Psalm 56:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
Psalm 56
Complete Concise
It seems by this, and many other psalms, that even in times of
the greatest trouble and distress David never hung his harp upon the
willow-trees, never unstrung it or laid it by; but that when his dangers and
fears were greatest he was still in tune for singing God's praises. He was in
imminent peril when he penned this psalm, at least when he meditated it; yet
even then his meditation of God was sweet. I. He complains of the malice of his
enemies, and begs mercy for himself and justice against them (v. 1, 2, 5-7). II.
He confides in God, being assured that he took his part, comforting himself with
this, that therefore he was safe and should be victorious, and that while he
lived he should praise God (v. 3, 4, 8-13). How pleasantly may a good
Christian, in singing this psalm, rejoice in God, and praise him for what he
will do, as well as for what he has done.
To the chief musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of
David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Verses 1-7
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, 1 Sa. 21:10, 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. 84:3), 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. 27:2.
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. 9:20. 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, Lu. 20:20), 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. 29:21), 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, v. 3, 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. 2:3. 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?
Verses 8-13
Several things David here comforts himself with in the day of
his distress and fear.
I. That God took particular notice of all his grievances and all
his griefs, v. 8. 1. Of all the inconveniences of his state:
Thou tellest my
wanderings, my
flittings, so the old translation. David was now but a
young (under thirty) and yet he had had many removes, from his father's house
to the court, thence to the camp, and now driven out to sojourn where he could
find a place, but not allowed to rest any where; he was hunted like a partridge
upon the mountains; continual terrors and toils attended him; but this comforted
him, that God kept a particular account of all his motions, and numbered all the
weary steps he took, by night or by day. Note, God takes cognizance of all the
afflictions of his people; and he does not cast out from his care and love those
whom men have cast out from their acquaintance and converse. 2. Of all the
impressions thus made upon his spirit. When he was wandering he was often
weeping, and therefore prays,
"Put thou my tears into thy bottle, to
be preserved and looked upon; nay, I know they are
in thy book, the book
of thy remembrance." God has a bottle and a book for his people's tears,
both those for their sins and those for their afflictions. This intimates, (1.)
That he observes them with compassion and tender concern; he is afflicted in
their afflictions, and knows their souls in adversity. As the blood of his
saints, and their deaths, are precious in the sight of the Lord, so are their
tears, not one of them shall fall to the ground.
I have seen thy tears, 2
Ki. 20:5.
I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, Jer. 31:18. (2.) That
he will remember them and review them, as we do the accounts we have booked.
Paul was mindful of Timothy's tears (2 Tim. 1:4), and God will not forget the
sorrows of his people. The tears of God's persecuted people are bottled up and
sealed among God's treasures; and, when these books come to be opened, they
will be found vials of wrath, which will be poured out upon their persecutors,
whom God will surely reckon with for all the tears they have forced from his
people's eyes; and they will be breasts of consolation to God's mourners,
whose sackcloth will be turned into garments of praise. God will comfort his
people according to the time wherein he has afflicted them, and give to those to
reap in joy who sowed in tears. What was sown a tear will come up a pearl.
II. That his prayers would be powerful for the defeat and
discomfiture of his enemies, as well as for his own support and encouragement
(v. 9):
"When I cry unto thee, then shall my enemies turn back; I
need no other weapons than prayers and tears;
this I know, for God is for me,
to plead my cause, to protect and deliver me; and, if God be for me, who can be
against me so as to prevail?" The saints have God for them; they may know
it; and to him they must cry when they are surrounded with enemies; and, if they
do this in faith, they shall find a divine power exerted and engaged for them;
their enemies shall be made to turn back, their spiritual enemies, against whom
we fight best upon our knees, Eph. 6:18.
III. That his faith in God would set him above the fear of man,
v. 10, 11. Here he repeats, with a strong pathos, what he had said (v. 4),
"In
God will I praise his word; that is, I will firmly depend upon the promise
for the sake of him that made it, who is true and faithful, and has wisdom,
power, and goodness enough to make it good." When we give credit to a man's
bill we honour 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. Having thus put his trust in God, he
looks with a holy contempt upon the threatening power of man:
"In God
have I put my trust, and in him only, and therefore
I will not be afraid
what man can do unto me (v. 11), though I know very well what he would do if
he could," v. 1, 2. This triumphant word, so expressive of a holy
magnanimity, the apostle puts into the mouth of every true believer, whom he
makes a Christian hero, Heb. 13:6. We may each of us boldly say,
The Lord is
my helper, and then
I will not fear what man shall do unto me; for he
has no power but what he has given him from above.
IV. That he was in bonds to God (v. 12):
"Thy vows are
upon me, O God!—not upon me as a burden which I am loaded with, but as a
badge which I glory in, as that by which I am known to be thy menial servant—not
upon me as fetters that hamper me (such are superstitious vows), but upon me as
a bridle that restrains me from what would be hurtful to me, and directs me in
the way of my duty. Thy vows are upon me, the vows I have made to thee, to which
thou art not only a witness, but a party, and which thou hast commanded and
encouraged me to make." It is probably that he means especially those vows
which he had made to God in the day of his trouble and distress, which he would
retain the remembrance of, and acknowledge the obligations of, when his fright
was over. Note, It ought to be the matter of our consideration and joy that
the
vows of God are upon us—our baptismal vows renewed at the Lord's table,
our occasional vows under convictions, under corrections, by these we are bound
to live to God.
V. That he should still have more and more occasion to praise
him:
I will render praises unto thee. This is part of the performance of
his vows; for vows of thankfulness properly accompany prayers for mercy, and
when the mercy is received must be made good. When we study what we shall render
this is the least we can resolve upon, to render praises to God—poor returns
for rich receivings! Two things he will praise God for:-1. For what he had done
for him (v. 13):
"Thou has delivered my soul, my life,
from
death, which was just ready to seize me." If God have delivered us from
sin, either from the commission of it by preventing grace or from the punishment
of it by pardoning mercy, we have reason to own that he has thereby delivered
our souls from death, which is the wages of sin. If we, who were by nature dead
in sin, are quickened together with Christ, and are made spiritually alive, we
have reason to own that God has delivered our souls from death. 2. For what he
would do for him:
"Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and so
hast given me a new life, and thereby hast given me an earnest of further mercy,
that thou wilt
deliver my feet from falling; thou hast done the greater,
and therefore thou wilt do the less; thou hast begun a good work, and therefore
thou wilt carry it on and perfect it." This may be taken either as the
matter of his prayer, pleading his experience, or as the matter of his praise,
raising his expectations; and those that know how to praise in faith will give
God thanks for mercies in promise and prospect, as well as in possession. See
here, (1.) What David hopes for, that God would deliver his feet from falling
either into sin, which would wound his conscience, or into the appearance of
sin, from which his enemies would take occasion to wound his good name. Those
that think the stand must take heed lest they fall, because the best stand no
longer than God is pleased to uphold them. We are weak, our way is slippery,
many stumbling-blocks are in it, our spiritual enemies are industrious to thrust
us down, and therefore we are concerned by faith and prayer to commit ourselves
to his care who
keeps the feet of his saints. (2.) What he builds this
hope upon:
"Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and therein hast
magnified thy power and goodness, and put me into a capacity of receiving
further mercy from thee; and now wilt thou not secure and crown thy own work?"
God never brought his people out of Egypt to slay them in the wilderness. He
that in conversion delivers the soul from so great a death as sin is will not
fail
to preserve it to his heavenly kingdom. (3.) What he designs in
these hopes:
That I may walk before God in the light of the living, that
is, [1.] "That I may get to heaven, the only land of light and life; for in
this world darkness and death reign." [2.] "That I may do my duty
while this life lasts." Note, This we should aim at, in all our desires and
expectations of deliverance both from sin and trouble, that we may do God so
much the better service—
that, being delivered out of the hands of our
enemies, we may serve him without fear.
Psalm 56:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Spurgeon
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
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