Psalm 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. 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.
For the traditional beginning to this Psalm the word
Jonathelemrechokim is said by John Gill to have been a musical instrument or
the beginning of a song as per the Medieval Rabbi, Aben Ezra. He says, though,
that most leave it untranslated so who knows for sure?
David here is referring to the time he went to the Philistines to
escape Saul.
1Samuel 21:10 ¶ And David
arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.
11 And the servants of Achish said unto
him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another
of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten
thousands? 12 And David laid up these
words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 And he changed his behaviour before them, and
feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and
let his spittle fall down upon his beard. 14
Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore
then
have ye brought him to me? 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?
1Samuel 22:1 ¶ David therefore departed thence, and escaped
to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it,
they went down thither to him.
His fear of Saul is greater than his revulsion at the enemies of
Israel whom he has slain. He prays for mercy from God as there is no help from
mankind. This is just before he gathered the disaffected to him in the
wilderness, forming a strong band of warriors. He calls God the most High,
greater than anything or anyone.
Psalm 92:8 But thou, LORD,
art most high for evermore.
Micah 6:6 ¶ Wherewith shall
I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before
him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
David is afraid but he will trust in God. Back to the passage in
1Samuel I read.
1Samuel 21:10 ¶ And David
arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath…12 And David laid up these words in his heart,
and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
He trusts in God and is not afraid of what mere men of flesh can
do to him. Jesus said;
Matthew 10:28 And 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 soul and body in hell.
They twist David’s words to malign him. Remember how they twisted
Christ’s intentions in His words.
Matthew 26:60 But found
none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last
came two false witnesses, 61 And said,
This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in
three days.
Remember what Christ had actually said and meant.
John 2:19 Jesus answered
and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was
this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
Saul had those who would encourage his paranoia about David. I
think of Doeg, previously mentioned, who reported on and slaughtered the
priests. The implication that David is a traitor, which he is not, fills Saul’s
head. These people have the will to kill David and are just seeking the
opportunity much like Christ’s enemies before His Crucifixion.
In our own minds we can project this text not only to Christ’s
life but to Revelation. Surely, this Psalm also reflects what the enemies of
Christians are about and the enemies of those who follow Christ during the
terrible reign of the Beast. Modern day Gnostic cults, called communists,
socialists, Marxist-Leninists, Maoists, humanists, and the religions that
parallel them such as Islam are even now looking for the chance and waiting for
the opportunity to destroy you, twisting your words, and laying low until the
time is right even if they don’t realize it.
Psalm 56:8 ¶ Thou tellest
my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy
book? 9 When I cry unto thee,
then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
10 In God will I praise his word:
in the LORD will I praise his word. 11
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto
me. 12 Thy vows are upon me, O
God: I will render praises unto thee. 13
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?
God has counted the days of David’s pilgrimage on earth. A
lachrymatory was a bottle in which people dropped their tears for deceased relatives
and friends. They would then bury them with the dead person’s remains or in
urns. The tears and sufferings of God’s people are in His book, David says.
Great is the strength of prayer and God’s response to causing the
enemies of the godly person to turn back as God is on that person’s side.
David repeats a thought from
verse 4.
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.
This repetition shows David’s resolution and faith and trust in
God’s deliverance. David’s vows to God will be remembered and fulfilled. He
will offer up spiritual sacrifices.
Psalm 116:17 I will offer
to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
God has delivered David from death at the hands of internal
enemies like Saul and his people and external enemies like the Philistines.
God has delivered us from those who would persecute and harm us
and in our great fear He has shown us the truth of his mercy and grace. We
should offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving acknowledging His power over the terrible
events of our lives.
Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the LORD.
Hebrews 13:15 By him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
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