Bible Commentaries
Psalms 56

Verses 1-13

Psalms 56:1-13

Psalms 56:1-13 . This is the prayer of David when he heard a mourning dove. That is, a mourning: m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g dove, out in the distant terebinth trees. He no doubt heard these doves cooing off in the distance. There is sort of something soulful and mournful about those doves when they are crying. He said,

Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. My enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou Most High. But what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee ( Psalms 56:1-3 ).

What a good thing to learn. Whatever time that you might be afraid, just put your trust in the Lord.

In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh shall do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: all of their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity? In thine anger cast down the people, O God. For you tell my wanderings: put my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? ( Psalms 56:4-8 )

Now the Bible does teach that there is a Book of Remembrances that God keeps. The Bible tells us that at the great Judgment Day, the books will be opened and people will be judged out of the things that are written in the books. Now, man is able to preserve many interesting records today. A lot of you have preserved a lot of interesting records of your past; you've got movies of them. And every once in awhile you get out the movie projector when the family is over, and you look at the pictures when they were just kids, and you have an interesting evening of remembrance, you know, as you are looking at these films. Now, I do believe that if man is able to develop such recording devises, that surely God, no doubt, is able to produce any scene that ever took place in your life at any time. So, if you want to try to deny before God some accusation that is brought against you, God probably has a giant screen up there, and suddenly, you can watch yourself doing the thing. Along with all of heaven. And as they shut it off, you say, "Okay, I confess. I am guilty. Turn it off!" In the Book of Remembrances, God's book. There is the Book of Life in heaven in which your name has been recorded, you who have received Jesus Christ.

When I cry unto thee, [David said,] then shall my enemies turn back: this I know; for God is with me ( Psalms 56:9 ).

Or, "God is for me," actually. I think that that is one of the most important concepts of God that we need to remember. God is for us. So many times we picture God as being against us. We see God as just waiting for us to do something wrong, in order that He might smite us with His swift hand of justice. We think of God so often as being against us, opposed to us. But in reality, God is for us. And if God be for us, who can be against us? So important that we have the right concepts of God.

In God [he said,] will I praise his word ( Psalms 56:10 ):

Because I know that God is for me, praise fills my heart.

in the LORD will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: will not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? ( Psalms 56:10-13 ) "