King James Version
Psalms 56
13 verses with commentary
In God I Trust
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. Michtam: or, A golden Psalm of David
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KJV Study Commentary
The Hebrew 'chanan' (be gracious/merciful) opens this psalm of trust amid persecution. 'Man would swallow me up' uses vivid imagery of enemies as beasts of prey, yet directs the appeal to God's character rather than human allies. The superscription's reference to David among the Philistines shows that even among pagans, God's covenant mercy sustains His elect.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **Man . . .**—Heb., *enôsh, *either as in Psalm 9:19, “mortal man,” or, contemptuously, “a rabble, a multitude.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
27-31. His case illustrates God's righteous government. Beyond the existing time and people, others shall be brought to acknowledge and worship God; the fat ones, or the rich as well as the poor, the helpless who cannot keep themselves alive, shall together unite in celebrating God's delivering power, and transmit to unborn people the records of His grace.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. enemies: Heb. observers
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KJV Study Commentary
The persistent hostility ('daily') reveals that opposition to God's elect is unrelenting in this fallen world. Yet the Hebrew 'saraph' (pant/long for) describes enemies' intensity, implying their zeal achieves nothing against God's protection. 'Many' emphasizes the multitude of opposition, anticipating Christ's words that believers will face hatred from all nations (Matthew 24:9).
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Swallow me up.**—The root idea of the Hebrew word so rendered is by no means clear. In many passages where it is used the meaning given here by the LXX., “trample on,” will suit the context quite as well as, or even better than, the meaning, “pant after,” given in the Lexicons. (See Job 5:5; Isaiah 42:14; Ecclesiastes 1:5; Amos 2:7; Amos 8:4.) And this sense of bruising by trampling also sui...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.</strong> This brief yet profound declaration captures the essence of biblical faith—not the absence of fear but the choice to trust God in the midst of fear. The verse appears in a psalm written during one of David's most desperate moments, when captured by Philistine enemies in Gath (1 Samuel 21:10-15).<br><br>"What time" (יוֹם/<em>yom</em>)—li...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) What time.—Heb., *yôm, *apparently with same meaning as *beyôm *in Psalm 56:10, “in the day.”
**I am afraid . . .**—No doubt the right reading: is, “I cry.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 23 Psa 23:1-6. Under a metaphor borrowed from scenes of pastoral life, with which David was familiar, he describes God's providential care in providing refreshment, guidance, protection, and abundance, and so affording grounds of confidence in His perpetual favor.
1. Christ's relation to His people is often represented by the figure of a shepherd (Joh 10:14; He 13:20; 1Pe 2:25; 5:4), and th...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse contains the psalm's central theological affirmation: 'In God I will praise his word.' Trusting in God's word rather than circumstances demonstrates covenant faith. The rhetorical question 'what can flesh do unto me?' echoes Hebrews 13:6, affirming God's sovereignty over human power. Praising God's word specifically indicates that Scripture's promises ground confidence.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **In God.**—This verse, which forms the refrain (Psalm 56:11-12 are wrongly separated), is as it stands hardly intelligible, and the text is rendered suspicious by the fact that the LXX. read “my words,” instead of “his word,” and by the omission of the suffix altogether in Psalm 56:11, where the first clause of the refrain is doubled. The obvious treatment of the verse is to take the construc...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. green pastures--**or, "pastures of tender grass," are mentioned, not in respect to food, but as places of cool and refreshing rest.
**the still waters--**are, literally, "waters of "stillness," whose quiet flow invites to repose. They are contrasted with boisterous streams on the one hand, and stagnant, offensive pools on the other.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
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KJV Study Commentary
Enemies' continual twisting of David's words ('wrest my words') reveals the weapon of slander. The Hebrew 'atsab' (pain/grieve) shows how verbal assault injures. All their thoughts being 'against me for evil' indicates comprehensive hostility, prefiguring Christ who faced constant opposition seeking grounds for accusation (Matthew 22:15).
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Wrest.**—Properly, *afflict; *and so some, “injure my cause.” But “torture my words” is intelligible.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. To restore the soul is to revive or quicken it (Psa 19:7), or relieve it (La 1:11, 19).
**paths of righteousness--**those of safety, as directed by God, and pleasing to Him.
**for his name's sake--**or, regard for His perfections, pledged for His people's welfare.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
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KJV Study Commentary
The enemies' tactics—gathering, hiding, marking steps—reveal coordinated, deliberate persecution. 'They wait for my soul' indicates their murderous intent. Yet David's recounting of these details to God demonstrates confidence that omniscience sees all plots. Nothing escapes divine notice, ensuring that persecution serves God's sovereign purposes despite appearing random or unjust.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **They hide themselves.**—Better, *they set spies.*
**Mark my steps.**—Literally, *watch my heels. *(See Psalm 49:5; Psalm 89:51.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
4. In the darkest and most trying hour God is near.
**the valley of the shadow of death--**is a ravine overhung by high precipitous cliffs, filled with dense forests, and well calculated to inspire dread to the timid, and afford a covert to beasts of prey. While expressive of any great danger or cause of terror, it does not exclude the greatest of all, to which it is most popularly applied, and ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
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KJV Study Commentary
David's imprecatory prayer 'Shall they escape by iniquity?' demands divine justice. The Hebrew 'palat' (escape) implies that without God's intervention, the wicked might evade consequences. 'Cast down the people' requests God's sovereign action against nations opposing His covenant purposes, anticipating the ultimate casting down of all rebellious powers (Revelation 20:10).
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Shall they . . .**—Literally, *upon iniquity escape to them*; the meaning of which is by no means clear. The ancient versions do not help us. If we adopt a slight change of reading, viz., *palles *for *pallet, *the meaning will be clear, *for iniquity thou wilt requite them.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5-6. Another figure expresses God's provided care.
**a table--**or, "food," anointing
**oil--**the symbol of gladness, and the overflowing
**cup--**which represents abundance--are prepared for the child of God, who may feast in spite of his enemies, confident that this favor will ever attend him. This beautiful Psalm most admirably sets before us, in its chief figure, that of a shepherd, the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 56
Chapter Outline
David seeks mercy from God, amidst the malice of his enemies.(1-7)
He rests his faith on God's promises, and declares his obligation to praise him for mercies.(8-13)
**Verses 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 l...
Read full commentary →Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
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KJV Study Commentary
The image of God numbering wanderings and collecting tears in a bottle reveals divine attention to suffering. The Hebrew 'nod' (wandering/exile) indicates David's fugitive status. Ancient Near Eastern peoples collected tears in small bottles to represent mourning; David asks if God similarly treasures his tears. 'Are they not in thy book?' affirms that God records all suffering for eschatological ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Wanderings.**—Rather, in the singular, *wandering, *which, from the parallelism with “tears,” must mean “mental restlessness,” the “tossings to and fro of the mind.” Symmachus, “my inmost things.”
**Put thou my tears into thy bottle.**—There is a play of words in the original of “bottle,” and “wandering.” We must not, of course, think of the *lachrymatories, *as they are called, of glass, wh...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5-6. Another figure expresses God's provided care.
**a table--**or, "food," anointing
**oil--**the symbol of gladness, and the overflowing
**cup--**which represents abundance--are prepared for the child of God, who may feast in spite of his enemies, confident that this favor will ever attend him. This beautiful Psalm most admirably sets before us, in its chief figure, that of a shepherd, the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 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...
Read full commentary →When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
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KJV Study Commentary
David's confidence that enemies will turn back 'when I cry unto thee' reveals the power of prayer. 'This I know; for God is for me' is declarative faith—not presumption but covenant confidence. The Hebrew 'li' (for me) indicates God's partisan commitment to His elect, fulfilled ultimately in Romans 8:31: 'If God be for us, who can be against us?'
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 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...
Read full commentary →In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.
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KJV Study Commentary
The repetition of verse 4 with 'LORD' (YHWH) replacing 'God' intensifies the covenant dimension. Praising both God's 'word' and the LORD's 'word' emphasizes Scripture's divine origin. Trust in YHWH specifically invokes Israel's covenant name for God, grounding confidence in particular historical promises rather than generic theism.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 24 Psa 24:1-10. God's supreme sovereignty requires a befitting holiness of life and heart in His worshippers; a sentiment sublimely illustrated by describing His entrance into the sanctuary, by the symbol of His worship--the ark, as requiring the most profound homage to the glory of His Majesty.
**1. fulness--**everything.
**world--**the habitable globe, with
**they that dwell--**formin...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 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...
Read full commentary →In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
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KJV Study Commentary
The final affirmation 'I will not be afraid' demonstrates conquest over fear through faith. The rhetorical question 'what can man do unto me?' asserts the limited power of creatures against God's elect. This does not deny man can harm the body (Matthew 10:28) but affirms that ultimate safety resides in God's sovereign purposes, not circumstances.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2. Poetically represents the facts of Ge 1:9.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 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...
Read full commentary →Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
Vows made to God create covenant obligation. The Hebrew 'neder' (vow) was a serious commitment, often involving sacrifices or service. David's vows are 'upon me' indicating binding obligation. 'I will render praises' shows that thanksgiving is not optional emotional response but covenant duty owed to God for deliverance.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Thy vows**—*i.e.*, vows made *to Thee, *but the form is most unusual. For the thought comp. Psalm 22:25; Psalm 50:14.
**I will render**—*i.e., *in fulfilment of the vows.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3-4. The form of a question gives vivacity. Hands, tongue, and heart are organs of action, speech, and feeling, which compose character.
**hill of the Lord--**(compare Psa 2:6, &c.). His Church--the true or invisible, as typified by the earthly sanctuary.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 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...
Read full commentary →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?
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KJV Study Commentary
The question 'hast thou not delivered my soul from death?' is confident assertion, not doubt. Deliverance from death points beyond physical preservation to spiritual redemption. The purpose clause 'that I may walk before God in the light of the living' reveals that salvation's goal is covenant fellowship—walking in God's presence. This anticipates eternal life as knowing God (John 17:3).
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Wilt thou not deliver?**—Better, *hast thou not delivered?*
**From falling.**—Literally, *front a thrust.*
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3-4. The form of a question gives vivacity. Hands, tongue, and heart are organs of action, speech, and feeling, which compose character.
**hill of the Lord--**(compare Psa 2:6, &c.). His Church--the true or invisible, as typified by the earthly sanctuary.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 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...
Read full commentary →