Psa 56:2 | KingComments | STEP | For “for the choir director” ( ) see at Psalm 4:1. The phrase “according to Jonath elem rehokim”, or “the silent dove of those who are far off”, or “the dove of the distant terebinths”, seems to be a musical term. The tone indicated by this term is that of plaintive homesickness. The Septuagint translates this with: “According to people who have been driven away from the sanctuary.” This indicates that it speaks prophetically of the remnant driven out of Jerusalem ( ). David says in the previous psalm that he would like to have wings of a dove, to fly far away, far away from danger to a place of safety ( ). Here that longing is given a musical tone. In Hebrew it can also be translated with: ‘dove of silence from afar.’ The dove is also a picture of the Holy Spirit ( ). The Holy Spirit now dwells on earth in the believer and in the church, connecting the believer with heaven, where the Lord Jesus is. In the world the believer is not at home, and he does not feel at home in it. The Spirit will stimulate in every believer the longing for the Lord Jesus in heaven, to be with Him. He does this through God’s Word, which is all about the Lord Jesus. Those who do not read the Word of God do not know that longing and will connect with the world. David writes the psalm in response to the hostile approach of many who fight him and do so all day long. Therefore, like a dove, he yearns for a place of safety and security. He longs to go home again like a dove in a foreign country. It is the feeling of being in exile. His longing is to be home, a place far away from where he is now. It is also a place of stability and durability, of which the “distant terebinths” speak. This psalm “of David” is called “a Mikhtam”. This designation is also mentioned in the heading of the four following psalms ( ). Some say its meaning is derived from a word for “gold”, which has led to the translation “a golden gem”, as in the Dutch translation we use. Apart from these five psalms (Psalms 56-60), it only appears in the heading of Psalm 16 ( ). Mikhtam means ‘engraved’, in other words: permanent, precious. Prophetically, it refers to the experiences of the believing remnant in the time of the great tribulation. The remnant, of whom this psalm speaks prophetically, is still abroad, oppressed by the antichrist and the unbelieving mass of the Jews on the one hand, and the surrounding nations on the other. They seek their comfort, guidance and encouragement in the Word of God ( ). That leads to renewed confidence ( ) and a giving thanks to God ( ). That is the precious thing about these experiences, which never lose their value. The occasion of the psalm, of this “mikhtam”, is that “the Philistines seized him in Gath” (cf. ). David fell into their power. He found himself in that circumstance of affliction through his own fault. The fear of Saul persecuting him restlessly became so strong that he lost his trust in God and took refuge with the Philistines in Gath ( ). David had to deal with two enemies: his own people led by King Saul, and the foreign enemy, the Philistines. Similarly, the remnant will have to deal with two enemies. The first is the unbelieving mass of the Jews led by the antichrist ( ), supported by the dictator of the restored Roman Empire, the beast out of the sea ( ). The second is the foreign enemy, the Assyrian, the king of the North, probably a coalition of islamic nations in the end time. The emphasis in this psalm is on the foreign enemy, the Philistines. Because of them, he comes into great distress of soul. He is a prisoner in Gath and cannot get out of the gate. Therefore he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely at the gate as a madman ( ). Then he is set free. In this depth of affliction, in which he behaves so unworthily, this “mikhtam” or “golden gem” is born. Prophetically we see here the purification of the believing remnant, just as Joseph’s brothers were purified in the distress of their brief captivity in Egypt. God can use our most degrading experiences to make more of Christ visible in us. This is the result of the trial of faith and the exercise of faith of trusting in God. Then we can repeat Christ in faith: “This I know, that God is for me” ( ), allowing us to testify of it, twice: “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid; what can man do to me?” ( ). The complaint begins with a prayer to God to be gracious to him ( ; cf. ). Grace is the only thing David can appeal to, for he has forfeited every right to help and blessing. David immediately pours out his heart before God. He pictures before Him in bright colors the constant, varied, and hostile opposition. He tells God that “man has trampled upon” him. Thus he makes it a case between the almighty God and man [Hebrew enosh , mortal man]. Even in his distress, David continues to insist that the enemies, though powerful and many, are only puny human beings, mortals. He also continues to insist that although he is vulnerable and with few, he can expect help from God, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. He himself has no strength against that mortal man, that is how weak he is. That mortal man has trampled upon him, or snapped at him with a wide-open mouth to swallow him with skin and hair. The mortal he has to deal with is “fighting” him and “oppresses” him “all day long”. He does not have a moment of rest and he is all by himself. His combatants are “foes”, people who have trampled upon him ( ). And again he says that they are doing this “all day long”. He is constantly being oppressed, without a pause for breath. The next day brings no change. It’s the same thing every day and the whole day. He constantly feels the hot breath of the opened mouth of his assailants on his neck to swallow him up. The threefold use of the phrase “all day long” ( ) indicates how relentlessly he is besieged, with no place of safety. On top of that, he has “many who fight proudly against” him. He sees himself surrounded by people who want to kill him. In the land over which he is anointed king reigns a king who hunts him down. In the land to which he has fled to stay out of Saul’s hands, he is also surrounded by assailants. The literal translation of the second line of is “for they are many who fight me from on high”. ‘From on high’ means ‘proudly’. That is, his combatants have no respect for him at all, but look down on him in pride.

‏ Psalms 56:2

Complaint

For “for the choir director” (Psa 56:1a) see at Psalm 4:1.

The phrase “according to Jonath elem rehokim”, or “the silent dove of those who are far off”, or “the dove of the distant terebinths”, seems to be a musical term. The tone indicated by this term is that of plaintive homesickness. The Septuagint translates this with: “According to people who have been driven away from the sanctuary.” This indicates that it speaks prophetically of the remnant driven out of Jerusalem (Mt 24:15-16).

David says in the previous psalm that he would like to have wings of a dove, to fly far away, far away from danger to a place of safety (Psa 55:6-8). Here that longing is given a musical tone. In Hebrew it can also be translated with: ‘dove of silence from afar.’

The dove is also a picture of the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:16). The Holy Spirit now dwells on earth in the believer and in the church, connecting the believer with heaven, where the Lord Jesus is. In the world the believer is not at home, and he does not feel at home in it. The Spirit will stimulate in every believer the longing for the Lord Jesus in heaven, to be with Him. He does this through God’s Word, which is all about the Lord Jesus. Those who do not read the Word of God do not know that longing and will connect with the world.

David writes the psalm in response to the hostile approach of many who fight him and do so all day long. Therefore, like a dove, he yearns for a place of safety and security. He longs to go home again like a dove in a foreign country. It is the feeling of being in exile. His longing is to be home, a place far away from where he is now. It is also a place of stability and durability, of which the “distant terebinths” speak.

This psalm “of David” is called “a Mikhtam”. This designation is also mentioned in the heading of the four following psalms (Psa 57:1 ; Psa 58:1 ; Psa 59:1 ; Psa 60:1). Some say its meaning is derived from a word for “gold”, which has led to the translation “a golden gem”, as in the Dutch translation we use. Apart from these five psalms (Psalms 56-60), it only appears in the heading of Psalm 16 (Psa 16:1).

Mikhtam means ‘engraved’, in other words: permanent, precious. Prophetically, it refers to the experiences of the believing remnant in the time of the great tribulation. The remnant, of whom this psalm speaks prophetically, is still abroad, oppressed by the antichrist and the unbelieving mass of the Jews on the one hand, and the surrounding nations on the other. They seek their comfort, guidance and encouragement in the Word of God (Psa 56:4 ; 10). That leads to renewed confidence (Psa 56:11) and a giving thanks to God (Psa 56:12 ; 13). That is the precious thing about these experiences, which never lose their value.

The occasion of the psalm, of this “mikhtam”, is that “the Philistines seized him in Gath” (cf. Psa 34:1). David fell into their power. He found himself in that circumstance of affliction through his own fault. The fear of Saul persecuting him restlessly became so strong that he lost his trust in God and took refuge with the Philistines in Gath (1Sam 21:10-15).

David had to deal with two enemies: his own people led by King Saul, and the foreign enemy, the Philistines. Similarly, the remnant will have to deal with two enemies. The first is the unbelieving mass of the Jews led by the antichrist (Rev 13:11-18), supported by the dictator of the restored Roman Empire, the beast out of the sea (Rev 13:1-10). The second is the foreign enemy, the Assyrian, the king of the North, probably a coalition of islamic nations in the end time. The emphasis in this psalm is on the foreign enemy, the Philistines.

Because of them, he comes into great distress of soul. He is a prisoner in Gath and cannot get out of the gate. Therefore he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely at the gate as a madman (1Sam 21:12-13). Then he is set free. In this depth of affliction, in which he behaves so unworthily, this “mikhtam” or “golden gem” is born. Prophetically we see here the purification of the believing remnant, just as Joseph’s brothers were purified in the distress of their brief captivity in Egypt.

God can use our most degrading experiences to make more of Christ visible in us. This is the result of the trial of faith and the exercise of faith of trusting in God. Then we can repeat Christ in faith: “This I know, that God is for me” (Psa 56:9), allowing us to testify of it, twice: “In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid; what can man do to me?” (Psa 56:4 ; 11).

The complaint begins with a prayer to God to be gracious to him (Psa 56:1b; cf. Psa 51:1). Grace is the only thing David can appeal to, for he has forfeited every right to help and blessing. David immediately pours out his heart before God. He pictures before Him in bright colors the constant, varied, and hostile opposition.

He tells God that “man has trampled upon” him. Thus he makes it a case between the almighty God and man [Hebrew enosh, mortal man]. Even in his distress, David continues to insist that the enemies, though powerful and many, are only puny human beings, mortals. He also continues to insist that although he is vulnerable and with few, he can expect help from God, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth.

He himself has no strength against that mortal man, that is how weak he is. That mortal man has trampled upon him, or snapped at him with a wide-open mouth to swallow him with skin and hair. The mortal he has to deal with is “fighting” him and “oppresses” him “all day long”. He does not have a moment of rest and he is all by himself.

His combatants are “foes”, people who have trampled upon him (Psa 56:2). And again he says that they are doing this “all day long”. He is constantly being oppressed, without a pause for breath. The next day brings no change. It’s the same thing every day and the whole day. He constantly feels the hot breath of the opened mouth of his assailants on his neck to swallow him up. The threefold use of the phrase “all day long” (Psa 56:1b ; 2 ; 5) indicates how relentlessly he is besieged, with no place of safety.

On top of that, he has “many who fight proudly against” him. He sees himself surrounded by people who want to kill him. In the land over which he is anointed king reigns a king who hunts him down. In the land to which he has fled to stay out of Saul’s hands, he is also surrounded by assailants.

The literal translation of the second line of Psa 56:2 is “for they are many who fight me from on high”. ‘From on high’ means ‘proudly’. That is, his combatants have no respect for him at all, but look down on him in pride.