Bible Commentaries
Psalms 56

Verse 8

‘HE CARETH FOR YOU’

‘Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?’

Psalms 56:8

I. The human side of life.—It is described under two forms: wandering and tears; and the division, though brief, is very comprehensive. Life has its active part in wanderings, its passive in tears. This description of life is true (1) in its changefulness; (2) in its imperfection; (3) in its growing fatigue.

II. We come to the Divine side of life.—This belongs only to the man who can feel, know, and be regulated by it, as the polestar shines for those who take it for their guide. What, then, does this view of God secure for the man who looks to Him? (1) It secures for His life a Divine measure. ‘Thou tellest my wanderings.’ That is not merely, Thou speakest of them, but Thou takest the tale and number of them. We ask Him to teach us to count our days, and He replies by counting them for us. They look often as restless as a bird’s flutterings, as unregarded as the fallen leaves, but they are reckoned up by God, and there shall not be too many for the wanderer’s strength or too few so as to fall short of the promised rest. (2) This view of God secures a Divine sympathy in life. ‘Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle.’ This teaches ( a) that God is close beside a sufferer in the time of sore trial, so near that He can mark and catch the tears; ( b) that the tears are preserved—they enter into God’s memory, and become prayers; ( c) that the tears shall be brought forth again. It is for this they are marked and preserved. (3) This view of God secures a Divine meaning in life. ‘Are they not all in Thy book?’ It is possible then, if a man puts all his wanderings and tears into the hand of God, that they may be seen at last to end in a plan, man freely contributing his part and God suggesting and guiding. We cannot but think that this shall be one of the occupations of eternity: to read the meaning of the past in the possessions of the future, and this not for each one interested in himself alone, but for each interested in all.

Illustration

‘The believer knows that God not only sees him and his distresses, but likewise cares for the minutiæ of his life and welfare, that He thus counts his steps and days, collects his tears, writes down his actions and his omissions. He knows likewise that this Divine sympathy is not merely beholding or pitying, but shows itself and attests itself by actual assistance, so that it may be seen that God is with him. And thus knowledge is not merely recognition, but a conviction full of life. It expresses itself as such in the day of trouble, as prayer for God’s grace, as confession of God and His word, as vows of thanksgiving for the help pre-supposed as certain, and is strengthened and enlivened by every Divine exhibition of grace to the hope of a walk in the light of life.’