By David Phillips
…My tears in Your bottle…
Psalm 56 is a psalm written by David during the time he fled for his life (recorded in 1 Samuel 19-30), as Saul jealously resented him for being chosen by God to be in line to be next in line on the throne of Israel. While the details furnished in 1 Samuel are instructive and interesting, we actually gain deeper insight into the turmoil David endured as we read his writings in the book of Psalms, as they often take on the nature of “live reporting” from the various scenes.
In the last portion of Psalm 56, David emphasizes the comfort he has received from God, especially through the knowledge that God knows and understands the afflictions David has encountered as a fugitive from Saul. The terminology in verse 8 is particularly interesting.
You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?
Spurgeon, in his Treasury of David commentary says this, applying David’s words to any servant of God who passes through hardship and difficulty: “Every step which the fugitive had taken when pursued by his enemies, was not only observed but thought worthy of counting and recording. We perhaps are so confused after a long course of trouble, that we hardly know where we have or where we have not been; but the omniscient and considerate Father of our spirits remembers all in detail, for he has counted them over as men count their gold, for even the trial of our faith is precious in his sight.”
The metaphorical reference to God’s bottle (not a bottle, but Your bottle) in which He saves our tears, highlights God’s attention to His people, as Jesus did in Matthew 10:30 – But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Over and over, we are reminded of God’s knowledge of our plight, whatever it may be, and His protective care as we go through life. Psalm 125:2 reminds us that As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, from this time forth and forevermore. In the book of Revelation, written initially to encourage and strengthen God’s people who were suffering great persecution, in chapter 5, verse 8, we find a figure of speech similar to David’s being used to represent the prayers of saints being collected in golden bowls in Heaven.
How exact is God’s knowledge of us! How generous His estimations of our needs! How tender His regard!
God bless.