Psalms 56

General context

The speaker asks God to be merciful because man would swallow him up and fights daily to oppress him; his enemies would swallow him daily, for many fight against him, and he addresses God as most High. When he is afraid he will trust in God; in God he will praise his word, in God he has put his trust, and he will not fear what flesh can do to him. Every day they wrest his words, all their thoughts are against him for evil; they gather, hide, mark his steps and wait for his soul. He asks whether they will escape by iniquity and calls on God to cast down the people in anger. God counts his wanderings; he asks God to put his tears into his bottle and asks whether they are not in God's book. When he cries to God his enemies will turn back; this he knows, for God is for him. He repeats that in God and in the Lord he will praise his word, that he has put his trust in God and will not be afraid what man can do to him. God's vows are on him and he will render praises, for God has delivered his soul from death; he asks whether God will not deliver his feet from falling so that he may walk before God in the light of the living.

Cited passages: Psalms 56:1, Psalms 56:2, Psalms 56:3, Psalms 56:4, Psalms 56:5, Psalms 56:6, Psalms 56:7, Psalms 56:8, Psalms 56:9, Psalms 56:10, Psalms 56:11, Psalms 56:12, Psalms 56:13

Psalms 56 (KJV)

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Historical context

The text as printed here carries no heading; verse 1 opens with "Be merciful unto me, O God", so this source names no author, occasion or musical direction. The speaker is a single "I" addressing God, with a few lines about God in the third person, "for God is for me". The enemies are "man", "flesh", "mine enemies" and "the people", said to be "many"; none is named, and their actions are watching, hiding and twisting words rather than any named battle. "My wanderings" are mentioned without saying where the speaker has been. The "bottle" and "book" of verse 8 are the speaker's images for God's keeping of his tears; the text does not describe them further. Verse 13 says God "hast delivered my soul from death" as already done, and in the same verse asks for a further deliverance of his feet; the text gives no event behind either. "Thy vows are upon me" states an obligation without saying what was vowed. There is no Selah in this psalm.

Cited passages: Psalms 56:1, Psalms 56:9, Psalms 56:2, Psalms 56:6, Psalms 56:8, Psalms 56:13, Psalms 56:12

Literary context

A refrain holds the psalm together. Verse 4 says "In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me", and verses 10 and 11 say it again with "the Lord" added and "flesh" changed to "man". Around the refrain the enemies are described by the word "daily" and "every day": swallowing, fighting, wresting words. Their watching is answered by God's counting, "Thou tellest my wanderings", and their thoughts against him by tears kept in a bottle and a book. The opening fear, "What time I am afraid", is not denied but paired with trust in the same line. The word "swallow" is used twice for the threat, and "deliver" twice at the close, once done and once asked. The psalm ends on a question rather than a statement, asking for feet kept from falling so the speaker may "walk before God in the light of the living". Its opening line, "Be merciful unto me, O God", is repeated and doubled at the start of Psalm 57.

Cited passages: Psalms 56:4, Psalms 56:11, Psalms 56:5, Psalms 56:8, Psalms 56:3, Psalms 56:2, Psalms 56:13, Psalms 57:1

Key moments

1. Man would swallow me up (Psalms 56:1). The speaker asks for mercy because man fights daily to swallow him up.
2. When I am afraid, I will trust (Psalms 56:3). He says that in his fear he will trust in God.
3. They mark my steps (Psalms 56:6). His enemies gather, hide, watch his steps and wait for his soul.
4. Tears in thy bottle (Psalms 56:8). He asks God to put his tears into his bottle and says they are in God's book.
5. God is for me (Psalms 56:9). He says his enemies will turn back when he cries, because God is for him.
6. The refrain returns (Psalms 56:11). He repeats that he trusts in God and will not fear what man can do.
7. Delivered from death (Psalms 56:13). He says God has delivered his soul from death and asks to walk in the light of the living.

For reflection

The speaker asks God to put his tears into a bottle and keep them in a book; what does it change for him to picture his tears as counted rather than simply wiped away?

People in this chapter

• David