the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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New Living Translation
Psalms 56:1
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the tune "Dove on Distant Oaks."
O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long.Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- HolmanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me;All day long, an attacker oppresses me.
For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me.Be mercifull vnto me O Lorde: for man goeth about to deuour me, he dayly fyghtyng, oppresseth me.
To the chief Musician. On Jonathelem-rechokim. Of David. Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Be gracious unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up: all the day long fighting he oppresseth me.To the Chief Musician. Set to 'The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.' [fn] A Michtam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;Fighting all day he oppresses me.
To the chief musician. Concerning the silent dove, those far off. Of David, a secret treasure (when the Philistines seized him in Gath). Favor me, O God, for man snuffs me up; all the day fighting oppresses me.
To the director: To the tune "The Dove in the Distant Oak." A miktam of David written when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
God, people have attacked me, so be merciful to me. They have been chasing me all day, closing in to attack me.<
[To the chiefe musician vpon Ionath Elem Rechokim, Michtam of Dauid, when the Philistines tooke him in Gath.] Be mercifull vnto mee, O God, for man would swallow me vp: he fighting daily, oppresseth me.
Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Be mercifull vnto me (o God) for men wil treade me downe: they are daylie fightinge & troublinge me.
A David Psalm, When He Was Captured by the Philistines in Gath Take my side, God—I'm getting kicked around, stomped on every day. Not a day goes by but somebody beats me up; They make it their duty to beat me up. When I get really afraid I come to you in trust. I'm proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God. What can mere mortals do?
Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled on me; All day long the adversary oppresses and torments me.
For the Chief Musician; set to Jonath elem rehokim. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up: All the day long he fighting oppresseth me.For the Chief Musician; set to The Silent Dove - Those Far Away. [A Psalm] of David. Michtam: when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God; for common man would swallow me up: All the day long those fighting oppress me.
To the chief Musician upon Jonathelem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; a prayer of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! All day long hostile enemies are tormenting me.(For the music leader. To the tune "A Silent Dove in the Distance." A special psalm by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.)
Have pity, God Most High! My enemies chase me all day.For the leader. Set to "The Silent Dove in the Distance." By David; a mikhtam, when the P'lishtim captured him in Gat:
To him that excelleth. A Psalme of Dauid on Michtam, concerning the dumme doue in a farre countrey, when the Philistims tooke him in Gath. Be mercifull vnto me, O God, for man would swallow me vp: he fighteth continually and vexeth me.
BE merciful to me, O God; for man has trodden me under foot; all the day long the fighting oppresses me.
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For the Leader; upon Jonath-elem-rehokim. [A Psalm] of David; Michtam;
Show me Your loving-kindness, O God, for man has walked on me. All day long the one who tries to keep me down fights with me.
Have mercy upon me, O God; for man has trodden me down; all the day long he warring has afflicted me.
For the Chief Musician; set to Jonath elem rehokim. A Psalm of David: Michtam: when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up: all the day long he fighting oppresseth me.
For the choirmaster. To the tune of "A Dove on Distant Oaks." A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.
To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; all day long foes oppress me;(55-1) <Unto the end, for a people that is removed at a distance form the sanctuary: for David, for an inscription of a title (or pillar) when the Philistines held him in Geth.> (55-2) Have mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me under foot; all the day long he hath afflicted me fighting against me.
For the music director, according to The Silent Dove of Distant Lands.
Of David. A miktam.
When the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, because humankind has trampled me; fighting all the day he oppresses me.To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;Be gracious to me, God, for a man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Dove in the Distant Oak." A miktam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
God, be merciful to me because people are chasing me; the battle has pressed me all day long.Be merciful to me, O God, because I am under attack; my enemies persecute me all the time.
For the choir director: according to "A Silent Dove Far Away." A Davidic Miktam. When the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Be gracious to me, God, for man tramples me; he fights and oppresses me all day long.The title of the fyue and fiftithe salm. `In Ebreu thus, To the ouercomyng on the doumb culuer of fer drawing awei, the comely song of Dauid, whanne Filisteis helden hym in Geth. `In Jeroms translacioun thus, To the ouercomer for the doumb culuer, for it yede awei fer. Dauid meke and symple made this salm, whanne Palesteyns helden hym in Geth.
To the Overseer. -- `On the Dumb Dove far off.' -- A secret treasure of David, in the Philistines' taking hold of him in Gath. Favour me, O God, for man swallowed me up, All the day fighting he oppresseth me,
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be gracious to me, O God, for men trample upon me; all day long foemen oppress me;
Contextual Overview
For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the tune "Dove on Distant Oaks."
O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long. 2 I am constantly hounded by those who slander me, and many are boldly attacking me. 3 But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4 I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? 5 They are always twisting what I say; they spend their days plotting to harm me. 6 They come together to spy on me— watching my every step, eager to kill me. 7 Don't let them get away with their wickedness; in your anger, O God, bring them down.Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Michtam: or, a golden Psalm, Psalms 16:1, Psalms 57:1, Psalms 58:1, Psalms 59:1, Psalms 60:1, *titles
when: 1 Samuel 21:11-15, 1 Samuel 29:4
Be: Psalms 31:9, Psalms 57:1-3, Psalms 59:10, Psalms 69:13-16, Psalms 136:10, Psalms 136:15, Psalms 136:17-20, Psalms 143:12
swallow: Psalms 21:9, Psalms 27:2, Psalms 35:25, Psalms 57:3, Psalms 106:17, Psalms 124:3, Proverbs 1:12, Lamentations 2:2, Lamentations 2:5, Lamentations 2:16, Hosea 8:8, 1 Corinthians 15:54
Reciprocal: Job 35:9 - they make Psalms 4:1 - have mercy upon me Psalms 25:2 - let not Psalms 31:13 - fear Psalms 38:19 - But Psalms 86:3 - Be merciful Psalms 118:13 - General Psalms 119:134 - General Psalms 123:3 - Have mercy Psalms 138:7 - thou shalt stretch Isaiah 49:19 - they that Jeremiah 18:19 - Give Amos 8:4 - swallow Habakkuk 1:13 - the wicked 2 Corinthians 2:7 - swallowed
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Be merciful unto me, O God,.... For David could expect no mercy at the hands of men, among whom he was, whose tender mercies were cruel; he being at Gath, the city of Goliath, whom he had slain, and whose sword he had now with him; and among his brethren and friends, who he might justly fear would revenge his death upon him: wherefore he betakes himself to God, and pleads not any merit or righteousness of his own, but implores the grace and mercy of God; and he might expect to find grace and mercy in this his time of need, since there is mercy with the Lord; he is plenteous in it, distributes it freely, delights in so doing, and does it constantly; his mercy endures for ever, it is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him;
for man would swallow me up; the Targum renders it "isbi", a wicked man: it may be understood of some one man, some great man, as Achish king of Gath; or rather Saul king of Israel, who breathed and panted after his ruin and destruction, as the word p, signifies; who sought to eat up his flesh, to take away his life, and utterly ruin him: or collectively of many, since it appears, by the following verse, that he had many enemies who were desirous to swallow him up. This he mentions as an aggravation of his distress, and as a reason why he hoped the Lord would be merciful to him; and that he, being God, would not suffer than to prevail; see 2 Chronicles 14:12;
he fighting daily oppresseth me; this shows that Saul is more especially intended, who was continually with his army pursuing him, and sometimes surrounded him and his men, and reduced him to great distress. This may be applied to the old man, the corruptions of nature, and the lusts of the flesh, which are continually warring against the soul, oppress it, bring it into captivity, and threaten to swallow it up.
p שאפני "anhelus persequitur me", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "anhelat in me", Cocceius; "contra me", Gejerus.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Be merciful unto me, O God - See the notes at Psalms 51:1.
For man would swallow me up - The word used here means properly to breathe hard; to pant; to blow hard; and then, to pant after, to yawn after with open mouth. The idea is, that people came upon him everywhere with open mouth, as if they would swallow him down whole. He found no friend in man - in any man. Everywhere his life was sought. There was no “man,” wherever he might go, on whom he could rely, or whom he could trust; and his only refuge, therefore, was in God.
He fighting daily - Constantly; without intermission. That is, all people seemed to be at war with him, and to pursue him always.
Oppresseth me - Presses hard upon me; so presses on me as always to endanger my life, and so that I feel no security anywhere.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
PSALM LVI
David prays for support against his enemies, whose wickedness
he describes, 1-6;
and foretells their destruction, 7;
expresses his confidence in God's mercy, expects deliverance,
and promises thanksgiving and obedience, 8-13.
NOTES ON PSALM LVI
The title of this Psalm is very long: "To the conqueror, concerning the dumb dove in foreign places: golden Psalm of David." The Vulgate translates the original thus: "to the end. For the people who were afar off from holy things." "This inscription David placed here for a title when the Philistines-took him in Gath;" so the Septuagint and AEthiopic. The Chaldee is profuse: "To praise, for the congregation of Israel, which are compared to the silence of a dove, when they were afar off from their cities; but being returned, they praise the Lord of the world; like David, contrite and upright, when the Philistines kept him in Gath." The Syriac: "A thanksgiving of the righteous man, because he was delivered from his enemy, and from the hand of Saul. Also concerning the Jews and Christ." Bochart translates, "To the tune of the dove in the remote woods."
If the title be at all authentic, David may mean himself and his companions by it, when he escaped from the hands of the Philistines; particularly from the hands of Achish, king of Gath. אלם elem signifies to compress or bind together; also, a small band or body of men: and יונת yonath, from ינה yanah, to oppress or afflict, is properly applied to the dove, because of its being so defenseless, and often becoming the prey of ravenous birds. It is possible, therefore, that the title may imply no more than - "A prayer to God in behalf of himself and the oppressed band that followed him, and shared his misfortunes in distant places."
Others will have it to mean a simple direction "To the master of the band, to be sung to the time of a well-known ode, called 'The dumb dove, in distant places.' "There is no end to conjectures, and all the titles in the whole book are not worth one hour's labour. Perhaps there is not one of them authentic. They may have been notices that such a Psalm was to be sung to such and such a tune; giving the catch-words of some well-known song or ode: a custom that prevails much among us in songs and hymns, and is to be found even among the Asiatics.
Verse Psalms 56:1. Be merciful unto me — I am assailed both at home and abroad. I can go nowhere without meeting with enemies: unless thou who art the Fountain of mercy and the Most High, stand up in my behalf, my enemies will most undoubtedly prevail against me. They fight against me continually, and I am in the utmost danger of being swallowed up by them.
