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Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 56:1 To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Psalm 56:1-13 THE superscription dates this psalm from the time of David’s being in Gath. Probably his first stay there is meant, during which he had recourse to feigned insanity in order to secure his safety. What a contrast between the seeming idiot scrabbling on the walls and the saintly singer of this lovely song of purest trust! But striking as the contrast is, it is not too violent to be possible. Such heroic faith might lie very near such employment of pardonable dissimulation, even if the two moods of feeling can scarcely have been contemporaneous. Swift transitions characterise the poetic temperament; and, alas! fluctuations of courage and faith characterise the devout soul. Nothing in the psalm specially suggests the date assigned in the superscription; but, as we have already had occasion to remark, that may be an argument for, not against, the correctness of the superscription. The psalm is simple in structure. Like others ascribed to David during the Sauline period, it has a refrain, which divides it into two parts; but these are of substantially the same purport, with the difference that the second part enlarges the description of the enemies’ assaults, and rises to confident anticipation of their defeat. In that confidence the singer adds a closing expression of thankfulness for the deliverance already realised in faith. The first part begins with that significant contrast which is the basis of all peaceful fronting of a hostile world or any evil. On one side stands man, whose very name here suggests feebleness, and on the other is God. "Man" in Psalm 56:1 is plainly a collective. The psalmist masses the foes, whom he afterwards individualises and knows only too well to be a multitude, under that generic appellation, which brings out their inherent frailty. Be they ever so many, still they all belong to the same class, and an infinite number of nothings only sums up into nothing. The Divine Unit is more than all these. The enemy is said to "pant after" the psalmist, as a wild beast openmouthed and ready to devour; or, according to others, the word means to crush. The thing meant by the strong metaphor is given in Psalm 56:1 b, Psalm 56:2 ; namely, the continual hostile activity of the foe. The word rendered "proudly" is literally "on high," and Baethgen suggests that the literal meaning should be retained. He supposes that the antagonists "held an influential position in a princely court." Even more literally the word may describe the enemies as occupying a post of vantage, from which they shower down missiles. One brief verse, the brevity of which gives it emphasis, tells of the singer’s fears, and of how he silences them by the dead lift of effort by which he constrains himself to trust. It is a strangely shallow view which finds a contradiction in this utterance, which all hearts, that have ever won calmness in agitation and security amid encompassing dangers by the same means, know to correspond to their own experience. If there is no fear, there is little trust. The two do coexist. The eye that takes in only visible facts on the earthly level supplies the heart with abundant reasons for fear. But it rests with ourselves whether we shall yield to those, or whether, by lifting our eyes higher and fixing the vision on the Unseen and on Him who is invisible, we shall call such an ally to our side as shall make fear and doubt impossible. We have little power of directly controlling fear or any other feeling, but we can determine the objects on which we shall fix attention. If we choose to look at "man," we shall be unreasonable if we do not fear; if we choose to look at God, we shall be more unreasonable if we do not trust. The one antagonist of fear is faith. Trust is a voluntary action for which we are responsible. The frequent use of the phrase "In the day when" is noticeable. It occurs in each verse of the first part, excepting the refrain. The antagonists are continually at work, and the psalmist, on his part, strives to meet their machinations and to subdue his own fears with as continuous a faith. The phrase recurs in the second part in a similar connection. Thus, then, the situation as set forth in the first part has three elements, -the busy malice of the foes; the effort of the psalmist, his only weapon against them, to hold fast his confidence; and the power and majesty of God, who will be gracious when besought. The refrain gathers up these three in a significantly different order. The preceding verses arranged them thus-God, man, the trusting singer. The refrain puts them thus-God, the trusting singer, man. When the close union between a soul and God is clearly seen and inwardly felt, the importance of the enemies dwindles. When faith is in the act of springing up, God, the refuge, and man, the source of apprehension, stand over against each other, and the suppliant, looking on both, draws near to God. But when faith has fruited, the believing soul is coupled so closely to the Divine Object of its faith, that He and it are contemplated as joined in blessed reciprocity of protection and trust, and enemies are in an outer region, where they cannot disturb its intercourse with its God. The order of thought in the refrain is also striking. First, the singer praises God’s word. By God’s gracious help he knows that he will receive the fulfilment of God’s promises (not necessarily any special "word," such as the promise of a throne to David). And then, on the experience of God’s faithfulness thus won, is reared a further structure of trust, which completely subdues fear. This is the reward of the effort after faith which the psalmist made. He who begins with determining not to fear will get such tokens of God’s troth that fear will melt away like a cloud, and he will find his sky cleared, as the nightly heavens are swept free of cloud rack by the meek moonlight. The second part covers the same ground. Trust, like love, never finds it grievous to write the same things. There is delight, and there is strengthening for the temper of faith, in repeating the contemplation of the earthly facts which make it necessary, and the super-sensuous facts which make it blessed. A certain expansion of the various parts of the theme, as compared with the first portion of the psalm, is obvious. Again the phrase "all the day" occurs in reference to the unwearying hostility which dogs the singer. "They wrest my words" may be, as Cheyne prefers, "They torture me with words." That rendering would supply a standing feature of the class of psalms to which this belongs. The furtive assembling, the stealthy setting of spies who watch his steps (lit. heels, as ready to spring on him from behind), are no new things, but are in accordance with what has long been the enemies’ practice. Psalm 56:7 brings in a new element not found in the first part-namely, the prayer for the destruction of these unwearied watchers. Its first clause is obscure. If the present text is adhered to, the rendering of the clause as a question is best. A suggested textual correction has been largely adopted by recent commentators, which by a very slight alteration gives the meaning "For their iniquity requite them." The alteration, however, is not necessary, and the existing text may be retained, though the phrase is singular. The introduction of a prayer for a world wide judgment in the midst of so intensely individual a psalm is remarkable, and favours the theory that the afflicted man of the psalm is really the nation; but it may be explained on the ground that, as in Psalm 7:8 , the judgment on behalf of one man is contemplated as only one smaller manifestation of the same judicial activity which brings about the universal judgment. This single reference to the theme which fills so considerable a part of the other psalms of this class is in harmony with the whole tone of this gem of quiet faith, which is too much occupied with the blessedness of its own trust to have many thoughts of the end of others. It passes, therefore, quickly, to dwell on yet another phase of that blessedness. The tender words of Psalm 56:8 need little elucidation. They have brought comfort to many, and have helped to dry many tears. How the psalmist presses close to God, and how sure he is of His gentle care and love! "Thou reckonest my wandering." The thought is remarkable, both in its realisation of God’s individualising relation to the soul that trusts Him, and as in some degree favouring the Davidic authorship. The hunted fugitive feels that every step of his weary interlacing tracks, as he stole from point to point as danger dictated, was known to God. The second clause of the verse is thought by prosaic commentators to interrupt the sequence, because it interjects a petition between two statements; but surely nothing is more natural than such an "interruption." What a lovely figure is that of God’s treasuring up His servants’ tears in His "bottle," the skin in which liquids were kept! What does He keep them for? To show how precious they are in His sight, and perhaps to suggest that they are preserved for a future use. The tears that His children shed and give to Him to keep cannot be tears of rebellious or unmeasured weeping, and will be given back one day to those who shed them, converted into refreshment, by the same Power which of old turned water into wine. "Think not thou canst weep a tear, And thy Maker is not near." Not only in order to minister retribution to those who inflicted them, but also in order to give recompense of gladness to weepers, are these tears preserved by God; and the same idea is repeated by the other metaphor of Psalm 56:8 c. God’s book, or reckoning, contains the count of all the tears as well as wanderings of His servant. The certainty that it is so is expressed by the interrogative form of the clause. The "then" of Psalm 56:9 may be either temporal or logical. It may mean "things being so," or "in consequence of this," or it may mean "at the time when," and may refer to the further specification of period in the next clause. That same day which has already been designated as that of the enemies’ panting after the psalmist’s life, and wresting of his words, and, on the other hand, as that of his fear, is now the time of his prayer, and consequently of their defeat and flight. The confidence which struggled with fear in the closing words of the first part, is now consolidated into certain knowledge that God is on the singer’s side, and in a very deep sense belongs to him. This is the foundation of his hope of deliverance; and in this clear knowledge he chants once more his refrain. As is often the case, slight differences, mainly due to artistic love of variety in uniformity, occur in the repeated refrain. "Word" stands instead of "His word"; "man," instead of "flesh"; and a line is intercalated, in which Jehovah is substituted for God. The addition may be a later interpolation, but is probably part of the original text, and due to the same intelligible motives which prompted the occasional use of the great Covenant Name in the Elohistic psalms of this second book. The psalmist’s exuberant confidence overflows the limits of his song, in a closing couple of verses which are outside its scheme. So sure is he of deliverance, that, as often in similar psalms, his thoughts are busied in preparing his sacrifice of thanks before the actual advent of the mercy for which it is to be offered. Such swift-footed Gratitude is the daughter of very vivid Faith. The ground of the thank offering is deliverance of "the soul," for which foes have "waited." "Thou hast delivered" is a perfect tense expressing confidence in the certainty of the as yet unrealised exercise of God’s power. The question of Psalm 56:13 b, like that of Psalm 56:8 c (and perhaps that of Psalm 56:7 a), is an emphatic affirmation, and the verb to be supplied is not "Wilt thou?" as the A.V. has it, but, as is plain from the context, and from the quotation of this verse in Psalm 116:8 , "Hast thou?" The Divine deliverance is complete, -not only doing the greater, but also the less; and not barely saving life, but sustaining the steps. God does not rescue by halves, either in the natural or spiritual realm; but in the former He first rescues and next preserves, and in the latter He delivers from the true death of the spirit, and then inspires to glad obedience. The psalm crowns its celebration of God’s miracles of deliverance by declaring the aim of them all to be that their recipient may walk before God- i.e. , in continual consciousness of His cognisance of his deeds, and "in the light of the living" or "of life." The expression seems here to mean simply the present life, as contrasted with the darkness and inactivity of Sheol; but we can scarcely help remembering the deeper meaning given to it by Him who said that to follow Him was to have the light of life. Whether any dim foreboding of a better light than streams from even an Eastern sun, and of a truer life than the vain shadow which men call by that august name, floated before the singer or not, we can thankfully interpret his words, so as to make them the utterance of the Christian consciousness that the ultimate design of all God’s deliverances of souls from death and of feet from falling is that, not only in ways of holiness here, but in the more perfect consciousness of His greater nearness hereafter, and in correspondingly increased perfectness of active service, we should walk before God in the light of the living. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up. Psalm 56 The deprecable and the desirable Homilist. I. THE DEPRECABLE IN RELATION TO MAN. 1. Craven-heartedness. A man whose heart is morally sound is bold as a lion, invincible as the light of day. 2. Presumptuous revenge. II. THE DESIRABLE IN RELATION TO GOD. 1. A desire to trust Almighty God (ver. 3). All souls should centre in Him, cling to Him as planets to the sun. This is the real antidote to cowardly fear. 2. A desire to praise Almighty God (vers. 4, 10, 12). Praise consisteth in attuning our whole lives to His Spirit and law. The hymn of praise acceptable to Him is not a composition of words, but a composition of soul virtues and noble deeds. 3. A desire to be remembered by Almighty God (ver. 8). No words can affect a true heart as tears can; God's infinite heart feels our tears as they fall. 4. A desire to walk before Almighty God (ver. 13). To "walk before God " implies a constant consciousness of His presence and an enjoyment of His friendship. "Walk" before Him with His light shining behind you and over you, lighting up all the path and scenery ahead. ( Homilist. ) What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. Psalm 56:3, 4 Fear and faith A. Maclaren, D. D. It is not given to many men to add new words to the vocabulary of religious emotion. But so far as an examination of the Old Testament avails, I find that David was the first that ever employed the word that is here translated, "I will trust," with a religious meaning. And it is a favourite word of his. I find it occurs constantly in his psalms; twice as often, or nearly so, in the psalms attributed to David as in all the rest of the psalter put together; and it is in itself a most significant and poetic word. But, first of all, I ask you to notice how beautifully there comes out here the occasion of trust. "What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee." This psalm is one of those belonging to the Sauline persecution. If we adopt the allocation in the superscription, it was written at one of the very lowest points of his fortunes. And there seem to be one or two of its phrases which acquire new force, if we regard the psalm as drawn forth by the perils of his wandering, hunted life. For instance — "Thou tellest my wanderings," is no mere expression of the feelings with which he regarded the changes of this earthly pilgrimage, but is the confidence of the fugitive that in the doublings and windings of his flight God's eye marked him. "What time I am afraid," I will trust. That is no trust which is only fair weather trust, nor the product of outward circumstances, but of his own fixed resolves. I will put my trust in Thee. True faith, by a mighty effort of the will, fixes its gaze on the Divine helper, and there finds it possible and wise to lose its fears. Then, still further, these words, or rather one portion of them, give us a bright light and a beautiful thought as to the essence and inmost centre of this faith or trust. Scholars tell us that the word here translated "trust " signifies literally to cling to or hold fast anything, expressing thus both the notion of a good tight grip and of intimate union. Now, is not that metaphor vivid and full of teaching as well as of impulse? "I will trust in Thee." "And he exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord." We may follow out the metaphor of the word in varied illustrations. For instance, here is a strong prop, and here is the trailing, lithe feebleness of the vine. Gather up the leaves that are creeping all along the ground, and coil them around that support, and up they go straight towards the heavens. Here is a limpet in some pond or other, left by the tide, and it has relaxed its grasp a little. Touch it with your finger and it grips fast to the rock, and you will want a hammer before you can dislodge it. Or, take that story in the Acts of the Apostles, about the lame man healed by Peter and John. All his life long he had been lame, and when at last healing comes, one can fancy with what a tight grasp "the lame man held Peter and John." That is faith, cleaving to Christ, twining round Him with all the tendrils of our heart, as the vine does round its pole; holding to Him by His hand, as a tottering man does by the strong hand that upholds. And then one word more. These two clauses that I have put together give us not only the occasion of faith in fear, and the essence of faith in this clinging, but they also give us very beautifully the victory of faith. You see with what poetic art — if we may use such words about the breathings of such a soul — he repeats the two main words of the former verse in the latter, only in inverted order — "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." He is possessed by the lower emotion, and resolves to escape from its sway into the light and liberty of faith. And then the next words still keep up the contrast of faith and fear, only that now he is possessed by the more blessed mood, and determines that he will not fall back into the bondage and darkness of the baser. "In God I have put my trust; I will not fear." He has confidence, and in the strength of that he resolves that he will not yield to fear. There are plenty of reasons for dread in the dark possibilities and not less dark certainties of life. Disasters, losses, partings, disappointments, sicknesses, death, may any of them come at any moment, and some of them will certainly come sooner or later. Temptations lurk around us like serpents in the grass, they beset us in open ferocity like lions in our path. Is it not wise to fear unless our faith has hold of that great promise, "Thou shall tread upon the lion and adder; there shall no evil befall thee"? ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) On public prayer in connection with natural national calamities J. Baldwin Brown, B. A. There are two classes of calamities in connection with which men have felt themselves in all ages moved to public confession and supplication; those which come to them from the hand of Providence through the order of the system of Nature around them, and those which have their origin wholly or chiefly in the follies, vices and sins of mankind. But the two stand by no means on the same ground with regard to the question of national humiliation and prayer. In the case of calamities which a nation has brought upon itself by its follies and crimes, there can be no question of the duty of humiliation and prayer. But when we are asked to join in an act of national humiliation on account of a scanty harvest, we seem to be standing on quite different ground. Chastisement which seems to fail on us from the skies brings suffering, but with it much that modifies it, and which may make us see, if we have but the open eye, that it is blessing in disguise. If we were asked to recognize in a late and scanty harvest a signal part of the Divine chastisement, I should feel little disposed to respond. And this not on the ground of doubts about the power of prayer in its legitimate sphere; but rather from a deepening sense of the reality and grandeur Of this power of prayer. We are only just emerging from Jewish levels of thought and belief in the Christian Church. Through all the Christian ages we have been prone to return on the tracks of Judaism, and to conceive of God, in His ways in the providential government of the world, as the ruler, after all, of a little realm, at the centre of which are the interests of our little lives. 1. The principle on which we are less ready than of old to rush to confession under natural national calamities of an ordinary type, is a just and noble one, and is a sign of vital progress in our theological conceptions, and our view of our relation to the world and to God. 2. This progress in the Christian thought of our times runs parallel to the progress in our conceptions of the true nature and the subject-matter of prayer, which is the fruit of growing knowledge and experience in the individual believing soul. As experience widens and deepens prayer becomes, or ought to become, less a cry of pain, and more an act of communion; intercourse with the Father in heaven, whereby His strength, His serenity, His hope flow into and abide in our hearts I should think but little of a Christian experience in which there is not a constant lifting up into the higher regions the subject-matter of prayer. 3. I by no means say, that even in an advanced state of Christian intelligence, there may not be natural national calamities, under which it would be wise and right for a nation to humble itself in confession and supplication before God. We must hot regard our prayer as a sure means of securing the removal of such calamities. Always, behind the prayer, if it is to be worth anything, is the thought, "It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth to Him good." There is in man, deep down in his nature, a sense, not only that the relation between his nature and the world around him, and the God who rules it, have become jangled and out of tune, but also that the responsibility for the discord lies at his door. Everywhere, in all countries, in all ages, at the bottom of man's deepest thoughts is the sense of sin. It is natural for men to rush to humble confession and importunate supplication when they think that the hand of God is upon them in judgment; and it is good and right for them at such seasons to approach Him, if they will but remember that the message of the Gospel is that God is reconciled in Christ to His children, that all His dealings with them, His sharpest and sternest discipline, are moved and ruled by the hand of that love which gave the well-beloved Son to Gethsemane and Calvary, that men might know its measure. ( J. Baldwin Brown, B. A. ) Faith conquering fear Alfred Rowland, B. A. Our nature is strangely compounded. Trembling and trust often co-exist in us. It was so in David, whose heart is laid bare to us in these psalms. Now, fearfulness, although it has some ill effects which are sure to appear unless it is kept under the control of faith, nevertheless it has its own appointed good results in the formation of Christian character. Some have no fear, they are utterly unconcerned as to God and His claims. They need that the alarm bell of fear should be rung in their hearts. And many Christians need more of it: their flippant talk about sacred things; their indifference as to the condition of the ungodly: their heedlessness of talk would cease and give place to a holy fear. Fear, then, is not to be indiscriminately condemned. But it is when fear paralyzes trust that it becomes a sin, and as such is condemned. I. OCCASIONS OF UNDUE FEAR ARE — 1. The Christian worker's sense of responsibility. 2. Experiences of affliction. 3. Constitutional nervous disorder. 4. Anxiety as to the future. II. ITS DISADVANTAGES: it hinders all success and misrepresents God. III. ITS CURE. Get more light and exercise more trust. ( Alfred Rowland, B. A. ) Fear and trust W. J. Hocking, B. A. — " What time I am afraid." Alas! those times are many. Let me speak of three causes of fear and unrest, and the trust which should remove them. I. FEAR FOR THE MORROW. There is the fear which arises from a contemplation of possible exigencies and contingencies in the future of our life's temporal economy. Where one can sing — "... I do not ask to see The distant scene: one step enough for me,"a hundred are bowed down with anxiety, worry, care, and the restlessness of doubt. I am perfectly sure that underneath the placid face and the serene smile that sits on many a brow there is much fear and alarm as to the future. What is the remedy for this? What is there that will give a man peace? My answer is — Trust! Trust in God, His wisdom, His love, His Fatherly care, His plans and His purposes! If there is one phase of the teachings of the Bible that has been more attested by human experience than another, it is the assurance that trust in God is the secret of strength, serenity, and peace. He is behind all events, and before all contingencies. He is above the cloud and below the waters. Say, then, O ye timid ones, ye sorrowing ones, ye foreboding ones, ye anxious ones, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." II. Another great cause of fear is THE FACT OF DEATH. God has so constituted us that the very elements of life stand in battle array against the elements that produce death. It is natural, and in perfect harmony with God's purpose in us, that we should cling to life; and by so much as we cling to life, by that much do we fear death. And perhaps the two feelings in regard to death that most contribute to this fear are the loneliness and uncertainty that inevitably belongs to it. "I shall die alone," said the great Pascal. Nothing is so distressing to the human spirit as solitude, and when sell, rude is overhung ,with darkness it is then full of awfulness. And it is the awfulness that comes from the solitude and darkness of death that makes us shrink from it. What is the panacea for this fear? Trust in God — God's presence, God's sustaining hand. If there be a Providence watching over us in life, is it not reasonable to suppose that some provision for our need in the hour and conflict of death is made for us? that His providence will open the gate of death for us and guide us through? that His care for us will be as manifest then as now? Does a mother watch over her child all day — fondle it, nestle it in her bosom, teach it, protect it, uphold it — and then leave it alone when the darkness conies? III. FEAR IN REGARD OF THE DESTINIES OF THE FUTURE LIFE. They ask, Where will my destiny be? Shall I be numbered with the blest, or rejected with the lost? Momentous questions! Tremendous thoughts! I cannot wonder that they make men anxious. The wonder is that, living as we do on the threshold of eternity, we are not more concerned. Whither, at such times of foreboding, shall we flee for succour? To God, the Father of our spirits. Every soul that turns to Him with the cry, "Father, I have sinned"; every heart that yearns for His forgiveness, shall have refuge and peace on earth, shall have a welcome home in heaven ( W. J. Hocking, B. A. ) The saints' great resource in times of fear Evangelist. I. THERE ARE MANY TIMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES CALCULATED TO AWAKEN OUR FEARS. 1. Our state of sin should awaken great fear in our hearts. 2. Well may we fear when conscience convicts and condemns. 3. In times of temptation we ought to fear. 4. A backsliding state may well make us afraid. 5. To be in affliction and nigh to death in a state of impenitence, is a state which should excite the greatest fears. II. THERE IS AN ADEQUATE RESOURCE UNDER EVERY KIND AND DEGREE OF FEAR. 1. God has revealed the doctrine of His providence as an antidote to all those fears which relate to this life. 2. He has revealed the doctrine of His grace as an antidote to all these fears which result from sin and guilt. 3. He has revealed the doctrine of immortal glory and blessedness to remove the fear of death and our anxiety concerning another world. III. THERE IS A GREAT BLESSEDNESS IN KNOWING THIS RESOURCE BEFORE OUR FEARS COME. 1. In some cases the knowledge of this Divine resource has delivered the mind from all fear. — Fear concerning the body or the soul — life or death, the grave or eternity ( Job 13:15 ; Proverbs 28:1 ). 2. Where it does not do this, it may prevent the worse effects of fear. Two ships in a storm, the one with a good anchor and anchorage, and the ether without either, meet that storm under widely different circumstances ( 2 Corinthians 7:10 ). 3. Sometimes in the most fearful circumstances it enables us not only in patience to possess our souls, but to glorify God. IV. THE GREATEST OF ALL FEARS WILL SEIZE UPON THOSE WHO KNOW NOT THIS ONLY TRUE ANTIDOTE TO FEAR. 1. The absence of that salutary fear, which leads to provision against danger, proves the extremity of that danger in which we are involved. 2. That fear which is accompanied with utter despair must be the portion of those who have not found the true refuge. 3. They will realize infinitely more than they ever feared in the very deepest seasons of their despair in this life. For it is very certain no man ever formed a sufficiently awful idea of the worm that dieth not, and of eternity. Let all these considerations induce sinners to prize that refuge of mercy and grace which the Gospel presents, and let us be allowed to turn them all into an occasion for urging upon them the immediate and indispensable necessity of trust in God. ( Evangelist. ) In God will I praise His word. Psalm 56:4 The moral impulse imparted to individuals and communities by the study of the Bible F. A. Cox, D. D. My object is not merely to demonstrate the inspiration of the Bible, but to win you to the study of it. It may possibly be alleged by many persons, especially of the more busy classes of society, that they have no time for the attention to the Bible which is recommended. 1. The plea is dangerous as well as monstrous and criminal. If a son or a friend were to aver that he had become too busy, that he was too much engaged, for days and weeks and months together, to read an epistle from a distant land, dictated by parental love or by friendship, to what conclusion should we come as to the nature of the pretence or the character of the mind that could dictate it? Could we, even in this ordinary ease, admit for an instant the validity of the excuse, or suppose that any business of life could be so urgent? 2. The plea is untrue. A few verses, snatched from the hurry of life (if life must indeed be so hurried) may suffice. In a few minutes you may read enough to furnish materials for reflection and inquiry. You may walk or work — and think. And we claim such study for the Bible because — I. THE INFLUENCE WHICH IT EXERTS IS DISTINCTLY MORAL. It deals with man as a moral being, responsible for his actions, and to be influenced by motives. II. AND THIS IMPULSE WHICH IT COMMUNICATES IS HOLY. Notwithstanding passages in it which infidels have urged have an unholy tendency, the overwhelming effect of the book is towards holiness. Not so other sacred books — the Koran, and the like. III. AND THIS IMPULSE IS MIGHTY. IV. PROGRESSIVE. V. BUT SIMPLY INSTRUMENTAL. The truth contained in the sacred volume exerts an influence analogous, both in its force and its secrecy, to that of some of the most wonder-working agencies of nature. It resembles the unseen presence of magnetism or electricity, which move as by a touch the elements and masses around us — disposing them to order or clothing them with beauty; or it is like the vegetative power, that in the darkness and concealment of the earth and the clods of the valley impels the seed to shoot and rise and spread fertility upon the smiling surface. In the secret recesses of the soul, and in the dark and hidden depths of a heart, no human eye can penetrate and no human philosophy unravel — it subdues and sanctifies, works repentance and humiliation, and the settled purposes of a renewed mind, till on the surface appears the penitential tear, the bended knee, the contrite sigh, the believing and imploring reception of Christ, the moral and spiritual renewal of character, the outward, fearless, and heaven-sealing profession of a true religion; and every right-minded observer attests the truth of the Divine declaration, "Behold I make all things new." ( F. A. Cox, D. D. ) Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into Thy bottle; are they not in Thy book? Psalm 56:8 Life on the human side and the Divine J. Ker, D. D. There is a description of life given in the Bible which has been objected to as depressing and unreal. Life is represented, it is said, as a scene of unending struggle and sorrow; and men are made to walk under a constant shadow. There is some apparent truth in this. But the question to be first asked is, Has the Bible view of life truth in it? If so, is it not better to take it fairly into account? And it may be a further question, Has the Bible no compensation for the saddening view of life which it sometimes presents? I. THE HUMAN SIDE OF LIFE. It is described under the form of wandering and tears: its activities as "wanderings," its passive side as "tears." Still it may be said, What reason can there be in taking David's life, and making it a copy of all human lives? Has not God given us in the world sunshine as well as cloud, has He not scattered manifold pleasures through it, and should we not thankfully acknowledge this? It is very true, and we must beware of taking any part of the Bible, and pressing it so far as to make it contradict both itself and our experience. Now, there are two things which God in His kindness has sent to the relief of men in the journey of life. There are the natural blessings that are, in a measure, close to all, visiting them often whether they will or not; and there are the helps and hopes which come from a felt relation to Himself. The first may be called the blessings of His hand, the second of His heart. The cloud would be too dark for poor humanity unless God had given it a silver lining, and it is neither good for us, nor grateful to Him, to overlook this. We may begin with the strange, mysterious pleasure God has put into life itself — to live, to breathe, to look on things and have an interest in them, to move, to walk among them — these are roots that go down into the world and hold men on to it by an indescribable attachment. It is one of the kind things in the world that God has given man a liking to life itself. How much there is that is pleasant. Nature, in her varied beauty; the benediction of work, of honest, earnest work, whether it be of hand or head; the kindly affections of the human heart, the love of home and kindred, the solace of friendship, the happiness of doing any good. We seem far enough away now from wandering and tears, and yet they return upon us. It was a saying of the ancients that "for every joy granted to man, there are two sorrows, one before and one behind." Have you not felt this description of life true in its changefulness? How few of us are in the homes of our youth! Or, if near them, how far have we wandered in associations! Changes have taken place around and within which make us almost forget what we were. "Our fathers, where are they?" Or think of life in its constant struggle, perfection never gained, rest never reached. But come — II. TO THE DIVINE SIDE OF LIFE. What does the view of God secure for the man who looks to Him? Well — 1. A Divine measure. "Thou tellest my wanderings." This means not merely that God speaks of them, but takes the tale and number of them. has said that in making the world "God mathematizes." All is fixed and sure as is the science of numbers. It does not seem so, but it is. 2. This view of God secures a Divine sympathy in life: "Put thou my tears into Thy bottle." However skilful the guide might be, he would not meet our ease unless he had a heart. There are rough defiles and thorny brakes through which the road leads — there is no help for it: these things make it the road; but what concerns us most is the manner of the Guide — that He should take our frailty into account and provide resting-places and refreshment for us as they are needed. 3. This view of God secures a Divine meaning in life — "Are they not in Thy book?" It is natural to understand this of both the wandering and the tears. They are written down, and therefore have an intelligent and consistent meaning. And by and by we shall see this. ( J. Ker, D. D. ) Tears of Jesus Dean Goulburn. In the cabinets of antiquaries is often to be seen a small bottle found in ancient tombs. It is called a lachrymatory, or tear-bottle, and is supposed to have contained the tears of some bereaved relative of the departed one who was laid in the tomb. The heathen believed that the gods loved to see a good man struggling with adversity, for then the greatness of the human soul comes out. And our God loves to see the faith and patience of His sorrowing servants. But we desire to speak of Jesus, whose language the psalmist, by prophetic anticipation, speaks. The tears of Jesus, then, are our subject. His life was characterized by sorrow. But He did not weep at His crucifixion — there was never moral weakness in His tears. Ha was full of sympathy, and He was full of tenderness, but He was never moved to tears by the cruelty of men. But He wept in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us of "His strong crying and tears." There are tears which we cannot fully understand; but they were tears for the sins of the world, the weight of which in that most mysterious agony He was then bearing. Shall we, then, continue in sin? And He wept at the grave of Lazarus ( John 11 .). Then it is not inconsistent with spiritual-mindedness — as some say it is — to feel very keenly the sorrows and distress of life. "Jesus wept." And thus He assures us of His sympathy. And He wept on His way to Jerusalem, when He beheld the city and wept ever it. It was the day of His triumphal entry, and yet He wept. But it was not for Himself, but for others — for the people of Jerusalem. They were tears of patriotism. He wept for His country's sorrows. But observe it was not so much the national disasters as the national sins, that He wept. It is the reverse with the tears of ordinary patriotism. And patriotic pride and boasting, how often it is because of prosperity rather than of righteousness. But let our patriotism be sanctified by prayer. Prayer was in the heart of Jesus for His country. Let it be so for ours. ( Dean Goulburn. ) Man's tears in God's bottle Enoch Mellor, D. D. Tears are here employed as exponents of sorrows and troubles. But it is not all tears that are treasured up by God. I. TEARS OF REPENTANCE. When the early years have been marked by transgression, the coming of the days of grace can never be without tears. Take as illustrations the woman who was a sinner; the Philippian jailor; Peter when he went out and wept bitterly on that day which we may regard as the day of his abiding conversion to God. II. TEARS WHICH ARE WEPT IN THE SPIRITUAL CONFLICTS OF LIFE. III. TEARS WEPT OVER THE WICKEDNESS OF MEN AND THE APPARENT SLOWNESS WITH WHICH THE KINGDOM OF GOD MAKES ITS WAY. The greatest and the best men the world has ever known have been the men who have experienced the deepest sorrow. The man who can smile from the cradle to the grave knows neither himself, nor the world, nor God. Ezekiel tells of those on whom the Lord bid him put a mark for that they "sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the city." Their tears were put into God's bottle. Never was the truth contained in our text more wonderfully illustrated than in the history of our Blessed Lord and Saviour. Not a tear He shed was lost. "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." "He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hands." ( Enoch Mellor, D. D. ) Treasured tears J. F. Elder, D. D. The so-called lachrymatories, or tear-bottles, found in museums of art, were applied to no such use as their name implies. They probably contained unguents that were used in preparing the dead for burial; which accounts for their presence in tombs. The psalmist rather had in mind the skin bottle of his day, in which, by a bold figure of speech, he conceives of God as treasuring our tears with that same Divine carefulness which numbers the hairs of our heads or notes the falling sparrow. But why should God treasure our tears in His bottle? 1. As a token of prayers to be answered. Tears and prayers are closely connected. "Strong crying and tears" accompanied the "prayers and supplications" of Christ in the days of His flesh. The woman that was a sinner said nothing as she bathed the travel-stained feet of her Lord with her tears. Such tears are the guarantee of sincerity, the evidence of moral earnestness, and the token of prevailing prayer. The tears in God's bottle represent petitions filed away for answer in His own good time. 2. In token of wrongs to be avenged. The tears of martyrs thus treasured up plead like the blood of Abel. It is a perilous thing to make a little child to weep by our cruelty or by injustice to smite the fountain of tears in the widow's heart. Every such tear of the poor and needy is gathered into God's bottle, and will be a swift witness against us, till the wrong is atoned for or avenged. ( J. F. Elder, D. D. ) The tenderness of God towards His afflicted people W. Jay. I. AN ASSURANCE. "Thou tellest my wanderings." They Were numerous and various. But what do these wanderings take in? 1. Moral infirmities, or deviations from duty, What is the whole course of a state of nature but a series of wanderings? It is well if God sees that you feel them to be your afflictions and that you repent of them. 2. These wanderings take in local changes. See Abraham, Israel, David — what wanderings were theirs? Some of the most eminent servants of God were wanderers ( Hebrews 11 .). "They wandered about," etc. And it is so still. For conscience' sake many have had to wander about seeking how to live. But they are not purposeless; God has taken count of them all. "Thou tellest my wanderings." Therefore we are not to think that God disregards all individualities. II. THE PRAYER. "Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle." There are some persons who despise tears as weak and womanly. Do they remember who He was who wept at the grave of Lazarus? Do they remember who He was, who, "when He came nigh unto Jerusalem, wept over it," etc.? "True greatness," says Lavater, "is always simple"; and true courage, I am persuaded, is always combined with tenderness. Homer — that matchless painter of men and manners — makes no scruple to represent his bravest of men, Ajax, and his wisest of men, Ulysses, as weeping; and the latter as weeping no less than three times in the course of a few lines. The Easterns wept more readily, and were less ashamed of indulging their tears, than we. David was a man of tears. Of these tears, let us now, if we can, trace out the sources. One source of these tears was affliction. He had many trials and troubles, which his greatness could not prevent, or even alleviate; yea, which his greatness rather increased. Another source of his tears was sin; and a much more plentiful one than his sufferings. "My sin," says he, "is ever before me." Not only his great sin in his fall, but his daily and hourly failures. "Who," says he, "can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults." And David wept for the sins of others, as well as his own. "I beheld the transgressors," says he, "and was grieved, Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because men keep not Thy law." III. THE QUESTION. "Are they not in Thy book?" — that is, Are they nob written and recorded there? What book? The book of His providence? Yes, they are all there; their number is there; their quality is there; their degree is there; their duration is there and all their sad memorial is there. The book of His remembrance ( Malachi 3:16 ). Now, let us conclude — 1. By admiring the condescension of God. 2. Let us, as Young says, "not stop at wonder," but "imitate and live." 3. Ye wanderers, ye weepers, repair here. God is able to comfort in all our tribulation. ( W. Jay. ) Tear-bottles D. Davies. There are some very good people who always have their tear-bottle by them, and who always treasure up every little grief and every little disappointment. Whenever you meet them, the first thing you see is the tear-bottle; and you soon see there is more in it than there was last time. Now, of course I am not speaking of those who have indeed great trials, but of those who make a great deal of little ones. I do not want you to get into that gloomy way of living. ( D. Davies. ) When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. Psalm 56:9-11 Prayer vanquishing enemies Helps for the Pulpit. I. THIS PRAYER IMPLIES THE EXISTENCE OF CONFLICT. David was pursued from place to place by: his adversaries. The Christian, too, has many enemies. Within him and around him. II. THIS PRAYER SUPPOSES HELPLESSNESS. The enemies which the Christian has to fight are numerous, potent and subtle; and he is perfect weakness. III. A CONVICTION THAT THERE IS ALL NEEDFUL HELP IN GOD. IV. APPLICATION TO GOD FOR HELP. "I cry unto Thee." Make me a conqueror, etc. This cry we must consider as secret, earnest and constant, and connected with confidence. V. THIS PRAYER WAS SUCCESSFUL. "Then shall mine enemies turn back

56:1-7 Be merciful unto me, O God. This petition includes all the good for which we come to throne of grace. If we obtain mercy there, we need no more to make us happy. It implies likewise our best plea, not our merit, but God's mercy, his free, rich mercy. We may flee to, and trust the mercy of God, when surrounded on all sides by difficulties and dangers. His enemies were too hard for him, if God did not help him. He resolves to make God's promises the matter of his praises, and so we have reason to make them. As we must not trust an arm of flesh when engaged for us, so we must not be afraid of an arm of flesh when stretched out against us. The sin of sinners will never be their security. Who knows the power of God's anger; how high it can reach, how forcibly it can strike? 56:8-13 The heavy and continued trials through which many of the Lord's people have passed, should teach us to be silent and patient under lighter crosses. Yet we are often tempted to repine and despond under small sorrows. For this we should check ourselves. David comforts himself, in his distress and fear, that God noticed all his grievances and all his griefs. God has a bottle and a book for his people's tears, both the tears for their sins, and those for their afflictions. He observes them with tender concern. Every true believer may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and then I will not fear what man shall do unto me; for man has no power but what is given him from above. Thy vows are upon me, O Lord; not as a burden, but as that by which I am known to be thy servant; as a bridle that restrains me from what would be hurtful, and directs me in the way of my duty. And vows of thankfulness properly accompany prayers for mercy. If God deliver us from sin, either from doing it, or by his pardoning mercy, he has delivered our souls from death, which is the wages of sin. Where the Lord has begun a good work he will carry it on and perfect it. David hopes that God would keep him even from the appearance of sin. We should aim in all our desires and expectations of deliverance, both from sin and trouble, that we may do the better service to the Lord; that we may serve him without fear. If his grace has delivered our souls from the death of sin, he will bring us to heaven, to walk before him for ever in light.