_BE MERCIFUL UNTO ME, O GOD: FOR MAN WOULD SWALLOW ME UP; HE FIGHTING DAILY OPPRESSETH ME._ Psalms 56:1.-David entreats for deliverance from his many and virulent enemies (Psalms 56:1); his trust amidst fears (Psalms 56:3); his foes' evil thoughts and wresting of his words (Psalms 56:5); God cannot... [ Continue Reading ]
_MINE ENEMIES WOULD DAILY SWALLOW ME UP: FOR THEY BE MANY THAT FIGHT AGAINST ME, O THOU MOST HIGH._ Mine enemies - literally, 'my watchers;' 'those who lie in wait for me' (Psalms 5:8). FOR THEY BE MANY THAT FIGHT AGAINST ME. The same Hebrew as in Psalms 56:1: '(they be) many that would eat me.'... [ Continue Reading ]
_WHAT TIME I AM AFRAID, I WILL TRUST IN THEE._ What, time I am afraid, I will trust in thee - literally, 'what, day.' As 'man daily oppresseth me' (Psalms 56:1), so 'everyday, when I am afraid, I trust in thee.' The Psalmist's fear (Psalms 56:1) here gives place to confident hope.... [ Continue Reading ]
_IN GOD I WILL PRAISE HIS WORD, IN GOD I HAVE PUT MY TRUST; I WILL NOT FEAR WHAT FLESH CAN DO UNTO ME._ In God I will praise his word - i:e., trusting "in God, I will praise His word." So Psalms 56:10 expands this clause. Maurer understands even in before "His word," thus-`In God I trust, (even in)... [ Continue Reading ]
_EVERY DAY THEY WREST MY WORDS: ALL THEIR THOUGHTS ARE AGAINST ME FOR EVIL._ Every day they wrest my words. "Wrest" - literally, vex my protestations of innocence. Saul and mine enemies, instead of regarding in the true light, and ceasing to persecute me, distort and misrepresent as feigned words,... [ Continue Reading ]
_THEY GATHER THEMSELVES TOGETHER, THEY HIDE THEMSELVES, THEY MARK MY STEPS, WHEN THEY WAIT FOR MY SOUL._ They gather themselves together. So the Hebrew х_ GUWR_ (H1481)] is rendered, Psalms 59:3; Isaiah 54:15. Compare Psalms 31:13. THEY HIDE THEMSELVES - lying in wait for me. [The Masoretic text... [ Continue Reading ]
_SHALL THEY ESCAPE BY INIQUITY? IN THINE ANGER CAST DOWN THE PEOPLE, O GOD._ Shall they escape by iniquity? - literally, 'upon (the ground of) their iniquity (there is) to them (the hope of) escape' (cf. Isaiah 28:15). Such was Saul's vain hope of averting, by the persecution of David, God's senten... [ Continue Reading ]
_THOU TELLEST MY WANDERINGS: PUT THOU MY TEARS INTO THY BOTTLE: ARE THEY NOT IN THY BOOK?_ Thou tellest my wanderings - i:e., Thou takest note of my movements in 'my flight' from my home and country. PUT THOU MY TEARS INTO THY BOTTLE - i:e., receive them as it were in a lachrymatory, or bottle fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_WHEN I CRY UNTO THEE, THEN SHALL MINE ENEMIES TURN BACK: THIS I KNOW; FOR GOD IS FOR ME._ -The turning point of the psalm. The Psalmist is now assured of being heard. Verse 9. WHEN I CRY UNTO THEE, THEN SHALL MINE ENEMIES TURN BACK. "Then" points to the sure connection between the coming delivera... [ Continue Reading ]
_THY VOWS ARE UPON ME, O GOD: I WILL RENDER PRAISES UNTO THEE._ Thy vows are upon me, O God. David regards his deliverance as already accomplished, and therefore considers his vows, which had been taken in the event of deliverance, as now due. I WILL RENDER PRAISE UNTO THEE - I will pay thee than... [ Continue Reading ]
_FOR THOU HAST DELIVERED MY SOUL FROM DEATH: WILT NOT THOU DELIVER MY FEET FROM FALLING, THAT I MAY WALK BEFORE GOD IN THE LIGHT OF THE LIVING?_ For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling - through the assault of mine enemies. The interrogation strongly c... [ Continue Reading ]