1 Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up: All the day long he fighting oppresseth me.
But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness, Answer me in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overwhelm me, Neither let the deep shallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me. Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy lovingkindness is good: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn thou unto me.
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; For my soul taketh refuge in thee: Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge, Until `these' calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God Most High, Unto God that performeth `all things' for me. He will send from heaven, and save me, `When' he that would swallow me up reproacheth; Selah God will send forth his lovingkindness and his truth.
But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; For his lovingkindness `endureth' for ever:
Israel is swallowed up: now are they among the nations as a vessel wherein none delighteth.
All thine enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee; They hiss and gnash the teeth; they say, We have swallowed her up; Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He hath brought them down to the ground; he hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.
Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit;
To him that smote great kings; For his lovingkindness `endureth' for ever; And slew famous kings; For his lovingkindness `endureth' for ever: Sihon king of the Amorites; For his lovingkindness `endureth' forever; And Og king of Bashan; For his lovingkindness `endureth' for ever;
And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad; wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And covered the company of Abiram.
My God with his lovingkindness will meet me: God will let me see `my desire' upon mine enemies.
Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: Set me on high from them that rise up against me.
Let them not say in their heart, Aha, so would we have it: Let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress: Mine eye wasteth away with grief, `yea', my soul and my body.
But he princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make the man return, that he may go back to his place where thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us: for wherewith should this `fellow' reconcile himself unto his lord? should it not be with the heads of these men?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 56
Commentary on Psalms 56 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 56
It seems by this, and many other psalms, that even in times of the greatest trouble and distress David never hung his harp upon the willow-trees, never unstrung it or laid it by; but that when his dangers and fears were greatest he was still in tune for singing God's praises. He was in imminent peril when he penned this psalm, at least when he meditated it; yet even then his meditation of God was sweet.
How pleasantly may a good Christian, in singing this psalm, rejoice in God, and praise him for what he will do, as well as for what he has done.
To the chief musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.
Psa 56:1-7
David, in this psalm, by his faith throws himself into the hands of God, even when he had by his fear and folly thrown himself into the hands of the Philistines; it was when they took him in Gath, whither he fled for fear of Saul, forgetting the quarrel they had with him for killing Goliath; but they soon put him in mid of it, 1 Sa. 21:10, 11. Upon that occasion he changed his behaviour, but with so little ruffle to his temper that then he penned both this psalm and the 34th. This is called Michtam-a golden psalm. So some other psalms are entitled, but this has something peculiar in the title; it is upon Jonath-elem-rechokim, which signifies the silent dove afar off. Some apply this to David himself, who wished for the wings of a dove on which to fly away. He was innocent and inoffensive, mild and patient, as a dove, was at this time driven from his nest, from the sanctuary (Ps. 84:3), was forced to wander afar off, to seek for shelter in distant countries; there he was like the doves of the valleys, mourning and melancholy; but silent, neither murmuring against God nor railing at the instruments of his trouble; herein a type of Christ, who was as a sheep, dumb before the shearers, and a pattern to Christians, who, wherever they are and whatever injuries are done them, ought to be as silent doves. In this former part of the psalm,
Psa 56:8-13
Several things David here comforts himself with in the day of his distress and fear.