You’d Have To Be Crazy To Live Here

Psalm 56:8-13

8You keep track of all my sorrows.

You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

You have recorded each one in your book.

9On the very day I call to you for help,

my enemies will retreat.

This I know: God is on my side.

10O God, I praise your word.

Yes, LORD, I praise your word.

11I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?

What can mere mortals do to me?

12I will fulfill my vows to you, O God,

and offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.

13For you have rescued me from death;

you have kept my feet from slipping.

So now I can walk in your presence, O God,

in your life-giving light.

On the run from King Saul, David fled to a place where his pursuers definitely would not look for him—the Philistine city of Gath. Saul had fought against the Philistines and was hated by them, but then again, so had David. You may remember the story about David killing Goliath. Do you also recall what town Goliath was from? You guessed it—Gath.

So David left his soldiers behind and walked alone into a city that hated him. He would have to be crazy to do that! Well, that was the idea. David pretended to be stark raving mad, scratching on doors and drooling. The Philistines watched him like a hawk, but his loony act probably convinced them he was pretty harmless. So for a while they gave him asylum, so to speak, and then he was released unharmed to find another place to hide from King Saul (1 Samuel 21:10–22:1).

Psalm 56 comes from David’s Gath experience. You can sense the tension all around; he has to keep up the act. But he puts his trust in the Lord, and that gives him confidence. God knows what David’s going through. Every tear is stored in God’s bottle. With God watching over him, David mused, “What can mere mortals do to me?” (verse 11).

Ultimately, David’s enemies retreated, and he was rescued from death. God had again been faithful, and David could walk freely in God’s life-giving light.

My wand’rings, all what they have been

Thou know’st their number took;

Into thy bottle put my tears;

Are they not in thy book?

OLD SCOTTISH PSALTER

Bible Networking

Light (verse 13) is often associated with guidance and is seen as giving life. See Job 33:30; John 8:12; and 12:35-36.

Notable Quotable

“It was precious ointment wherewith the woman in the Pharisee’s house [probably Mary Magdalene] anointed the feet of Christ; but her tears wherewith she washed them, were worth more than her spikenard.”

ABRAHAM WRIGHT