Psalms · psalm 56 of 150
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Psalm 56 is a Miktam of David, written when the Philistines seized him in Gath. He admits he is afraid, but decides to trust God, whose word he praises, and asks what a mortal can do to him. God keeps his tears in a bottle and is on his side. David promises to keep his vows and walk before God in the light of life.
The title says it is a Miktam of David, according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. The episode is found in 1 Samuel 21:10-15, where David flees from Saul, comes to Gath and pretends to be insane before King Achish. Miktam is a word of uncertain meaning found in the titles of Psalms 16 and 56 to 60.
David begins by asking God for mercy, because man tramples on him, and all day long an attacker oppresses him. His enemies trample him all day, for many attack him proudly. Then he confesses his fear and his decision: when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
Next he describes his adversaries: all day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk, they watch my steps as they have waited for my life. David asks God to cast them down in wrath. Then he says something very personal: you have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me.
The refrain returns: in God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? The psalm ends with a commitment: I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David admits he is afraid, but at that very moment decides to trust God. Faith is not the absence of fear but trusting in the midst of it, and resting in God's word.
God has kept count of David's wanderings and keeps his tears in his bottle, and has them recorded in his book. Nothing of the believer's suffering goes unnoticed by God.
David affirms with certainty: this I know, that God is for me. That conviction is the basis of his trust and his courage.
God has delivered David's soul from death and his feet from falling so that he may walk before God in the light of life. Deliverance has a purpose: to walk with God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He trusts in God. — Psalm 56:3
Answer: What flesh or man can do to him. — Psalm 56:4
Answer: They twist them all day and think evil against him. — Psalm 56:5
Answer: Put them in his bottle and keep them in his book. — Psalm 56:8
Answer: That God is for him. — Psalm 56:9
Answer: So that he may walk before God in the light of life. — Psalm 56:13
Psalm 56 is very practical for those who feel fear. David does not pretend to be brave but turns fear into a reminder to trust. In a small group you can ask what situation produces fear today and repeat the psalm's refrain together, adapting it: in God I trust, what can man do to me?
The picture of tears kept in a bottle comforts those who weep. God is not indifferent to the tears of his children. For Christians, that nearness is shown in Jesus, who wept with those who suffered, as in John 11:35, and who promises that God will wipe away every tear in Revelation 21:4.
Psalm 56 ends with the purpose of walking in the light of life. Psalm 57 also grows out of David's flight, this time in a cave, and repeats the image of taking refuge under God's wings.
It is a Hebrew word of uncertain meaning found in the titles of Psalms 16 and 56 to 60. Some link it to a word meaning gold or writing, and others to atonement or covering. There is no agreement; it is enough to understand it as a type of poem or musical composition.
In 1 Samuel 21:10-15 David flees from Saul and comes to Gath, where he pretends to be insane to escape Achish. The psalm is the prayer of that moment of fear. It is interesting that, although David used cunning, the psalm credits his deliverance to God.
The bottle was a leather skin or vessel used to hold water or wine. The image says God gathers and keeps David's tears, that is, that none is lost. It is a poetic way of affirming that God remembers the pain of those who suffer.