Psalm 56: Tears in Heaven

This article was first published in French at TPSG.

In the closing chapters of Scripture, we learn that one day the Lord will wipe every tear from our eyes (Rev 21:4). We all await that day with great anticipation. But until then, we live in a fallen, broken, messed-up world. We endure sorrow and grief and injustice and abuse. And, on the hard days, we may shed your fair share of tears. We may battle anxiety, fear, doubt, bitterness, anger, or despair. We may wonder if God hears. If he cares. One of Satan’s most insidious lies is that God has abandoned us in our suffering. But has he? 

 

God’s Nightstand

Psalm 56 answers that nagging question with a resounding NO! He cares deeply about every painful breakup, miscarriage, chronic illness, death of a loved one, financial hardship, or instance of abuse. He takes account of our wanderings. He knows every windy path we take. He’s got it memorized, like a concerned, attentive father, who journals every night about our journey through loss and pain. Every tear we shed has meaning to him. Not one is in vain. He stores them in a bottle that he keeps on his nightstand next to his journal. 

 

To anyone walking through a season of fear or loss, anxiety or shame, this psalm offers a word of hope. 

Because God takes account of our wanderings, let us not fear but trust in him.

 

A Fugitive King 

The heading of Psalm 56 helps place it in its context. As is also the case with the parallel Psalm 34, David puts quill to parchment in Gath while on the run from Saul (see 1 Samuel 21 for the full account). He spends roughly ten years in hiding following his anointing by Samuel and prior to his ascending to the throne. Accompanied by men loyal to him, the exiled king wanders from place to place in the Judean desert.

 

I. Trampled but Trusting (v. 1-7)

Psalm 56 can be divided into two main sections: v. 1-7, which I’ve entitled “Trampled but Trusting” and v. 8-13, which I’ve entitled, “Wandering and Delivered.” In this first section, we learn of David’s deep distress. 

 

Hunted Nonstop Like an Animal

Verses 1 and 2 tell us that they trample him underfoot. The word translated “trample” could also be translated to pursue, to chase after, to hound.  David adds in v. 6 that enemies lurk, they wait in the dark, tracking him, waiting to pounce, to ambush him when he least expects it. Like a hunter awaiting the moment to take a clean shot on a longed-for buck. 

 

Not only that, in v. 5, they stir up lies about him. The expression “they injure my cause” literally means, “they twist my words.” So, not only are they intent on harming his body, but they also attack his reputation, putting words in his mouth that he has not spoken. Three times in this section, David employs the expression, “all day long.” These aren’t occasional annoyances. His enemies don’t give him a day’s rest! In light of the power, preponderance, and plans of his enemies, David has good reason to fear! 

 

God’s Promises and His Person are Inseparable

Yet despite the true, terrifying danger David faces, he turns his eyes toward heaven and there, he finds comfort and peace. He doesn’t deny that he is afraid. Instead, he faces his fears. And he confesses his trust in the God who is greater than any foe. What’s more, he utters this faith-filled phrase: “I will put my trust in you… In God whose word I praise.” 

 

Why does David praise God’s Word? Because God’s promises and his person are inseparable! It’s for that very reason that we can’t idolize the Bible. If we are walking in the Spirit, we cannot love the Scriptures too much. For to love them is to love their divine author. When they fill our hearts and minds, fear gives way to faith. Thus, David can speak this wonderful, faith-filled rhetorical question, “What can mere man do to me?” In light of the power of our God, the answer is “Absolutely nothing!” 

  

II. Wandering and Delivered (v. 8-13)

In v. 8, we come to this beautiful phrase at the heart of the psalm. “You have kept account of my wandering.” Think back to the way David’s enemies track his steps and contrast that with the LORD’s gracious watch care. The wicked stalk him in order to find the opportune moment to pounce on him. The LORD tracks David’s steps in order to show him his covenant love. 

 

God’s Storehouse of Tear Bottles

When v. 8 says, “put my tears in your bottle” does it mean God literally has a warehouse in heaven where he keeps all the bottles of all the tears of all the saints throughout redemptive history? That would be one huge storage unit! As is often the case in poetic literature, we need to understand this language figuratively. The idea behind this image is remembrance. Our tears are not futile. God sees, he knows, he cares, he will never forget. 

 

In the last clause in v. 8, David completes the picture with the image of a book in which God tallies every tear meticulously. For the child of God, suffering has a purpose. The paradox of pain is that we can look back on some of the most sorrowful moments of our lives and discover that they were the most joyful. Because God met us there, in our loss and despair. And he drew us close to him in ways that we have never experienced in times of peace and prosperity. 

 

 

“This I Know, That God is For Me.”

In v. 9, David writes “Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call.” He once again brings up the topic of his enemies. Only now, having acknowledged God’s sovereign care over him in v. 8, he sees his foes from a different vantage point. He comes back in v. 10-11 to the declaration he made in v. 3-4, concluding once again with that faith-filled rhetorical question, “What can man do to me?” David is certain that their doom is sure. In human terms, he may have no logical reason to believe this, given that he’s still a fugitive on the run. But he believes by faith that which he cannot yet see with his eyes. Why? The second part of the verse makes it plain: “This I know, that God is for me.” 

 

The New Covenant Parallel Promise

This promise is not only for David, but for us as well! The NT verses that build a beautiful bridge between Psalm 56 and the gospel of Jesus Christ are found in Romans 8:31-32. And we know something David couldn’t have dreamt of: That his faithful and steadfast God would one day send his own Son to die on the cross and rise from the dead so that all who would put their trust in him might have eternal life. And, Paul adds, if he didn’t withhold his own Son, there’s nothing God won’t do for us! 

 

The First Step: Trust in Christ

And yet, anyone who has not put their faith in Jesus Christ needs to make that their first step. Because all the promises of this precious psalm are only ours if we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, even believers need to reaffirm their trust in God on a regular basis because our own hearts are prone to wander. Whatever our struggle may be, let this become a phrase we come back to over and over again: “This I know, that God is for me. What can man do to me?” 

 

Pre-emptive Praise

In v. 12-13a, David states, “I must present my vows to you, O God. I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling.” What is mind-blowing is that David has not yet received the deliverance he is asking the LORD for. Yet he is so confident of its arrival that he’s preparing the sacrifice pre-emptively! 

 

This concept of sacrifice is so foreign to us as Christians. Vows and thanks offerings were voluntary sacrifices, which consisted of any unblemished animal from the worshiper’s herd, and/or various grains or bread. The breast of the animal sacrificed was for the high priest. The right foreleg was for the officiating priest. The LORD received the fat, kidneys, and lobe of the liver, which were burnt. The participants then ate the remainder of the animal, a symbol of God’s provision. 

 

The Lord’s Table: Remembering His Suffering 

And as great as these offerings were, under the new covenant, we share an even greater sacrifice. We share the Lord’s Table, a remembrance of the cross and the resurrection of our Saviour. So, while the image of a bottle of tears speaks of God’s remembering our suffering, the communion table speaks of us remembering his. 

 

A Living Sacrifice

Christ’s cross can never be repeated, because he accomplished our redemption once and for all (Heb 10:10). Yet, while we have no sacrifice greater than Christ, the Scripture adjures us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices (Rom 12:1-2). We do so by surrendering to him our lives, our hopes, our ambitions, our fears, our families, our finances, our everything. And by refusing to be conformed to the sinful world system we live in but renewing our minds as we walk in union with Christ, as we seek to know his will as revealed in his holy Word, as we seek to live lives obedient to it in the power his Spirit supplies. 

 

This will look different to each believer, depending on what sins we struggle with. But the antidote for all to this malady is the same: walking in union with Christ. Or, as David’s concluding words of Psalm 56 put it, “walking before God in the light of life.” 

Because God takes account of our wanderings, let us not fear but trust in him.