Psa 56:8 | KingComments | STEP | David is fully convinced that God does not forget one of his many wanderings because of his fleeing from Saul ( ). God has counted them. He keeps track of how many there are and the duration of each wandering ( ). For the sake of the remnant, God has set in advance a maximum to the days of their tribulation. He counts down their days until exactly that maximum is reached ( ). Exactly at that point the tribulation ceases and the suffering is over. God has also seen the tears of David. David asks God to put his tears in His bottle to keep them. These are the tears of believers shed in their suffering and sorrow for the Lord ( ). These believers are written down by God in His book, including all their experiences (cf. ; ). As for the enemies, it will be a proof against them with which they will be confronted on the day of reckoning. As for believers, the tears will be kept, that once they are with Him, He may wipe them from their eyes ( ). The suffering and sorrow will be over, but the memory of what caused the tears will never be forgotten. Above all, the tears of Him, Who offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to God ( ), will have our eternal attention. David turns the day he is afraid ( ) into a day he calls ( ). He sees that his “enemies will turn back in the day when” he calls. When we call, the enemy will give way, not before. Because he calls, he can say with confidence: “This I know, that God is with me.” He experiences that God is truly the Immanuel, “God with us”. “This I know” is a victory call. Thus we can exclaim: “If God is for us, who will be against us?” ( ). Having expressed this certainty, he returns to what he said once before, in ( ). In God he praises His “word”. This is more general than in . It certainly includes the promises He made to David, but also includes all the other promises and purposes of God. It is about all that God has said. The revelation of that we have in the written Word of God. God reveals what He has planned by expressing it in words. Thus we know His plans. We need no more than that and nothing else. God and His Word are one. Then David says that he praises “in the LORD … [his] word”. “God” is the Name of God as Creator, “LORD” is His Name as the God of the covenant with His people. This brings it even closer. David is not just speaking of the sovereign God Who is trustworthy in all that He says. He is speaking here of the God with Whom he has a close relationship, the God Who has made promises to His people and will fulfill them. Those who praise God and the LORD in the word He has spoken know that that God and LORD is trustworthy ( ). “The word” spoken by God “is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance” ( ). Then there is no fear of man either, for what could man do to us (cf. ; )? God has spoken and He will do what He has promised. No man can change that. What man could undertake anything against God? Therefore, no man can do anything against the believer.

‏ Psalms 56:8

Trust in God

David is fully convinced that God does not forget one of his many wanderings because of his fleeing from Saul (Psa 56:8). God has counted them. He keeps track of how many there are and the duration of each wandering (1Sam 21:10 ; 1Sam 22:1 ; 3 ; 5 ; 1Sam 23:5 ; 14 ; 25 ; 1Sam 24:1-2). For the sake of the remnant, God has set in advance a maximum to the days of their tribulation. He counts down their days until exactly that maximum is reached (Mt 24:22). Exactly at that point the tribulation ceases and the suffering is over.

God has also seen the tears of David. David asks God to put his tears in His bottle to keep them. These are the tears of believers shed in their suffering and sorrow for the Lord (Job 16:20). These believers are written down by God in His book, including all their experiences (cf. Mal 3:16; Psa 139:16). As for the enemies, it will be a proof against them with which they will be confronted on the day of reckoning.

As for believers, the tears will be kept, that once they are with Him, He may wipe them from their eyes (Rev 21:4). The suffering and sorrow will be over, but the memory of what caused the tears will never be forgotten. Above all, the tears of Him, Who offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to God (Heb 5:7), will have our eternal attention.

David turns the day he is afraid (Psa 56:3) into a day he calls (Psa 56:9). He sees that his “enemies will turn back in the day when” he calls. When we call, the enemy will give way, not before. Because he calls, he can say with confidence: “This I know, that God is with me.” He experiences that God is truly the Immanuel, “God with us”. “This I know” is a victory call. Thus we can exclaim: “If God is for us, who will be against us?” (Rom 8:31).

Having expressed this certainty, he returns to what he said once before, in Psa 56:4 (Psa 56:10). In God he praises His “word”. This is more general than in Psa 56:4. It certainly includes the promises He made to David, but also includes all the other promises and purposes of God. It is about all that God has said.

The revelation of that we have in the written Word of God. God reveals what He has planned by expressing it in words. Thus we know His plans. We need no more than that and nothing else. God and His Word are one.

Then David says that he praises “in the LORD … [his] word”. “God” is the Name of God as Creator, “LORD” is His Name as the God of the covenant with His people. This brings it even closer. David is not just speaking of the sovereign God Who is trustworthy in all that He says. He is speaking here of the God with Whom he has a close relationship, the God Who has made promises to His people and will fulfill them.

Those who praise God and the LORD in the word He has spoken know that that God and LORD is trustworthy (Psa 56:11). “The word” spoken by God “is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance” (1Tim 1:15 ; 1Tim 4:9). Then there is no fear of man either, for what could man do to us (cf. Mt 10:28a; Heb 13:6b)? God has spoken and He will do what He has promised. No man can change that. What man could undertake anything against God? Therefore, no man can do anything against the believer.