Psalms 56

Psalms 56AFTER the title, ver. 1, comes a general petition for deliverance from persecution and oppression, Psalms 56:1-2, followed by a strong expresion of trust in God, Psalms 56:3-4, a description of the malice of the enemy, Psalms 56:5-6, and a confident anticipation of his punishment, Psalms 56:7-9, founded on faith in the divine promise, Psalms 56:10-11, and a vow or resolution to make due acknowledgment of themercy experienced, Psalms 56:11-12.

1. To the Chief Musician. Upon Jonath-elem-rehokim. By David. Michtam. When the Philistines took him in Gath.

The last clause of this inscription seems to refer to the incident recorded in 1 Samuel 21. See above, on Psalms 34:1. An enigmatical allusion to the same event seems to be latent in the obscure phrase, Jonath-elem-rehokim, in which the first word means a dove, a favourite emblem of suffering innocence; the second means silence, dumbness, sometimes put for uncomplaining submission; and the third means distant or remote, agreeing with places or persons, probably the latter, in which sense it is applicable to the Philistines, as aliens in blood and religion. Compare Psalms 38:13; Psalms 56:1; Psalms 45:5; Psalms 74:19. Thus understood, the whole is an enigmatical description of David as an innocent and uncomplaining sufferer among strangers. For the most probable etymology and sense of Michtam, see above, on Psalms 16:1.

2. (Psalms 56:1). Be merciful unto me, O God, for man pants for me (or is gaping after me); all the day, he devouring (or the devourer) is pressing on me. The word for man is that denoting human frailty and implying the unreasonableness of such rage in one so impotent. See above, on Psalms 9:19-20; Psalms 10:18. The image here presented is that of a devouring monster or voracious beast. Instead of pants or gapes, some suppose the second verb to mean snorts or snaps, as an animal expression of rage. For the meaning of the word translated devouring, see above, on Psalms 35:1. Pressing on me, or pressing me. See Numbers 22:25.

3. (Psalms 56:2). My enemies have gaped upon me all the day; for (there are) many devourers to me, O most High. The word translated enemies is that supposed by some to mean spies or watchers. See above, on Psalms 27:11; Psalms 54:5. Having first spoken of his enemy in the singular number, he now substitutes the plural, to explain which seems to be the object of the last clause. “I say enemies, because my devourers are many.” The last word in the verse strictly means a high place, and particularly heaven, but is sometimes applied to God himself. See below, on Psalms 92:8. Some interpreters, however, understand it as an abstract noun meaning loftiness or pride, and then used as an adverb in the sense of arrogantly, proudly. Compare Psalms 73:8.

4. (Psalms 56:3). The day I am afraid, unto thee will I confide. The complaint is followed, as in many other cases, by an expression of his confidence in God. The day I am afraid is an unusual expression, meaning simply when I am afraid, and probably belonging to the dialect of poetry. Unto thee suggests the act of turning and looking towards the quarter from which help is expected. The same form of expression occurs above, Psalms 4:5; Psalms 31:6.

5. (Psalms 56:4). In God I will praise his word, in God I have trusted; I will not fear; what can flesh do unto me? The meaning of the first clause seems to be, that in the general praise of God he will include a particular acknowledgment of his gracious word or promise upon this occasion. The construction of the last clause in the English Bible, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me, gives substantially the same sense, but does not agree so well with the masoretic interpunction of the sentence. Flesh, humanity, as opposed to deity. See below, on Psalms 65:2, and compare Isaiah 22:3; Isaiah 40:6.

6. (Psalms 56:5). All the day my words they wrest; against me (are) all their thoughts for evil. The word translated wrest means strictly vex or pain, but is here used in the sense of twisting or distorting language by putting false constructions on it. Thoughts, purposes; designs. For evil, tending to my injury.

7. (Psalms 56:6). They will gather, they will hide— they, my supplanters, will watch, as they have (already) waited for my soul. They will gather or combine against me. They will hide (themselves or their devices), they will plot, or lie in wait, for my destruction. The common explanation of the next phrase, they mark my steps or my heels, does not account for the emphatic pronoun they. The Hebrew word has probably the same sense as in Psalms 49:5 above. Waited for my soul or life, i.e. waited to destroy it.

8. (Psalms 56:7). By iniquity (there is) escape to them; in anger bring down nations, O God! The first clause is obscure, but may mean either that they have hitherto escaped by their iniquity, or that they now depend, rely upon it for deliverance. The interrogative construction commonly adopted ought not to be assumed, in the absence of an interrogative particle, without a decided exegetical necessity. The Hebrew particle at the beginning sometimes indicates the means or instrument, with the additional idea of dependence or reliance, as in the English phrase to live on bread and water. See Genesis 27:40.

9. (Psalms 56:8). My wanderings thou hast told; put thou my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book? The Hebrew words for wanderings and tears are both in the singular number. See above, on Psalms 6:6; Psalms 39:12. The first of these words suggests the ideas of flight and exile, and may contain an allusion to the wanderings of Cain in a country designated by this very word, The Land of Nod, Gen. iv. 16, although this phrase may really mean nothing more than the land of (his) banishment or exile. The English word told is here retained because the Hebrew one is equally ambiguous.

In this case the primary idea is to count or number. See above, Psalms 22:16; Psalms 40:4; Psalms 48:12. The act of counting implies particular attention. The idea of recollection is expressed by the strong figure which follows, put my tears into thy bottle, i. e. preserve them in thy memory. This singular metaphor is thought by some to have been suggested by the word for wandering, which is almost identical with that for bottle. The latter strictly means a skin or leathern bottle, such as is still used in the East.

See below, on Psalms 119:83. The interrogation in the last clause has the force of a direct assertion. Thy book, the book of thy remembrance, another figurative expression for the memory itself. Compare Malachi 3:16.

10. (Psalms 56:9). Then shall my enemies turn back, in the day I call; this I know, that God is for me. The particle of time at the beginning of the verse has reference to what follows, in the day I call, but as this was to be connected closely with the last clause, the natural order of the sentence was inverted. Turn back, be repulsed, defeated, disappointed. See above, on Psalms 7:11; Psalms 9:3. in the day (that) I shall call: the ellipsis of the relative is equally common in Hebrew and in English. Call may mean simply call for help or pray; but some connect it with the last clause thus: in the day that I shall call (or cry as follows) “this I know,” etc.

There is also an ambiguity in the phrase this I know, which may either mean, “I know that my enemies shall thus turn back, because God is for me,” or, “my enemies shall turn back when they hear me cry. This much I know, to wit, that God is for me.” The last phrase may be also rendered to me he belongs to me, he is my God, which of course includes the idea of his favour or his being on the speaker’s side.

11. (Psalms 56:10). In God I will praise (this) word; in Jehovah I will praise (this) word. This unusual form of speech must have the same sense as in Psalms 56:4 above. Some understand it to mean by God’s help, others, in union with God, I will praise (his) word. But on the whole, the most natural explanation still seems to be, “what I shall particularly praise in God, both as God, and as the tutelary God of Israel and my own, is the word of promise, which he has uttered and fulfilled in this case.”

12. (Psalms 56:11). In God have I trusted; I will not fear; what can man do unto me? As the foregoing verse is a resumption and emphatic iteration of the first clause of Psa 56:4, so this seems to bear the same relation to the last clause of that same verse. The only variation in the form of expression is he substitution of the literal term man, (or mankind) for the more obscure term flesh. See above, on Psalms 56:4. Here again it is a possible construction, although not so agreeable to the masoretic accents, to make the interrogation an oblique one. “I will not fear what man can do unto me.”

13. (Psalms 56:12). Upon me, O God, (are) thy vows; I will pay thanksgiving unto thee. The first clause represents his vows or voluntary obligations as incumbent on himself and due to God, and he resolves to discharge them by thanksgivings, not merely verbal acknowledgments, but sacrificial tokens of his gratitude, such as were familiar to the ancient saints and recognised in the Law of Moses.

14. (Psalms 56:13). For thou hast delivered my soul from death; (wilt thou) not (deliver) my feet from falling, to walk before God in the light of life? The ellipsis in the second clause may also be supplied as follows, hast thou not delivered? as the only terms expressed are those of interrogation and negation. The word translated falling is a very strong one, and means thrusting, casting down. The verbal root occurs above, in Psalms 35:5; Psalms 36:12. To walk before God is to live in the enjoyment of his favour and protection. The light of life is opposed to the darkness of death. It may also be and usually is translated, in the light of the living, i e. the light which living men enjoy. See above, on Psalms 27:13.