the other hand God was God, and he trusted Him and praised His promised word (possibly the word spoken to him by Samuel). Compare for this Psa 56:10.
Note again the chiastic pattern. ‘Afraid’ in lines 1 and 5. ‘Put my trust’ in lines 2 and 4. ‘In God’ in lines 3 and 4.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psalms 56
Theme When we compare Psalms 56 and Psalms 34, we can see that Psalms 56 is a cry of deliverance, while Psalms 34 is a psalm of thanksgiving after deliverance.
Psa 100:4 says to enter God’s gates with thanksgiving (“todah” – Psa 56:12) and His courts with praise (“tehillah” – Psa 34:1).
Psa 100:4, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
Psa 56:12, “Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.”
Psa 34:1, A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Psa 56:1 (To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.) Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Psa 56:1
1Sa 21:15, “Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence ? shall this fellow come into my house?”
David went to Gath two different times:
1Sa 21:10 to 1Sa 22:1
1 Samuel 27-29
Psa 56:1 “Michtam of David” Word Study on “Michtam” – Strong says the Hebrew word “michtam” ( ) (H4387) literally means, “an engraving,” and as a technical term, “a poem.” He says this word comes from a Hebrew root word ( ) (H3799), which means “to carve, or engrave.” Therefore, some translations prefer to use a poetic term ( NLT, Rotherham), while others prefer a more literal translation ( DRC, LXX, VgClem).
NLT, “A psalm of David”
Rotherham, “A Precious Psalm of David”
DRC, “The inscription of a title to David himself”
LXX, “ ”
VgClem, “Tituli inscriptio, ipsi David”
Comments – A similar Hebrew word ( ) (3800) means, “something carved out, i.e. ore; hence, gold.” Peter Craigie tells us that some scholars translate the title “A Golden Psalm” from “early rabbinical interpretations.” [77] Therefore, we get a variety of translations that carry the idea of treasure or gold.
[77] Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50, in Word Biblical Commentary: 58 Volumes on CD-Rom, vol. 19, eds. Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker (Dallas: Word Inc., 2002), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), 154.
LITV, YLT, “A Secret Treasure of David”
Luther, “Ein glden Kleinod David”
There are six so called “Michtam Psalms” (16, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60), which open with the phrase “Michtam of David.” A similar title “the writing of Hezekiah” is used as the title for the psalm of Hezekiah in Isa 38:9-20, which uses a similar Hebrew word ( ) (H4385), means “a writing, the characters of something written, or a document such as a letter, a copy, an edict, or a poem.”
Psa 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
Psa 56:8
[78] Mary K. Baxter, A Divine Revelation of Heaven (New Kensington, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 1998), 32-6.
Arthur Blessitt tells the story of when he was being given a tour of a museum in Iran. The tour guide led them thru the different artifacts. When Blessitt saw a little bottle behind the display cabinet, he asked the tour guide what it was for. The guide said that this was a tear bottle. It was used in the orient even during Bible times. When a soldier went off to battle, the loved ones would keep a tear bottle, with the opening of the bottle shaped to fit comfortably around the eye. Alexander the Great went on a 5-year military campaign before returning home. These tears would be collected in the bottles and kept until the loved one comes home. [79]
[79] Arthur Blessitt, interviewed by Randy and Paula White, on Praise the Lord (Santa Ana, California: Trinity Broadcasting Network, 10 September 2002), television program.
Psa 56:9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
Psa 56:10 Psa 56:11 Psa 56:11
Heb 13:6, “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
Psa 56:12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
Psa 56:12
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Comfort in the Midst of Persecution.
v. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up, v. 2. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up, v. 3. What time I am afraid, v. 4. In God I will praise His Word, v. 5. Every day they wrest my words, v. 6. They gather themselves together, v. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? v. 8. Thou tellest my wanderings, v. 9. When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back, v. 10. In God will I praise His Word; in the Lord will I praise His Word.
v. 11. In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. v. 12. Thy vows are upon me, O God; v. 13. For Thou hast delivered my soul from death,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THIS and the following have been called “twin psalms.” They begin with the same words, are nearly of the same length, and have each a refrain which divides them into two portions. Formally, the chief difference between the two is that Psa 56:1-13. has an epilogue, or appendix (Psa 56:12, Psa 56:13), after the second refrain, to which there is nothing correspondent in Psa 57:1-11. Both psalms were written under circumstances of great distress, and the tone of thought in them is very similar. Each begins with complaint, and earnest prayer for deliverance, while each ends with praise and triumph.
The present psalm has a very complex heading, or “title.” First, it is addressed, like most of the other psalms of this book, “to the chief musician,” or “precentor.” Then it is said to be “On the silent dove of far off regions.” Thirdly, it is called “Michtam of David,” which some explain as “a golden psalm composed by David.” And fourthly, the occasion of its composition is declared to have been “the seizure of David by the Philistines in Gath.” David’s authorship may readily be accepted, for the psalm is, as Ewald says, “one of the most beautiful in the Psalter.” And the occasion is not to be lightly set aside; since, although no seizure of David by the Philistines of Gath is mentioned in 1 Samuel, such an event is quite conceivable; while no compiler or editor of a late date would have ventured to interpolate such a fact into the accepted history of David. The “silent dove” is, no doubt, David himself, who had wished for “the wings of a dove” (Psa 55:6), and was compelled to be silent while he was in captivity.
Psa 56:1
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; literally, man panteth after melike a wild beast after his prey. The contrast is sharp between “man” (enosh, “weak man”) and God (Elohim, “the Mighty One”). He fighting daily oppreseeth me; rather, all the day long is he fighting and oppressing me.
Psa 56:2
Mine enemies; literally, my watchersthose who keep a continual guard over me. If David had been seized and made a prisoner by the Philistine lords, this expression would be very appropriate. Would daily swallow me up; rather, pant after me all day. For they be many that fight against me. The “lords of the Philistines” were, doubtless, “many;” they seem to have, all of them, opposed themselves to David (1Sa 29:2-9). O thou Most High. This rendering is now generally abandoned, since marom (), “height,” is nowhere else used in this sense. Dr. Kay, Hengstenberg, and the Revised Version render “proudly;” Professor Cheyne, “with high looks.”
Psa 56:3
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee; literally, the day when I am afraid. When the day comes that I feel fear stealing over me, by an act of will I (even I, weak as I am) will put my trust in thee (comp. Psa 7:1; Psa 11:1; Psa 18:2, etc.).
Psa 56:4
In God I will praise his word; rather, through God; i.e. “with God’s help, by his grace,” I am ready to praise whatever sentence he pronounces, whatever flat goes forth from him. In God I have put my trust (so again, Psa 56:11). This is at once the refrain and the keynote of the psalm. In all dangers, in all troubles, whatever happens, whatever seems to be impending, the psalmist will never relinquish his trust in the Almighty. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. This is the true martyr spirit. Compare our Lord’s words, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul in hell” (Mat 10:28).
Psa 56:5
Every day they wrest my words; rather, all the day long. they wrest (or, torture) my words. They seek to give my words an evil meaning, and so to misrepresent me to Achish, their king. As Canon Cook says, “This description is singularly applicable to David’s position among the envious nobles at the court of Achish Still, it does not speak of his having been actually arrested, and does not, therefore, seem to have suggested the inscription.” All their thoughts are against his for evil. They are entirely bent on doing the psalmist some hurt. What they really seek is his life (Psa 56:6); but, short of that, they would gladly do him some mischief.
Psa 56:6
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves; or, “they gather themselves together; they set an ambush.” They mark my steps, when they wait for my soul; literally, they, even they, mark my steps; i.e. they themselves, grand as they are, condescend to be spies, and track my footsteps.
Psa 56:7
Shall they escape by iniquity? Shall they escape God’s judgments, the psalmist asks, by their iniquity? Assuredly not. God will prevent such an escape. In thine anger cast down the people, O God; literally, the peoples; i.e. the heathen generally, to whom David’s enemies, the Gittites, belong. Though assured that they will not escape, the psalmist, to make assurance doubly sure, prays that they may not.
Psa 56:8
Thou tellest my wanderings; i.e. thou, O God, takest account of my wretched wandering life (1 Samuel 21-30), and notest each occasion when I am forced to move from one city, or cave, or wilderness to another. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Take also note of my tearslet them not pass unheeded. Rather, gather them drop by drop, and store them, as costly wine is stored, in a flask. The thought, thus dressed in a metaphor, was, no doubt (as Professor Cheyne observes), “Store them up in thy memory.” Are they not in thy book? i.e. hast thou not anticipated my request, and entered an account of every tear that I have shed, in thy book of records (comp. Psa 69:28; Psa 139:16)?
Psa 56:9
When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me; literally, in the day that I call upon thee.
Psa 56:10
In God will I praise his word; rather, through God (see the comment on Psa 56:4). In the Lord (rather, through the Lord) will I praise his word. Professor Cheyne looks upon this as “a feeble Jehovistic interpolation, which interrupts the refrain.” But other commentators see in it a certain force.
Psa 56:11
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Repeated word for word from Psa 56:4 (see the comment on that passage).
Psa 56:12, Psa 56:13
The psalm ends with an expression of thankfulness to God for the deliverance, which is so confidently expected, that it is looked upon as assured, and even spoken of as past (Psa 56:13).
Psa 56:12
Thy vows are upon me, O God. The psalmist, under his affliction, has made vows to God; i.e. promises of thank offerings if God would come to his aid, and save him from his enemies. These vows he considers to be now due, and himself to be under the obligation of paying them. Accordingly, he announces his intention of speedily discharging his obligationI will render praises (rather, thank offerings) unto thee.
Psa 56:13
For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling; rather, hast thou not delivered (Revised Version); or, surely thou hast delivered (Professor Cheyne). The psalmist views his entire deliverance as accomplished; nothing remains to be asked for. That I may walk before God in the light of the living; i.e. that henceforth I may be free from trouble, and walk before God in the clear daylight, no longer dwelling in darkness, but in “the light of life” (comp. Job 33:30; Joh 8:12).
HOMILETICS
Psa 56:4, Psa 56:10, Psa 56:11
The expression and the result of faith.
“In God I will praise his word,” etc. This is not a vain repetition or a mere poetic burden. The meaning is enlarged and strengthened. In Psa 56:4 that Divine name is used which speaks of the Almighty Creator, “God.” In Psa 56:10 this is repeated, but that personal name is added which speaks of God’s covenant and faithfulness, “in the Lord” (equivalent to “Jehovah”). Again, in Psa 56:4 the psalmist speaks of man in his weakness”flesh;” but in Psa 56:11“what man can do”man in his utmost strength is defied to hurt one of God’s refugees. Here is
(1) the expression of faith;
(2) the result of faith.
I. THE EXPRESSION OF FAITH. “In God will I praise his word.” The word of God is everywhere in Scripture the special object of faith, for this reasonthat it is by his word, viz. his commands and his promises, that God enters into moral relations with us, and enables us to enter into such relations to him. Hence room not for mere vague faith, such as we might have in the Creator of the universe, the Almighty Ruler, the Author of our being; but direct personal trust, accepting and grasping God’s word. The name “Jehovah” warrants this faith. The word of promise is chiefly meant. This faith is in contrast to all the causes and circumstances of fear and peril (Psa 56:1, Psa 56:2).
II. THE RESULT OF FAITH. “I will not fear.” As love casts out the slavish fear of Godthe fear which would drive or keep us from him (1Jn 4:18)so faith casts out the fear of man. Let the arrows fly like hail; behind “the shield of faith” (Eph 6:16) we are safe, not only from what “flesh and blood” can do, but from our spiritual foes (Eph 6:12). Illustrate from such passages as Gen 16:1; Joh 6:20. Courage, therefore, is a duty. The courage of self-reliance belongs only to the strong, but the courage of reliance on God is within reach of the weakest. Man of the world, canst thou look the future in the face and say, “I will not fear”?
Psa 56:13
The experience of God’s mercy a ground for hope.
“Thou hast delivered,” etc. (Authorized Version). The Revisers have filled up the ellipsis in the Hebrew, “Hast thou not delivered?” instead of “Wilt thou not deliver?” The Hebrew has simply “not,” with a word expressing a question. It is one of many cases where the instructed English reader may judge for himself, as well as the Hebrew scholar. Certainly the Authorized Version gives a much more full and harmonious sense, and accords with the analogy of Psa 56:8prayer founded on experience, following praise. Thus therefore we will take itthe experience of God’s redeeming mercy a ground for hope, and a plea in prayer.
I. HERE IS THANKFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OF GOD‘S GREAT GOODNESS. The title, though no part of the psalm, gives (as in other cases) an ancient Jewish tradition as to the special danger from which David had been delivered. David had carried a dangerous trophy with him to the court of Gaththe sword of Goliath. The Philistine chiefs were prompt to point out who this fugitive was. A word from Achish would have avenged the giant’s death. But “the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord” (Pro 21:1). David was soon breathing the free air of the desert, and looked back with a shudder of horror, but with an overwhelming sense of thankfulness (Psa 56:3). Some of us can take up these words in their literal sense. You remember when the icy breath of death seemed to chill your blood; the gate of death seemed just ready to roll back on its noiseless hinges, and shut behind you. But God locked it fast. The good Shepherd led you through the dark valley, out into the sunshine. You are the living, to praise him. Others have no such special experience. But what is life but a series of escapes? What is health but the perpetual warding off of death; safety, but hourly deliverance?
“Strange that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long!”
The unfailing, unsleeping care of God’s Fatherly providence does not strike and amaze us as do miracles; but it is no less wonderful (Lam 3:22, Lam 3:23). Every real Christian can read in these words a deeper and higher meaning. Deliverance from the death that parts soul and body is but a reprieveperhaps brief. Death remains to be faced; and behind death, all that makes it indeed terrible. But to the believer in Christ the character of death is wholly changed. The outside show remains; dust must return to dust; the earthly tabernacle must be taken down. But the sting, the terror, the power, of death are gone. Christ has “abolished death” (2Ti 1:10) forevery one who can say, “Christ liveth in me.” The coming of the last enemy shall be as though an executioner, axe on shoulder, entered the cell of a condemned prisoner. The axe is liftedit falls, but only on the chain. The dark visitor takes the prisoner by the hand, and leads him into air and sunlight; and, lo! he drops his mask and jailor’s garb, flings aside his blunted axehe is the messenger sent to lead the pardoned offender into the King’s presence. “Death!” the Christian may say; “grim sentinel at the gate of immortality; silent porter at the door of my Father’s house; my flesh shudders at thee, but my spirit fears thee not. Jesus has conquered thee for me. Because he lives, I shall live also!”
II. PAST DELIVERANCE THUS THANKFULLY ACKNOWLEDGED FURNISHES AN ARGUMENT FOR HOPE, AND A PLEA IN PRAYER. “Wilt thou not,” etc.? “I beseech thee to do so: I am sure thou wilt.” It is an argument from the greater to the less; like St. Paul’s in Rom 8:32. A remarkable and powerful argument, because based on the faithfulness of God’s character and the continuity of his dealings. Can he awaken hope only to disappoint? If he has raised a soul from death, reconciled a sinner to himself through the death of Jesus, taught him by his own Spirit to pray, trust, love,can he forget to be gracious? Impossible! Is it, then, impossible for a believer to fallfor a soul once saved to perish? Not only possible, but inevitable, if left to himself. But surely that is the wrong question to put. Will the Saviour forsake a soul that wholly trusts him? Christ’s answer is given (Joh 10:28-30; 2Ti 1:12). This logic of taith the psalmist turns into the rhetoric of prayer. The arrows of prayer, feathered with praise for blessings already received, fly swift and sure: because those blessings are the earnest of others, failing which they would be useless (Php 4:6). May we apply this argument to temporal, earthly blessings as well as spiritual? Assuredly; provided always we bear in mind the ruling aim of God’s Fatherly guidance. We are travellers, not tourists; our route must be chosen mainly, not for the pleasure of the scenery, but as the right road to our home. But when God led his people through the wilderness, he did not forget the daily manna and the water springs, the cloud by day and the fire by night (Mat 6:31-33).
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 56:1-13
Fear and deliverance.
Taking this psalm as David’s, we may use it to illustrate two great truths.
I. “THE FEAR OF MAN BRINGETH A SNARE.” (Pro 29:25.) The best of men are but men at the best. David was a man of splendid courage and generosity; but there were times when he grievously erred (1Sa 21:10-15). It was said by Dr. Arnold, “The fear of God makes no man do anything mean or dishonourable, but the fear of man does lead to all sorts of weakness and baseness.” We may see here how the fear of man leads to failure in truth. When the thought of self is uppermost, we are apt to resort to our own devices. God’s ways are too slow, so we turn to our own way. Children, through fear, will tell lies. We pity them and forgive. But, alas! we do not ourselves wholly put away childish things. Abraham prevaricated. David practised deceit. Peter denied his Lord. The fear of man also leads to the sacrifice of independence. Imagination working through fear exaggerates our danger. We become restless and impatient. Instead of bravely facing our foes, we shrink from the path of duty.
“He is a slave who will not be
In the truth, with two or three.”
But, worse still, the fear of man may lead to failure in justice and generosity. We are apt to put ourselves first. To save our miserable lives is the chief thing. Rather than that we should suffer, we would let others suffer. Rather than that we should be put to shame, we would have our opponents “cast down.” This is the mean, selfish spirit which Satan recognized as so strong in human nature, when he said, “All that a man hath will he give for his life.”
II. GOD DELIVERETH HIS SERVANTS THAT TRUST IN HIM. (Dan 3:28.) How naturally David turned to God in trouble! Circumstances moved him, but there was morelove constrained him. His heart went forth in clinging trust to God. Faith is the true antidote to fear. It lifts us out of the dust. It places us by the side of God. It fills our soul with peace and hope. Through trust we gain courage to face the foe (Psa 56:6). Further, we obtain resolution to continue the conflict (Psa 56:7-9). Taking hold of God’s strength, we wax strong. All that is deepest and truest in our hearts calls upon us to be brave, and to quit ourselves like men. We are in the way of duty, and are able to say, like the king in the story, “Come on, come all; this rock shall fly from its firm base as soon as I.” The experience of the past and the sure word of promise raise our hopes. We look to the future with confidence. In all our wanderings God watches over us. In all our weaknesses and sorrows God stands by us with tender compassion for our weaknesses, and with loving consolations for our sorrows. The victory will be with the right (Psa 56:10-13). If God has begun a good work in us, he will carry it on to the end. He who has been our Refuge in the past will not fail us in the future. Therefore let us go forward bravely in the path of duty, not counting our lives dear unto ourselves, so that we may be found faithful to him who hath called us, and finish our course with joy.W.F.
Psa 56:12
Vows.
The first time we read of vows in the Bible is in Gen 28:20, where it is said, “And Jacob vowed a vow.” Sometimes vows were made at special times and for special purposes; but, in the deepest sense, God’s people felt that to them life was a vow; at every moment and through all changes they were under the law of consecration to God. The words of the psalmist may be held as appropriate to the period of entering upon a new year. This is a fitting time
I. FOR THANKFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD‘S MERCIES. The eye is upon the past, and as the memory calls up God’s deeds of love, the heart glows with gratitude. “I will render praises unto thee.” How just and reasonable!”For thou hast delivered my soul from death.”
II. EARNEST PRAYER TO GOD FOR SPIRITUAL HELP. The future has its dangers. The biographies of good men, our own experiences, and the circumstances of our lot, warn us that we are liable to fall. In our weakness and fear we cry to God, “Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling?” Fails are hurtful to ourselves and to others. Therefore our cry should be the more urgent to him who is “able to keep us from falling” (Jud Gen 1:24). The deliverances of the past are a strong plea for deliverance in the future. As Cowper has said of gifts, we may say of deliverances
“The best return for one like me,
So wretched and so poor,
Is from his gifts to draw a plea,
And ask him still for more.”
III. RENEWAL OF OUR COVENANT ENGAGEMENTS. “Thy vows.” It is well for us to consecrate ourselves afresh to God.
1. To walk before God.
2. In the light of the living.
Christ is the Living One (Rev 1:18). The saints are the living (1Th 5:10). It is in the light of Christ, and in fellowship with his people, that we can best fulfil our course here, and best prepare for the services of eternity. How sweet the light instead of the darkness! and how blessed life instead of death!W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 56:1-13
The struggle and victory of faith.
The contents of this psalm may be summed up as the struggle and the victory of faith.
I. THE STRUGGLE OF FAITH. He is in great fear and danger on account of the plots and wickedness of his enemies. They fight against him with the most dangerous weapons they can command. He does not seek to defend himself with counter plots such as they employed. What are his weapons? The one mighty weapon of trust in God.
1. In the merciful protection of the Almighty One. (Psa 56:1.) In the power of God as contrasted with the weakness of man.
2. In the word of God’s eternal promise. “When I am encompassed with fear, then do I trust and praise his faithful word” (Psa 56:3 and Psa 56:4).
3. In God’s retributive justice. (Psa 56:7.) That he will overturn and punish all evil doers.
4. In the tenderness and strength of the Divine sympathy. God counts his sighs, put his tears in his bottle, and records them in his book of remembrance.
II. THE VICTORY OF FAITH. (Psa 56:9-13.)
1. And will put his enemies to flight when he calls upon him. (Psa 56:9.) Of this he is triumphantly assured, even against all present appearances.
2. He knows that God is on his side. (Psa 56:9.) God always on the side of the righteous, to protect them from all real harm. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
3. He sees his salvation as an already accomplished fact. (Psa 56:13.) Faith sees the future in the present, and the distant in the near (Hebrew Psa 11:1).
4. He is thus filled with the spirit of praise and fidelity. (Psa 56:12.) Will perform his vows and render thanks. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith.”S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 56.
David, praying to God in confidence of his word, complaineth of his enemies: he professeth his confidence in God’s word, and promiseth to praise him.
To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Title. al ionath eilem rechokiim. Upon Jonath-elem-rechokim] Upon the silent dove afar off. Or, according to Bochart, “To the tune of the dove in the remote woods.” Thus David might call himself, when, after many wanderings, he got into the forest of Hareth; where he had leisure to reflect upon what was past, and to compose this psalm. Fenwick would render it, “Concerning the oppression of the handful, or little flock afar off;” i.e. the little flock of true believers dispersed among the Gentiles. The psalm is well suited to the occasion on which the inscription says it was written, and which is related 1 Samuel 21. David begins it by imploring the protection of God, on account of the many enemies waiting for his destruction; Psa 56:1-2 who wrested his words, and narrowly watched all his actions, that they might find some pretence to cut him off: Psa 56:5-6 but he encourages himself by trust in God, and rests assured that he will deliver him, and give him renewed occasions of acknowledging his faithfulness, and celebrating his praises.
Psa 56:1. For man would swallow me up The word sheaaphani, rendered swallow me up, properly signifies to breathe, to pant after, to draw, or snuff the air; and from thence hunt, by drawing in and following the scent of the air. And as hunting ends in the capture and destruction of the prey, it further denotes to swallow up and devour: and it is rendered in our version by panting, snuffing up, swallowing up, and devouring, and other words of the like nature. Dr. Chandler renders it by eagerly hunting after; which perfectly agrees with the character and conduct of Saul, who furiously pursued and hunted after David to destroy him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 56
To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath
1Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up;
He fighting daily oppresseth me.
2Mine enemies would daily swallow me
For they be many that fight against me, O thou Most High.
3What time I am afraid,
I will trust in thee.
4In God I will praise his word,
In God I have put my trust; I will not fear
What flesh can do unto me.
5Every day they wrest my words:
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps,
When they wait for my soul.
7Shall they escape by iniquity?
In thine anger cast down the people, O God.
8Thou tellest my wanderings:
Put thou my tears into thy bottle:
Are they not in thy book?
9When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back:
This I know; for God is for me.
10In God will I praise his word:
In the Lord will I praise his word.
11In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid
What man can do unto me.
12Thy vows are upon me, O God:
I will render praises unto thee.
13For 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?
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its Contents and Composition.The title (comp. Introduct., 12 and 8) leads to the time of the persecution by Saul, and indeed not to the time of the second abode of David with the Philistine king Achish, 1 Samuel 29 (Ruding., Rosenm.), but the earlier one, 1Sa 21:10 sq., which is referred to definitely in Psalms 34. This Psalm, which is simple and interwoven with recurring if not entirely similar verses, bears many features of resemblance with the Psalms of this period. Among these features the chief one is his turning from the judgment of his own enemies to the judgment of the nations in general. From the mention of the latter there is not the least evidence of its composition in the time of the exile (De Wette). Moreover the nations (Psa 56:7) are not the many particular ones which make up the heathen nation with which the author is said to remain in the time after the exile (Hitzig). For the analysis of the plural ammim into its units cannot change the idea people.There is prevalent in this Psalm a tone of confidence in Gods help, which breaks forth in the refrain (Psa 56:4, somewhat enlarged, Psa 56:10-11), each time after a short description of the oppression of the poet who is in flight, and of the character and behaviour of his enemies (Psa 56:1-2; Psa 56:5-6). This in both cases is prepared, first, by a short (Psa 56:3) then a more extended (Psa 56:8-9) attestation of faith in Gods assistance, which is again each time preceded by a weaker (Psa 56:1) then a stronger (Psa 56:7) expression of the certainty of the ruin of his enemies, who were mortals, by the judgment of the Almighty. The whole concludes with a vow of thanksgiving (Psa 56:12) for the deliverance of his life, which is considered as not doubtful (Psa 56:13), as it began with a prayer for the help of grace.
Str. I. Psa 56:1. For mortal man snorts against me.On account of the following expressions, ensh is to be taken as a collective, as Psa 66:12; yet we are not to find in the word the subordinate meaning of evil (De Wette), but that of weak, fallible, in contrast to Elohim,Psa 9:19; Psa 10:18. [The Rabbins and older interpreters, so A. V., translated by absorbere, devorare, swallow up; but it is more properly either pant after as animals greedy of their prey, or snort against as animals enraged.C. A. B.]
Psa 56:2. For many are they that fight against me in pride. is not a vocative=Most High (Aquil., Chald., Jerome, Isaki, Calvin, [A. V.] et al.), as Psa 92:8, instead of the high God, Mic 6:6; but it is an accusative as an adverb, and the height is taken figuratively as pride (Symmach., Luther, Rudinger, Geier, et al.).
Psa 56:3. On the day that I have fear, Iin Thee will I trust.There is no sufficient reason to read, instead of , as Psa 56:9=when I call (Hupf.); still less are we to insert a negative=On the day will I not fear (Syr., Arab.); but it may very well be conceived that fear and trust should be in the same heart at the same time (Calvin, Geier, et al.). Therefore it is not advisable to accept a subjunctive (Hitzig, Olsh.), because he would say: when I would fear, or should have occasion to fear, yet would not express the fear itself.5
Psa 56:4. Through God will I praise His word.This clause might be translated: Of God am I proud, His word (most recent interpreters), the verb being regarded as intransitive and the preposition repeated. Yet the accents lead to the transitive interpretation: in (through, with) God praise I His word (Hupfeld, Delitzsch, and almost all ancient versions and interpreters with the Rabbins). According to the context, this word is hardly to be explained of His works, His providences and guidances (older interpreters with Flamin.), although sometimes=res, and it is easiest to take it thus in Psa 56:5; still less is there occasion to change into , to which the translation . (Sept.) might lead, and then be interpreted: my affairs, or: God will I praise are my words, Psa 22:1 (Olsh.); or to correct (by adding as copula to the following clause.)=Of God I boast in matters, that is to say, in the affairs in question (Hitzig). It is true that dabar is used in Psa 56:10 without a suffix and without an article. This, however, may designate the word directly as the divine, as Psa 2:12, , the son (Delitzsch). There is special reference here to the divine word of promise (Calvin, Geier), yet not directly as addressed personally to David (Hengst.), or indeed to his royal dignity (most interpreters). This word of God will the Psalmist praise when he by Gods grace has experienced its fulfilment, accordingly when he is a man saved in God.[I trust in God, I do not fear; what can flesh do unto me?This is the beautiful and touching refrain of the Psalm which loses its force by a false punctuation in the A. V. Psa 56:11 is precisely the same as these clauses, with the single exception of the substitution of for .C. A. B.]
Str. II., Psa 56:5. All day long they vex my affairs.It is better to refer here to the affairs of the poet, among which his words might be included, because the verb does not mean: make abominable (Sept.), curse (Vulg.), wrest=slander (Flamin., Ruding., Rosenm., [A. V.] et al.), but vex.
Psa 56:6. They who watch my heels just as they have waited for my soul.The perfect in the last clause does not allow of the supposition that the reason of the pursuit (most interpreters)=because, or when they hope to take my life, is stated and is incorrectly rendered by the participle (Symmach., Jerome). It expresses by a comparison of the former with the present proceedings (Hupfeld, Delitzsch), that they have always acted as the same malignant men. The translation just as I have hoped for my life (Sept.) is incorrect.
Psa 56:7. With iniquitydeliverance to them? In anger cast down nations, O God.It is questionable and unnecessary to read (Hupf., Olsh.), instead of Psa 32:7, or to regard them as the same (Ewald). For the former word is usually with the accusative of the object in the meaning: to weigh something, hence the interpretation: for iniquity recompense them (Hupf.), is violent. But the interpretation: weigh to them iniquity still, is unnecessary. For the text may be explained as it is. It is true it does not say: on account of iniquity deliver from them (Symm.), pour them out (Chald.), lay hold of them (Geier); or: in no wise, that is to say, vain, fruitless be their flight (Mend.), but: with=in spite of iniquity is deliverance to them. This interpretation of it as a question (Kimchi, et al., Hitzig, Delitzsch) is to be preferred to that of regarding it as an expression of a delusion of the transgressor (Bucer, Calvin, et al., Hengst.); for the latter thought is included in the former, but is not so easily misunderstood.
Str. III., Psa 56:8. Thou hast counted my wanderings, my tears are put in Thy bottle[are they) not in Thy calculation? is not my complaint (Hupfeld), or my internal disquiet (Ewald), but my fleeing, wandering about, the days of which (Chald.), or places of which (Isaki, Kimchi), or rather which as often repeated (Ruding. counts 14 exilia of David), not only the fugitive closely observed, but God, who counts all the steps of men, so likewise the tears which are put in His 6=bottle of skin, for careful preservation in the memory, perhaps with an allusion to wine squeezed out (Geier), or parallel with the bag mentioned elsewhere, Job 14:17; 1Sa 15:29; comp. Isa 8:16 (Olsh., Hupfeld). It seems that the conformity of sound has here occasioned the choice of words (Aben Ezra, Geier, et al.), which the ancient versions either did not understand and therefore changed into , or they have had this latter reading before them; for they translate in conspectu tuo, and likewise give this verse an entirely different and, in other respects, unintelligible sense. Schegg, with respect to the Vulgate, brings out the sense: My life I hold before Thee; Thou settest my tears before thy face as in Thy decree. It is questionable whether we are to retain the proper and usual meaning: calculation, or refer to the writing in a book (Syr., Vat. and many recent interpreters [A. V.]), particularly in the book of God, Exo 32:32; Psa 139:16, the book of the living, Psa 69:28, the book of remembrance, Mal 3:16. According to the present accents put is an imperative. But a simple transfer of the accent to the last syllable gives the more appropriate passive, Num 24:21; 1Sa 9:24; 2Sa 13:32 (Ewald, Hupfeld, Deiitzsch, Hitzig). The form of the question here and in Psa 56:13 b does not express any doubt or uncertainty, but actually gives a strong assurance of certainty and enlivens the discourse.7
Psa 56:9. This I know, that God is for me.This might be rendered likewise: that God is to me=that I have God, or that He is my God (Sept., Jerome, Hengst.); but the translation: for me (Chald., and most interpreters) is recommended by Psa 124:1-2, here as in Psa 118:6 sq.
[Psa 56:10-11.We have here the same refrain as in Psa 56:9, with the slight change of the repetition of the first clause with emphasis, with the use of Jehovah for Elohim and the substitution of man for flesh in the last clause.C. A. B.]
Str. IV., Psa 56:12. Thy vows (are) upon me.This does not refer to an obligation as of a duty yet to be undertaken (De Wette, Hitzig), but to an obligation already incurred in fulfilling the thank-offerings vowed to God.
Psa 56:13. To walk before the face of God in the light of life.This does not mean the pious walk of life (the older interpreters), but the Divine protection, as Psa 62:8 (De Wette, Hengst., et al.). The light of life (comp. Joh 8:12), or the living (Psa 27:13; Psa 116:9) means the light and its realm in contrast to the realm of death, and is not to be limited to the sunlight of this world (Hupfeld).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The distresses which befall a servant of God from men may be easily borne and surely overcome if only faith is not shaken. For men, how many so ever they may be that gather together, devise crafty plans, hesitate not at cruel deeds, they can accomplish nothing against the man who has taken refuge with God, puts his confidence in Gods power and grace, and calmly and firmly relies upon Gods word. God will deliver him, but destroy them. For their name is frailty and flesh; they cannot accomplish what they propose, cannot avert what they have drawn upon them. But God keeps His word and carries out what He has promised; therefore His promises are to believers the pledge of their salvation.
2. Many boast of their understanding; some indeed of their wickedness (Psa 52:1), and rely upon their courage and their power, their riches and their position, the world and their friends. Thus they forget God and His word, and come in conflict with those who confess God and His word. Thus the latter have many fears, cares and trials in the world. Yet since they live not only in the world, but at the same time in God, their faith overcomes fear and the world (1Jn 5:4), and they strike up, even in their sorrows, songs of rejoicing, with which they praise God and boast of His word, which, as the pledge of their salvation, is likewise the foundation of their confidence and the source of their comfort.
3.The believer knows that God not only sees him and his distresses, but likewise cares for the minuti of his life and welfare, that He thus counts his steps and days, collects his tears, writes down his actions and his omissions. He knows likewise that this divine sympathy is not merely beholding or pitying, but shows itself and attests itself by actual assistance, so that it may be seen that God is with him. And thus knowledge is not merely recognition, but a conviction full of life. It expresses itself as such in the day of trouble as prayer for Gods grace, as confession of God and His word, as vows of thanksgiving for the help pre-supposed as certain, and is strengthened and enlivened by every divine exhibition of grace to the hope of a walk in the light of life.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
If God is for us, who can be against us?It is better to fall into the hands of God than of men.He who depends on God will not fall; and He who trusts in the word of God will have wherewith to boast.Wouldst thou walk in the light of life, then rely upon God and His word.God with us! This is the watchword of the pious.Fear not, only believe! You must either experience the grace or the wrath of God; what you wish will be given you.The higher the ungodly are lifted, the deeper will be their fall; for God is a righteous Rewarder.How hope and fear may be together in the same heart.The courage of faith is a very different thing from the defiance of pride.
Starke: The ways of God often appear to the reason to be entirely against their purpose; but yet they are holy and good as the issue shows.Gods grace is a mighty protection and a powerful mitigation of every cross.Hope is the golden treasure and the noblest art against all fear.Gods infallible word and a believing trust therein are inseparably united together.A countenance moistened with tears is much more beautiful and noble before God than a neck covered with pearls and ears with the most precious jewels.Since the goodness of God is active, our thanksgiving must likewise be active.
Rieger: Fear is evil only when it destroys the word of God for us.Vaihinger: The mercy of God is the well of salvation from which David draws in all his troubles.Tholuck: David thinks of songs of praise whilst he still sings lamentations, of vows of thanksgiving whilst yet praying.Guenther: Every advance in sanctification is an additional confirmation that God is with us.
[Matt. Henry: As we must not trust to an arm of flesh when it is engaged for us, so we must not be afraid of an arm of flesh when it is stretched out against us.God has a bottle and a book for His peoples tears, both those for their sins and those for their afflictions.God will comfort His people according to the time wherein He has afflicted them, and give to them to reap in joy who sowed in tears. What was sown a tear will come up a pearl.When we give credit to a mans bill, we honor him that drew it. So when we do and suffer for God in a dependence upon His promise, not staggering at it, we give glory to God, we praise His word, and so give praise to Him.Barnes: Fear is one of those things designed to make us feel that we need a God and to lead us to Him when we realize that we have no power to save ourselves from impending dangers.It is a good maxim with which to go into a world of danger; a good maxim to go to sea with; a good maxim in a storm; a good maxim in danger on the land; a good maxim when we are sick; a good maxim when we think of death and the judgment,What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.Spurgeon: It is a blessed fear which drives us to trust.God inclines us to pray; we cry in anguish of heart; He hears, He acts; the enemy is turned back! What irresistible artillery is this which wins the battle as soon as its report is heard.C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[5][Calvin: It seems, indeed, as if fear and hope were feelings too contrary the one to the other to dwell in the same heart; but experience shows that Hope there in fact really reigns where some portion of the heart is possessed by Fear. For when the mind is calm and tranquil, Hope is not exercised, yea rather is, as it were, hushed to sleep; but then, and not till then does she put forth all her strength, when the mind has been cast down by cares and she lifts it up, when it has been saddened and disturbed and she calms it, when it has been smitten with fear and she sustains and props it.C. A. B.]
[6][This is the skin bottle used in the East for keeping wine, milk, water, etc. It takes the place of our barrel or cask, as well as our bottle. They are generally made of goat skins or kid, comp. Smiths Dict. of the Bible, art. Bottle.C. A. B.]
[7][Perowne: He knows that each day of his wandering, each nook in which he found shelter, each step that he had taken, every artifice by which he has baffled his foes,all have been numbered by his Heavenly Keeper. Yea, no tear that he has shed, when his eye has been raised to heaven in prayer, has fallen to the ground. God he prays to gather them all in His bottle, and trusts that He will note them in His book.C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Psalmist is again before the throne in this Psalm. Though in distress from men, yet happy in communion with God. His plea is for the Lord to comfort him, while his enemies buffet him. And in the review of past mercies he finds confidence for future deliverances.
To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I cannot begin this Psalm without first taking notice of the title. It is addressed to the chief musician. I have already thrown out my views of who this chief musician is. The next object is what it is upon: Jonath-elem-rechokim, which some translate the silent or peaceful dove not nigh. In the book of the Songs, Christ calleth his church by this name of Dove. Son 2:14 . The next observation is, that this Psalm is among the Michtams, that is, the golden sayings, such things as were very precious to him; and what could be equally precious to David with Christ, and the things which treat of him? If we keep these considerations in remembrance as we go through the Psalm, I conceive it will make the meditation of it sweet.
The Psalm opens with a general cry for grace in proportion to the enemy’s violence. And were not the cries of Jesus strong in the days of his flesh? Did not Jesus, like the dove or the lamb, exercise dumbness, when the foe raged most clamorously? Isa 53:7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 56:1 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Upon Jonath-elem-rechokim ] Meaning himself, who had wished before the wings of a dove, Psa 55:6 , and was now the dove of dumbness among foreigners, Philistines, those ravenous hawks that were ready to seize and tear him, Fatua columba, Hos 7:11 . Dumb he was fain to feign himself, and worse, among them (see Psa 34:1 , the title; 1Sa 22:17 , &c.), and therein was more of the serpent than of the dove.
Michtam of David
Carmine secessum scribentis et otia quaerunt.
Ver. 1. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up] Sup me up (as the Hebrew word soundeth), make but one draught of me, or suck me in as a whirlpool, swallow me up as a ravenous wild beast. The devil is said to seek whom he may swallow down 1Pe 5:8 at a gulp, as it were; and his imps are as greedy, but that they are gagged by God. The man here mentioned is Ishbibenob, the brother of Goliath, saith the Chaldee; but they do better who understand it to be Saul and his accomplices.
He fighting daily oppresseth me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This is “To the chief musician, as the silent dove of the distant, Michtam*; when the Philistines took him in Gath.”
*See the title of Psa 16 . Dr. J. A. Alexander prefers “a secret.”
This is a distinct advance on the overwhelming anguish of the preceding psalm, where the cry to God comes late, and confidence is attained only at the close. Here the soul begins with an appeal to His mercy; and enemies are in view, without the aggravated bitterness of traitors in those who were once near friends. The haughty fighting of foes threw him in the day of his fear on God, and, what is more, on His word as especial ground of praise. All this our Lord knew more calmly and profoundly; and this is our portion, the dearer to us as impressed with His name, as the Spirit is given us to make it good. But the godly Jews will also know what God’s word is in their day of supreme trial when imposture and blasphemy succeed existing incredulity and superstition.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 56:1-7
1Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
2My foes have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
3When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in You.
4In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?
5All day long they distort my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6They attack, they lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life.
7Because of wickedness, cast them forth,
In anger put down the peoples, O God!
Psa 56:1-7 Be gracious This imperative (BDB 335, KB 334) begins many Psalms (cf. Psa 4:1; Psa 6:2; Psa 51:1; Psa 57:1 [twice]; Psa 86:3; Psa 123:3 [twice]) and it occurs in many others (cf. Psa 9:13; Psa 25:16; Psa 26:11; Psa 27:7; Psa 30:10; Psa 31:9; Psa 41:4; Psa 41:10; Psa 86:16; Psa 119:29; Psa 119:58; Psa 119:132). It is often associated with
1. deliverance from enemies
2. forgiveness of sins
In this Psalm the prayer is because of reason #1. Notice how the psalmist describes his adversaries (Psa 56:1-2).
1. trampled upon (or pant, same consonants) him, Psa 56:2 BDB 983 II, KB 1375, Qal perfect, cf. Psa 56:3; Psa 57:3; Eze 36:3; Amo 8:4
2. fight proudly against him, Psa 56:2 BDB 535, KB 526, Qal participle
3. distort (lit. vex him) his words, Psa 56:5 BDB 780, KB 864, Piel imperfect
4. their thoughts are evil against him, Psa 56:5 no verb
5. attack (lit. stir up strife), Psa 56:6 BDB 158, KB 184, Qal imperfect, cf. Psa 59:3; Psa 140:3
6. lurk (lit. hide), Psa 56:6 MT has Hiphil imperfect, Qere Qal imperfect of BDB 860, KB 1049
7. watch his steps (lit., heels), Psa 56:6 BDB 1036, KB 1581, Qal imperfect (i.e., so as to find a time and place to attack), cf. Psa 71:10
8. have waited to take his life, Psa 56:6 BDB 875, KB 1082, Piel perfect, cf. Psa 119:95
Psa 56:1 all day long Notice that this idiom for continual attack is used in Psa 56:1-2; Psa 56:5.
The psalmist looks forward to a day (cf. Psa 56:3) when his enemies will be turned back, Psa 56:9 a. In the Bible day can refer to
1. temporal judgment
2. eschatological judgment
See SPECIAL TOPIC: THAT DAY .
NASB Marginfighting man
NRSVfoes
TEVenemies
JPSOAadversary
REBassailants
The MT has the Qal active participle of the verb to fight (BDB 535, KB 526). This same group is called men (i.e., weak men, BDB 60).
Psa 56:2 proudly The MT has the noun height (BDB 928). It is translated in two ways.
1. the arrogance of the adversaries, NASB, NIV
2. part of the title for God
a. Most High, LXX, NKJV, NRSV, REB
b. Lord Almighty, TEV
c. O Exalted One, JPSOA
Psa 56:3 Psa 56:3 is a repeated theme; repeated again in Psa 56:4; Psa 56:11.
1. I am afraid BDB 431, KB 432, Qal imperfect
2. I will put my trust in God BDB 105, KB 120, Qal imperfect, see note at Psa 4:5
3. then I shall not be afraid, Psa 56:4; Psa 56:11, cf. Psa 112:7-8; Psa 118:6
Psa 56:4 In God, whose word I praise Notice this is repeated in Psa 56:10 in a parallel way where Elohim and YHWH are connected.
The word (BDB 182) is a parallel to Your vows (BDB 623), Psa 56:12. There are many terms used to characterize YHWH’s revelations. See SPECIAL TOPIC: Terms for God’s Revelation .
What can mere man (lit. flesh’) do to me This same sentiment is expressed in Psa 118:6 and quoted in Heb 13:6. The concept is also seen in relation to spiritual forces in Rom 8:31; Rom 8:35-39.
Psa 56:7 Because of the vicious and continuing attacks the psalmist asks God to act in judgment against his adversaries.
1. cast them forth (lit. for crimes, will they escape, NKJV) BDB 812, KB 930, Piel imperative
a. the verb means deliver, cf. Psa 17:13; Psa 18:3, so here it must be a question or the translation must add a negative by emendation to crimes (REB, LXX)
b. it is also possibly to change deliverance, BDB 812, , toweigh out, BDB 814,
2. put down the peoples BDB 432, KB 434, Hiphil imperative, cf. Psa 55:23. It is surprising that the peoples, which is usually used of national groups (NEB, REB), is used here. There are several theories.
a. this is a royal Psalm and refers to other nations
b. this is an Israelite/Judean living among foreigners
c. just a way of referring to his enemies who act like non-covenant peoples
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Title. Michtam: i.e. Resurgam. See Psa 56:13. One of six Psalms so called. The first is Psalm 16. App-65.and sub-scription, v. m.
when, &c. See 1Sa 21:10; 1Sa 27:4; 1Sa 29:2-11.
Be merciful = Be gracious, or favourable.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
man. Hebrew. ‘enosh. App-14.
would swallow me up = thirst for my blood. Heb, sha’aph, used of wild beasts.
daily = all the day. See Psa 56:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 56:1-13
Psa 56:1-13 . This is the prayer of David when he heard a mourning dove. That is, a mourning: m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g dove, out in the distant terebinth trees. He no doubt heard these doves cooing off in the distance. There is sort of something soulful and mournful about those doves when they are crying. He said,
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. My enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou Most High. But what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee ( Psa 56:1-3 ).
What a good thing to learn. Whatever time that you might be afraid, just put your trust in the Lord.
In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh shall do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: all of 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. For you tell my wanderings: put my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? ( Psa 56:4-8 )
Now the Bible does teach that there is a Book of Remembrances that God keeps. The Bible tells us that at the great Judgment Day, the books will be opened and people will be judged out of the things that are written in the books. Now, man is able to preserve many interesting records today. A lot of you have preserved a lot of interesting records of your past; you’ve got movies of them. And every once in awhile you get out the movie projector when the family is over, and you look at the pictures when they were just kids, and you have an interesting evening of remembrance, you know, as you are looking at these films. Now, I do believe that if man is able to develop such recording devises, that surely God, no doubt, is able to produce any scene that ever took place in your life at any time. So, if you want to try to deny before God some accusation that is brought against you, God probably has a giant screen up there, and suddenly, you can watch yourself doing the thing. Along with all of heaven. And as they shut it off, you say, “Okay, I confess. I am guilty. Turn it off!” In the Book of Remembrances, God’s book. There is the Book of Life in heaven in which your name has been recorded, you who have received Jesus Christ.
When I cry unto thee, [David said,] then shall my enemies turn back: this I know; for God is with me ( Psa 56:9 ).
Or, “God is for me,” actually. I think that that is one of the most important concepts of God that we need to remember. God is for us. So many times we picture God as being against us. We see God as just waiting for us to do something wrong, in order that He might smite us with His swift hand of justice. We think of God so often as being against us, opposed to us. But in reality, God is for us. And if God be for us, who can be against us? So important that we have the right concepts of God.
In God [he said,] will I praise his word ( Psa 56:10 ):
Because I know that God is for me, praise fills my heart.
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: will not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? ( Psa 56:10-13 ) “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 56:1. Be merciful unto me, O God for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Man has no mercy upon me, but, O God, be thou merciful unto me! If thy justice doth for a while let loose mine enemies upon me, let thy mercy diminish their power over me, for they are very cruel. They would make a complete end of me if they could, devouring me utterly.
Psa 56:2-4. 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,
David means, Through his grace, I will praise his word, for we cannot rightly praise God unless he gives us the grace to do it. To receive from God, is more easy for us; but to return gratitude to God, is impossible to us except as his grace enables us to do it. In God I will praise his word,
Psa 56:4; Psa 56:6. In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Every day they wrest my words: This is a common calamity of Gods servants and a common crime of the oppressors of Gods people in all ages: They wrest my words:
Psa 56:5-6. 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.
They watch to see if they can find some matter of accusation against me, or some opportunity for tempting me to turn aside from my God. They mark my steps, as the huntsman follows the trail of the lion he seeks to kill, so they follow my track to see if by any means they may slay me.
Psa 56:7-8. Shall they escape by iniquity? is thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings:
Davids was a life of wandering, from the sheep-folds to his fathers house, then to the palace of Saul, then to the camp of Israel, then to the palace again, then to the cave Adullam, then among the Philistines, I scarcely remember all the places where he went, but there were at least twelve great changes in Davids life, and God had them all written down, and so he has all yours, you who believe in Jesus, all your wanderings are recorded because God sets a high value upon everything that happens to you. Not a sparrow falleth to the ground without being noticed by him, and not a single step is taken by you without being noted by him.
Psa 56:8. Put thou my tears into thy bottle:-
This is thought by some to have been an allusion to an old Roman custom of catching the tears of the friends of the dying in a lachrymatory, or small bottle, and then burying them in their tomb. I see no reason to believe that David meant anything so absurd. There is probably a very much better meaning than that to be attached to these words. Bottles, large capacious bottles, were used to catch the copious drops which streamed forth from the wine-press, and David felt that his tears would be in Gods sight, as precious and as plentiful as the grape drops, and that a great bottle would be needed to hold them, such a bottle as the Jews used for holding milk or wine. Though his soul suffered much sorrow, he believed God would treasure it all up: Put thou my tears into thy bottle:-
Psa 56:8. Are they not in thy book?
Are they not all duly recorded there?
Psa 56:9. When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back:
When I cry, they shall fly, So swift is prayer to reach the ear and heart of God, and so kind is God to me.
Psa 56:9-12. 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 am bound to praise thee, I am bound to love thee, and I will, come what may.
Psa 56:12-13. 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?
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 56, 57.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 56:1-4
PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM ENEMIES AND GRATEFUL TRUST IN GOD
Superscription: For the Chief Musician; set to [~Jonath] [~’elem] [~rehokim].
A Psalm of David.
Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Set to [~Jonath] [~’elem] [~rehokim]. Dummelow translated this as, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” which indicated the song or the melody to which the psalm would be sung. Adam Clarke gave another translation, “To the tune of the dove in the remote woods.
Michtam. “The meaning of this is uncertain; but it may mean “A Golden Psalm of David.
A Psalm of David. The authorship of the psalm is ascribed to David; and, until some valid reason for rejecting this ancient opinion is produced, we shall consider it to be valid. Delitzsch declared that this indication of Davidic authorship “is justified.
When the Philistines took him in Gath. The Scriptures do indeed tell us of David’s going to Gath, but there is no definite record of the Philistines actually `capturing him.’ To us, this poses no problem whatever, as there are countless things in the life of David which are not related in the Old Testament.
McCaw wrote that, “This refers to David’s first sojourn in Gath when he was evidently under some restraint (1Sa 21:13; 1Sa 22:1). Psalms 34 was written after his escape from the Philistines, but this psalm is expressive of his misgivings while actually in the hands of Achish. This psalm reveals the fact that David certainly considered the situation to be very dangerous.
There are many repetitions in the Psalms; and the prayer for deliverance from enemies is particularly a recurring feature, as is also the expression of grateful trust in God.
A person asked this writer, not long ago, why did David have so many enemies? The answer is that as a type of Christ, anything less than the constant enmity of the world would have been incorrect.
Perhaps the greatest error of our generation is the false notion that, `the true reign of Christ’ will be a time of universal acceptance of His will among men. Nothing could be further from the facts. The reign of Christ will occur in the midst of his enemies, in spite of them; and their enmity will continue throughout the Dispensation until “the last enemy,” which is death, shall be destroyed (1Co 15:26).
The New Testament characterizes the “kingdom of heaven,” which is the reign of Christ now going on (Mat 28:18-20), as a time of “great tribulations,” of constant “persecutions,” of violent and implacable hatred, not only of the apostles, but also of “all who live godly in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus Christ at this present time, “Has sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet” (Heb 10:12-13). It should be noted that the reign of Christ is therefore concurrent with the existence of many enemies.
True to the Great Antitype, David’s life was constantly under the attack of bitter and persistent enemies. The only thing needed to incur the wrath and the hatred of the world is for Christians to reject the world’s value judgments. Often, the friendship of Christians with the world is simply due to the fact that the Christians have failed to make that rejection properly visible to others.
Rawlinson tells us that:
“This psalm and the following (Psalms 57) are called “twin psalms.” Each of them begins with almost the same words; each has a refrain that divides it into two parts. One difference is that this psalm has an epilogue (Psa 56:12-13), whereas, Psalms 57 does not. Both are written in circumstances of very great distress; and the tone of thought in each of them is similar. Each has a statement of the problem, then a prayer for deliverance, and ends with praise and triumph.
Baigent divided the psalm into two parts, Psa 56:1-11, with Psa 56:12-13 as a concluding thanksgiving.
Psa 56:1-4
“Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up:
All the day long he fighting oppresseth me.
Mine enemies would swallow me up all the day long;
For they are many that fight proudly against me.
What time I am afraid,
I will put my trust in thee.
In God (I will praise his word),
In God will I put my trust,
I will not be afraid;
What can flesh do unto me?”
“They are many that fight proudly against me” (Psa 56:2). See chapter introduction for discussion of the number of David’s enemies.
“I am afraid … I will put my trust in thee” (Psa 56:3). All of the worldly circumstances that surrounded David were calculated to project fear into his heart; but he thrust all fear aside by trusting in God. The rebellion of his enemies against the counsel of God was only madness. “The poet has God’s favor on his side, therefore he will face those pigmies that behave as though they were giants, possessing the assurance of ultimate victory in the invincible might of God. In these clauses, “Faith is a deliberate act in defiance of one’s emotional state.
“In God I put my trust, I will not be afraid” (Psa 56:4). This is a refrain, repeated again and enlarged in Psa 56:10-11. We find it again in Psa 118:6, and in the New Testament also (Heb 13:6).
“What can flesh do to me?” (Psa 56:4). This is very similar to the confident word of Paul who wrote, “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom 8:31).
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 56:1. The reader has doubtless observed that David’s conflicts with his enemies make up by far the greater portion of the book of Psalms. I know of no special reason for his troubles except his vigorous activities in behalf of the Israelite nation. There were many heathen nations in the land and surrounding territories and they were envious of the success that David was having. He was a successful warrior, yet he relied chiefly on the help of God for victory, hence such prayers as this verse.
Psa 56:2. The enemies of David outnumbered him, but when God is concerned in an issue numbers do not count; therefore, David called upon the Most High for help.
Psa 56:3. This verse means that David would fear his enemies were it not for his abiding trust in God.
Psa 56:4. David praised God for the surety of his Word. With the assurance that he had from this divine source, David was encouraged to defy all the powers of the flesh.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The keynote of this psalm is the concluding declaration of the previous one, “I will trust in Thee.” Here again are evident the same circumstances of oppression (verses Psa 56:5-7). The song opens and closes with praise. The opening (verses Psa 56:1-4) is a prayer for deliverance which culminates in a note of praise. Notice how it ascends. First, the singer declares that in the hour of fear he will trust. Then he declares he will trust and not be afraid.
The closing movement is wholly of praise. The tenderness of God is exquisitely stated. Wanderings are known to Him, and by Him tears are preserved. Against all adversaries God is for the psalmist. Then again the high note of trust canceling fear is struck, and the psalm ends with a sacrifice of praise.
It is a gracious thing to know God well enough to be able resolutely to trust Him when fear possesses the heart. It is a much finer thing to trust Him so completely as to have no fear. Both ways lead homewards, but the former is low level traveling, while the latter is high level.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
What Can Man Do unto Me?
Psa 56:1-13
This psalm was composed under the same circumstances as Psa 34:1-22. See 1Sa 21:1-15. What a strange medley is here shown-David feigning madness and composing psalms! Commenting on Psa 56:3, one says that Isaiahs resolve is still better: I will trust and not be afraid, Isa 12:2. Note, the magnificent refrain at the close of each of the first two strophes, Psa 56:4; Psa 56:10. The psalmist asks: What can flesh do? Nothing, is the Apostle Pauls emphatic answer. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers can hurt a man who makes God his stronghold, Rom 8:31.
Let us use the last verse for our life-prayer. Live as one on whom Gods vows rest. Thank Him that by His Cross and Passion He has delivered thy soul from death. Could He have done so much at such cost, and then fail? Surely He must deliver our feet from falling, Psa 116:8, or all the past will have been in vain. Whenever the shadows gather, and past sins threaten, and the enemies of your soul seek to overthrow, plead this prayer: Thou hast wilt not Thou?
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 56:3-4
I. Notice how beautifully there comes out here the occasion of trust. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.” That goes deep down into the realities of life. It is when we are afraid that we trust in God, not in easy times, when things are going smoothly with us. This principle-first fear and only then faith-applies all round the circle of our necessities, weaknesses, sorrows, and sins.
II. Notice how there is involved in this the other consideration that a man’s confidence is not the product of outward circumstances, but of his own fixed resolves. “I will put my trust in Thee.”
III. These words, or rather one portion of them, give us a bright light and a beautiful thought as to the essence and inmost centre of this faith or trust. Scholars tell us that the word here translated “trust” has a graphic, pictorial meaning for its root idea. It signifies literally to cling to or hold fast anything, expressing thus both the notion of a good tight grip and of intimate union. That is faith, cleaving to Christ, turning round Him with all the tendrils of our heart, as the vine does round its pole, holding to Him by His hand, as a tottering man does by the strong hand that upholds.
IV. These two clauses give us very beautifully the victory of faith. “In God I have put my trust; I will not fear.” He has confidence, and in the strength of that he resolves that he will not yield to fear. The one true antagonist and triumphant rival of all fear is faith, and faith alone. The true way to become brave is to lean on God. That, and that alone, delivers from otherwise reasonable fear. Faith bears in her one hand the gift of outward safety and in her other that of inward peace.
A. Maclaren, Weekday Evening Addresses, p. 103.
Psa 56:8
I. The human side of life. It is described under two forms: wandering and tears; and the division, though brief, is very comprehensive. Life has its active part in wanderings, its passive in tears. This description of life is true (1) in its changefulness; (2) in its imperfection; (3) in its growing fatigue.
II. We come to the Divine side of life. This belongs only to the man who can feel, know, and be regulated by it, as the polestar shines for those who take it for their guide. What then does this view of God secure for the man who looks to Him,? (1) It secures for his life a Divine measure. “Thou tellest my wanderings.” That is not merely, Thou speakest of them, but Thou takest the tale and number of them. We ask Him to teach us to count our days, and He replies by counting them for us. They look often as restless as a bird’s flutterings, as unregarded as the fallen leaves, but they are reckoned up by God, and there shall not be too many for the wanderer’s strength or too few so as to fall short of the promised rest. (2) This view of God secures a Divine sympathy in life. “Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle.” This teaches (a) that God is close beside a sufferer in the time of sore trial, so near that He can mark and catch the tears; (b) that the tears are preserved-they enter into God’s memory, and become prayers; (c) that the tears shall be brought forth again. It is for this they are marked and preserved. (3) This view of God secures a Divine meaning in life. “Are they not all in Thy book?” It is possible then, if a man puts all his wanderings and tears into the hand of God, that they may be seen at last to end in a plan, man freely contributing his part and God suggesting and guiding. We cannot but think that this shall be one of the occupations of eternity: to read the meaning of the past in the possessions of the future, and this not for each one interested in himself alone, but for each interested in all.
J. Ker, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 290.
Our Lord’s life was throughout characterised by sorrow, yet He is only recorded to have been moved to tears three times.
I. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are told that He offered up tears “to Him that was able to save Him from death.” This alludes evidently to the agony in the garden. Of these tears we know only that they must have been tears for sin and for the wrath of God due to and consequent upon sin; they must have been tears for the sin of the world.
II. In unison with the sorrowing sisters over the grave of their brother, we read that “Jesus wept,” teaching us that the emotions and sentiments to which the varied fortunes of life give rise are not to be suppressed and stifled as tokens of a natural and unregenerate mind, but to be sanctified by seeking in them the presence, the support, and the sympathy of our incarnate God.
III. The tears of our Lord over Jerusalem sanctify entirely the sentiment of patriotism, as His tears over the grave of Lazarus sanctified the domestic affections. As a natural instinct patriotism may be felt by the natural man, but in the Christian the natural instincts are taken up into the current of the spiritual life, and all of them coloured by religious principle. Observe how the natural feeling of patriotism should be sanctified. Prayer for Jerusalem was in Christ’s heart. Let us then pray earnestly for our beloved country, that she may not come under the indictment brought against Jerusalem of throwing away opportunities and disregarding the day of grace.
E. M. Goulburn, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 104.
Tears are here employed as exponents of sorrows and troubles. They have a sort of sacramental meaning, being outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible grief, and sometimes, too, though more rarely, of an inward and visible joy. But it is not all tears that are treasured up by God. There are some of which He takes due note, which are recorded in His book and kept in His bottle, and which form some of the most precious and efficacious agencies for good which are known in our world. These tears we may range in three classes.
I. They are tears of repentance. By repentance I mean that godly sorrow for sin out of which the new life in the case of many must have its birth. When a sinner is converted, there is a meeting of the waves of sin and the waves of Divine grace, and there must be tumult and unrest for a season. We have illustrations of this in the New Testament, in the case of (1) the woman that was a sinner; (2) the Philippian gaoler; (3) Peter. Theirs were tears of repentance unto salvation, that needeth not to be repented of.
II. Another class of tears which are treasured up by God are those which are wept in the spiritual conflicts of life. There are the earlier and the latter rains in the life of God in the soul of man. The chief sorrows of a Christian life are those which arise from a sense of sin, and defect, and unbelief, and ingratitude. It is but a poor life which has not its hours of secret self-examination, and its hours therefore of secret grief. The tears we shed then are seen by Him who ever seeth in secret, and they are put into His bottle and recorded in His book.
III. Another sort of tears which are equally dear to God are the tears wept over the wickedness of men and the apparent slowness with which the kingdom of God makes its way. Blessed are they that thus mourn, for they shall be comforted.
E. Mellor, In the Footsteps of Heroes, p. 67.
The tears of which David speaks in this Psalm were such as any one may shed in ordinary disappointment or distresses of life. The Psalmist knew that such tears would be dear to God. He uses three metaphors: the arithmetical table; the process of preserving precious wine; the memorandum book. “Thou tellest my flittings, my changes, my flutterings, my agitations.” Thou tellest my flittings; put Thou my tears into Thy bottle; are they not (written) in Thy book?
I. Things so treated by God cannot be wrong. It would be a very severe creed, and little suited to man and his world, which should exclude tears from the Christian’s vocabulary of language.
II. Sorrow is not our normal condition. That graceful verse seems written as for this very end, to show that sorrow is the parenthesis: “Weeping may endure for a night.” Still sorrow is a very real thing. No one can despise it. And when it comes, God sends it so that it shall be felt.
III. Every sorrow comes with many missions. (1) Sorrows tell of sin-sin that would else be latent and unknown. (2) Sorrows break up the ground; the ploughshare passes through the clods to break them. (3) Sorrows draw out graces which were sleeping. (4) Sorrows throw us into the arms of Jesus.
IV. We must deal with our sorrows measuredly. If we are not to despise them, we are not to faint under them. There are tears which, if they do not actually rebel, are nevertheless murmuring tears. They complain of God. There are selfish tears and too protracted tears. The highest exercise of sorrow is to return to duty bravely, throwing into duty more of Christ and more of heaven.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 9th series, p. 69.
References: Psa 56:9.-C. J. Vaughan, Voices of the Prophets, p. 94. Psalm 56-A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 77.
Psa 56:12-13
I. The motive. “Thou hast delivered my soul from death.”
II. The obligation. “Thy vows are upon me, O Lord.” The Christian who would be a Christian indeed must not be ashamed of the yoke of Christ.
III. The cheerfulness of this spirit of self-sacrifice finds its legitimate expression in praise, and its ardour in a prevailing desire to “walk before God.”
W. M. Punshon, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 300.
References: Psa 56:12, Psa 56:13.-J. R. Macduff, Communion Memories, p. 218. Psa 57:4.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1496. Psa 57:7.-J. Jackson Wray, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 360. Psa 57:8.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 996; J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. x., p. 173; J. B. Heard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvi., p. 332. Psalm 57-A. Maclaren, Life of David, p. 119; C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 302.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Psalm 56
The Faithfulness of God, the Comfort of His People
1. Trust and Comfort (Psa 56:1-9)
2. Praise for anticipated deliverance (Psa 56:10-13)
These five Psalms which are grouped together are Michtam Psalms. This one was written by David when the Philistines took him at Gath. The inscription Jonathelem-rechokim has been rendered by the Septuagint translators as upon the people driven afar from the holy place, the literal rendering is, The dove of silence in far off places. On account of the great tribulation, the abomination in Jerusalem, seen in the previous Psalm, the godly have left the city and here we have the expressions of their trust in the faithfulness of their God. Whatever the enemy may do they can say in all their wanderings and with all their tears, Thou tellest my wanderings, put Thou my tears into Thy bottle, are they not in Thy book? Blessed comfort is ours too.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Jonath-elem-rechokim Meaning, “the cry of the dove of distant terebinth trees.”
Michtam Michtam, a prayer.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Michtam: or, a golden Psalm, Psa 16:1, Psa 57:1, Psa 58:1, Psa 59:1, Psa 60:1, *titles
when: 1Sa 21:11-15, 1Sa 29:4
Be: Psa 31:9, Psa 57:1-3, Psa 59:10, Psa 69:13-16, Psa 136:10, Psa 136:15, Psa 136:17-20, Psa 143:12
swallow: Psa 21:9, Psa 27:2, Psa 35:25, Psa 57:3, Psa 106:17, Psa 124:3, Pro 1:12, Lam 2:2, Lam 2:5, Lam 2:16, Hos 8:8, 1Co 15:54
Reciprocal: Job 35:9 – they make Psa 4:1 – have mercy upon me Psa 25:2 – let not Psa 31:13 – fear Psa 38:19 – But Psa 86:3 – Be merciful Psa 118:13 – General Psa 119:134 – General Psa 123:3 – Have mercy Psa 138:7 – thou shalt stretch Isa 49:19 – they that Jer 18:19 – Give Amo 8:4 – swallow Hab 1:13 – the wicked 2Co 2:7 – swallowed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
God’s faithfulness His people’s strength.
To the chief musician, upon Jonath-elem-rechokim: Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
The special title of the fifty-sixth psalm; “Upon Jonath-elem-rechokim,” the “dove of silence of far off places,” has naturally suggested Christ to many interpreters. But the whole connection of the psalm; as well as the contents of it, seem to me against the personal application. The connection with the cry of the last psalm -“Oh that I had the wings of a dove” -(and which is evident) is also, I think, against it. The Spirit of Christ is surely in both psalms; but that is a very different thing. The Septuagint is nearer the truth, with its rendering, “Upon the people driven afar off from the holy place”; while the Targum paraphrases it, Concerning the congregation of Israel, which is like to a silent dove, at the time they are removed far off from the cities.” If we remember that in the previous psalm we have seen the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem with antichristian wickedness risen to such a height, as to force upon them the necessity of flight, we shall easily realize in the “dove of far-off places” the remnant escaped and outside the city. They are still in danger, but from an outside enemy, they are wandering (ver. 8), and not shut up.
The historical occasion of the psalm is given us as during David’s first flight to Achish, “when the Philistines took him in Gath.” Delitzsch says of it that it “exhibits many points of the closest intermingling with the psalms of that period, and thus justifies its inscription.” But the connection of the history with the prophetic application is more difficult. The Philistines were of course an outside enemy; and David had against him both these and the people of Israel as well, so that he was a wanderer between perils on either hand. In these respects the remnant’s experiences resemble his.
The burden of the psalm is the faithfulness of God as being the strength of His people; and, spite of sorrowful circumstances, the confidence expressed is very bright.
1. The circumstances and the strength found to stand under them are given briefly in the first three verses. The enemies are round about, and men are constantly contending with him and oppressing him. The psalmist describes them as wild beasts panting after him. He hears their loud breathing in pursuit, but checks his fears with the thought of what God is for him: “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.” Perfectly suited to the persecuted people of God at any time, I cannot recognize in such language the experience of the Lord Jesus. For it is here fear of men that is expressed, though checked -the purely personal fear of enemies around, and not the horror of their wickedness. Nor could the blessed Lord have need to still a fear that was never present by calling up a faith that was never absent.
2. But the psalmist rises to a higher altitude, and the faithfulness of God becomes his triumphant assurance. His word is his dependence, which in its fulfillment by Him will surely gain for itself praise. The living word can never stand without a living God behind it; and it fears not to pledge Him to the fulfillment of its promises. Faith may be timid, but not Scripture; and when we realize the riches it guarantees us, we shall fear no poverty for evermore. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” And so here: “In God I have trusted; I fear not: what can flesh do to me?”
The enemies are still there, but they are powerless: torturing his words; plotting evil against him uniting together, consulting in secret, dogging the heels, intent on his life. Even so, in all this there is a consciousness of weakness which strangely contrasts with their number and apparent power. After all, they have uneasy suspicion -they fear a fear, as a former psalm expresses it, for God is in the generation of the righteous: for how much may not that count?
Vain it all is, this malice: they are in hands to which they yield at every point, even where most seemingly triumphant. “He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him; and the remainder of it He restrains.” So impotent are they, that it can be asked with Elihu (Job 35:6), “If thou sinnest, what doest thou against Him? and if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him?” But if this be so, “on account of” this “vanity, shall they escape?” Can He let it go on, unmoved by it? Nay, he replies, not so: show, Lord, that it is not so; “in anger cast down the peoples, O God!”
And this shall be; but the psalmist does not here go on to it. He turns back to think of the tenderness of divine sympathy towards him, amid all the roughness and sorrow of the way. Here is a comfort to which Christianity has added so much that it seems as if it could not rightly have been known before. The Son of man down in our world, and not in a sheltered place, but in the bitterest blast that ever blew there, -this has changed all for him that has seen it. Yet the Spirit of Christ was in the Old Testament, and the revelation of God clothed itself already in the human form, in anticipation of the Word made flesh. “Thou countest my wanderings; my tears have been put into thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?” Tender counterpart, these tears preserved by Him now, to the future wiping them away with His own hand! But they are noted also in His book, just as they fall!
Now the psalmist looks on to the end; and he can be nothing else but confident. God is for him: therefore when he calls, his enemies shall turn back. This he knows.
The psalm ends accordingly with the fullest assurance and praise to God. The former strain of confidence is renewed and amplified. He repeats, “Through God will I praise the word,” -more abstractly than “His word”: perhaps, as if there were no word that could be named but His. And then he varies this, claiming God fully as His by the covenant-Name: “Through Jehovah will I praise the word.” Then he once more puts forth his challenge “In God I have trusted; I fear not: what can man do to me?” His vowed thank-offerings are ready, too; and he will not fail to have his life also a thank-offering. Like the apostle, who, when he has urged that by Christ we should “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of the lips, confessing His Name,” adds also: “but to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb 13:15-16). So here, the psalmist realizes that the deliverance of his soul from death, and his feet from falling, is that he “may walk before God in the light of the living.” This does not mean merely, as Moll says, that he may walk under “divine protection,” however much the last phrase may infer this. Nay, he is to walk before God who has protected him. And this means what “to walk with God” meant for Enoch, and means for all in the same path ever since, -the simplest expression for a life suited for such companionship.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psa 56:1-2. Be merciful unto me, O God This petition includes all the good we can come unto the throne of grace for: if we obtain mercy there, we obtain all we can desire, and need no more to make us happy. It implies, likewise, our best plea; not our merit, but Gods mercy, his free, rich mercy. He prays he might find mercy with God, for with men he could find none. When he fled from the cruel hands of Saul, he fell into the cruel hands of the Philistines. Lord, says he, be thou merciful to me, or I am undone. Thus, when we are surrounded on all sides with difficulties and dangers, we must flee and trust to, and pray in faith for, the mercy of God. For man Hebrew, , enosh, weak, mortal, and miserable man, whom thou canst crush in an instant; would swallow me up Like wild and ravenous beasts, rather than men. Hebrew, , sheapani, hath swallowed me up. The thing is begun, and in a manner done, if thou do not miraculously prevent it. Mine enemies , shoreri, my observers, who narrowly mark all my paths, and watch for my halting, and for an opportunity to destroy me. They be many that fight against me They trust to their great numbers, wherein they know themselves to be much superior to me; O thou Most High Who from thy high place beholdest all their plots, and canst with perfect ease confound and blast them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The title of this psalm, which relates to the manner of singing and playing, is upon the remote and silent dove. To which michtam is added, the golden ode of David. In the LXX, the title of this and the three following psalms are the same, as to the air or the manner of singing. David, as was the ancient custom of the bards, made a psalm on every special occasion of escape from danger, or when he was favoured with enlargement of heart. He composed this after changing his behaviour before Achish king of Gath. 1 Samuel 21.
Psa 56:1. Be merciful unto me, oh God, for man would swallow me up. The Philistines gathered round about him; and though protected by Achish, yet the kindred of Goliath, and of those slain in wars, were urgent that Davids life should go as an atoning sacrifice to the manes of their slaughtered relatives. Their words were very strong: He hath slain his tens of thousands, and their looks were fierce as though they would devour him.
Psa 56:4. In God I will praise his word. It should read, as in Dr. Lightfoot, Through the Lord will I praise with speech, or words. Probably he had lost his speech through fear, when he changed his behaviour before Achish.
Psa 56:8. Put my tears into thy bottle. The ancients in the east had lachryals, urn lachrymales, into which they shed their tears on the death of relatives. I once saw an Egyptian lachryal. It stood about eight inches high, and would contain one sixth part of a pint; in figure it resembled a tall urn with a narrow neck, but the mouth displayed itself to receive the tears. The handle was tall to receive the fingers. It was beautifully made of black composition, which usually consists of nine parts common clay, and one part oxides of iron, passed through a lawn, and tempered in the heat of the sun.
Psa 56:12. Thy vows are upon me. After a vow, the devoted thing is not ours, but the Lords. David, by the next verse, seems to refer to some vow he had made in the years of his exile.
Psa 56:13. Thou hast delivered my soul from death, by inclining Achish to disregard the demands of the Philistines for my life; and my feet from falling, as the Chaldaic reads, by worshipping the idols of Gath.
REFLECTIONS.
Truly God delivers his saints who cry in the day of trouble; his eye is over them, and his mighty angels cover them with a shield. Then let us doubt and distrust no more. Surely it was Davids God that saved his soul from death, and bottled up all his tears. He who honours God with confidence, shall realize the fidelity of him in whom he trusts.
We learn also the high duty of paying our vows to God, whether made in distress at sea, in tumult and war, or in time of straits and sickness. But the vows most pleasing to him are those of piety, love, and obedience. To obey is better than sacrifice. A life preserved, and redeemed a thousand times from death, demands the unceasing oblation of prayer and praise.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
LVI. A Prayer against Strong, Numerous, and Crafty Foes.
Psa 56:2. For enemies read they that lie in wait for me (mg.),proudly: read bitterly.
Psa 56:4. Will praise his word, i.e. the fulfilment of His promise. The fulfilment comes, of course, through God. The verse recurs in Psa 56:10 f., which is probably its original place since it cannot be a refrain. It has been anticipated here by a mistake of the scribe.
Psa 56:6 b, c, Psa 56:7 a. Read, with slight change in text, As for them that watch for my footsteps, since they have hoped for my death, even so requite them according to their iniquity.
Psa 56:7 b. For peoples read, by changing only one letter, strong or bold. Nations were not concerned in the petty espionage which the Ps. describes.
Psa 56:8. tellest, i.e. countest (Gen 15:5*). Yahweh preserves the tears of the godly that He may remember and revenge them.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 56
The confidence of the righteous in God and in His Word, in spite of adverse circumstances that put faith to the test.
(vv. 1-3) Surrounded by enemies that daily oppose, oppress, and seek his life, the godly man finds relief from his fears by turning to God and trusting in Him.
(v. 4) Moreover the soul trusts in God to fulfill His Word, and therefore is lifted above his fears and cannot only say, What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee, but, rising to a higher plane, can add, In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. With God and His Word before the soul, he triumphantly asks, What can flesh do unto me? (JND).
(vv. 5-9) In greater detail the psalmist spreads out his trial before God, contrasting the wickedness of those who are against him with the goodness of the God who is for him. Every day the enemy perverts the words of the godly: with evil intent they consult together and secretly watch his steps, seeking to take his life.
In the consciousness that iniquity cannot go unpunished, the soul looks to God to cast down all those who oppose His people.
In contrast to the treatment at the hands of the wicked, God counts every step that His people have to take, keeps a bottle for their tears, and a book wherein to record their sorrows. In the consciousness of God’s tender care the soul can look for deliverance from his enemies and say with triumphant assurance, God is for me.
(vv. 10-11). Thus again the psalmist can confidently affirm that he can praise God’s Word, as that in which the faithfulness of God will be proved; and putting his trust in God’s Word, he will not be afraid what man can do unto him.
(vv. 12-13) The psalmist is ready to fulfill his sacrifice of praise. Man had sought his life, but God had delivered his soul from death. Men seek to trip him up in his steps (v. 6); but God keeps his feet from falling. If God keeps his feet, it is that he may walk before God in the light of the living – that he may live to God in the light of God.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
56:1 [To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, {a} when the Philistines took him in Gath.] Be merciful unto me, O God: for {b} man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
(a) Being chased by the fury of his enemies into a strange country, he was a dumb dove not seeking vengeance.
(b) He shows that if God will help him, it must be now or never for all the world is against him and ready to devour him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 56
David wrote this psalm of individual lament when the Philistines seized him in Gath (1Sa 21:10; cf. Psalms 34). He composed it for singing to the tune of "A Dove on Distant Oaks." This melody was evidently common in David’s day.
The content of this psalm is similar to that of Psalms 54, 55, , 57. Again David determined to continue trusting in the Lord even though his enemies sought to destroy him.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. The opposition of ungodly enemies 56:1-7
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
David began this prayer with a call for divine help and an explanation of why he needed it. His enemies were constantly attacking him. As the Lord’s anointed, David had a right to expect God’s assistance.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 56:1-13
THE superscription dates this psalm from the time of Davids being in Gath. Probably his first stay there is meant, during which he had recourse to feigned insanity in order to secure his safety. What a contrast between the seeming idiot scrabbling on the walls and the saintly singer of this lovely song of purest trust! But striking as the contrast is, it is not too violent to be possible. Such heroic faith might lie very near such employment of pardonable dissimulation, even if the two moods of feeling can scarcely have been contemporaneous. Swift transitions characterise the poetic temperament; and, alas! fluctuations of courage and faith characterise the devout soul. Nothing in the psalm specially suggests the date assigned in the superscription; but, as we have already had occasion to remark, that may be an argument for, not against, the correctness of the superscription.
The psalm is simple in structure. Like others ascribed to David during the Sauline period, it has a refrain, which divides it into two parts; but these are of substantially the same purport, with the difference that the second part enlarges the description of the enemies assaults, and rises to confident anticipation of their defeat. In that confidence the singer adds a closing expression of thankfulness for the deliverance already realised in faith.
The first part begins with that significant contrast which is the basis of all peaceful fronting of a hostile world or any evil. On one side stands man, whose very name here suggests feebleness, and on the other is God. “Man” in Psa 56:1 is plainly a collective. The psalmist masses the foes, whom he afterwards individualises and knows only too well to be a multitude, under that generic appellation, which brings out their inherent frailty. Be they ever so many, still they all belong to the same class, and an infinite number of nothings only sums up into nothing. The Divine Unit is more than all these. The enemy is said to “pant after” the psalmist, as a wild beast openmouthed and ready to devour; or, according to others, the word means to crush. The thing meant by the strong metaphor is given in Psa 56:1 b, Psa 56:2; namely, the continual hostile activity of the foe. The word rendered “proudly” is literally “on high,” and Baethgen suggests that the literal meaning should be retained. He supposes that the antagonists “held an influential position in a princely court.” Even more literally the word may describe the enemies as occupying a post of vantage, from which they shower down missiles.
One brief verse, the brevity of which gives it emphasis, tells of the singers fears, and of how he silences them by the dead lift of effort by which he constrains himself to trust. It is a strangely shallow view which finds a contradiction in this utterance, which all hearts, that have ever won calmness in agitation and security amid encompassing dangers by the same means, know to correspond to their own experience. If there is no fear, there is little trust. The two do coexist. The eye that takes in only visible facts on the earthly level supplies the heart with abundant reasons for fear. But it rests with ourselves whether we shall yield to those, or whether, by lifting our eyes higher and fixing the vision on the Unseen and on Him who is invisible, we shall call such an ally to our side as shall make fear and doubt impossible. We have little power of directly controlling fear or any other feeling, but we can determine the objects on which we shall fix attention. If we choose to look at “man,” we shall be unreasonable if we do not fear; if we choose to look at God, we shall be more unreasonable if we do not trust. The one antagonist of fear is faith. Trust is a voluntary action for which we are responsible.
The frequent use of the phrase “In the day when” is noticeable. It occurs in each verse of the first part, excepting the refrain. The antagonists are continually at work, and the psalmist, on his part, strives to meet their machinations and to subdue his own fears with as continuous a faith. The phrase recurs in the second part in a similar connection. Thus, then, the situation as set forth in the first part has three elements, -the busy malice of the foes; the effort of the psalmist, his only weapon against them, to hold fast his confidence; and the power and majesty of God, who will be gracious when besought. The refrain gathers up these three in a significantly different order. The preceding verses arranged them thus-God, man, the trusting singer. The refrain puts them thus-God, the trusting singer, man. When the close union between a soul and God is clearly seen and inwardly felt, the importance of the enemies dwindles. When faith is in the act of springing up, God, the refuge, and man, the source of apprehension, stand over against each other, and the suppliant, looking on both, draws near to God. But when faith has fruited, the believing soul is coupled so closely to the Divine Object of its faith, that He and it are contemplated as joined in blessed reciprocity of protection and trust, and enemies are in an outer region, where they cannot disturb its intercourse with its God. The order of thought in the refrain is also striking. First, the singer praises Gods word. By Gods gracious help he knows that he will receive the fulfilment of Gods promises (not necessarily any special “word,” such as the promise of a throne to David). And then, on the experience of Gods faithfulness thus won, is reared a further structure of trust, which completely subdues fear. This is the reward of the effort after faith which the psalmist made. He who begins with determining not to fear will get such tokens of Gods troth that fear will melt away like a cloud, and he will find his sky cleared, as the nightly heavens are swept free of cloud rack by the meek moonlight.
The second part covers the same ground. Trust, like love, never finds it grievous to write the same things. There is delight, and there is strengthening for the temper of faith, in repeating the contemplation of the earthly facts which make it necessary, and the super-sensuous facts which make it blessed. A certain expansion of the various parts of the theme, as compared with the first portion of the psalm, is obvious. Again the phrase “all the day” occurs in reference to the unwearying hostility which dogs the singer. “They wrest my words” may be, as Cheyne prefers, “They torture me with words.” That rendering would supply a standing feature of the class of psalms to which this belongs. The furtive assembling, the stealthy setting of spies who watch his steps (lit. heels, as ready to spring on him from behind), are no new things, but are in accordance with what has long been the enemies practice.
Psa 56:7 brings in a new element not found in the first part-namely, the prayer for the destruction of these unwearied watchers. Its first clause is obscure. If the present text is adhered to, the rendering of the clause as a question is best. A suggested textual correction has been largely adopted by recent commentators, which by a very slight alteration gives the meaning “For their iniquity requite them.” The alteration, however, is not necessary, and the existing text may be retained, though the phrase is singular. The introduction of a prayer for a world wide judgment in the midst of so intensely individual a psalm is remarkable, and favours the theory that the afflicted man of the psalm is really the nation; but it may be explained on the ground that, as in Psa 7:8, the judgment on behalf of one man is contemplated as only one smaller manifestation of the same judicial activity which brings about the universal judgment. This single reference to the theme which fills so considerable a part of the other psalms of this class is in harmony with the whole tone of this gem of quiet faith, which is too much occupied with the blessedness of its own trust to have many thoughts of the end of others. It passes, therefore, quickly, to dwell on yet another phase of that blessedness.
The tender words of Psa 56:8 need little elucidation. They have brought comfort to many, and have helped to dry many tears. How the psalmist presses close to God, and how sure he is of His gentle care and love! “Thou reckonest my wandering.” The thought is remarkable, both in its realisation of Gods individualising relation to the soul that trusts Him, and as in some degree favouring the Davidic authorship. The hunted fugitive feels that every step of his weary interlacing tracks, as he stole from point to point as danger dictated, was known to God. The second clause of the verse is thought by prosaic commentators to interrupt the sequence, because it interjects a petition between two statements; but surely nothing is more natural than such an “interruption.” What a lovely figure is that of Gods treasuring up His servants tears in His “bottle,” the skin in which liquids were kept! What does He keep them for? To show how precious they are in His sight, and perhaps to suggest that they are preserved for a future use. The tears that His children shed and give to Him to keep cannot be tears of rebellious or unmeasured weeping, and will be given back one day to those who shed them, converted into refreshment, by the same Power which of old turned water into wine.
“Think not thou canst weep a tear,
And thy Maker is not near.”
Not only in order to minister retribution to those who inflicted them, but also in order to give recompense of gladness to weepers, are these tears preserved by God; and the same idea is repeated by the other metaphor of Psa 56:8 c. Gods book, or reckoning, contains the count of all the tears as well as wanderings of His servant. The certainty that it is so is expressed by the interrogative form of the clause.
The “then” of Psa 56:9 may be either temporal or logical. It may mean “things being so,” or “in consequence of this,” or it may mean “at the time when,” and may refer to the further specification of period in the next clause. That same day which has already been designated as that of the enemies panting after the psalmists life, and wresting of his words, and, on the other hand, as that of his fear, is now the time of his prayer, and consequently of their defeat and flight. The confidence which struggled with fear in the closing words of the first part, is now consolidated into certain knowledge that God is on the singers side, and in a very deep sense belongs to him. This is the foundation of his hope of deliverance; and in this clear knowledge he chants once more his refrain. As is often the case, slight differences, mainly due to artistic love of variety in uniformity, occur in the repeated refrain. “Word” stands instead of “His word”; “man,” instead of “flesh”; and a line is intercalated, in which Jehovah is substituted for God. The addition may be a later interpolation, but is probably part of the original text, and due to the same intelligible motives which prompted the occasional use of the great Covenant Name in the Elohistic psalms of this second book.
The psalmists exuberant confidence overflows the limits of his song, in a closing couple of verses which are outside its scheme. So sure is he of deliverance, that, as often in similar psalms, his thoughts are busied in preparing his sacrifice of thanks before the actual advent of the mercy for which it is to be offered. Such swift-footed Gratitude is the daughter of very vivid Faith. The ground of the thank offering is deliverance of “the soul,” for which foes have “waited.” “Thou hast delivered” is a perfect tense expressing confidence in the certainty of the as yet unrealised exercise of Gods power. The question of Psa 56:13 b, like that of Psa 56:8 c (and perhaps that of Psa 56:7 a), is an emphatic affirmation, and the verb to be supplied is not “Wilt thou?” as the A.V. has it, but, as is plain from the context, and from the quotation of this verse in Psa 116:8, “Hast thou?” The Divine deliverance is complete, -not only doing the greater, but also the less; and not barely saving life, but sustaining the steps. God does not rescue by halves, either in the natural or spiritual realm; but in the former He first rescues and next preserves, and in the latter He delivers from the true death of the spirit, and then inspires to glad obedience. The psalm crowns its celebration of Gods miracles of deliverance by declaring the aim of them all to be that their recipient may walk before God-i.e., in continual consciousness of His cognisance of his deeds, and “in the light of the living” or “of life.” The expression seems here to mean simply the present life, as contrasted with the darkness and inactivity of Sheol; but we can scarcely help remembering the deeper meaning given to it by Him who said that to follow Him was to have the light of life. Whether any dim foreboding of a better light than streams from even an Eastern sun, and of a truer life than the vain shadow which men call by that august name, floated before the singer or not, we can thankfully interpret his words, so as to make them the utterance of the Christian consciousness that the ultimate design of all Gods deliverances of souls from death and of feet from falling is that, not only in ways of holiness here, but in the more perfect consciousness of His greater nearness hereafter, and in correspondingly increased perfectness of active service, we should walk before God in the light of the living.